A former Stanly County resident has released his latest book.
Eddie McCoy’s “Musings…From the Mind of a U.S. Army Drill Sergeant” is a series of short stories, poems, pictures and introduction of McCoy’s Prescription, all documenting the author’s experiences in the U.S. Army and afterwards.

Ed McCoy

From Page Publishing, McCoy wrote a collection sharing his experiences that focus on the time before, during and after his years as an Army drill sergeant.

The series of short stories and poems include topics that may inspire readers to overcome whatever challenges they face.
McCoy attended Albemarle Junior High in 1958 and 1959 and Albemarle High in 1961 before moving to Monroe.

McCoy joined the Army in 1963 and served 21 years. He obtained the rank of Chief Warrant Officer and was fortunate to have the government finance his GED, associate, bachelor’s and master’s degrees.

After the Army, he worked for the Department of the Navy and later retired as a federal employee, GS/15, from the Department of Justice.

He is married to the former Barbara Diane Baker of Monroe and together they have two children and two grandchildren. Eddie and Diane live in Northeast Florida and were members of the Masonic bodies and Shriners for more than 30 years.

“People generally don’t read a poem just once. When I run across a poem I like, I may read it dozens of times and will probably continue to read my favorites until I’ve moved on to that big drill field in the sky,” writes McCoy. “ ‘Musings…’ …contains poems, a lot of pictures and some short stories from my time as a U.S. Army Drill Sergeant, two tours in Vietnam and later. As with everything I write, net income from the sale of my books is donated equally between Shriners Hospital for Children and St. Jude Children’s Hospital. If you don’t have a favorite charity, please consider these two. Everyone needs to share good fortune with less fortunate people, and children are an excellent choice! The final part of ‘Musings…’ is something that I wrote for our son when he went off to college. I was trying to provide him with something that fit somewhere in the hidden and mysterious space between Murphy’s Law and Moses and The Ten Commandments. It’s called McCoy’s Prescription.”

Readers who wish to experience this work can purchase “Musings…From the Mind of a U.S. Army Drill Sergeant” at bookstores everywhere, or online at the Apple iTunes Store, Amazon, Google Play or Barnes and Noble.

McCoy has published two other books, “Relaxing, A book and a Sunset,” that contains most of the poems only from “Musings…,” and “Perry’s Little Vessel,” a children’s book that follows a little girl, her brother and their doggie Perry on a journey to learn the importance of keeping the family safe and happy by completing daily chores.