tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-993649290245605005.post2378140737845231330..comments2024-03-28T02:36:36.432-04:00Comments on Writers Who Kill: MEMORIAL DAY - THE BEGINING OF SUMMERJim Jacksonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15090252530437277145noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-993649290245605005.post-62896119769979091152013-05-24T08:41:04.228-04:002013-05-24T08:41:04.228-04:00This is the holiday when I most regret how our fam...This is the holiday when I most regret how our family has scattered to the winds. I have a cousin left back home who visits the graves of our moms and aunts and uncles and Grandma and Grandpa. <br /><br />My mother used to put her own peonies on her parents' graves and we'd get together with all the many cousins. <br /><br />Our new yard has tons of peonies and they made me think of the graveyard where my parents lie, so far away.<br /><br />When I win the lottery and have my own jet and pilot, I'll just zip back to Illinois and visit the graves on Memorial Day.Kaye Georgehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05596677617002735674noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-993649290245605005.post-54484574897473699882013-05-23T19:39:05.951-04:002013-05-23T19:39:05.951-04:00Elaine, what memories you have, and someday you...Elaine, what memories you have, and someday you'll want to read those letters. My closest siblings live about an hour away so that's why I take care of the family graves.Gloria Aldenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13581719606924364447noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-993649290245605005.post-5294822498383204562013-05-23T19:36:57.388-04:002013-05-23T19:36:57.388-04:00Pat, your daughters and nieces have an interesting...Pat, your daughters and nieces have an interesting background. Are any of them interested in genealogy? My children go back to John Alden from the Mayflower. He was a cooper, and we have the family tree dating back to John and Priscilla's second son, Joseph.Gloria Aldenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13581719606924364447noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-993649290245605005.post-72736687069097119392013-05-23T19:32:38.429-04:002013-05-23T19:32:38.429-04:00Warren, that was wonderful that you helped him. I ...Warren, that was wonderful that you helped him. I remember the precious little pieces that he wrote and you posted. You were lucky to have a father like him.Gloria Aldenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13581719606924364447noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-993649290245605005.post-17613954289982951722013-05-23T15:58:13.123-04:002013-05-23T15:58:13.123-04:00My father served in WWII. He was part of the secon...My father served in WWII. He was part of the second wave into Normandy. He was also stationed in Italy and North Africa. He's buried in a national cemetary about an hour away. My mother is with him. I need to visit more than I do.<br /><br />I have all the letters my father wrote home to his father from Italy and North Africa. Some day I'll read them. I'm not ready to yet.Elaine Will Sparberhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02678727606822464947noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-993649290245605005.post-83074475401288356262013-05-23T11:42:17.427-04:002013-05-23T11:42:17.427-04:00Oops, didn't get this part in. A few of those ...Oops, didn't get this part in. A few of those tombstones date to the Civil War, but we have charts showing that the family faught in the Revolutionary War too. Seems that's what could get my daughter and nieces into the DAR. :)<br />PatgPatghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01046665022709722606noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-993649290245605005.post-77854741034795365072013-05-23T11:38:22.959-04:002013-05-23T11:38:22.959-04:00My sister in law does the duty here in OR at the m...My sister in law does the duty here in OR at the military cemetary. <br />Their family ties are to Mississippi, where their family goes back to mid 18th century. We have photos of many family tombstones in a little back country cemetary near Meridian that date to that time. <br />PatgPatghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01046665022709722606noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-993649290245605005.post-9180036691711769512013-05-23T10:30:12.302-04:002013-05-23T10:30:12.302-04:00My father was an infantryman in World War II. He f...My father was an infantryman in World War II. He fought in the Battle of the Bulge. His division was the first full division to cross the Rhine River over the Bridge at Remagan. I helped him write a memoir of what he wanted to tell future family members.Warren Bullhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07789270258599769915noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-993649290245605005.post-10554357426359196292013-05-23T09:49:10.219-04:002013-05-23T09:49:10.219-04:00How lucky you are to have that journal, E.B. How i...How lucky you are to have that journal, E.B. How interesting that must be. More people died of disease than being shot.<br /><br />One of the writers in my local group is quite a Civil War buff. She's part of a re-enactment group with her husband and her book - which should be published by now - is a fictional historical novel and very well written. I'm going to have her edit my Sept. book which will have a Civil War re-enactment at Elmwood Gardens.Gloria Aldenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13581719606924364447noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-993649290245605005.post-34064043958774314802013-05-23T07:32:51.981-04:002013-05-23T07:32:51.981-04:00We've had many veterans in our family, but the...We've had many veterans in our family, but the only one I know of who died was my mother's cousin--at Pearl Harbor. She found his grave at the Punch Bowl. <br /><br />We are in the fine possession of a diary that one of my great, great, uncles kept during the Civil War, which was returned to my grandfather in the 1920s from the government, which confiscated it after the Civil War. I have no idea why since most of the journal documents every ailment and misery he endured, including taking supplies across the Susquehanna River on the Union's boniest and uncomfortable horses.<br /><br />I didn't know about the poppies, Gloria. I'll remember.E. B. Davishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16746747050278597888noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-993649290245605005.post-65770437669219339982013-05-23T07:12:28.477-04:002013-05-23T07:12:28.477-04:00What a fascinating history, you have, Jim. Have yo...What a fascinating history, you have, Jim. Have you ever thought of writing historical mysteries?<br /><br />My brother signed up for some branch of the service and had one of the highest if not the highest scores on the test taken towards being a pilot. He hated boot camp, and when he found out he was color blind and couldn't be a pilot, he left the service after book camp.<br /><br /> My father had two small children when WWII started and his position in a plant that made shells, kept him from going, but two of his brothers went; one parachuted in over Normandy in the invasion, and the other fought in North Africa and Italy. One of his friends was shot and killed beside him. Thinking back now, I wonder how they always seemed to have such a wonderful sense of humor after those experiences. To my knowledge they never talked much about it. Two other brothers of my father also served, but didn't see action.Gloria Aldenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13581719606924364447noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-993649290245605005.post-89192148335351107912013-05-23T06:02:40.112-04:002013-05-23T06:02:40.112-04:00The current Jackson family plot goes back only 150...The current Jackson family plot goes back only 150+ years, but the only veteran in it is my father. My grandfather couldn’t get into the army air force for WWI, so he became a farmer and had an exemption. <br /><br />My great-grandfather was a doctor and never served. His father, also a doctor, purchased an exemption from the Civil War. The sailor who got the bounty was Scottish and survived the war. <br /><br />My great-great-great grandfather was another physician and was too old for the Civil War (he was an early abolitionist, woman's rights activist and healthy food advocate, among other causes).<br /><br />My great-great-great-great grandfather served as a physician during the War of 1812, but he’s buried in a different cemetery. His father, my 5-greats was a Lt. Colonel in the Revolutionary War and penned the articles of capitulation of British General Burgoyne to General Gates. <br /><br />Even earlier ancestors fought in the French & Indian Wars and various other Settler/Indian conflicts in Massachusetts.<br /><br />I don't live close to any of those cemeteries, but when I pass by one I stop and make sure the markers are in good shape and clear out any encroaching grass or weeds.<br /><br />~ Jim<br />Jim Jacksonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15090252530437277145noreply@blogger.com