A Backward Glance

By Tom Harvey

In 1921, Thomas Woodrow Harvey was the only son born into a poor tenant farmer’s family. While helping his family of six make ends meet, he vowed he would never have this kind of life for his family. Harvey’s father always emphasized the importance of him getting an education, knowing that his children would have better opportunities with a high school degree. Not only did Harvey surpass those expectations, but he graduated with an engineering degree from Virginia Tech, served as a pilot during World War II, and worked his way to the top of the corporate world.

• Language: English
• Publisher: LifeRich Publishing
• Release date: Apr 13, 2022
• ISBN: 9781489734136

Tom Harvey

In 1921, Thomas Woodrow Harvey was the only son born into a poor tenant farmer’s family. While helping his family of six make ends meet, he vowed he would never have this kind of life for his family. Harvey’s father always emphasized the importance of him getting an education, knowing that his children would have better opportunities with a high school degree. Not only did Harvey surpass those expectations, but he graduated with an engineering degree from Virginia Tech, served a pilot during World War II, and worked his way to the top of the corporate world.

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ISBN: 978-1-4897-3412-9 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4897-3411-2 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-4897-3413-6 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2021903611

LifeRich Publishing rev. date: 04/05/2022

CONTENTS

Introduction

February 6, 1996

About The Author

INTRODUCTION

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When my Meemaw had a life-altering accident in 2009, my family eventually had to move her out of her home in Abingdon, Virginia. During the moving process, a yellow legal pad was found with my Peepaw’s handwriting throughout the entirety of the pages. Upon inspection of the unusual find, my Peepaw had written (and titled) the story of his life— pages and pages detailing his amazing story, from hardships and adversity to eventual breakthrough and success. The following pages contain the contents of this very special and personal document.

I would like to thank some individuals who helped me make this publication possible. Uncle Kim, Aunt Cheryl, and Dylan, thank you for your time and effort put forth deciphering Peep’s handwriting and typing it up. The hours upon hours you contributed to this project have not gone unnoticed. Aunt Teri and Uncle Frank, thank you for helping me to get some pretty special pictures that were included in these pages. Going through old photographs, let alone transforming them to digital format, is not easy, but we will now have them preserved forever thanks to you both. Jacob Tilley, my old pal, thank you for helping me to understand all of the military information and helping me with grammatical edits. Despite your busy schedule, you made time for me and my questions and I am very thankful for you. I would like to thank my special friend, Randall Gilmore, for devoting hours of his time to help me edit and perfect this document. Your dedication to helping me with this project is something I will forever be grateful for. My dad, Greg, and Mr. Gilmore were integral in helping me to understand what was going on in Peepaw’s memoir from a historical context. I am grateful for their insight and research that helped me better comprehend exactly what events were taking place during Peepaw’s life. Dad, Mom (Lynne), Tyler, and Emily, I cannot even express what your constant support and encouragement during this extremely long process has meant to me. You all have believed in what I wanted to accomplish through this project from day one and for that I will always be grateful.

My hope is that everyone who reads the content within these pages will have a greater understanding of what it means to not let your circumstances define you. The trajectory of the lives of my entire family was forever changed all because of one man’s decision to rise above and follow his dream of having a life he could be proud to look back on. I was blessed to have my Peepaw as