39th Engineer Alumni Newsletter Jan 2012

JANUARY 2012 39th Newsletter.pdf

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Happy B-Day canisluna, proud son of a WWII veteran!

Better late than never. Here's some pictures from the parade and luminaries at Gettysburg this past November. The weekend closest to the 19th of November, they rededicate the National Cemetery and hold a big parade. At night they place a luminary and flag on every grave. That was very moving. They read the roll of the burials (including hundreds of anonymous) and there are honor guards from every branch of the service at the entrance to the cemetery.

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Well this may be a REAL long shot, but you never know...

My buddy Filip who also runs a WWII site, received this letter from a woman, who is desperately trying to put pieces of her past back together again. She DOES NOT have a lot to go on, but...

Here's Filip's reply to her, with her letter below:

Dear Betsy,

 

I am forwarding you request to every possible source that might have a TINY possibility to help, but without a name, it's even tougher than to find a needle in a haystack....

Burning the candles for this one, with a little.... no, only with huge help from above, this could be solved....

 

There were tens of thousands paratroopers in WWII, some in Europe, some in the Pacific.... and with this little amount of information..... it will be a miracle to solve this one....

 

FILIP

Dear Mr. Willems,

Thank you for your note! This is what I know about my birth father....I so wish I had a name, but because he was married at the time of my birth, my birth mother did not name him on my birth certificate.

 

My birth father was probably born in 1924 because he was 29 at the time of my birth. I was born November 4, 1953. Unless he was born between November 4th and December 31, he was born in 1924. He had brown hair and gray eyes, and was 5'10" tall and of Irish and Scottish descent. Both of his parents were living in 1953. My BF had 2 brothers and a sister, and was born in NY but raised in SC where he went to one year of college. I don't know if he enlisted or was drafted, but he was an army paratrooper in WWII.

 

After WWII (I don't know where he was from 1945-1953...) he was employed as a bookkeeper at a Miami Beach Hotel. I've been told that he attended Central Baptist Church in downtown Miami. I do not know how he and my birth mother met, but I believe it was there.

 

After she got pregnant, I'm told that he wanted her to go away with him, but since his divorce was not yet final, she refused. I don't know if he left the city or not....nor where he went after that.

 

Marion's note: This paragraph was intentionally left out, for she posted info that she wanted to omit, as she stated " I need to hold that info back to help me verify he is the 'one' ".

 

I am financially comfortable and want NOTHING but to learn his name, see pictures of him, and know if I have any half siblings out there! If he wanted to meet me, I would be okay with it, but it's his choice. Like I said, I am fine with just knowing his name and a few facts!! (-:

 

This is a VERY small world, and I believe that one day I will figure out who he is. How many paratroopers were born in NY, raised in SC, moved to Miami, and had 2 brothers and a sister? Not many, I suspect!!

 

Feel free to check me out at classmates.com or Facebook. I was a teacher for 33 years, and am married to the former Vice Chairman of the Polk County School Board.

 

Thank you for ANY help you can give me!!! (and feel free to share this with the OLDEST WWII army paratroopers that you know!!!)

 

 

Most Sincerely,

Betsy Peacock