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24
Dec 14

70th anniv – My great-grandfather’s war

Christmas Eve, 70 years ago, my great-grandfather’s service in Europe. We’ve been following along through this map i made of his time as a combat medic. Tonice was attached to some element of the 137th Infantry Regiment, 35th Division. We don’t know which company, or even which battalion, so this is only a regimental overview.

But, after we’d found that he was in the 137th and I discovered their unit history I was relieved to learn that he had at least a bit of peace and, I hope, rest, at Christmas.

So, then, for Dec. 24:

On December 24, the 35th Infantry Division was assigned to the XX Corps from the XII Corps.

The day was spent in rest, with small classes held for some replacements. One hundred fifty-five more replacements were also received, which brought the 137th to nearly full strength.

The 35th Division passed from XX Corps control to III Corps control. The Regiment was notified of the movement, by motor, which it was to make the following morning to a new area.

This information is derived from the unit history, found here and here and from this unit overview. Any errors are mine alone.

adventures / family / photo / Tuesday — Comments Off
23
Dec 14

Let’s talk about this guy

Do you notice the problem of symmetry in the following photo?

The pilot comes on to say this curtain — and that’s basically what it is, think of the heaviest curtain you’ve ever seen in a 1960s-70s time capsule home and you’re pretty close — is regarded by the FAA as an essential piece of equipment. And it would need to be replaced.

“Those first class folks don’t need to know you’re back there,” basically.

This after four hours of driving, rain and the mindless inanity of the TSA.

One blue shirt, I promise this is a true story, said to me “We’re just a little short handed tonight is all.”

A guy with a badge in a blue shirt said this to me in the world’s busiest airport on the night before Christmas Eve.

After 20 minutes or so of waiting for my freedom rub I eschewed the silliness of the whole thing, figuring, “Hey, at least the mysterious backscatter disease will get here faster than these people.”

In that time, people are just telling them “Oh, I’m 75,” and they get passed right through. There is a woman who has a singular job, yelling, in vain as it turns out, for opt outs. She puts her whole soul into it, bleating out her nasally phrase every six minutes or so, whether anyone comes or not.

And did you know a handkerchief can stymie the new security equipment?

I learned that safety tidbit tonight, talking with another exasperated blue shirt who was so decidedly going through the motions you wanted to ask him how far away his supervisor was just then.

So, yeah, this was what you then wanted to see for an hour:

Which is not fair. I timed it. The elapsed time from this gentleman bringing the new essential curtain onto the plane until he put his tools away was just over 14 minutes. The delay caused by it, mind you, was about an hour. This on top of a scheduling delay because of mid-air logistics elsewhere. Also, there’s weather coming in.

And this thing is broken. We were just about the first ones on the plane and saw it hanging dangerously close to failure, threatening to let the two classes of passengers mix without regard to proper aeronautical decorum. And so they took it down, the announcement was made and they scrounged up another from somewhere. Meaning there’s a room in the airport with these things in them.

Somehow, this is how you know you aren’t in the Matrix. That would just sort of pop right into place without you every consciously realizing why, the glitch in the Matrix from which you would benefit. Not us, though, not tonight.

It was decided, at one point, that this was a weight-bearing curtain. Why else could it be essential? And if that doesn’t make you want to drive everywhere, you’re a braver traveler than I.

But let’s talk about this guy. Everyone is staring at him. He’s struggling with the essential equipment. There’s a flight attendant holding this flashlight. Passengers are trying to “help.” The captain, who clearly has places to be, has come back to inspect the progress. And this poor guy knows everyone is watching him and they all want to be anywhere but on this tarmac, still. And he would like to have Christmas too.

I feel for the guy.

Meanwhile:

But we made it. One more destination safely reached. More lovely people to see. More snacks and Christmas cheer to pace ourselves on. One more misuse of the word “legendary.”

“Sit back, relax and enjoy our legendary Delta cabin service.”

Tell me another one, Santa.

family / history / memories / Monday / music / photo / video — 1 Comment
22
Dec 14

Back in Polaroid time

My grandmother dug through the furniture and who knows where else she keeps it all, but she produced three albums and four boxes of photos tonight. I started her down this path by asking about a CD someone brought over several years ago that traced my grandfather’s family back to his grandfather through photographs.

It was essentially half an hour of people I didn’t know, mysterious black-and-white shots of people my grandmother knew as adults and then the later, questionable, hair and clothing styles of those later adults.

So we watched the disc and she named people and guessed at others. And then, somehow, we found ourselves in the back of the house. I was staring at pictures of my grandparents looking into a camera two decades younger than I am now. My wife was taking pictures of me from three decades ago. Suddenly we all felt so young, and so old. And it was all interesting and weird, except to see those that are gone, now, and to count them all up in your head.

