By Eilene Lyon Today I am just going to share photos of a few veterans from my family tree. I've written about the service of some; others remain to be done. Feature image: Poppies from my garden this summer. (E. Lyon 2021)
Honoring Their Service
Peoria Pair
Week 4: #52 Ancestors – Favorite Photo By Eilene Lyon This is a snazzy portrait of The Putterer’s parents, Cliff and Fran, taken in the early 1940s. I love many things about it: their clothes, the car, the expressions on their faces. I also like how they had it framed: Clifford Park Lyon, Jr. (Cliff)... Continue Reading →
Homeland
Week 30: #52 Ancestors – The Old Country By Eilene Lyon Though I have ancestral origins in England and Wales, perhaps a touch in Ireland, an overwhelming number of forebears came from Germanic regions of Europe. I’ve traveled there several times. On one trip, we specifically visited Heidelsheim and Mainz, because I knew my Springer... Continue Reading →
She Loved To Serve
Week 19: #52 Ancestors – Service By Eilene Lyon I have a soft spot for relatives who, by choice or chance, left no descendants to carry on their legacy and their stories. Sometimes nieces and nephews step in to fill the void, as with this case, about my dad’s aunt Inez. Inez Lucinda Halse was... Continue Reading →
Flying Fortress Falls
Week 16: #52 Ancestors – Air By Eilene Lyon This pre-Memorial Day story honors 2nd Lieutenant Jack P. Laird, my mother’s 4th cousin on the Ransom family tree. Born John Paul Laird in December 1919 in Klamath Falls, Oregon, Jack’s parents were Thomas W. Laird and Sylvia Lee Rackleff. He had one sibling, a brother... Continue Reading →
“Local Marine Alive, Well”
Week 21: #52 Ancestors – Military By Eilene Lyon This time of year, I like to feature someone on my family tree who perished during service to their country. They are invariably young men who never had a chance at a normal adult life. I hope I run out of these stories before too long.... Continue Reading →
A Secret Mission
Week 50: #52 Ancestors – Naughty By Laurence M. Smith (May 7, 1985) At times there are unusual experiences involved in being an Electrical Engineer. It was the time of World War II. I had just transferred from Portland to Spokane, Washington, to work on the design of the Spokane Army Air Field. It was... Continue Reading →
Our Trip to Oregon
Week 28: #52 Ancestors – Travel By Eilene Lyon In 1942, my grandparents, Reatha and Everett Halse, made the decision to leave Florence, South Dakota, and head west. Everett’s younger brother, Alvin Halse, was already living in Corvallis, Oregon, and had a job waiting for Everett. That summer, they packed up their worldly possessions and... Continue Reading →
Friendly Fire in WWII
Tablets of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery. Orville’s name can be read on the 3rd tablet on the right in the full-scale image. http://www.abmc.gov/cemeteries-memorials/pacific/manila-american-cemetery#.VWyrJ5DbLIW By Eilene Lyon Orville E. Bodtker was the son of Fred Bodtker and Mary Ann Sumner (grandson of Emil Bodtker and Minnie Gusso), making him my second cousin, twice... Continue Reading →
Myricopia 