Ghost Story #7: The Virgin Mary Medal

Happy Halloween! While I was writing Maryland Ghosts: Paranormal Encounters in the Free State, my Uncle Bernie sent me more than 30 stories from throughout his life in the form of hand-written letters. After Maryland Ghosts was first published in 2012, and featured most of his Maryland stories, we turned his remaining letters into an unpublished collection to share with family and friends called The Haunted Letters: True Tales from a Ghost-Storied Life. Here is another one of my favorite stories from that collection:

I Corps, Quang Ni Province, Vietnam, 1967

The month is late March 1967, and I am about to complete my third month of a 13-month combat tour. My platoon, reinforced, approximately 45 Marines and one corpsman, have been assigned to guard two artillery units—one is a U.S. Army 175 M.M. mobile howitzer unit, and the other is a South Korean 155 M.M. mobile howitzer unit.

In an attempt to keep myself clean, I would draw fresh water from a well inside our lines. The water was not for drinking, as I would take a bucket of water up and behind our squad tent, bird bath, and clean my jungle utilities. On one such occasion, I approached the well with rifle and bucket in hand. I was only a PFC then, had filled sandbags all day, and it was about 4:30 a.m. Suddenly, I saw a flash as light reflected off of something shiny and small! I thought perhaps an enemy soldier had gotten through the barb-and-razor wire and had booby-trapped the well! Upon further investigation, I could see a small metal object. I blew the sand away and found a Sacred Heart medal with the Blessed Virgin Mary on the other side. After my bath, I put the medal on my dog tag chain!

I ate my C-ration dinner and went to my assigned bunker for security watch for the night. Amelia, I have shared this story with only a few since 1967. Two Marines shared a bunker so one could rest on occasion! The days and nights all ran together back then, 53 years ago, at age 19.

That night, I noticed I could see and hear better than ever. I could smell better and had a sixth sense!

An inner voice told me that I would not be killed in Vietnam, although I was wounded on three separate occasions—April 12, May 18, and June 20, 1967. The enemy tried to overrun us that evening but were unsuccessful!

The next day, I noticed my Lieutenant, squad leader, and fire team leader all looked at me in an unusual way. They said I looked different; I had changed. I felt I had begun a relationship with the Blessed Virgin Mary! And then, it all began, after we left the artillery outfit (30 days) and returned to our regular Alpha Company.

On day patrols, I could sense we were going to be ambushed, and we were! I told my squad leader every time I had the feeling, and then it would occur, until Corporal Mac finally asked me not to tell him anymore!

I felt wolflike with my senses, and noticed two other Marines had the same abilities, as they could see at night, hear like me, had senses like me, and had no apparent fear of death. The three of us became inseparable, and our officers took note! Soon the three of us were “walking point,” day and night, for the Alpha Company (150 Marines), 1st Battalion (600 Marines), and 7th Marine Regiment (2,000 Marines)!

The enemy felt we were dangerous and put a bounty on our heads, $500, ha! Pencil-drawn pictures of us began to appear on trees and fences! But as long as we remained together, it seemed you could not kill us. We got wounded together but stayed healthy.

The three of us once walked point for the 7th Marine Regiment, a round trip of 80 miles on a World War II Chinese paved road into the area of the North Vietnamese 2nd Division area, only to see tigers and elephants! We were lucky and blessed!

We should never have survived what we did. I got two battlefield promotions, one to Corporal, and one to Sergeant. And, in all their wisdom, the new officers separated us! On October 8, 1967, Sergeant Carl Boudreaux (The Fox) was wounded so badly he was rotated to the States, and I was not with him. On February 6, 1968, Sergeant Robert Ewoldt (Shorty) was killed in action, and I was not with him!

Sergeant Boudreaux did recover and passed away in July 2015. He lived a good life until the old wounds, and Agent Orange, finally took their toll. He was 67 years old.

I lost the medal in March 1967 while water skiing on the Severn River in Maryland. I tried to retrieve the medal as it sunk like a one cent piece! I could see the Blessed Virgin Mary’s face as she sank into the abyss of that river over 50 years ago! The meaning I placed on losing the medal was that Mary had guarded and protected me for several years and she felt I could make it on my own from there.
–B.W.M.

"The Virgin Mary Medal," copyright 2024 Bernard W. Masino and Amelia Cotter (first appeared in The Haunted Letters: True Tales from a Ghost-Storied Life, 2013 and 2020)

Explore More with Amelia #6: Fall 2024

Happy Spooky Season and Fall Equinox! As we wind down another busy summer, and wind up for the fall and holidays, I'm facing new life changes, but for the better and easier. I started a new job this month and will be taking my "day job" career in a new and exciting direction and have some really cool new filming and writing projects on deck!

