I found this photo in my mom’s childhood photo album. She’s holding a very large doll. So I asked her about it, and she told me that somebody from Grandpa’s side of the family gave her that doll. She remembers the doll very well, but some of the details surrounding the doll were a little hazy, as with most memories from long ago.
Mom’s guess was that maybe it was Aunt Tena’s doll. Aunt Tena was married to Grandpa’s Uncle Joe DeKorn, and they lived in Grand Rapids. Their sons, Grandpa’s cousins, were Philip and Richard. So I examined the background in the photo. The rock garden is probably the most distinctive feature.
Phil DeKorn’s album that Sue sent me has several photos of the outside of their house in Grand Rapids. But was there a rock garden? Every photo is from a little different angle and cuts off the sides at different places. Some of the photos led me to believe Mom’s photo was taken at the DeKorn home. Then I found this one with the rock garden, and I was sure. It’s Phil just before enlisting in 1943.
It might even have been Uncle Joe’s camera that took both photos. I’m guessing Mom’s photo was taken a few years earlier, perhaps 1939.
I was so intrigued to see the project that my 4x cousin Joel’s wife, Peggy Davis Reeves of Williamsburg, Virginia, undertook. Joel, who is descended from Boudewijn DeKorne (1816-1875) as I am, wrote, “Peggy decided to do a research project on family members that served in the military. She called this ‘My Family Heroes’ and collected information on 100 individuals that represent the period from 1746 (Virginia Militia) to 2020 (West Point graduate). This represents only a small sample of the number of our relatives that have served in the military.”
Peggy first spent six months doing the research through Ancestry and Fold3. Joel sums it up this way: “She learned a lot about these brave individuals. Some families were divided during the Civil War – 2 brothers on the Union side and 3 brothers on the Confederate side. A set of twin brothers enlisted together. Other were prisoners of war, wounded or lost their lives. Some died of disease, such as bronchitis or rubella. Some won medals of honor, such as the Purple Heart, Bronze Star, and Oak Leaf Cluster. Other received land grants for their service. All these individuals took a stand to join the military to serve their country in war time and peace. We are proud of these service men and women that protect this country and our freedom. This is our way of saying thanks to all of them on this Veterans Day.”
When she was ready to create the ornaments, Peggy used Dollar Store plexiglass magnetic refrigerator frames and removed the magnets from the back. Then she set up a template in Photoshop with a red-white-blue border and added an image of the individual or tomb stone or flag on one side and military information on the person on the other side.
Charles is the husband of my first cousin three times removed
After getting the pictures printed, she added a ribbon bow which varies by when the individual served or the branch of service. I particularly love that special touch. Peggy also created a Shutterfly book so that the family would have access to this wonderful work throughout the year.
I love the anchors on the ribbon for those that served in the Navy.
Isn’t this inspirational? What a great way to honor the military members of our genealogy family trees! Thinking of making a tree like this? If you have done a lot of research on your ancestors who were in the military you might be able to pull together at least a small tree by Christmas. If not, you can do what Peggy did and take a year to do the research and create the tree.
Peggy, thank you for letting me share your inventiveness and hard work.
Sunday is Father’s Day, and it will be the 2nd one without my father. If he were here he might like if I shared some photos from his time in the U.S. Army during the Korean War.
These are all from a fishing trip he was able to make, probably to the Yukon, in Canada, when he was stationed in Colorado or Alaska. I chose these photos because of all the times I went fishing with my father when I was a kid. We would take the rowboat out on the lake and fish for perch and (often) sunfish. Not like these fish!
Here is his permit from September 1, 1949. Notice it says Dad is a resident of Colorado, but that was his army address–he was actually from Chicago. Was he really living in Colorado at the time–or was it Alaska? I say that because I know he was in Alaska from the stories he used to tell me.
Apparently he took time out to see the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, too.
Next Sunday will be Father’s Day here in the United States. It’s hard to believe he won’t be here for that day. I wrote blog posts for Dad for the past two Father’s Days here:
The last post featured some of Dad’s yard art. For his funeral, we covered a large poster board with photos of some of the items he made through woodworking and metal scrap art.
Dad was always doing something, always involved, and always present in every moment.
For Father’s Day last year, I posted about my dad’s military service here. In light of the holiday, I thought I would share with you something about my dad. He has two speeds: 1) keep going (hyper) and 2) asleep. I’m kind of like that myself, which is why I am always doing something. If I’m not doing work-work, I’m puttering around the house, doing “stuff.” Blogging even ;).
My dad has a pole barn with a full workshop, and he has a basement with lots of stuff going on down there, too. He likes to make arty crafts and give them away to people. He doesn’t sell them, but he always is making something for somebody else. He is a wood-worker and also crafts really cool scrap metal sculptures.
Here’s another one where I used Picmonkey’s Boost feature to pop a photo with mediocre lighting and bad loading:
Scrap metal sculpture bird (with rock ant in foreground)
He’s also took some pretty scrubby lake property and turned it into a beautiful garden.
Since this is a family history blog, I thought I would show a photo of his grandfather’s property outside his beautiful house in Elmhurst in the 20s and 30s. It looks like Frank Klein, my father’s grandfather, built a gazebo, fish pond, and rock garden. They also had a garden. Sounds familiar . . . .
In the photo, Dad is the twin boy with the lighter hair. His sister is the older girl, and the man is his uncle. The little girl might have been a neighbor child.
Last month, I posted a link to an article in the Western Herald about my Dad’s Combat Veterans’ Writing Group. Dad’s story and others had been showcased in the article.
Dad has written another story about his experience in the U.S. Army during the Korean War. I’d like to share a bit of it with you. In this piece, he explains why it took a long time on the sea for him to arrive in Korea.
