I suppose that everyone has a few “a ha!” moments in the research of their family history. One such surprise occurred when my father related that German POWs had worked on his U.S. Army base as he trained on B-17s during World War II. While I’ve related this story in my book, it still shocks me … Continue reading
When I wrote about my mother’s family in Hatched in Newtown, I included a lot about her oldest brother, Ernest Kelley. Ernest graduated from high school in San Antonio, Texas, in 1938. His father had wanted him to drop out for many years to get a job and earn money. It was only due to … Continue reading
For three and a half years, Kenneth Stroud of the RAF was a Japanese POW during World War II, having been captured when Japan conquered Singapore and imprisoned on an Indonesian island. Ever since then, he’s lived with the memories of hunger, illness, and the brutality of a particularly cruel enemy. Amazingly, he harbors no … Continue reading
Are the facts right? I’m almost done with my family history and have been determined throughout to make sure that I’m writing a story that accurately aligns with history and other sources of data. One of the last items that I needed to confirm was whether my uncle’s name really appeared on the various World … Continue reading
A few months ago, I wrote about seeing the “Memphis Belle” in California (my post), which is maintained by the Liberty Foundation non-profit. A friend had commented that I needed more details about the B-17 in my book in the parts where I was writing about my father’s stories from World War II. He was … Continue reading
A friend suggested (thanks Teri!) that my memoir needed more detail regarding the B-17 plane that my Dad served on in the service during World War II. Since the current revision of my manuscript pretty much already contains everything that I learned in discussions with my Dad to date, I’ve spent more time in the … Continue reading
I recently came across the book B-17 Bomber Crew Diary by Edward J. Giering, Major, U.S. Army Retired, as part of my research on B-17 planes for my own memoir. Sure, I had looked up the B-17 fact sheet, and read the details of the various B-17 plane models in reference books. However, it was … Continue reading
I saw a remarkable documentary last night called “Last Flight Home.” The film detailed the efforts of a group called the “BentProp Project,” that searched for lost Word War II planes, and their MIA crew, in the Republic of Palau in the western Pacific. The group had discovered planes in both the water and in … Continue reading
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