Soldiers/Decoration Day

My Dad was in Korea, in fact he was there when I was born.  He found out about me through a Red Cross Telegram.

My Dad and my Mom  in 1950.

Dad was injured by shrapnel and he has photos taken in Korea that substantiates his injury.  All the records burned in St. Louis so he never received his Purple Heart.  I won’t say he came back unscathed, because he has nightmares often especially in the winter.  From what I have heard he didn’t even have an extra pair of socks or winter clothing yet was sleeping in foxholes in sub zero weather.  He survived conditions that are unimaginable to me.  Dad is 88 years old.

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These are my father’s brothers, my uncles;

Uncle Hugo was wounded, sent back to the States, endured surgeries and therapy and lived out his days with bullet fragments in his body.

Uncle Hugo and Mia never had any children together.  Mia had children from a former marriage.  They had a Grandson that they raised as their son.  I take flowers here because no one else does…and because I held his hand many days up in the VA Hospital before he died.  He died of Prostate Cancer.

Uncle Andrew

I had not been to Uncle Andrew’s grave in a few years.  Two of his children are dead now…there are a few children left but I wonder if they visit…perhaps a granddaughter visits.  She would have been the apple of his eye.  He was a wonderful man, I still miss him…he lived with us when I was little.  He died of Bone Cancer and Lung Cancer.

Uncle Arnold in Havana Cuba

My Aunt Sharon is still alive and she will take flowers there. Uncle Arnold was another wonderful Uncle taken from us too soon by a swift heart attack in the night time.  He died in the house where he was born.

Uncle Arthur

Died in the Invasion of Italy in 1944.

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On a personal note I want to thank my husband for the 26 years he spent in the service.  My baby brother for the time he served in the Navy and my nephew Ben who is currently serving.

Years ago Memorial Day was known as Decoration Day.

Wistful Wednesday: Two Uncles

My parents come from large families.  Since my Dad has eleven brothers and two sisters I have many Uncles.

 

This must have been taken at some family gathering.  Cousin Verniel took the photo and shared it with me.

Uncle George on the left and Uncle Arnold on the right….looks like they brought out some sauna dressing room benches into the yard.  Looks like they were at Uncle Ervin’s place just from the lay of the land.  Late on summer evenings that woods would be filled with fireflies.

Uncle George was son number eight and Uncle Arnold was child number thirteen and son number twelve.  My Dad was son number ten.

Uncle George was a farmer and a fixer.  A piece of baling twine could be used to fix many things.  He was a kind, kind man.  He married Aunt Grace and together they merged her girls (she was widowed early in life) with four more children that they would have together.  I always considered the older girls “real” cousins…one day one of them said to me “BUT I am not a real cousin.”  Maybe not to everyone…but to me they were “real.” One was four years and one was two years of age when their Mom married Uncle George…so he was the only father they ever knew and they called him Dad.  

Uncle Arnold was a farmer and a carpenter, he could build just about anything. He was a wonderful gentleman who always had a kind word or two.  He and his wife Sharon have five sons.  I know one reasonably well, the others I don’t know at all. They lived on the farm where my grandparents raised all their children, now their oldest son lives there.

This photo was taken in 1978.  Uncle George would die in 1997 from cancer at the age of 74.  Uncle Arnold would die in 1991 from a heart attack at the age of 59.  Both of their wives are still living. 

My grandparents raised a wonderful bunch of boys and girls.  They were all hard working law abiding, welcoming, kind, honest people.   There wasn’t one I didn’t like or admire for some quality.  Not a carouser in the bunch….although they could make lots of noise at a couple of Shivarees I attended when I was little.

Wistful Wednesday: 1953

I didn’t know the story about this photo before.  So I called my Aunt and asked her.  She being sharper than a tack, knew exactly the photograph I was talking about.

Arnie and me in ‘53

This is my Uncle Arnold and my Aunt Anna, siblings of my fathers.  Their Mother  (My Grandmother died in June of 1953.) This photo was taken at the train station in Detroit Lakes Minnesota.  Uncle Arnold had been home for the funeral and he was headed back to Norfolk Virginia where he was stationed.  He was in the Navy.

I had never heard my Uncle Arnold referred to as Arnie before, when I asked my Aunt she laughed and said “I did it just to irritate him.”

Aunt Anna celebrated her birthday on Monday.  She was 18 years old in this photo in 1953. Uncle Arnold was 21.  Uncle Arnold died of a massive heart attack in April of 1992 he was just 60 years old.  He was a wonderful man with a great sense of humor, he was a farmer and a carpenter.

My Dad and my Aunt Anna are the only siblings still living, out of fourteen only two remain:)

Wistful Wednesday: Soldiers

Soldiers..we had a few in my fathers family over the years.
My Paternal Grandparents had twelve sons, five who would serve in the Armed Forces.
My Grandmother must have been beside herself.. the worst news came in 1944  May 20 my Uncle Arthur died and was buried in Italy.  He was killed during the invasion of Italy. He was in the Army 1943 to 1944.

Arthur born in 1920 and died in 1944.

Twenty four years old..seems like so young to die.

My Uncle Hugo served most of his time in Sicily during WW2 where he was wounded.  His left heel was shot off and he had numerous shrapnel wounds in his back near his spine. He was in the Army from 1942 to 1944. Some of that shrapnel remained embedded near his spine until his death in 1987.

My Dad was in Korea when I was born. He was in the Army from 1950 to 1952. Dad was wounded when a round hit his helmet..he didn’t want anyone back home to worry so he never put in for a Purple Heart..but we have photos of his bandaged head.

My Uncles Arnold and Andrew served almost at the same time.  Arnold was in the Navy from 1952 to 1956 mostly in Cuba, and Andrew was in the Army from 1953 to 1955 mostly in Hawaii.
This photo was taken when Arnold and Andrew came home for their Mother’s funeral in June of 1953.  She died of a massive heart attack.
I often wonder..Arnold enlisted in the Navy so that perhaps Andrew would be passed over for the draft. Andrew was a sickly child and teenager..frail..and his Mother worried about him.  ( I think that he was also one of her favorites.)  She died shortly after he was drafted, coincidence..maybe..maybe not.

Anyway..this is the photo I wanted to share today.  My Uncle Andrew on the left with one of his buddies.  Look how close to the White House they are…I bet they strolled through the grounds and probably went inside too.  President Eisenhower would have been in office then..a Military man.  The entire inside of the White House went through a renovation during the Truman years 1945 to 1953.

I can date this photo from 1953 to 1955 because of my Uncles time in service.

We should remember our soldiers not only on Veteran’s Day and Memorial Day.. but other days as well.
Lately the subject of women in the battlefields is being debated.  I say ask the women if they want to go to the front lines..if they want to go then let them..I am sick and tired of a bunch of men telling women what they can and cannot do:)

Update: There is some discussion,  is this the White House or not..I have searched for photos of buildings with columns in between the windows to no avail..if it is not the White House what building is it?