I created a small photo album that I titled, “My Fathers Memories.” That album contains a number of old photographs that he had from his time in the war. The war in his case was ww2. Some of those photographs were taken during his training and others are obviously from different air strips. He was a flight engineer on B-24 heavy bombers.

When I was growing up I don’t recall my father ever showing me those pictures but I must have seen them. I do remember him showing me pictures of the nose art on those bombers, mom wasn’t happy about that, if you know what the majority of that art portrayed, you understand why. I don’t remember him ever talking about his war buddies, any adventures they may have or even a single name. My mother told me, years later, that there was one guy that sent my father a Christmas card every year.

I decided to break up his photo album as it was falling apart. All those photographs of the nose art I gave to my sisters son, he was in the air force and I thought he would have an interest in them. I’m told he has them in an album and does enjoy them. The pictures of his “buddies” for lack of another term I reserved for myself, as a part of my father. I was a Navy guy and we had “shipmates” I don’t know what to call that in the other branches so “buddies” is all I got.

A few of those pictures do have a name or names on them. I have posted those to Facebook a few times over the years but never received a response. I do think about trying to find the descendants of those folks and would be glad to send the pictures to them. I do feel like it is my responsibility as caretaker of my fathers memories. Other than my brother, there is no one that knew him personally to entrust those memories with.

I did serve as a Navy recruiter for a few years. It wasn’t unusual for someone to stop in the office and say this ; my uncle, cousin or friend is in the Navy, do you know him? I always answered politely saying, I don’t think so. I have very few photographs of when I was in, it was before digital photography, I still had to have pictures printed, that didn’t happen often. In the few pictures I do have I struggle to remember the names and it has only been 25 years or so. I really should write them down suppose. But then again, I guess they aren’t memories if I can’t remember.

My fathers pictures were taken at least eighty one years ago. A picture taken 81 years before my birth would have been veterans of the civil war! My father was just 24 at the time he took those pictures. A picture taken 81 years before his birth would have been in 1843! It is estimated that only about 40,000 veterans of ww2 are still living today. It is estimated that by 2030 that number will be zero. But I have some pictures, my fathers memories, and could be the last photograph ever taken of one of those veterans. Not everyone made it home. I wouldn’t want them to be forgotten.

My father isn’t in this picture.