Saturday, December 31, 2011

Everybody's Doin' It...

Everyone's making their New Year's resolutions, so I figured I'd put down some genealogical resolutions.  Maybe making them public will help me keep them!

First and foremost, I'd like to finish citing my family tree.  A couple years ago, I was asked by a cousin I met through Ancestry message boards about information on my tree.  I went to my tree to give him the citation and it wasn't there.  I sat there scratching my head asking myself, "Now how the heck did I come to that conclusion?"  I was eventually able to find my source and forward the information to him, but I was frustrated it took so long and I hate disorganization.  I started poking around my tree and realized that I hadn't cited so much from my early years doing genealogy and the result was UHG-A-LEE!  So I decided to start over.  Scary and not something any of us want to do, but it had to be done.  I printed out a list of everyone in my tree and I've been going through it when I have free time and making sure each person in there has a citation and that my conclusions are valid.  If there's no source information in there for someone, they're out of the tree.

Which brings me to my next resolution...to find more time for genealogy.  Cub Scouts and PTA (mostly PTA) have taken an absolutely obscene amount of my time.  I've blogged about this before and it's just so frustrating to not be getting any farther in my aspirations of becoming a professional because of volunteer obligations.  They won't go away completely.  I love Cub Scouts and feel that it is ultimately beneficial to my boys.  We've got a great Pack too which makes the energy spent on Scouting completely worth it.  The PTA, well, I'm a huge supporter of the PTA, but most everyone (including some teachers, sadly) aren't.  This is the last year that I can be the President.  Elections will be in April and then I'll volunteer or perhaps run for a smaller position.  I could never walk away from something that benefits my children and their school (boy if everyone only felt that way, things would be so much easier!).  I still shouldn't have as much to do as I do now, so hopefully that will give me the time I desire.

Resolution #3...take some step toward credentialing.  Whether it's taking a course (looking at Boston University and my GI Bill if it hasn't expired), or jumping right in and beginning the certification process (I don't think I'm ready yet).  I will do SOMETHING to educate myself and get closer to my goal!

Fourth?  I want to create a website for my family's genealogy.  I've seen so many great family sites and I've become motivated to do just that.  Not sure how I want it to look yet.  I normally wait for an epiphany with stuff like that, so this one might be a tough one!

Fifth, I want to use my new family tree software!  I picked up Legacy's Family Tree software at the NGS conference, but didn't want to transfer my .gedcom over until I finished going through my data.  I hope to be enjoying that purchase soon!

Last, I want to keep up with my blogging.  I'm usually pretty good at getting at least 3 or more posts out each week, but I'll admit to slacking off now and then.  Never too long, but I don't feel my best when I don't give my blog the love it deserves.  Blogging makes me think.  Even when posting a tombstone, my instinct it to try to find out all the information I can about it and put that up with the post.  I start thinking and working on just that one person (or couple) and many times I come to some new conclusions or make completely new discoveries.  My blog isn't just for the sake of posting (and I'm sure all of you feel the same), it's here so I can make connections with others researching the same lines, it's there to help me work through problems, and it's here so I can connect with fellow geneabloggers who have been extremely helpful with their comments and suggestions!

Well, I guess that's it for this year.  Start slow.  Six resolutions.  Not too bad.  I'm not resolving to break through any brick walls that.  I'll save that for next year when I've completed resolution #1.  I don't know what my high-priority brick walls are until then!

I'll take a look back at these when the world doesn't end in December 2012 and see what I've accomplished.  Thank you all for reading and have fun tending those roots in the new year!


Tuesday, December 27, 2011

Wordless Wednesday - An Easy Repair

After
Before






















My grandfather Edward Brown Sr. as a child.  I love how they used to pose people with furniture!  I'm playing a little hooky from my blog right now since I'm at home with family, but I can't keep away from the blog for long, so a quick post and then back to having fun.  Many people have old photos with missing corners.  Just grab the cloning tool on your photo editing software (I use Serif PhotoPlus x2), copy a section that is similar and drag to clone.  Easy!

