Valley Writers Chapter

Books by James W. Morrison

Jim served thirty years in the Department of Defense, three in the Army and nearly twenty-seven in the Office of the Secretary of Defense. As a member of the Senior Executive Service, he directed offices dealing with international security policy. He is a graduate of Indiana and Columbia Universities and the National War College and served as a visiting fellow at the National Defense University. He has devoted much of his retirement to creative writing and volunteer activity. In 1999 he wrote a historical drama about Bedford County in WWII. This play won a competition at the Sedalia Center in Bedford County and was presented there in 2000 and 2001. In 2004, he published a book, Bedford Goes to War: The Heroic Story of a Small Virginia Community in World War II. This book has been nominated for a 2005 Library of Virginia book award. Some of his short stories and essays have won prizes in writing contests sponsored by festivals in Wytheville and Abingdon. In addition to his activity in the Virginia Writers Club and its Valley Writers Chapter, he founded and leads the Smith Mountain Arts Council’s Lake Writers. He lives with his wife, Edie, at Smith Mountain Lake in Southwest Virginia. The Morrisons are active in their church and other community activities. They have two grown children and two grandchildren.

Bedford Goes to War: The Heroic Story of a Small Virginia Community in World War II. This compelling story of one community’s heroism, sacrifice, and remembrance is unique yet similar to experiences across America. With a loss of 20 men in the June 6, 1944, Invasion of Normandy, Bedford County is believe to have lost more men per capita on D-Day than any other community in America. (Bedford now proudly hosts the National D-Day Memorial.) As tragic as D-Day was for Bedford, the county lost over 140 men throughout the war in all theaters, many more were wounded, and over 20 were POWs. On the home front, Bedford citizens contributed to the war effort by producing war material and food, preparing for civil defense, buying war bonds, restricting consumption, salvaging scarce materials, growing Victory Gardens, aiding the Red Cross and USO, supporting loved ones in the military, and honoring and memorializing those who fought and died. Based on in-depth research conducted primarily in Bedford’s library, museum, and courthouse and interviews conducted in homes across the county, this is Bedford’s story told from Bedford.

Bedford Goes to War can be purchased by contacting the author directly or on-line through Abebooks.com, or at stores and shops in Roanoke (Ram’s Head, Printer’s Ink, and History Museum of Western Virginia bookstores, and possibly Barnes & Noble), Bedford (National D-Day Memorial, Bedford City/County Museum, Bedford Welcome Center, Hamilton’s bookstore, The Keeping Room gift shop, Olde Liberty Station Restaurant, Peaks of Otter Lodge and Restaurant gift shop, and Gallery of Virginia Art and Gifts), Smith Mountain Lake (The General Store, Gifts Ahoy!, Hales Ford Store, and Scopes and Stuff), and Lynchburg (Warwick House Publishing, Givens bookstore, Inklings bookstore, and possibly Barnes & Noble), and Rocky Mount (The Blue Lady Bookshop and Melinda’s Computer Graphics).

NATO Expansion and Alternative Future Security Alignments. This book, published in 1995 before NATO began expanding its membership to include states in Eastern Europe and some states that were part of the former Soviet Union, reviews the status of international organizations at the time, addresses key questions involved in possible expansion of NATO, outlines several alternatives for expansion, and makes recommendations for U.S. and NATO policy.

This book can be obtained from the U.S. Government Printing Office under the U.S. Superintendent of Documents or from the National Defense University Press.

Vladimir Zhirinovskiy: An Assessment of a Russian Ultra-Nationalist. This book, published in 1994, assesses Russian politician Vladimir Zhirinovskiy, who founded the so-called Liberal Democratic Party in Russia in the early 1990s and led it in the December 1993 parliamentary elections to the point that it won a higher percentage of the vote than any other party. The book also presents recommendations for U.S. policy in dealing with Zhirinovskiy.

This book can be obtained from the U.S. Government Printing Office under the U.S. Superintendent of Documents or from the National Defense University Press.