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Old Photographs
It's a shame we didn't see these photographs until after our parents had died.
I would have loved the backstory: the what, why, when. Sometimes the "who." Always, "who was the photographer?"
Dad was born in 1922, in the farmhouse on the homestead, just a mile or so south of Newell, SD. When he left home at age 20, he never returned home except for very short visits. Photography was very rare at this time; the family was very poor and hiring a photographer would have been a big deal for special occasions.
One assumes:
- seventeen or eighteen years of age, high school graduation;
- twenty years of age, on his way to sign up for the US Coast Guard
Dad served in both theaters during the war, first: many Atlantic Ocean crossings, home-stationed in Boston, pier 13 (IIRC), USS Wakefield. Then, fewer Pacific Ocean crossings but spent more time in Asia than Europe.
From his biography:
In 1942, Dad received a letter in the mail with a return address from the US Selective Service.
Dad did not open the envelope; he did not want to go into the army. Instead he visited the Belle Fourche Navy recruiting station.
Dad was sworn into the United States Coast Guard, November 6, 1942.
“I went on active duty December 23, 1942, and was assigned to Coast Guard Boot Camp in St. Augustine, Florida. The folks took me to Rapid City, South Dakota. Then I took a road bus to Omaha, Nebraska. I took the train from Omaha on December 23, 1942, and arrived in St. Augustine, Florida on Christmas Day 1942. I stayed in the Ponce de Leon Hotel during boot camp.”