Saturday, December 24, 2011

Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories - Christmas Eve


It's Christmas Eve and tonight we'll be spending Christmas together with all of my in-laws.  On Christmas Day everyone stays at their own houses (or their respective in-law's) to open presents and relax.  This night is for all of my Green Bay family to be together.  My brother-in-law, Mike, will be in charge of making the tenderloin, perhaps with some assistance from my brother-in-law, Joe, who will be bringing his delicious Stromboli to the feast.  My mother-in-law, Dolores, will be bringing her carrots with dill, and my sister-in-law, Lori Ann, will most likely bring her beer dip.  Everyone else will bring drinks or dishes that are needed to make the meal a success.  My sister-in-law, Cindy, will be working tirelessly all day to make ready for everyone's arrival tonight, since she is hosting the event this year.  I'll be bringing my camera in hopes that I can get all of the kids (18 months to adult in age) to sit still for a group photo (better charge my batteries)!

The kids will get to open the presents that their aunts and uncles got them (everyone pays an agreed upon amount into the "pot" a certain amount for each nephew/niece and the presents are bought as a group.  It makes it easier than having to worry about buying a present for each niece/nephew...and more cost effective!).  Then the presents are exchanged from Secret Santas (the kids and adults drew names on Thanksgiving and had to shop for one person).  Finally, the White Elephant pass around will occur.  A $10 present is passed around as a story is read.  Every time you hear the word "left" or "right" in the story that's the direction the present goes until the story is over.  The guys have their own pass around.  The girls have theirs, and the kids have a candy pass around.

There will be some drinking of soda, coffee, and beer (this IS Wisconsin) .  When dinner is served we'll remember those who are no longer with us to celebrate, but who are no doubt watching over us, especially my father-in-law, Patrick, who was the original maker of the beef tenderloin (recipe posted here).

Eventually, we'll all head back to our respective homes and my husband will read "Twas the Night Before Christmas" to our boys before they set out Santa's cookies and milk, and put the stockings by the fireplace.  Then it's off to bed and time for mommy and daddy to get to work doing what we do.  Early mass on Christmas morning and then it's time to open the presents and stockings.  My trusty camera will be at my side throughout...maybe there'll even be a picture or two of me taken this year.  After all, it is the season of miracles!

So from the entire Cayemberg family, may you have a Merry Christmas!

Thursday, December 22, 2011

Follow Friday - A Brief Edition

Blogging has been a bit sparse as the Holidays grow near.  I'm enjoying family and hope you all are as well!

I've seen so many great posts in the Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories, but this one by Amy Coffin, I just had to share.  I love the idea!  Check out a great idea by her mom for what to do with all those Christmas cards and Holiday photos!

Jen Woods over at Climbing My Family Tree had a great post idea.  It was simple, but brilliant.  She posted a signature from an ancestor she found in a probate packet.  It's really the little things that make you feel great about a find.  Do you have any ancestor's signatures? Did they give you an extra special feeling when you saw them?

At Renee's Genealogy Blog a cute poem was posted about grandma and her genealogy addiction.  In my case it would be mommy!

An excellent point (and one that is still valid today).  I always find it amazing how the story changes depending on the outcome of a war/conflict.  A perfect illustration of that in this post by Donald Shaffer on the Civil War Emancipation blog.  While I agree that we may never know if this exchange took place, we can most likely check newspapers for all the blustering opinions of the day!

Save A Grave shared a post from the Archdiocese of Washington about the oddest mausoleum, I've ever seen.  When space is at a premium...build up!  I agree with the concern of upkeep.  We've all seen what happens to old cemeteries and the thought of a 32-story deteriorating mausoleum is scary!

I hate knee-jerk reactions.  I hate jerks two and this has them both!  Legislators trying to take away the Social Security Death Index because it will help stop fraud/identity theft.  Just shows the ignorance of many of those that make our laws.  Megan Smolenyak Smolenyak makes some excellent points.  Maybe she should run for office!

Until next post, have fun tending those roots!