Let’s start at the beginning. His military service started in 1948. He was a graduate of Lane Tech High School in Chicago and had realized he did not want to work in a factory or a grocery store. He counted on the army to help him get to college via the G.I. Bill.
World War II was over and the close down of the army for its people and materials was on the downslide. My two-year enlistment was a growing time of my life. It opened up travel: Ford Knox (gold storage), black-and-white drinking fountains, Camp Carson (mountain troops), New York City, driving the old Alaskan highway, Whitehorse Yukon Territory Canada.
Dad also visited Washington, D.C., when he was at Quartermaster School.
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By June 1950, Dad says, “my recall sent me back to Fort Knox for retraining with World War II veterans.” His enlistment had originally obligated him to a seven-year inactive tour, but this looked like change.
For two days we were issued tools and told to chop the corn down– (NO WAY!) All of these men were high-grade noncoms who had been commissioned officers during wartime conditions in World War II.
I asked Dad what “NO WAY” meant. Did they do it or didn’t they? Did they risk court-martial? He said the details are coming up in the next installment!
A few days later we boarded trains for Seattle, where we boarded the Navy troop ship, M.C. Meigs. The exact dates are foggy to me at this part of my journey. Once on board, we realized that half of the ship was the Canadian U.N. Army.
As the ship started out, we found that we were running north until we got to the Aleutian Islands and then for some reason we turned south, spending several days in Pearl Harbor. This was the first time I heard the song, “Harbor Lights.”
This video features Dinah Washington singing the 1950 version of “Harbor Lights.”
After 30 days, we arrived in Yokohama, Japan, where we were transferred to Camp Drake by Tokyo. After a few days, we departed for Inchon, Korea. We were lightly equipped and no personal arms.
The coincidence of this day was that the Chinese Army crossed the border, entering the Korean War: 3 November 1950. Chaos at that time was very evident to us. We were immediately loaded on a train for our destination, Pusan perimeter. As we moved south on the train, U.S. troops were suffering some of the worst part of the early part of the war: the retreat of our army!
The reason for the 30-day adventure was directly related to the Canadian UN troops. The Canadian government was not going to enter the war until the United Nations had declared it a Peace Action.
The REAL value of the story was not recognized by me until much later.
What Dad means is that because he had the luck to be connected with the Canadians at just that moment in time, he was “stalled” along with the Canadian troops until just after the worst danger was over.
This is how he tips his hat to the Canadians:
When playing golf now, I use a Canadian loonie to mark my golf ball.
Not being a golfer, I had to look up loonie because I might have gotten the wrong idea ;). However, it’s not about golf, but about it being Canadian. A loonie is a gold-colored Canadian one dollar piece, first created in 1987. Thank you, Wikipedia.
The U.S. Army Center of Military History has an online page devoted to the phase of the Korean War which began November 3, 1950, the day Dad landed at Inchon, the day the Chinese entered the Korean War.
Next up: I will start tackling my list, beginning with Etaples!
I wrote about my Dad, Rudy Hanson, being a veteran of the U.S. Army in a previous post. He recently joined a Combat Veterans’ Writing Group, which meets at the local library. The Western Herald, the newspaper for Western Michigan University, just published a piece on the class and showcased the stories of a few veterans. You guessed it–my dad’s was one of those selected!
For Father’s Day, I am reblogging a post my father wrote for the adoption blog my daughter and I write. It also fits with my last post about my father and his military service.
When I was a little kid, I hung out in my dad’s basement workshop, watching him work. He kept army green sleeping bags there, and when I asked about them, he told me about trying to sleep in the freezing cold of Alaska and Korea. He explained that he had been in the Korean War. In the U.S. Army. I didn’t understand too much, although he shared some apocryphal stories about ears being bitten off and seeing it rain fish.
I’m not sure I understand too much more today, but I have the deepest respect for my father serving in the United States Army.
Dad looks so young in his official Army portrait. And below.
Thank you for your service, Dad! xo
My father and other veterans are honored with bricks with their names at the Rose Park Veterans Memorial Park–a memorial park which my father and the Kalamazoo Sunrise Rotary Club were instrumental in bringing to the city.
My daughter points toward her grandpa’s name on the park plaque.
And here she is by the beautiful U.S. Army memorial at the park.
At long last, my dad has the medals he earned from serving our country in the Korean War.
HAPPY FATHER’S DAY, DAD!!!!
Dad has a twin brother, too–my Uncle Frank Hanson. He was in the U.S. Navy.
I hope Uncle Frank has a good Father’s Day, as well.
We’re coming up on the twins’ half birthday. Since their birthdays are the day after Christmas, they like to celebrate in June. I thought this was a phenomenon unique to my family, until I just this moment discovered that the event warrants a Wikipedia entry!
Cover photo shows flooding at the Water Works Bridge in Kalamazoo, March 26, 1904. That spring, the water got 6″ higher than the photo shows.
ORDER ERIC HOFFER AWARD FINALIST KIN TYPES: FAMILY HISTORY MEETS LITERATURE
KALAMAZOO AND SW MICHIGAN:
This blog shares the photographs and stories of my mother's family--the DeKorn, Zuidweg, and Mulder families which settled in southwestern Michigan.
It also occasionally shares the photographs and stories of my father's family from Chicago and Elmhurst, Illinois.
Many of the posts are centered around the locations of Kalamazoo, Michigan, and Goes, Zeeland, the Netherlands.
*The PAGES listed BELOW tell about this blog and summarize the main family branches appearing on this blog.
*The TABS at the TOP of the page are a quick way to find posts related to particular family branches.
The Family Kalamazoo 