My annual Veteran's Day post, with some new photos of the vets in our family.
To all veterans, whether you chose to serve or were drafted, thank you. As the mother of soldiers and airmen, I know a little of what it took and what it still takes from you. And to all the families of our veterans, thank you too. You also gave much.
(Updated 2019): Above, son Derek with his daughter Haley, after she joined the Army National Guard. She's now a Sargeant.
Below, Derek at his promotion ceremony in June when he was promoted to Sgt. Major. (Update 2019: He was Command Sgt. Major when he retired in 2016)
One of my favorite photos of Derek, when he was in Iraq:
Had to keep practicing that golf swing, even in the desert!
My father, who served in England during WWII, and met my mother there:
These photos are from post-World War II. Dad is in the front on the first one.
On the ship coming back to America after the war.
Dad and friends, goofing around--Dad is in the center bottom of the photo.
Post-war Germany, so damaged. How sad is this? And yet wars continue. Mankind never learns from his past mistakes.
Dad at Dachau, where he helped with the post-war cleanup. No matter how grim, he was always able to find humor it seems! We did find a stack of photos taken inside one of the camps (I think it was Dachau, but cannot remember now). I could only look at the first two--they were too terrible.
Dominick Connelly, my father's great-grandfather, who served in the Union Army during the Civil War, serving as a dummer. He was imprisoned once at Harper's Ferry, or in that region, and I believe he might have been injured once too.(Update 2019: my sister Judy discovered that Dominick was sent to Andersonville, where he somehow managed to survive terrible conditions).
My mother's Uncle Sidney Wilson, a British soldier who was killed in 1917 in World War I, before she was born.
And her uncle James Wilson, killed in 1915, just a few weeks after this photo was taken:
Back in the US:
My grandfather, William I. Connelly Sr, who served as a lawyer for the Coast Guard during World War II.
My father, William I. Connelly Jr, who served in the Army Air Force in England during World War II (and also in Europe when the war was over).
My husband Larry, a Vietnam War veteran, above; and below,
my son Jonathan Ford who served 10 years in the Army before a medical issue forced his early retirement.
Above is my son Aaron Ford who served 4 years in the US Air Force;
and below is our son Tommy, who also served in the US Air Force.
Update 2019: below is grandson Clayton who is serving in the US Navy.
To all our soldiers, my profound gratitude and respect.
Copyright Susanna Holstein. All rights reserved. No Republication or Redistribution Allowed without attribution to Susanna Holstein.
My mother's Uncle Sidney Wilson, a British soldier who was killed in 1917 in World War I, before she was born.
My grandfather, William I. Connelly Sr, who served as a lawyer for the Coast Guard during World War II.
My father and his father (William I. Connelly Sr), we believe, at 1427 Gr. Rue St. John, according to what is written on the back. I would guess this photo to be late 1920's to early 30's. The wording may not be correct, since the writing was very faded, but this is what Julie thought it said. The family must have lived there for a little while, although I do not recall Dad talking about it. Maybe a family reader of this blog knows more?
Dad (William Irving Connelly), my aunt Hester Ellen Connelly, and my Uncle Bud (John Wilbur Connelly). I would guess them t
Aunt Ellen as a teen, dressed as William Tell, according to Dad. We are not sure of the date of this photo, but I believe it must have been taken in the mid-1930's judging by her age. Later Aunt Ellen would earn a chemistry degree, among others, and go on to be a food editor for Good Housekeeping. She is still living today, but suffers from Alzheimer's disease. You might run into her name in older copies of Good Housekeeping cookbooks.
Dad dressed as a clown, circa 1926? He was born in 1922, and he looks about 3 or 4 years old here.
Aunt Ellen, Dad and Uncle Bud, probably the same year.
My mother is the baby in this photo from 1927 (the year she was born) or 1928. I'd guess 1928 would be more likely, because she was born in June and she looks fairly grown in the picture. I don't know who is holding her--Aunt May, her oldest sister, perhaps? or her mother?
Mom with a favorite pet, Sunshine, in 1936.
The road to Caldecote in 1944. This would have been the road Dad followed when he tried to find the red-haired English girl he met at a Cambridge tea shoppe. Here's the story:
This is the place my mother grew up, a cottage on a few acres called Ashlyn. I do not know how long they lived there; it is where they lived when her father died. They owned the cottage and the land. Her father had been the manager of a "pig fahm" as Mom would say. After his death, her mother became the housekeeper for the farm owner and they moved to the farm, renting out Ashlyn, as I understood Mom's story. I'm sketchy on the details of those years.
Mom is on the left, Granny in the center, and an unknown child on the right in this mid-1930's photo. I am surprised my Granny did not remarry for so many years; I think she looks lovely here. But she was 63 before she met George Swindells and married him. I remember when they came to visit us after they were married. I believe I was 12 or 13. He was a happy man who seemed to enjoy being around our large family; he had a thick accent and I would have to interpret for him when we went shopping. Clerks did not seem able to understand that "strawbry ahyce" meant strawberry ice cream.