Monday, December 19, 2011

Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories - Cookies



While my Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories posts aren’t matching up with the prompt of the day, I still want to share them.  And how could I not share a cookie recipe?  This isn’t a recipe that I remember from my childhood.  It’s a recipe that my mom remembers her mom making for them.  I will certainly be trying it out when I get back home after the holidays!  I’ll be sure to add a picture of the finished product as well!



Sand Tarts

½ c. shortening                                                          ¼ tsp salt
1 c sugar                                                                    ½ c almonds, blanched
1 egg, beaten                                                             1 egg white
2 c cake flour                                                             1 tbsp sugar
2 tsp baking powder                                                  ¼ tsp cinnamon

Cream shortening and sugar thoroughly.  Add beaten egg and dry ingredients which have been sifted together.  Chill dough until stiff.  Roll out 1/8 inch thich and cut with various shaped cutters.  Press ½ almond in the center of each, brush tops of cookies with egg white and sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar mixture.  Bake in moderate oven (375 degrees F) 10 minutes.  This makes 76 cookies 2 ½ -inch diameter.  A crisp cookie which keeps well.

VARIATION – Roll thin, cut with tiny bridge-set cutters, bake 5 minutes, remove from oven and cool.  Frost with Peppermint Spread and while moist outline each with candy beads.

Saturday, December 17, 2011

Sunday's Obituary - Who Died Again?

Don't you hate it when you get a nice juicy obit to only find that the woman isn't properly defined (or any of the women)?  Sure for the time period she's properly defined...Mrs So-n-so.  That's all you need to know.  Yes, and my husband would be jokingly saying, of course that's all you need to know (I love his humor)!  Unfortunately for a genealogist it's not what we'd like to see.  Luckily, I already had this woman in my family tree and this is supplemental information, but what could I do if I didn't have her in my tree already?  What if I stumbled across this obituary in the scrapbook passed on to me or as I searched through old newspapers?  I saw it and said, "George and Margaret Thalen [sic] Rosbeck are in my tree, so who is this?"

Well, the obit states her birth date and parents names (as mentioned).  That's enough to get me a birth certificate (if they're available for that time).  Her wedding date is in there too, so I can get that record, and with the publication information/death date, I can get the death certificate.  The obituary even tells you what church she belonged to so that opens up baptismal, matrimony, and other sacramental records if they are still in existence.  The Catholic Church is great with record keeping so unless there was fire or disaster, I should be good.  There is most always a way around a not-so-perfect obituary.

So who was Mrs. William Pesch?  Her name was Anna Pesch nee Rosbeck and she was the third of 9 known children born to George and Margaretha Rosbeck nee Thelen:  Frances, Bertha, Anna, John, Hermann, Martin, Adolph, Alfred, and Mary.

Commonwealth Reporter, 28OCT1965
I was delighted when I came across this obituary because I didn't have the names of her children in my tree yet.  Now I do, although I need to keep in mind that there may be children missing that died young and weren't mentioned.  The obituary does mention others that predeceased  her, but anything is possible.  Remember that obituaries are written during a time of grief.

Anna Pesch nee Rosbeck is my husband's great great aunt.


Mrs Pesch Of Kewaskum Expires at 81

St. Mathias Church Service Announced; Survivors Listed

Mrs. William Pesch, 81, Kewaskum, died today at St. Joseph’s Hospital, West Bend.

She was born in the Town of Auburn Nov. 18, 1884, the daughter of George and Margaret Thalen [sic] Rosbeck.  She was married to Mr. Pesch June 27, 1905, at St. Killian.  She was a member of St. Mathias Catholic Church, Town of Auburn, Ladies Altar Society and the Apostolate of the Suffering.

Survivors include a son, Elroy, Kewaskum, R. 1; three daughters, Mrs. Albert Gross, Campbellsport, R. 2, Mrs. Erwin Guldon, Kewaskum, and Mrs. Joe Hammes, West Bend; 14 grandchildren; 16 great-grandchildren; and five brothers, Herman, Knowles, John, Minneapolis, Martin, West Bend, Alfred, Mayville, and Adolph, Milwaukee.  She was preceded in death by her husband and three sisters.

