Letter Of "Thanks" From Commander -- Dr Bruce Oksol -- Flight Medicine -- Deployed -- April 11, 1986

Permanent base: Bitburg Air Base, Germany

Temporarily deployed to Decimomannu, Sardinia, Italy. NATO training base on south side of island. We called it "Deci," pronounced, "duchy," rhyming with "munchie."

Carl: Discharge Papers -- 1946

 Original maintained in Bruce's memorabilia binder, 2022 - 2023.

Another Undated Photograph

*****************************
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.”

Undated Photograph -- My Interpretation -- August 20, 2023

The photograph:

My hunch:

Left to right: Carl, Eddie, Oscar (suit), Myrtle, Christine, Clara (looks just like Paula), Paul.

 
Clara: link here.
Myrtle: link here.

Christine Tangvold -- Mrs Paul Oksol -- Paternal Grandmother -- Obituary

Highlights:

• spelling of her first name: Christine
• b. Trondheim, Norway, March 31, 1880
• arrived US, 1905; first settled aat Zumbrota, MN
• married to Paul Oksol, April 15, 1911 in Minneapolis, MN
• moved to Newell, SD; homesteaded that sprring, 1911
• five children: Edward, Oscar, Myrtle, Clara, and Carl
  
• Belle Fourche Hospital, following 10-day illness
• First Lutheran Church, Newell, SD
  
• Reverend K. A. Knutson officiating; Mrs Knutson, organist
• Wilson cemetery south of Newell, SD
• pall-bearers: three sons, two sons-in-law; one nephew
• Edward, Oscar, and Carl
• Russell H. Wilson, Raymond Wald
  
• Jerome Viseth

When I read the names of Russel Wilson and Raymond Wald, tears come; those were the "good years."

Don's 100th Birthday Party

Photos

Don with all three children: Don, Jr; Leslie; Kenn (far left):

Leslie with husband Jerry front row: Don, Sr, Don, Kenn:

Rehanna (Kenn's wife) and Storm Lake t-shirt for Don:

 

Road Trip

Thursday, August 31, 2023
Departed Euless, TX, at 9:00 a.m.

2:11 p.m. CT: Arkadelphia. Short McDonald's stop. $4.92 for a better snack (for two) than $13 for coffee for two and one butter croissant earlier this morning. Incredibly clean, nice McDonald's and very friendly staff.

10:22 a.m. CT: Starbucks break northeast of Dallas, east of Rockwall, I-30.

Friday, August 31, 2023

2:00 p.m. CT arrive southeast Pennsylvania; incredibly long, winding road to get to Gettysburg, PA. 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m., Gettysburg. Then to motel, Holiday Express, York, PA.

Saturday, September 1, 2023

11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. CT: Barnes art museum.

4:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. CT: Don's 100th birthday

Overnight in Oxford, second of two nights.

Sunday, September 2, 2023

 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. CT: tour Amish country

1:00 p.m. - 1:30 p.m. CT  visited Don's retirement community, Ware Presbyterian Retirement Village, Oxfford, Pennsylvania

3:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m. CT: Philadelphia -- Reading Terminal Market; Pennsylvania Fine Arts Museum.

6:00 p.m. CT:  deepart direclty for home via I-95 -- Baltimore, MD; Washington, DC, Ft Meade, MD

Sunday, September 3, 2023

Driving -- Washington, DC, to Nashville, TN

Monday, September 4, 2023

11:00 a.m. CT: arrive Nashville; spend an hour with Arianna

3:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m. CT: tour Shiloh

7:00 p.m. CT: Chick-Fil-A in Corinth, MS

Tuesday, September 4, 2023

Overnight to home in Texas.

Arrived home 8:00 a.m.

 ********************************
Birthday Party Details

Bruce and May hotel, Friday, September 1, 2023, one night:

• Holiday Inn Express & Suites York, an IHG Hotel, 140 Leader Heights Rd, York, PA 17403
• intersection of I-83 (N/S) and US Highway 182 (E/W); southwest quadrant
  

Contact:

• Leslie: 520-670-[Bruce's B/D +7146]
• location of party? Mill Road Farmhouse, link here.
  

Letter from Leslie Meredith, Don's daughter, July 28, 2023, details:

• birthday picnic: Saturday, September 2, 2023
• location: Morgantown, PA
• my hunch: 145 Mill Road, Morgantown, PA
  
• Labor Day weekend: be advised

Locations:

• Morgantown: site of birthday picnic
• Hershey: where Leslie's family is staying (the Merediths staying in Hershey)
  
• Lancaster: center of Amish culture
• Oxford: Don's home; small village.
• Ware Village
  
• 101 Kensington Lane
• Oxford, PA 19363
   

Maps:

***************************
Additional Information

Hotel confirmation:

*********************************
Location Of Party

Mill Road Farmhouse

ABNB won't give out address until booked.

My hunch: 145 Mill Road, Morgantown, PA

Trondheim -- Ådalsbjørg -- Greetings -- July 9, 2023

Link here.

Ivar Moen, a distant cousin, posted this a couple of days ago.

My grandfather, my father, and I visited this site when I was in eighth grade. The stone holds great significance for the family.

Ådalsbjørg in Forradal?

I do remember taking a photo of a road sign on the way to Hell, Norway, on that trip back in the eighth grade. Wow, that brings back great memories. Of the many things Carl did in his life, this ranks near the top -- taking his Dad back to his ancestral home in Norway.

I have long forgotten, but should look this up ... if the Moens were on my maternal grandmother's side of the family.