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PATRIOT PRIEST
By
Patricia Daly-Lipe
Patriot
Priest tells one
man's personal experience over several epochs and areas of history. It is also,
in part the story of one unique individual, author Patricia Daly-Lipe's great
uncle, Msgr. William A Hemmick. Born in Pittsburgh, PA, and raised in Europe,
he became fluent in five languages. When the First World War broke out, he felt
committed to help the troops. After the war, he was proclaimed the Patriot
Priest of Picardy by the Army and Navy. After years spent in Paris, William
Hemmick was asked by the Vatican to come to Rome. Ultimately he became the only
American Canon of St. Peter's representing the Knights of Malta to the Holy
See.
It was he who performed the nuptials of American film star Tyrone
Power and Linda Christian. He also converted the future Queen Astrid of
Belgium.
In
1944, when the bombers of the 8th Air Force were attacking synthetic fuel
plants, another German wrote, as a boy, that despite the raids by American
bombers,
We Germans never feared the Americans. When the Americans
arrived, "the soldiers were friendly and approachable. Their generosity
toward children was constant." But all too soon, the Americans pulled out.
It was now the Russian troops taking over occupation of East Germany. "We
feared the Russians," he wrote. And, although the officers were European,
in the beginning, the troops were Asian. Soon, however, the Asians left and
just the Europeans remained. "The Russian soldiers (and the Asians when
they were there) … were especially dangerous if they had been
drinking. Since they were nearly always armed, alcohol made all of the Russians
very dangerous.
This
was what the children in Germany were subjected to after the war ended:
irrational and often brutal behavior. Daily, the children lived under agonizing
situations including hunger, cold, and fright. Yet they had resilience. Reading
their stories in Wolfgang W. E. Samuel's book, The War of Our Childhood,
Memories of World War II, it is awe-inspiring how that generation of German
children was able to emerge from such debilitating conditions and become sane
and productive human beings as adults.
Twenty-five
years after the end of World War II, Adam B. Ulam wrote: "A study of the
history of the past twenty-five years …can suggest which of our hopes and
fears are realistic and which are not …" (Ulam's preface to The
Rivals, America & Russia Since World War II) Although today (2013)
the Cold War (the theme of his book) is over, the fear of a global conflict
still exists. My point is that the past, and our understanding of it, enhances
our ability to understand the present. Today's events take on a new
interpretation in light of what came before This is what is known as historical
process. This is not a search for answers; it is a search for perspective and
questions. Your perspective is formed according to your source of reference:
the scholar, the statesman, the politician, the military, the businessman, or,
in this case, the life and time of William A. Hemmick [or my interpretation
resulting from extensive research.]
In
1953, in predominance was the Soviet-U.S conflict. Some said it was not an
isolated moment in history, but a natural evolution of a struggle that began in
the past as we saw with Germany. Nations seeking power fall in competition for
prestige and security, sea lanes and natural resources, markets and even
empires. And so, some asserted in the fifties, it was precisely in this context
that the Soviet Union justified its position. George F. Kennan, Secretary of
the American Embassy in Moscow in the middle thirties, wrote in an article
for Foreign Affairs (The Source of Soviet Conduct, 1947):
Dr. Patricia Daly-Lipe, is an Author and
Artist. She has written six books, all different genres. She is winner of
the San Diego Book Awards, Best Books Finalist, the JADA Novel Contest, USABookNews.com
Finalist, 2009 2nd place in poetry by the Virginia Writers
Club, Inc, and 2013 winner in historical fiction at the Annual Royal Dragonfly
Book Awards for 'A CRUEL CALM, Paris Between the Wars and 2013 winner for her
short story by the Virfginia Writers Assn.
Although born in La Jolla, California,
Patricia spent equal time in Washington, D.C., home of several
generations of her mother’s family.
She has taught at colleges and writing
centers, written for magazines and newspapers (including the Evening
Star in Washington, DC, La Jolla Village News, The
Georgetowner andUptowner), and her paintings have been accepted
and sold in Juried shows, art galleries, and private homes. Two of her books
feature her paintings on their covers.
Patricia served as President of both the La
Jolla and DC Branches of the National League of American Pen Women.
Patricia
now lives in Virginia with her husband, Dr. Steele Lipe, three dogs,
three horses, and two cats. For years, Patricia raised, raced, and showed
Thoroughbred horses. Now she rescues them. She is the mother of three and
grandmother of six children
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