Saturday, February 6, 2010

Sepia Saturday...His boys

My dad has come home from the war.  It is 1945 in the summer.  My oldest brother Ron is on the right and Rex is on the left. The next two boys were born in '47 and '50. The photo was taken in the back yard of my grandmothers' in Murray, Iowa. I am assuming it was one of those box camera's and my mom didn't get it into focus by stepping forward or backward.

My dad was stationed in Washington D. C. the first part of the war, so when he was home for a visit, he had time to have another son.  He already had the first son born before he went into the service.  They were the prewar babies. I and my brother were the post war babies.


In many ways the war change him.  His sisters said he wasn't the same personality the rest of his life.  He may have just grown up from being an Iowan farm boy that dropped out of school at eighth grade.  Whatever the change, I didn't have anything to compare.

I know that his memories often haunted him in his daily life. He remembered and relived so much verbally with more people than our family would have liked.  He had to talk about it.  The person was still a very sensitive man who cared for others, worried about failure, worked so very hard, and was proud of his four boys. He died in 2000 at the age of 82.  He was able then to leave the war memories behind.


Others of a blog group are also participating in Sepia Saturday. Check them out at Kat's blog.

20 comments:

Kat Mortensen said...

Oh, Larry. That is such a sad commentary on a life that lost something for the sake of freedom.
I'm reading "Black Hawk Down" by Mark Bowden about the war in Mogadishu and the thing that really strikes me is how much these young men who sign on for being in the middle of war - any war must change forever.

I love the photo. They must have been very close in age, were they? They almost look like twins.

Nice contribution to Sepia Saturday. Next week, I'm going back to the oldies!

Kat

Jimmy said...

Great post Larry. I wish I had old photos to share, when I was a child. I have such wonderful memories.

Anonymous said...

What a treasured photo you have shared today. My dad did not marry until he returned from the war, but we have many photos similar to yours of him pictured with his parents & sister. Like your father, mine was haunted by nightmares from that time in his life but my dad never, ever talked about it. It makes us realize what a sacrifice they made for our country. Thank you for sharing.

Tess Kincaid said...

My husband's father is a WWII vet and unlike yours, he never talks about the war, but he, too, was not the same person on returning home.

I love this pic of a proud papa, home from the war, with his boys!

GLOGIRLY said...

My dad never wanted to talk to me about his experiences. He was a WWII Marine and served in the Pacific Theatre, including Iwo Jima where he was injured. I'll never forget the one time he answered some of my questions. He caught himself, realized he told me things he didn't think I ever needed to know and he looked so sad. But my dad was an eternal optimist, a very happy man. With the exception of the war, his glass was always half full. Or as he'd put it... full!

I love the old photos... yours is very special. I have many from my mom & dad's collections that I've restored thanks to Photoshop.

Happy Super Bowl Weekend, Larry!
Glogirly

claude said...

I like when you write about your father.
It was so good to come to the country from war. For him, for your mother for his both boys and the rest of your family.
War surely changes a man.
That was the same thing for my friend Larry when he came home from Vietnam.
Have a nice day, Larry !

Dominic Rivron said...

What a special photo. I wish my dad had talked more, in a way. He said a little. He's been a prisoner in the Far East and afterwards could never bring himself to eat rice.

Larry said...

I love those photos of yesteryear, they remind us of simpler times.

Martin said...

Larry

I can relate to this post. My step-father died a little over a month ago, aged 89. He fought in Italy and North Africa during the war, and was haunted for the rest of his days. I don't imagine anyone could go through what they did, and remain unchanged.

Sunny said...

Hi Larry,
Your photo is priceless.
My Dad seldom spoke about his war experiences, he was a tailgunner in the RAF and flew over 30 missions during WW2. Shortly before he passed away, at the young age of 68, he spoke for hours to me about the war, etc. I feel he was passing on history to me.
Have a great weekend, stay warm.
Sunny :)

Michele said...

Gosh, this really did touch a nerve and made me sad and what a wonderful tribute to your father and to all those that endured what he did. Very nice post indeed.

Valerie said...

I enjoyed reading this post, Larry.
I've been wading through old photographs, and I do mean OLD. Unfortunately I put them on the other blog. There are loads of sepia ones that I'd forgotten all about.

Betsy Brock said...

What a sweet picture. It just says it all, doesn't it? Coming home from war to your family...it had to just be the very best.

BTW...the red bird's friend on your sidebar is a Junco...just in case you didn't know. :)

Barry said...

War is a terrible thing that does terrible things to people. My dad was the opposite and refused to talk about his war time experiences.

The photo is priceless.

MuseSwings said...

What a wonderful photo of a brave soldier with his two squirmy boys! That war took a lot out of everyone who fought in it. Those I know never spoke about it at all. It changed all of them - some visibly others inside only.

Stephanie said...

Larry, A classic war/homecoming photo. Your brothers are squirming a bit! I like the birdhouse on the fence.

Total sympathy for your dad -wouldn't want war memories clnking around in my brain...

mouse (aka kimy) said...

you mentioned that your dad was stationed in dc during the first part of the war, but it sounds as if he stationed overseas later on; is that correct? many vets from ww2 who were abroad simply can not talk about their experiences, so your father was unique

war as rabbie said 'man's inhumanity to man'....

peace to all of us!

wonderful photo even if it is a little out of focus, but life was out of focus then, wasn't it?

lettuce said...

this is so poignant
a marvellous photo

Far Side of Fifty said...

Thanks for sharing this photo Larry. It is so sad that young men had to be sent off to a war, so many were never the same again. There are not many WW2 Vets around anymore. I still know a few..most all of them are haunted in their later years..old guys thinking of the things they saw and heard ..not easy to be a War Time Veteran:(

The Retired One said...

Wonderful photo and sensitive reflection of your dad and what he went through. I can certainly believe that whoever goes through a war would never be the same person when he got home.

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