TBT - A WWII Story of 2 and 3 Brothers

My father was the 4th, I believe, of 5 children - my Uncle Jimmy, my Aunt Kathleen, my Uncle Eddie, my father Maurice and my Uncle Tommy. I don't know if there were other children that may have died as infants but considering the times, I suspect there could have been.

Here my father is on the right and my Uncle Tommy on the left. I suspect they may have been in high school as neither of them went to college. My father was 6'4 and my uncle was a good bit shorter so it looks as if Daddy hadn't finished growing.

When WWII came around, three of the brothers entered the Army. My Uncle Eddie never served and I'm not sure why but I suspect it was that he already had a child. In this article it says my Uncle Jimmy enlisted on June 6, 1942. That was my parents wedding day.  My father enlisted later that summer.

Later, my Uncle Tommy and my father met up on Germany. Growing up I never saw an article about that meeting. My Uncle Jimmy was always his parents' favorite and was the only one to go to college. Maybe no one sent the story to the local paper.  Who knows what really went on so many years ago when all the parties are now dead.

My father, on the right, wrote on the back of this image "Rear Echelon" Boyle and his brother "Combat Boyle". I doubt that any of the three brothers had an easy time and none of them ever wanted to talk about their war experience but I know my father certainly saw combat. Sadly, history lost here.

It's My Birthday - Hello 70!

This is probably in Philadelphia PA where I was born. Thank you Temple Hospital. My mother was working there while my father was in Germany, WWII of course.

It's been a long time since 1944 but it's been a good ride.  I still like to sleep on my stomach and while my bald head lasted for about two years, I've had a full head of hair ever since. I don't think I'll ever have thin hair.

Flashback Friday 11 01 28

These are my cousins Johnny and Kathleen back in about 1944 outside my paternal grandparents' house. They were my eldest cousins and I didn't see nearly as much of them as I did of the three others who were also born in 1944. It was a bumper year for babies in our family as the war was drawing down. We were the ones conceived on our fathers' last leave before heading overseas to Germany.  Everyone lived in Pennsylvania so our mothers got together a good bit when they could. Sharing worries and pregnancy issues and baby talk.

Johnny and Kathleen's father had a good deal more money than my parents and their mother, my father's sister, and her husband were great favorites of my mother.  Sadly, my aunt died of alcoholism in her mid 30s and her children had their own issues growing up. I really can't recall if Uncle John ever remarried. I still have the bedroom set that Johnny and Kathleen's grandfather carved for my parents for their wedding. It was a gift from Uncle John and Aunt Kathleen (yes, both children were named for their parents).  Some things as well as memories last.

Flashback Friday

My mother, knitting for me most likely, on D-Day. This was actually her 2nd wedding anniversary and she was living in Philadelphia, working for the Signal Corps, and expecting me on August 15th. Poor woman, she had to wait till September 2nd to have me. I'm told it was a terribly hot summer and she was ready to deliver, for sure. My Aunt told me she was so ready, that finally she took herself to the hospital, and walked and walked around outside, in the heat, and eventually ...there I was.