7 December 1941,, Do you Remember, Did you ask your Parents?

  Many times Judy Russell and I are thinking along the same veins.  Suspecting because so many of my family served I did ask and many gladly told on the 7 December Anniversary date.

  For myself I was only 19 months old. Had already been in the hospital and had major surgery and radiation.  For my parents it was a heart wrenching time. We lived in Greybull, Wyo shortly after the War started we moved to Petaluma, CA.

  Dad's only brother was in the Navy at Pearl Harbor when this happened. Dad's brother in laws, if not already enlisted were enlisted in the service.  Mom's brothers both went into the service. I have one Uncle still alive and he jumped from the plane's in behind enemy lines.  All the others are gone.

 But it seemed everyone in our family was involved in the War. If you could not fight you covered so
someone else did.  Dad was a Coast Watcher.  We moved to CA so he could help his brother in law with a Dairy as Uncle had served his time already. I remember him in Uniform when I was about 4 years of age. The husbands of the sisters were all in the war also.

Somewhere Mom wrote what her parents were doing when the War broke out. But I accidently left a box at Mom's, hoping brother kept it and it has that data in it.  Mom was the original Genealogist or maybe it was her Dad.  Probably was Grandad who lit the fire.

He would always share stories with me about his parents and grandparents and ask me to go find some of this kin he met when at age 5 he was taken from Iowa to PA to meet his Dad's family.

His Grandad came from PA and his Dad being 12 walked behind the wagon bringing the animals with working dog.  I have folders of various stories Grandad shared. Some are so funny and delightful others of course are sad or scary. Of course his younger siblings (he being the oldest) took turns helping walking in the dust of the wagon and the animals on the road from Greene Co. PA to Monroe/Appanoose Co. Iowa.

Grandad's father is one of the men I would love to have an hour with. One other is that Grandfather's grandfather. We know lots about the man in the middle and I have his Civil War Pin?Badge?

My Uncles' spent time at the Army Hospital in San Francisco and the wives and children would stay with us during recuperation.   I remember one trip and my Uncle handed me Dad and his favorite record and as I went to put it away, Mom called me to the kitchen. I set the record down and minutes later we hard a crack and were flattened to the floor.  Uncle sat on the record it broke and he thought someone was shooting at us.  The Great Speckled Bird  was the record. I have never found it to replace for my DAD. Now of course way to late.