Army Pictures: Ingram, Mueller and Whitten

See my original post for details about the photos from my dad's Army scrapbook and please let me know if you recognize anyone in these pictures.

Army Pictures: M C Smith

See my original post for details about the photos from my dad's Army scrapbook and please let me know if you recognize anyone in these pictures.

Army Pictures: 1952 Hamkin and Danley

Hamkin and Danley

Hamkin and Danley

See my original post for details about the photos from my dad's Army scrapbook and please let me know if you recognize anyone in these pictures.

Did my dad know your dad?



Daddy and Baggs in Grandma's front yard

My dad loved to take pictures. He took lots of them while he was in the Army from 1949 to 1953. And as you can see from the photo on the left, he labeled them. On the front.

The only scrapbook Daddy ever assembled was the one that began with his Army pictures. A couple years before he died, he gave the bulging book to me.

When I saw those wonderful candid shots of Army buddies relaxing in their fatigues, smoking cigars, playing volleyball and generally having fun, I knew I had to share them. What if the other dads in the pictures shipped off to Korea and didn't return? These images could be among their last.

Enter Wordless Wednesday 2012. I'll be posting photos from my dad's collection once a week for the rest of the year. The pictures were taken between 1949 and 1953 when my dad served in the 17th Company STR in Fort Benning Georgia and Battery D 71st AAA Gun Battalion in Fort Belvoir Virginia.

Did my dad know your dad? If so, he may be in the scrapbook. Stay tuned!

Success Team Update

For the past few months my Saturday morning routine has included a hot cup of coffee and a spicy genealogical chat with Jenny.

Jenny is vacationing, so (sigh) I'm on my own today. We worked hard on our lists last Saturday knowing we would have two weeks to complete them. These were my goals:

BLOG: Create one A Child Lost and one F.A.G. blog post. Catch up blog reading.

I chose my next Child Lost and put a rough draft together. I posted about my experience at Darien Cemetery here. And I've been diligently reading all the fun and interesting and educational blogs I follow. I am caught up! [on target]

LEARN: Review FGS classes and write rough draft questions. Read The Twitter Book by Tim O’ Reilly and Sarah Milstein.

Not only did I review the classes, I downloaded my syllabus and bound it for travel - yay me! I changed a class too, substituting Twitter for the 1940 census. I'll start writing the rough draft questions this weekend. I continue to read The Twitter Book in my "spare" time. It's a great read and has already changed the way I use Twitter. [on target]

ORGANIZE: Clean up the Mueller hanging file. Create checklists for each document type encountered.

Good gravy, what a mess! As you can see in the photo below, I sorted all the papers so I can work on like-items. I created a spreadsheet (are you laughing Jenny?) for the document types. [on target]

PRESERVE: Verify that all direct line ancestors appear on F.A.G. If photos exist, add them. Sponsor Daddy and Harold Mueller. Add the EASY photos from Darien Cemetery.

Hmm. I may have to pick up the pace on this task. I haven't checked for all my ancestors. [behind schedule] I sponsored my dad's memorial, but decided against sponsoring his dad's for the time being. [check] I'm about a quarter of the way through the photos from Darien Wisconsin. [behind schedule - eek]

RESEARCH: Look for Jacob’s confirmation record on the Swiss film at the FHC. Add specific genealogy searches to eBay.

Thursday evening I looked through the entire film hoping to find a birth, baptism, or confirmation record for Jacob. No luck. But, as you may recall, this was a long shot. My surname-related searches are now on eBay. [check]

That makes an un-terrific mix of "on target", "check" and "behind schedule". Maybe a B- for the week so far? I'd better quit chatting and get back to work!

Wordless Wednesday ~ New Home

Barron Wisconsin

Wordless Wednesday ~ Father's Day 2011

This is the Face of Genealogy

Wordless Wednesday ~ Just Married

Scraps of Family History

A pile of books about family history scrapbooking waits patiently on my desk. I've become obsessed with creating a written and photographic record for my descendants.

What a celebration there would be if I discovered a diary written by my great-great grandmother! Or a photo album compiled by a long lost great-aunt. Heck, I'd be happy to see brief notes my ancestors had written to one another, wouldn't you?

The books I'm reading encourage me to start by preserving one story, one event, or one photo and the tale it tells. How excited I would be if any one of my ancestors had done this for me!

