Living History

Even though I didn't appreciate history when I was in school, I really grew to embrace it in my adulthood. I credit my Dad, for instilling this in me. As a child Dad was always  taking me places that had history significance. As a Genealogist studying the history of our own family he helped make history more real and relatable. Having a chance to connect directly with history is a really cool experience, one that I have also tried to share with my children. 

That all leads us first to this picture which was taken at the Milwaukee airport by a  Milwaukee Journal photographer there to cover the 32nd Infantry National Guard deployment into active duty, and the picture ran in that evenings edition of the paper.

Looking at this image I'm struck by several things. First, Mom and Dad where YOUNG in this picture! In fact they were both 22 years old, with a little toddler. Also,they are a really good looking couple, so young and fresh and full of hope for the future. I was so young that I don't really have a memory of this moment in time. However, later this same year, one of my first childhood memories was helping Mom make a birthday cake for my Dad while he was away. I especially remember her making a bunch of popcorn which we used to package the cake so we could safely ship it to Fort Lewis in Washington State. Dad always said that receiving that cake was very important and came at a time when he was very home sick.

This year, Dad did a blog post on July fourth to tell his personal account of this moment in history when his guard unit got called up because President Kennedy was sending a message to the USSR after they blocked off West Berlin from any supply transport. This ultimately started the Berlin airlift and ended with the building of the Berlin Wall. Sometimes history is very personal and this post really made a part of world history come alive for me. Please feel free to read his "Why I Stand" post at http://dwunrow1.blogspot.com/2013/07/why-i-stand.html

Thanks Dad for doing such a nice job of putting this down for history.