Since it's almost Memorial Day I thought I would honor those in my family who were in the service.
If you follow my Sepia Saturday posts, you've met my Uncle Bob, my father's brother.
He graduated from the Air Corps Training Center on July 26, 1940.
He was stationed in Alaska.
He never got to see any action.
He was on a training mission when his plane was lost at sea on Dec. 12, 1941.
He was on a training mission when his plane was lost at sea on Dec. 12, 1941.
He's memorialized on a plaque in the chapel at the University Of Chicago, his Alma Mater, along with all the other graduates that were killed in WW2.
These are my mother's brothers, Darrell and Dale with my Grandmother. Their other brother, Fred was also in the service. I don't seem to have any pictures of him in uniform. I'll also be thinking of him on Memorial Day.
This is Darrell in Burma.(I think it was Burma. I'm going to have to do some more research.)
I'm sure all of you will be thinking of your family members who were in the service on this Memorial Day. And I'm sure all of us will be wishing for an end to war.
I found this quote on on one of the other Sepia Saturday posts: Enchanted Oak
I am not only a pacifist but a militant pacifist. I am willing to fight for peace. Nothing will end war unless the people themselves refuse to go to war...................................... Albert Einstein Be sure to go to Sepia Saturday to see more: Sepia Saturday
I found this quote on on one of the other Sepia Saturday posts: Enchanted Oak
10 comments:
Your uncle Bob was such a handsome guy! God bless our veterans and those serving our country now. May the end of the war be near.
I could see the thumbnail of your post and I hesitated to open it. I saw that youthful and hopeful face of your Uncle Bob - and a Memorial Day title- and I thought: "this post is going to make me cry." I finally got up the nerve, but it did make me cry anyway. So sad. I appreciate what he did, but I wish he were here instead.
It is good that we remember and that we write about all those people who sacrificed their lives. Each time we write it, each time we read it, we somehow share their hopes and share the sadness of their passing.
It's important to remember and honor those who served their country.
And I like the quote from Einstein.
We own more than we could pay, to veterans like your Uncle Bob.
My Uncle Donald served in the Aluetian Islands. I wonder if he was at the same base as the one you lost. I really liked your post today. It is a tough day for those who lost people during the war and also a tough one for those who served but are also gone.
Correction:I just reread the accident report and it wasn't a training mission as I had written. It was a patrol flight with enemy activity reported. This was just 5 days after Pearl Harbor. It must have been a very tense time. One of the other pilots parachuted out into the bay but my uncle and his plane were never found.
How very sad to have lost Uncle Bob in that way. War is such a miserable thing, but when someone wants to take away the freedom of others, what is there left but to stand and fight for freedom. It seems that if we don't stand up and fight, our fate could be like the Jews in the German holocaust. Thanks for sharing the photos of your soldiers.
L.D. Burgus, The name of the base was Elmendorf Field and it was the 18th Pursuit Squadron.
I'm a little late, but Uncle Bob is in my thoughts today. I think of him the same way that I think of all those WWII vets who were killed in action: the worst thing about it is that they died not knowing who would win that war. All those boys who perished on Omaha Beach -- how could they know that they were a part of the most magnificent victory in history? That makes my heart ache for them, and that's why I work to keep their stories alive.
I salute you, for keeping your uncle Bob's story alive and for sharing it with us. Thank you.
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