"This is your father, then... right?" I asked Deanna pointing to the pedigree chart on the LDS church new family search website.
"Yes, and those are my two brothers who have died."
I looked closely at the death/birthdate.
"My goodness, your brother died much too young," I said noticing he had died in his early twenties.
"Yes," Deanna said. "During WWII, he flew 101 missions over Japan. Then he came home and died in an accident."
"What happened?" I asked.
Deanna told the story of how her newly-married brother and a friend were fishing on Henry's Lake. A wind came up, overturned the small boat, and hit his friend in the head. So, her brother held on to the friend, as he swam to shore. The friend got close to the shore and was finally able to make it ashore, but her brother was exhausted, and just couldn't make it.
101 flying missions fighting for America; he's a hero.
Saving a friend; he's even more of a hero.
I absolutely LOVE volunteering at the family history center.
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Max in the House of Spies
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3 comments:
I attended the Family History Conference at BYU-I with Deloris a couple of times before she passed away and I loved it. I remember in one class the instructor taught us the importance of 'filling in' the dash between the birth date and death date of our loved ones who have gone before. I LOVE filling in the dash (stories) of my ancestors and being able to put a picture (face) with a name. It makes the whole experience very personal and special. How neat that you get to work during the week helping people with their families. And what an incredible story about the man who lived the life of a hero and died a hero. Everyone DOES have a story to tell. Thanks for you blog entries, Loni. You uplift.
It's all your fault! I read this post before I went to bed last night and lay awake for hours.
I kept thinking of that brand new wife losing her husband, and the friend losing his friend, and how the parents and family lost their son and brother, but not from war. Her sad story kept playing in my head for a long time.
If this is any indication of working at the Family History Center, count me out. I could never handle the heartbreaking stories!
Wow. What a great guy.
What a sad story, but sweet too.
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