Friends may call after 2 p.m. Friday at Miller’s Funeral Home, Kewaskum.  Funeral services will be at 10 a.m. Saturday at St. Mathias Church, Rev. Walter Morgan officiating.  Burial will be in the parish cemetery.”

[Fond du Lac (Wisconsin) Commonwealth Reporter, Thursday, October 28, 1965, pg 30]

Many times the same obituary is published in various newspapers, but don't make assumptions.  See the difference another newspaper can make.  Here we've got her first name, the first names of the daughters that married, and when her husband died.  You never know until you look!

The Sheboygan Press, 28OCT1965
"Mrs. Anna Pesch

Mrs. Anna Pesch, 81, of Kewaskum, died early today at St. Joseph's Hospital, West Bend.

The former Anna Rosbeck was born in St. Kilion [sic], Wis., on Nov. 18, 1884, daughter of the late George and Margaret Thelen Rosbeck.

She was a member of St. Mathias Caholic Parish, Town of Auburn, and the Ladies Altar Society and the Apostolate of the Suffering.

She married William Pesch at St. Kilion [sic] on June 27, 1905.  He died on April 6, 1950.

Surviving are a son, Elroy, R. 1, Kewaskum; three daughters, Mrs Albert (Ceceila) Gross, R. 2, Campbellsport, Mrs. Ervin (Celesta) Golden, Kewaskum and Mrs. Joseph (Lorraine) Hammes, West Bend; 14 grandchildren; 16 great grandchildren; five brothers, Herman, Knowles, John, Minneapolis, Minn., Martin, West Bend, Alfred, Mayville, and Adolph, Milwaukee.

Funeral services will be at 10 a.m. Saturday at St. Mathias Catholic Church, Town of Auburn, with the Rev. Walter Morgan, pastor, the celebrant of the Requiem Mass.  Burial will be in the Parish Cemetery.

Friends may call at the Miller's Funeral Home after 2 p.m. Friday."

[The Sheboygan Press, October 28, 1965, pg 8]

It was also incredibly helpful that in this case I had a funeral card passed on to me as well.


Friday, December 16, 2011

On the road...


I hope everyone is having a great week.  We're on our way to Green Bay for some Christmas cheer, although apparently without snow (very bummed about that).  No posts until Monday or Tuesday, but I'll be keeping up on all the other great blogs out there on my Reader.  Have fun this weekend!

Wednesday, December 14, 2011

Those Places Thursday - DLI the 1st Time Around



The Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center in Monterey, California.  That's where I went after Basic Training and that's where I spent just under a year learning Russian for the Army.  I've got loads of fond memories from my time there.  I was in Foxtrot Company.  Lived and went to school "up the hill"...and the hills on DLI are no joke.  They're evil.

I would (like everyone else) sneak through a hole in the fence to get to the local grocery store.  Because going through the hole in the fence was much faster than going through the gate.  This also meant that whenever the installation would fix the fence it didn't last long.  Within weeks it would open up again, but we didn't complain.  We often thought they should have just put a gate up there!

The best way to describe DLI is a weird cross between the military and college.  Once we passed our inspections at 4 weeks, we had loads of freedom.  Freedom that you wouldn't expect for Soldiers in training.  We weren't complaining though!  We went to school Monday through Friday for about 8 hours.  That was our job.  Go to school and learn your language.  Sure we did PT in the mornings and some training in the afternoons, but usually our leaders did their best to not give us too much to do.  Why?  Because we usually had lots of homework.  If you didn't have homework, you should be spending time studying (yeah, I'll get right on that...).

Our teachers were great.  Sweet little Russian ladies (and one American gentleman) taught us.  Mrs Rubenstein was in charge of the schoolhouse and you did not mess with her.  We complained the whole time...who could learn this crazy language!?!  I'm never going to be able to understand Cyrillic!  God bless them for tolerating us!  And, of course, they were right.  We learned Russian just fine...most of us anyway.  There were those that couldn't handle the intensity of the course and ended up being reclassed into another job, but we had a pretty big graduating class, as can be seen from the picture above.  I'm on the left, in the second row.  The Private First Class with the sun in my face between the two Russian ladies.  The dark-haired lady to the right was my "homeroom" teacher...Mrs. Turin.  She was awesome.  She was sweet, and we loved her like a mom. She treated us like her kids and almost always had a smile for us.

