My father was born on April 13th, 1920.
They married on April 24th, 1942, in Lake Tahoe amidst no one other than themselves — to the chagrin of their respective families.
From there my father was shipped to the 8th Air Force for his requisite tour and then back to California. It was decided that he would become an instructor in the B-25 Mitchell at Mather Air Force Base.
He said that, whilst there, he came across Jimmy Stewart who was more of a man than a greater percentage of others he encountered.
My mother died on May 14th, 2002. She ran out of air.
The rains of 2006 are beginning.
BZ
That is beyond awesome seeing all the veterans in your family. And how wonderful that you have all those old pictures. Very cool!! I’m very thankful to your father, grandfather & great-grandfather and all the other veterans for their sacrifices.
Well BZ I knew you were alright, good genes….. Nice tribute
Folks: thank you most kindly. I had some very old photos digitized, so I just thought I’d share.
BZ
11 13 06
BZ whoa! Thanks for sharing! What nice pictures. I especially love the one of your parents. They were a handsome couple. Your dad has a strongggggg spirit and sounds like Verto did too. How neat to come from a line of Patriots AND good men! Well, now I have another sense why your writing is so captivating, it is in your blood;)
Speaking of something else, your train post above is awesome. I have been over near Donner pass quite a bit, but never haver the time to go exploring via hiking etc. You said you hiked HOURS to get to the location of the derailment? WOW! At that elevation, I could’ve only hiked for minutes.
Whenever we go to Kennedy Meadows, then up to the pass it always takes a bit of time for me to adjust.
Glad to know you are out exploring and having fun!
11 13 06
Say, you ever make it to Markleeville for a hike? I get the feeling you are closer to the 80 side of the Sierra, whereas we are closer to the 108 side.
Mahndisa: Yup, I’m less than 5 miles from I-80 at the 4,000-foot level. I’m also less than a mile from the original Central Pacific railroad line laid down in 1864 by those thousands and thousands of Chinese laborers — now owned by Union Pacific, the original competitor to the Central Pacific for the Transcontinental Route.
I haven’t been to Markleeville in quite some time. I spend the bulk of my time up and down I-80, and some time also up and down Highway 50. Thank you, also, for the kind words regarding my family. Dad’s finally in good enough shape that he’s going to get on a plane and head down to my older brother’s home in Coronado for Thanksgiving.
BZ