Sunday, May 27, 2007

Memorial Day

Through the anniversary of D-Day, Ancestry.com is making 90 million U.S. military records available free of charge.

From the U.S. Rosters of WWII Dead:




John A. Quaid
My mom's stepbrother. Uncle Jack.
Paratrooper.
Died June 6, 1944.
St. Mère Église, France.




George F. Hardman
My mom's brother. Uncle George.
Naval aviator.
Missing, declared dead, along with his squadron, 1943.
Lost in flight near Guadalcanal in bad weather.

A visual of my father's draft card isn't on file, but the information from it is. He lied about his age, indicating he was born in 1920, and not 1922. And this is what was marked as his civilian occupation, I swear to God: "Actor (Motion picture actor. ) or Director, Motion Picture (Motion picture director.) or Entertainer"

Apparently, my father was delusional. (Then again, Sams Club gave me a business membership and they have me marked down as a cinema operator. Who knew owning a 27" inch Sony Trinitron would garner me such acclaim? Go figure.)

There is, of course, no documentation for my mother, since the USG didn't consider the WASP to be military pilots back in the day.

You've all read a good deal about my mother here. I've even done a radio commentary about her and the WASP. If you'd like to hear her tell a couple of stories in her own words, WVIK now has the audio posted of their WWII oral history program featuring my mom and several other women veterans of WWII. Click on this link and listen to program #8, Women in the Ranks. My mom's piece kicks in at approximately the 38 minute mark, but all the women have great stories to tell, and it's worth a listen.

Friends, the veterans of WWII are reaching their twilight time. It is our job to keep their light alive.

Always remember. Never forget.

There was a time on this planet when evil was a much more clearly defined thing. And there was a great generation that fought it.

Never, never, never, never forget.

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