We often times gave "code names" to our various teachers.  Mrs Turin was occasionally referred to as "mom".  Then there was "Lady Flip-Flop head" because one teacher always bounced her head back and forth.  "The Red Dragon" because, we'll she had red hair and some people thought she was mean (I rather liked her though).  "The Babbler", she well...babbled.  Even though we gave them these nicknames, we were still very respectful to them.  We just saw it as harmless fun.

It's easy looking back fondly at those times, but in reality it was one of the hardest things I had done at that point in my life.  Sure, we had fun when we weren't in class, but you had to or you'd snap (and there were those Soldiers that snapped and had to be committed).

We didn't have Drill Sergeants at DLI when I went through for training and it was very hard to leave after having a year of freedom and heading to our next training assignment...and back to Drill Sergeants.  We managed, of course, but it wasn't ideal.  What is though?

Ah, well.  Good memories...and I'd end up back there again within 5 years of leaving.  But that's a different Thursday!

Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Wedding Wednesday - Victor and Mary Laurent


Like I said on Sunday, I knew I had a picture/clipping of their anniversary somewhere!

"Married 50 Years - Mr. and Mrs. Victor Laurent [sic] of Tonet, Kewaunee County, celebrated their golden wedding anniversary today.  They were married in St. Martin's Catholic Church at Tonet, and have spent their entire married life in the community on the Laurent [sic] homestead farm.  They have three children, ten grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren. (Photo by Edward Christensen)"

Unfortunately the clipping doesn't have a date on it, but I know that Victor and Mary Laurent nee Dart were married in 1906.  So it should be from 1956 and look so happy after 50 years together!

Victor and Mary's Wedding
Victor and Mary's 50th anniversary



Saturday, December 10, 2011

RootsTech Bans books

OK, well the book vendors anyway.  This is just ridiculous!  Genealogists.  Books.  The two go hand in hand!  Head over to RootsTech's website and Facebook page and tell them to reconsider and allow the book vendors in!  Write a blog...give a tweet (#rootstech), but let them know this is  just plain stupid!  

There are so many good posts and tweets out there about this.  Is it truly a "ban"? Why is this happening?  What should happen and how should we as a genealogy community react?  I don't have the answers. I only have my feelings on the matter and right now they are a bit grateful that I wasn't planning on going to RootsTech this year.  Maybe I won't be going next year either and will just save my pennies for the annual NGS conferences where I can take a look and all those lovely genealogy books.  Only time will tell.  Right now I need a Tums because this isn't sitting well with me.

Sunday's Obituary - Mary Laurent

Green Bay Press-Gazette
Mary Laurent nee Dart was my husband's great grandmother.  She was the daughter of Eugene and Josephine Dart nee Hermans and was the 8th of 12 known children:  Louisa, Charles, Jean Baptiste, Odile, Adolphe, Jule, Desirea, Mary, August Joseph, William, Eli and Wilbert.

Mary Dart married Victor Laurent on January 10, 1905/06 in Tonet Wisconsin.  Victor died on June 26th 1960.  They are both buried in St. Martin's Cemetery, Tonet, Kewaunee County, Wisconsin.

So the obituary said they were married in 1905 and my tree had 1906.  Looks like a little researching for me when I go to Green Bay next week.  I think I have a Golden Anniversary clipping for them somewhere.  I'll need to look and hope it's one with a date on it.  Either way I should be able to figure out the year by checking the papers and the historical society when I get up north.

So what did I learn from this newspaper article?  Sadly, Mary's parents' names weren't mentioned nor were any of her siblings that died before her.  I've already mentioned above that she had 11 (known) siblings, so I can at least narrow down which ones died before she did...and that's no small thing!

