Memories of a Remarkable Life

This is the story about Roland John Beustring (1916-2005), a member of “The Greatest Generation,” was self taught and self reliant—a just man who lived with integrity. He was my father. Dad came from a poor, hard-working German family living on the banks of the Mississippi in St. Louis, Missouri. The stories of his boyhood are similar to that of “Tom Sawyer”. Recollections of his childhood are full of adventures and antics that are heartwarmingly reminiscent of that era. Eager to enlist in the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), he used his older brother’s name and signed up at an “early” age. His experiences at the CCC Camp known as Shady Lake in Mena, Arkansas are retold. Interested in boxing at an early age, “Rol” was unbeatable among his childhood peers. In 1936, he won the welterweight championship in the Golden Gloves Amateur Boxing program in St. Louis, Missouri. His boxing successes could have evolved into a professional career if not for Dad’s need to earn money to help out his family.