By 
Wearing Civil War gray, James Speicher was promoting his book, The Sumter Flying Artillery, published by Pelican Publishing at Town Crier’s book signing on April 3.
Speicher has quite an impressive resume. Being a Green Beret is just part of his personal history. He spent 20 years in the military, 10 years as a cop in Detroit, and currently works for the FBI.
“This is the first of one book,” Speicher laughed. “I’ve been working on it since 1969.”
Speicher has a relative who served in the Sumter Flying Artrillery. Former President Jimmy Carter also has a relative who served in this unit. Pres. Carter wrote a blurb for the back of the book and one of Carter’s never-before published poems is featured in the book.
Speicher calls the 496-page book a labor of love. While he started it in 1969, the past 10 years he’s really focused on putting it together. Years of research went into this book and Speicher said that over 40 people supplied photos for the book.
He was born in Michigan, but considers Charleston, S.C. home. And he lives in Shawnee, Kansas, his 17th address in 37 years.
It was fun to talk to this guy. He’s bright, pleasant, and has a nice sense of humor.