"Mrs. Mary Laurent

Mrs. Mary Laurent [sic], 77, Luxemburg, Rt. 3, died Tuesday forenoon in a Green Bay hospital after a short illness.  Born June 20, 1886, in Tonet, she married Victor Laurent in January 1905 at St. Martin Church, Tonet.  He died June 26, 1960.

Survivors are one son, Norman, Luxemburg, R. 3;  two daughters, Mrs. Patrick (Laura) Cayemberg, Green Bay; Mrs. Goldie (Anna) Malcore, New Franken; 11 grandchildren; 20 great-grandchildren; one sister, Mrs. Odile Vandenhouten, Green Bay; three brothers, William Dart, Green Bay; Eli and Wilbert Dart, both of Luxemburg, Rt. 3.

At McMahon Funeral Home, Luxemburg, after 7 p.m. tonight.  Rosary 8 tonight and Thursday evening.  Funeral 10 a.m. Friday, St. Martin Church, Tonet, the Rev. Claridge officiating.  Burial in the church cemetery."

[Hand-dated Dec 17, 1963.  This was the date of Mary's death, not the publication of the newspaper.  Clipping was most likely taken from the Green Bay Press-Gazette].

Thursday, December 8, 2011

Blog Caroling!

Luckily I'm keeping up on my Google Reader (for the most part anyway) and noticed that Blog Caroling is fast approaching!  I loved sharing my favorite Christmas carol last year and was very excited when I came across the first Blog caroling post which just happened to be Bill West's who was singing "I Saw Three Ships".  Oddly enough I'd heard the song before, but didn't know the words except for "On Christmas Day in the morning".  Thanks for sharing, Bill, and thank you footnoteMaven for the caroling!

After some consideration I finally decided on a song for this year.  When I was a little girl, my mom used to play Brenda Lee's Christmas album, "Jingle Bell Rock".  I loved those songs, but there was one that always gave me chills and brought a tear to my eye (almost every time...even today).  I've played this album for my kids as well, and my oldest son Benjamin loves this song too.  It's called, "The Angel and the Little Blue Bell."

Now let me see...no hot toddy for me tonight, but my cup of tea is still warm.

1...2...3...


The Angel and the Little Blue Bell

At Christmas time in the steeple high
The bells would proudly ring
To tell the world of the joy and cheer
That Christmas Day would bring
But one little bell in the steeple high
Could only pain alone and cry
No matter how he'd try and try 
Poor little thing
He couldn't ring
At all...

All the other bells in the steeple high
Saw all his lonely tears
And watched him try his best to ring
Each Christmas through the years
But the little blue bell in the steeple tall
Just cried when Christmas came to call
For like I said in spite of all
Poor little thing
He couldn't ring
At all...

One Christmas Eve in the steeple high
An angel did appear
She smiled and said to the little blue bell
I've come to dry your tears
And on that night so the story's told
She changed the little blue bell to the purest gold
With the richest tone to hold and hold
Proud little thing
Just hear him ring
At all

Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Remembering Pearl Harbor

The names of those who died on the USS Arizona
The Arizona Memorial at Pearl Harbor

I lived in Hawaii for 3 years.  I got married there (both my civil and church wedding) and I gave birth to my first son there.  I still have family living on Oahu.  I have beautiful memories of Hawaii and miss it terribly.  When we think of Hawaii we think of tranquility and beauty.  A tropical paradise.  It was 70 years ago today, at 7:55am (Hawaii time) that its tranquility was shattered in, as Franklin Delano Roosevelt put it, "A date that will live in infamy."

The Arizona Memorial

Today I remember the victims, and survivors of Pearl Harbor.  I cannot imagine what they went through.  Many of the survivors had enormous guilt.  "Why did I survive?"  Many of them would later choose to be interred in the wreckage with their buddies that died on that infamous day, December 7th, 1941.

Oil still bubbles up from the wreckage of the USS Arizona

These are some of the pictures I have of Pearl Harbor. A place where many of my fellow Soldiers chose as the site of their reenlistments.  A place of tranquility again, with a beautiful memorial in paradise to those who lost their lives.  Remember them always.

