John B. Gordon | Jeffrey Keene

Jeff's story begins in May, 1991, when he was on vacation with his wife, Anna. They were looking for antiques and stopped in Sharpsburg, Maryland, which was where the Civil War battle of Antietam was fought. Though Jeff had never read a book on the Civil War or had any affinity for that era, he felt compelled to visit the battlefield. At a portion of the field called "Sunken Road," Jeff listened to an audiotaped narration of the events that took place there in 1862. After listening to the tape, as Jeff walked away from the battlefield monument, he had the following reaction:

"A wave of grief, sadness and anger washed over me. Without warning I was suddenly consumed by sensations. Burning tears ran down my cheeks. It became difficult to breathe. I gasped for air, as I stood transfixed in the old roadbed. To this day I cannot tell you how much time transpired, but as these feelings, this emotional overload passed, I found myself exhausted as if I had run a marathon. Crawling up the steep embankment to get out of the road, I turned and looked back. I was a bit shaken to say the least and wondered at what had just taken place. It was difficult getting back to the car because I felt so weak. I had regained most of my normal composure on the way back and said nothing to Anna about what had just happened. What could I say? How could I explain it to her? I did not have any answers, just questions. "

Before leaving Sharpsburg, Jeff and Anna visited a gift shop. A magazine, Civil War Quarterly, (Special Edition, Antietam), caught Jeff's eye and he purchased it, along with a bullet found in the area. At home, Jeff placed the magazine in a conspicuous place, a drawer that held the family's phone books, but he did not look at the journal for another year and a half. When Jeff finally read the magazine's account of the Battle of Antietam, he once again experienced a strong wave of emotions. When he turned to a page that featured a picture of Brigadier General John B. Gordon, Jeff was shocked to see himself in Gordon's visage. Gordon had nearly died after incurring multiple gunshot wounds at Sunken Road, in the battle of Antietam. Recall that it was at Sunken Road, over a year before, that Jeff had experienced overwhelming emotions of grief, anger and sadness.

Jeff's book documents past life memories as well as habits and traits he has in common with Gordon. These include a preference to stand with arms crossed, similar clothing tastes and scars on his face and body that reflect Gordon's battle wounds. Two symbolic events are recounted. One involves orders written by General Lee on September 9, 1862, which defined the Confederate Army's plans to invade the North. Nine copies of the orders were made. One copy was lost in transit and recovered by Union soldiers. This information gave the Union Army detailed information regarding the position of Confederate troops and led to the battle of Antietam. In sum, orders written on September 9 resulted in the Civil War conflict in which John B. Gordon was severely wounded and almost died. It was at this battle site that Jeff Keene had his emotional past life reaction. The symbolic event in our current era is Jeff Keene's birthday, which is September 9, 1947. Jeff Keene was born on a date, September 9, that symbolizes the battle of Antietam and Gordon's wounding. It appears that the soul can time an individual's birth to coincide with a date that is symbolically important. This phenomenon is also observed in the case of William Barnes, as Mr. Barnes was born on the anniversary date of Titanic's sinking. Mr. Barnes, in his prior lifetime as Thomas Andrews, died on the Titanic.

Another symbolic event involving the date September 9 occurred on Jeff Keene's 30th birthday. On that day, Jeff was taken to the emergency room to be treated for neck and facial pain. No cause for the pain syndrome was found. The location of pain experienced by Jeff Keene corresponded to facial wounds incurred by John B. Gordon at the battle of Antietam. Gordon was 30 years of age at the time of his injuries. Keep in mind that Jeff's emergency room visit occurred in 1977, which was 15 years before Jeff became aware of his connection to Gordon.

In his book, Someone Else's Yesterday, Jeff includes documents that show similarities between his writing style and that of John B. Gordon's. In his later years, General Gordon wrote a book called Remembrances of the Civil War, which provides material for such analysis. Let us compare two passages, one from Gordon's book, describing the efforts of his men to put out a fire in Wrightsville, Pennsylvania, and one from Keene regarding his fire department's response to an emergency incident. My observation is that the two documents seem to be written in the same "voice." A format linguistic analysis, which is featured in both Jeff's book and my own, has been done which reveals significant structural similarities. Let us now review these passages.

General John B. Gordon (from Remembrances)

"With great energy my men labored to save the bridge. I called on the citizens of Wrightsville for buckets and pails, but none were to be found. There was no lack of buckets and pails a little while later, when the town was on fire...My men labored as earnestly and bravely to save the town as they did to save the bridge. In the absence of fire-engines or other appliances, the only chance to arrest the progress of the flames was to form my men around the burning district, with the flank resting on the river's edge, and pass rapidly from hand to hand the pails of water. Thus, and thus only, was the advancing, raging fire met, and at a late hour of the night checked and conquered. "

Assistant Chief Jeffrey Keene (from a letter to Fire Chief)

"With my radio restored, man power and apparatus were brought in and put under the guidance of Acting Lieutenant Christopher Ackley. While setting up a plan of action, Lieutenant Ackley displayed good common sense, knowledge, training and a deep concern for the safety of firefighters under his command. A large amount of gas entered the structure by way of a open window. Though we tried to remove all possible sources of ignition, we were able to remove all but two. The owner informed us that the house contained an oil-fired furnace and a hot water heater. There was no way to shut them off from the inside or outside. Using metering devices, a positive pressure fan and opening and closing windows, the hazard was removed."