I want to hear these stories and one day I want to ask a lot of questions about them, for posterity’s sake. Some of that information should continue on, somewhere, but I’m not sure if there’s much of an appetite for it. So it should be me that does it, then. And then my grandmother says “They’re all gone now, except for those two girls,” it breaks your heart a little to ask her to think about it.

On the other hand, the two times that I’ve started to dig into this a little bit, I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a more real smile than when my grandmother is talking about her grandmother. It is worth it for that alone.

Anyway, some pictures.

That guy could straight up sing:

Stringbean, my grandmother said, always wore his pants like this. So he was fashion forward.

David Akeman and his wife were killed by burglars in their home in 1973. (One of their killers died in prison in 1973. The other was paroled just last month.)

But he could play that banjo, she insisted. No kidding. I picked this one because Porter Wagoner was my grandfather’s favorite, and Roger Miller shows up, he was one of my favorites:

If you hear the term clawhammer in a musical sense, this is the meaning. It is, now, considered the “old style” of banjo playing. (Earl Scruggs, who replaced Akeman in the great Bill Monroe band, is the pioneer of the “new” three-finger style.)

I don’t remember Akeman on Hee Haw reruns, but he was there. I’m sure we all laughed at his jokes, my grandparents and me, when the scarecrow was on camera. And now that entire show suddenly seems like a portal into a different time, my grandparents watching stars they’d grown up and were growing old with. Bright colors and bad puns beamed to their antennae, guest hosts and bad skits, all of the stuff in between hearing the songs they knew.

I’m even less certain why people collect head shots and autographs of politicians, but it makes the politicians happy. Once upon a time, at least, one of these was in a lot of homes in Alabama.

I wonder where my grandparents picked all of those up.

Here she is now. She figures she was about 18 or 19 in this picture.

“Let’s talk about this wallpaper,” I said.

“Let’s not,” she said.

She’s such a sweetheart.

family / maps / memories — Comments Off
22
Dec 14

70th anniv – My great-grandfather’s war

This is the 70th anniversary of my great-grandfather’s service in Europe, and we’re following along what he did through this map I made some time back. Tonice was a combat medic in the 137th Infantry Regiment, which fought in the 35th Division. We don’t know which company, or even which battalion. This is only a regimental overview with some movements down to the company level.

So, then, for Dec. 22:

The 2nd Battalion arrived at Remering from Neunkirch. The 1st Battalion cleared into the town of Grundweiler. During the day an ordnance check was made and all ordnance items and several 50 calibers were tested for anti-aircraft defense.

The Regiment received more replacements, which helped raise the strength of the units. Eight officers and 220 enlisted men were received.

The 35th Infantry Division was ordered to move by combat team to Metz sometime during the day.

The 137th Infantry Combat Team, less the 219th FA Battalion, moved northwest toward Metz and its new assembly area, and, going through St. Avold, Boulet, and Metz, arrived at its destination, Moulins.

There isn’t an update in the unit history for December 23 — they were moving off the line and resting, primarily — so we’ll return to this on the 24th. You can follow along at your own pace on the map, however.

This information is derived from the unit history, found here and here and from this unit overview. These markers are rough estimates of locales and are meant only to be illustrative. Any errors are mine alone.

family / history / maps — Comments Off
21
Dec 14

70th anniv – My great-grandfather’s war

This is the 70th anniversary of my great-grandfather’s service in Europe, so we’re moving through this map I made of Tonice’s time as a combat medic. Feel free to click around in the other thumbnails to catch up or read ahead.

Tonice was attached to the 137th Infantry Regiment, which fought in the famed 35th Division. We don’t know which company, or even which battalion, so this is only a regimental overview with some movements down to the company level.

So, then, for Dec. 21:

The 137th Infantry received orders that it would be relieved and was to assemble temporarily in the vicinity of Frauenberg, Habkirchen, and Neunkirch until ordered to move to an assembly area.

In the morning the 1st Battalion continued its defense of the Regimental sector. With a heavy artillery barrage, the enemy launched a heavy counterattack on the 1st Battalion positions. This attack was repulsed with heavy enemy losses.

The 2nd Battalion delivered harassing fire on all known and observed enemy targets.

The 3rd Battalion moved to its new assembly area in Richeling. The Regimental CP moved from Neunkirch to Remering. The Special Units cleared into Ballering at 1500.

The Battle of the Bulge was a hard, demanding, scary environment for most everyone. But there would be some rest coming up for these particular men in the next few days. Be sure to stick around for that.

This information is derived from the unit history, found here and here and from this unit overview. His quiet choice means that these markers are rough estimates and are meant only to be illustrative. Any errors are mine alone.