The USS Arizona.  Some parts of the ship sit just above the water.

The USS Arizona




Folding the flag during a reenlistment at the Arizona Memorial

A reenlistment of a dear friend at the Arizona Memorial

Monday, December 5, 2011

Tombstone Tuesday - Remembering This Holiday Season



I went to the Central Texas State Veterans Cemetery last week to participate in November's challenge from Lorine McGinnis of Olive Tree Genealogy.  Lorine will soon be working her video magic on the various submissions that were sent to her, but I wanted to take this Tombstone Tuesday and share some of the photos I took.

The cemetery decorates the veterans' graves with flags during Memorial and Veterans Days and wreaths during the holidays.  It is a beautiful sight to see.  There are many people that help to put out the flags/wreaths as well as clean them up each time it's needed.  One of those groups that helps is a local Boy Scout Troop.  Great work, boys!  Thank you for remembering these heroes and their families.

This holiday season I will be remembering the loved ones that couldn't be with us anymore.  They are alive in our hearts and our work!


All I can say here is WOW! Served during 3 wars (I don't care if they say Korea was a "conflict")...


"Robert Sanders
SGM US Army
WWII   Korea   Vietnam
May 23, 1923    Mar 25, 2005"

I'm not trying to single out Sergeants Major here, but another Wow!


"William McPherson
CSM US Army
Korea   Vietnam
Jan 22, 1932    Apr 23, 2005
Silver Star
Bronze Star
Purple Heart"

I can only imagine your experience...


"Warne S May
1LT US Army
World War II
Mar 8, 1920   Oct 6, 1999
AM Ex-POW
Carlyn M May
Mar 22, 1921    Mar 11, 2008"

Thank you, Sir


"Carl William Gustke Jr
MAJ
United States Army
Vietnam
Sep 25, 1947   Jan 12, 2011
BSM  PH  MSM  ARCOM"

And we cannot forget those on the home front for these vets.


"Kil Sun Foxen
Feb 25, 1951   Sep 24, 2006
Wife of
CW2 Robert A Neal
USA"

and...


"Mary Lou McDilda
Oct 6, 1938   May 4, 2004
Wife of
A1C Robert K McDilda
USA"

And those still waiting for their markers still got wreaths...


Thank you all!


Sunday, December 4, 2011

Military Monday - Now THAT's a Military Family!




















I'm sure we've all seen those families with tons of children serving during wartime.  They are always impressive/awe-inspiring to see and this one is along those lines.  Not only does Mrs. Alice Hare have a son serving during World War II, but has a brother and sister serving!  I find the sister to be particularly impressive considering the time period we're talking about!

I haven't made a connection between these heroes found in my family scrapbook, but I look forward to searching for that connection and adding them to my Veterans Day post!

"Mail Brings Good News of Sister, Son and Brother

Mrs. Alice Hare, 908 Harvey street, received double good news from the war front this week.  One letter bore notification that her son, Warren, 21, had been promoted from first lieutenant to captain int he Philippines, where he flies a C-47 transport plane.  He had flown over 300 combat missions, and 700 non-combat, and has been awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross and the Air medal.  He entered service shortly after his graduation from Central Catholic High school in 1942.  His sites, Eloise, is a yeoman 2/c in the Waves, and his brother, Eugene, is in the Merchant Marine.

The other good news was a letter announcing the meeting of Mrs. Hare's sister, Lt. Gladys Berken, and her brother, Lt. Roy Berken, in England, where Lt. Gladys is stationed as an Army nurse.  Lt. Roy is pilot of a C-47 transport, based in France and flew to England to visit his sister.  It was their first meeting since leaving the United States last August.

Lt. Gladys was on the nursing staff of St. Vincent hospital here for a time, then entered private nursing in Milwaukee.  Lt. Roy was a partner in the Berken and Paque trucking service before becoming an Army flier.

Lts Berken and Mrs. Hare are children of Mrs. Mary Berken, route 7."