In fun news, I found myself on Illinois Center for the Book! I feel so official. Does this mean I've made it? If you love what you read here and, like Steve Martin in The Jerk, agree that "I'm somebody now!," you can support me and my free content and storytelling programs through my Virtual Tip Jar. Thank you for all your support this year and for all the great things to come. Happy Hauntings!

~Amelia

Explore More...

Baraboo, Wisconsin! Baraboo is located just north of Devil's Lake and just south of the popular Midwest tourist destination Wisconsin Dells. Baraboo has an eclectic past, from being a hub of the burgeoning Wisconsin brewing industry in the mid-1800s to being the home and Winter Quarters of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus around the turn of the 20th century. For those who enjoy the pursuit of otherworldly amusements, Baraboo offers an array of ethereal delights in the form of stately haunted homes, phantom trains, phantom circus elephants, fun-loving party ghosts, and other colorful spirits that really do put the "boo" in Baraboo. 

The Old Baraboo Inn in Baraboo also happens to be one of the places I know best. With a cornerstone reading "Established in 1864," the Inn is in Baraboo's old brewing district near the Chicago and Northwestern Railroad train depot. The Inn has been home to at least one saloon, restaurant, hotel, brewery, boarding house, billiard hall, and bar, and has long been speculated to have been a brothel, gambling house, and Prohibition-era speakeasy as well. As many as 30 spirits may haunt the Inn. The Inn celebrated its 160th anniversary this year and still operates as a bar and event venue where people can participate in a variety of historical and paranormal events, investigations, tours, and workshops. I may be biased, but...go visit this weird and wonderful place "where the party never ended!"

On the Ground with Ground Chuck!

The intrepid Ground Chuck visits Tinker Swiss
Cottage Museum & Gardens in Rockford, Illinois.

There may be many spooky series on YouTube exploring history, mysteries, and haunted places, but only ONE of them is hosted by a groundhog. Join my YouTube cohost Ground Chuck as he burrows deep to dig up the scoop in On the Ground with Ground Chuck, produced by Jonathan Montgomery Pollock, and one of many curiosities in the cabinet of "Amelia's Spooky Story BOOtique!" In October, we're looking forward to presenting a new series of Shorts hosted by Chuck, One Minute Mysteries with Ground Chuck, and I, while not a groundhog, will also be hosting my annual Spooky Story Spectacular via Facebook Live (posted to YouTube shortly after!). Please check out my YouTube channel, like, subscribe, and stay tuned for regular uploads!

Featured Book: Where the Party Never Ended: Ghosts of the Old Baraboo Inn

From Haunted Road Media, 2021

$12.99 Paperback on Amazon/Barnes & Noble
$5.99 Kindle

Amazon and Kindle Best Seller in: Ghosts & Hauntings, Supernaturalism, Unexplained Mysteries

Join the party and meet the lively spirits of the Old Baraboo Inn!

The Old Baraboo Inn in Baraboo, Wisconsin, is one of the Midwest's most haunted places. Home to a lively cast of ghostly characters, stories of the Inn's sordid history abound. For more than 150 years, the Inn’s atmosphere has remained warm, welcoming, and full of music, dancing, laughter, and ghosts.

Join author and storyteller Amelia Cotter for an exploration of the Old Baraboo Inn's haunted history, ghost stories, and firsthand paranormal accounts—including more than 40 photos! The Inn is a place where many came to party and perhaps a few met their untimely end, and is a place where it seems the party never ended...

"Cotter separates fact from fiction in her careful examination of the history and the mysteries behind this famous Midwestern haunt…There's something compelling going on at the Old Baraboo Inn, and Cotter captures its essence in this book."

–Allison Jornlin, writer/researcher for American Ghost Walks

"A perfectly blended mix of history, mystery, and legends. Cotter has unearthed a treasure trove of creepy and unusual stories, and expertly unravels the sordid history, unsavory characters, and numerous ghost encounters that make up one of America's most haunted places."

–Chad Lewis, author of Paranormal Wisconsin Dells and Baraboo and coauthor of The Wisconsin Road Guide to Haunted Locations

New at Amelia's DragonGoddess Boutique!

