Book Review: Dawn's Early Light

By Farris Yawn

There are certain events that are so momentous that they are forever burned in our memory. For those old enough to remember Pearl Harbor or the JFK assassination, they can tell you exactly where they were and what they were doing the moment they heard the news.

More recently, the attack on the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and United Flight 93 on 9/11 is an event most will Never Forget. For three local Cherokee County residents, that dark day hit closer to home than it did for the rest of us.

Ty Wheeler, Todd Trainer, and Ken Harriss became friends at Woodstock First Baptist Church. They shared a love for baseball, and when they discovered none of them had been to Yankee Stadium, a plan to correct that oversight was hatched. Tickets were procured, flights were arranged, and soon, the friends left Atlanta for New York City on September 10, 2001.

The plan was to do a little sightseeing before the game, and get up the next morning to have breakfast atop the World Trade Center before flying home.

The first sign God was watching over them came when their flight was moved up, so they had to hurry to the airport with no time for breakfast. The second sign was an encounter on their now grounded flight with a lady on her way to Alpharetta. When there were no hotel rooms to be had, she took the three strangers under her wing and brought them home to her and her husbands Bronx apartment.

It took several days to arrange transportation home, but the men finally completed their journey with a much deeper appreciation of Gods grace and mercy. The book details their story and a side of this historic event many have not heard. It also gives full credit to God for their safe return home to their families.