It is interesting how profoundly military experience can shape a person’s entire life. Such is the case of 99-year-old Alpharetta resident Gerald Sadler. Fortunately, Gerald is healthy, alert and has a keen sense of humor. He takes a three mile walk every other day to help stay that way. He is a delight to interview. Here is his story.
Gerald was raised on his grandfather’s farm in Hartwell, Georgia. John Cornelius Sadler (1860-1937) like so many early Georgia pioneers immigrated from Europe to South Carolina and then migrated to Georgia attracted by stories of cheap, fertile land. He and his second wife Cora Etta Suit Sadler (1871-1938) raised cotton and corn. The best corn was ground for corn bread, the basic food for the family. The farm grew to eventually encompass 119 acres.
They had ten children, one of whom was Gerald’s father Rufus Gleeson “Rook” Sadler (1899-1990) who in 1922 married Clyde Chastain Sadler (1904-1930). When Gerald was five years old, his mother was struck by lightning and killed on the Sadler farm. Cora raised the five orphaned children – three daughters, including a pair of twins, and Gerald – in addition to her 10 offspring. All were brought up on the Hartwell farm…