Jonathan and I have been busy prepping for all things Spooky Season, including receiving a brand-new shipment of dragons and gemstones for Amelia’s DragonGoddess Boutique. We've shared this many times but use coupon code DGB15 for a 15% discount off your order any time! 

In line with the changing of the seasons and embracing of change, I wanted to share one of our affirmations. This one corresponds to our blue dragons and the theme of intuition: "I am fully present and trust my intuition. I am aligned with and attuned to my body, feelings, inner vision, purpose, and values. I am open to divine guidance."

Upcoming Appearances

Haunted Chicago Stories at Boo-tanical Bash at Lincoln Park Conservatory, Chicago

October 24, 2024 at 6 p.m.

Spooky Story Spectacular II

October 30, 2024 at 7 p.m. | 6 p.m. CST via Facebook Live

The Weird Walk Home

January 2025

Guest Post: NaNoWriMo! An Interview with Ruari Blake

Note from Amelia: Welcome Ruari Blake, writer, content creator, and friend. I interviewed Ruari about her impressive decade (and going!) of participation in National Novel Writing Month, or NaNoWriMo, coming up in November (learn more at my blog post here). NaNo Prep 101 begins in September and I hope Ruari's experience and expertise will inspire you to jump in and participate...or just get writing!:

How many years have you been participating in NaNoWriMo?

Ten years, a full decade. My first year was 2014!

What inspired you to start?

There were some old-school Youtubers who participated in NaNoWriMo that I used to watch. I was a huge All Caps fan, so when they came out with their NaNoWriMo song, I listened to it a lot. Finally, in my senior year of high school, I decided to go for it because I wrote all the time. Quantifying how much I could write seemed like a fun challenge. Once I got the sweet, sweet thrill of victory, I just didn't stop.

What inspires you to keep going every year?

I like having a month dedicated to working on my manuscripts. It's the one time of year that I really focus on my writing with no excuses to be working on something else, unless there are real life deadlines that get in the way like last year. It's funny because when I mention it to people, they're really impressed that I manage to do 50,000 words in a month, but it's so routine that it feels like nothing. I'm sure it's the same as someone who runs 5Ks all the time.

How do you prepare?

Poorly. My first year was a "pantser" year, as the NaNoWriMo folks call it, which means I did zero prep. I had an idea for some characters and a vague plot, but not much else. It was a really tough one, especially while focusing on my last year of high school, but I managed to get the manuscript done and that's all that really matters.

My major projects have actually been on a novel I've been writing since I was in middle school, so I know that story better than my own social security number, mother's maiden name, and my birthday most days. As a result, re-writing it is easy, since I know what happens, but it becomes challenging to up my craft with each draft. The only thing I do to prepare is sign up on the website and announce my projects. I don't recommend this strategy for people who are starting because it is the most stressful style.

What do you do with your finished manuscripts?

My first one will never see the light of day. I had another manuscript that I wrote that I do really enjoy, but it has to have major edits, too. I don't know if it will get published, but I think it's good enough to warrant a second look at.

My main project that I've been writing for 16 years is finally at a point where it's time it sees the light of day, so I'm working on what I'm pretty sure is my final draft and I'm looking into self-publishing!

What's the best part of the experience?

Besides the thrill of declining invitations to be social and major bragging rights at the end, I love the dedicated time to just write. It's a lot to put on top of work and school, but I love going back into a story and just living there for a while. I also love watching the graph move day to day as I enter my words in. The NaNoWriMo website has a great dashboard with pretty interesting insights into my writing habits.

What's the most challenging part?

That's a hard one to answer. I feel like every year there's a new challenge depending on where my life has taken me, especially since I started so young. When I first started, my biggest challenge was actually doing the writing and figuring out where the story would take me. Now, the biggest challenge is balancing a full-time job, school part-time, and finding time to write during what ends up being finals.

What advice do you have for other writers who may want to take the plunge?

Remember that the month is all about writing 50,000 words and literally nothing else. It doesn't have to be good writing, but it just has to get out of your head and into whatever writing software you choose. I cannot stress enough how awful my first manuscript is, but it's still 50,000 words of an original story I never would have written otherwise. Especially if you're working on a first draft, remember that your first draft is supposed to be the worst your story will ever look, which is why second drafts and rewrites exist.

Ruari Blake is a writer, content creator, and PhD program reject. She writes fantasy novels and science fiction short stories, some of which are available to read online, but others will never see the light of day. When not writing, she is in class at Northwestern University in their MS in Learning and Organizational Change program or taking philosophy courses by any means possible. www.youtube.com/@BadAstra