Some stories are in the here and now; the first big snow of 2010 with pictures taken while running from falling tree branches. Others are in the past; tales of a much beloved pet who now resides in cat heaven. The one I'll share today spans the past, the present and possibly the future.

When I was a kid we had a 20 foot flagpole in our front yard. My dad was uncompromising about the care of the flag that flew from sun up to sundown everyday. In the morning, one of my sisters or I would hold one end of the flag while Daddy hooked it to the cord and raised it by a pulley. In the evenings we would lower the flag and fold it width-wise twice. Then starting at the striped end, we made a triangle fold 13 times, one for each colony.

My parents divorced and my mother had the flagpole removed. Folding the flag was relegated to Girl Scouts and parades, until last month when my dad was laid to rest at Fort Snelling National Cemetery.

Uniformed volunteers folded the flag that had been draped over Daddy's casket. With a 'thank you' for the service my father gave his country, they placed the flag in my stepmother's hands. Pastor said a few more words and the crowd started to thin. In a moment of immeasurable generosity, my stepmom turned to me and said, "You should have this." Then she handed me the flag. And returned the memory of my dad holding his end as we moved closer to each other with every fold.

Today the framed flag resides next to a photo of more than a hundred uniformed men, one of whom is my husband's late father. The stories of our veteran dads have merged and will be told to our grandchildren as one. The future will tell which of them will take ownership of the treasures and the stories. Perhaps the first to erect a flagpole in their front yard.

Silver Linings

Despite my advancing years, my father was always Daddy to me. My evening commute was often spent visiting with him on my cell phone. Every conversation included hearty laughter on both sides of the line. I miss that the most.

The compassion shared by others has been overwhelming. There aren't words enough to thank everyone who reached out with comforting thoughts and more. Your kind words and deeds helped in many ways.

A dear friend of mine refers to this type of experience as an AFGO; "another flippin' growth opportunity". In that spirit, here's what I've learned:

Every family needs an active genealogist. All eyes turned to me when the funeral director asked about names, places and dates. I wrote Daddy's obituary for the living as well as for his great-great-great grandchildren.

Every genealogist must interview his or her own family members. The tapes on which my dad talked about his life are among my most precious possessions.

Every grief-stricken child needs a clear-thinking genealogist to lean on. My husband is my hero. He was the genealogist I couldn't be in those first few action-packed days; locating another source for Army discharge papers, assembling groups of relatives for photographs, gathering printed materials for Daddy's genealogy file, and so much more.

Every picture tells a story. I looked through hundreds of photographs while preparing a memory board for my dad's church service. And I realized how quickly our stories can be lost if they aren't written down for the next generation.

So as part of my healing process, this genealogist is also becoming a scrapbooker. I attended my first workshop last night. The scrapbook I'm creating is filled with mementos and pictures of a handsome young man named Bill.

To Daddy, with love

William Edwin Mueller

October 25, 1931 ~ October 18, 2010

One week prior to his 79th birthday, William E. Mueller, Barron, Wisc., died at his home with his beloved wife Harriet May (Anderson) at his side. The couple was married for 38 years and lived in Barron for the last 10 years.

William was born in Chicago October 25, 1931 to Frances Lois (Mangels) and Harold Clarke Mueller. At 17, he joined the U.S. Army and served as an infantry unit auto mechanic. His most significant assignment was at Battery D 71st AAA Gun Battalion at Fort Belvoir, Virginia.

William's love of cars became his career, working first at auto dealerships and then owning several auto body shops in Chicago.

Surviving are daughters Laura Aanenson (Gregory), Lizabeth Chocian (Scott), Lana Gruber (James), LouAnn Mueller, and Victoria Bray (Terrence); 15 grandchildren; 10 great-grandchildren; many nieces and nephews; sisters Janice Stetz and Karen Brenke; and brothers Ernie Mueller (Kylene), Alexander (Barbara) and Robert E. Brenke Jr.

William was preceded in death by his parents Robert and Frances Brenke, sister Lois Cuevas, and daughter Patricia Mueller.

Services will be held at 11 a.m. Monday, Oct. 25, from Salem Lutheran Church, Barron. William will be laid to rest at Fort Snelling National Cemetery, Minneapolis.