Sometimes our friends are really different!!!!!

This week was really great because of an opportunity not many people get.  I've been volunteering up at The Peregrine Fund's World Center for Birds of Pray since 2005.  It was a chance meeting.  In January 2001 I took a new job in Boise, Idaho.  Deb stayed back in Wisconsin with the kids so Erin, our oldest, could finish high school there.  I drove out, and moved into an apartment, and if anyone has experienced that you know the place is about as boring as can be.

The first weekend, determined to not spend the two days staring at a TV and bare walls, I spent Friday night searching the web for some place to go on Saturday.  Found the Birds of Prey Center and so after breakfast went up to see what it had to offer.  I got there about 10:30am.  After a very short four and a half hours I decided there wasn't much more I could see and headed out for lunch at 3:00pm.  One thing was apparent--when I retired I was going to volunteer to serve up there.  So, in 2005 I filled out the volunteer form and started. 

The hardest part of being a volunteer was getting in two years of service so I could begin training to handle the educational birds, and show them to the public.  That first day was filled with concern of doing everything just right, not frightening the bird, and being able to focus on his care and handling while talking to the Interpretive Center visitors.  It was also filled with considerable excitement having a wild raptor on a glove no more than six to eight inches from my face.  To be that close the very first time is an undescribable feeling.  It doesn't compare to holding your new born child the first time, but it definitely has to be the next closest thing.

The first raptor with which I worked was a male Peregrine Falcon named Jess.  Jess was born at the center and had bad eye sight so was kept as an educational bird rather than release him to the wild and have him die because he couldn't catch prey.  That's Jess to the right (no not the bald one).  The photo was taken this week and is one of the reasons I started this particular blog.  I wanted to share with all of you some of what I experienced.  

It was spring break, so one of the programs we added was to have a bird on display, along with lots of art supplies so young people (three to sixty+) could come up to the Center and draw/sketch the birds and learn about them.  Jess is sixteen now.  He has been quite the Raptor Ambassador of these years.  I still get just as excited when I show him as I did the very first time.  Through the work of The Peregrine fund over 4000 birds were released to the wild, and in 1999 the peregrine was taken off the endangered species list. 

The Center has over 20 educational birds which the public can see and learn about.  During the day there are six scheduled live bird presentations for the visitors to see.  Additionally, during warmer weather two or three birds are often placed on perches in our courtyard for visitors to see and photograph.  Our volunteers work as bird sitters during these sessions and are available to answer questions from the public. 

This week I had the opportunity to bird sit in the art program on three different afternoons.  What a lot of fun being with the birds and being afforded the chance to share with the public a little information about these great creatures.

 This is an American Kestrel.  His name is Bob and he's about four years old.  He was initially taken to a rehab center, but because of the time spent there he became an imprinted bird and could not be released back to the wild. 

Bob is the smallest of the falcon family and though he can catch birds the size of sparrows often feeds on grasshoppers and crickets as well.  Frequently you will see these birds on telephone lines along the road where there is an adjacent field which offers lots of feeding opportunities. 

Falcons as a family typically prey on other birds, and are some of the fastest fliers in the raptor community.  They have exceptional eyesight, and often can spot prey at considerable distance.  Additionally, you will find most of the falcons also either have an all black colored head or at least have a black stipe of feathers crossing the eye vertically or horizontally.

Another falcon we have as an educational bird, and one of the prettiest ones coloring wise is the Teita Falcon.  It is also found spelled Taita.  Our falcon, Minnie is a three year old imprinted bird.  They are one of the rarest falcons in the world and found in eastern Africa.  They typically nest near areas with high cliffs and their favorite prey is the chimney swift, one of the fastest flying birds in the world. 

As a result, they must fly even faster in order to catch their prey.  They will climb up to higher altitudes and then when prey is spotted will dive at the prey to catch it.  It has been estimated they can dive at speeds of 170 to 180 miles per hour.  She has a beautiful fawn colored breast, the typical dark markings around the eyes and head, and the tubercle or cartilage in the nostril.  Because they dive at such high speeds they can "pop" the tubercle up to close off the nostril and reduce the high speed wind entry into their lungs.  And, as with all the raptors, has large eyes, talons and a hooked beak for tearing the prey for consumption. 

Another falcon with which I was able to work this week was the Aplomado Falcon.  Ours, Stella is an eleven year old bird born at the World Center for Birds of Prey.  We are now raising these and releasing them to the wild as we did with the Peregrines. 

The Aplomado had disappeared from the United States about 1952.  We were fortunate to obtain several breeding pairs from the Yucatan Peninsula by agreement with the Mexican government.  We've been releasing them in Texas and New Mexico along the South Coast and Rio Grande Valley where their habitat used to be. 

The Aplomado is unusual in that the pairs hunt together to team-up and catch prey.  One often will work lower while the other works higher and they use a deception and attack approach to catching their prey.  You can see she has the same dark coloring around the eye.

 























I've included these last two photos of Stella since they show a couple of things about the birds when they get comfortable with their surroundings.  There was another bird presentation going on at the time and we had no one in the art area.  Stella was settling down to the point she began to get comfortable and doze off.  In the left photo you will note she is standing on only her right leg.  This is common and the other one is pulled up in her chest feathers.  You can see she's also closed the "nictitating membrane" (her third eyelid) on her left eye and is just peeking out of her right eye to see if I'm still there.  The right hand photo is after she got really comfy and tucked her beak down and has the eye completely closed.  This third eyelid is opaque, and although not transparent as in the sense of a clear pane, still allows some shadows to show through, and most importantly protects the eye when they are attacking prey.  It also is used to wet the eye when flying as we would when we blink with our eyes. 

Finally, we are back to our original raptor Jess.  Peregrines are the fastest animal on the planet.  We often ask visitors which animal is fastest, and the most common response is the cheetah.  Cheetahs have a top speed of about 70 mph.  One peregrine was actually "clocked" at 242 mph in a dive on prey.  Of course, they too have the tubercle to protect their lungs from the high speed wind. 

Jess is a truly great Raptor Ambassador and has been with us for considerable time.  When on display on the glove he is often vocal with the "ker-chuk" sound they are known for.  A great bird, my privilege to show, and one with which I wanted to share with you as to why my week was so very special.  Thanks for hanging in there while I rambled.  VR. Mags.






For Jack, who was with us for many years.  A very special Raptor!

On The Beach!

Fifteen years ago we brought my folks cremains to the ocean. We waded down a little creekbed to Trail 2, one of their favorite spots. There they will be at the ocean forever. Now, when we
come to Kalaloch, we stop and visit the old tree stump where the trail meets the beach! Today we walked the mile and a half South from the cabins to pay our respects. What a beautiful March day. Thank you Lord!!!!! Life is beautiful.

A New Road with Family

Being on the road with family can mean a lot of things--heading to church, the grocery store, a movie; on vacation, taking a weekend to visit.  Today, I had a chance to be on the road with family, and found a new road to take.  It was a surprise, it was exciting, it was heart-warming, and most of all it was fulfillment of another wish, another dream.

From the Shaws and Kriegers, my paternal grandparents, if we learned nothing else, we learned the most important thing was family.  I recall weekends were always spent at one of the twelve Shaw kid's homes with several of the brothers and sisters there, along with all their kids.  The adults played cards most evenings, and we kids ran rampant through the yard during the afternoons, and found games to play inside at night.  And, of course, we ate.  There was always lots of food.  It wasn't fancy, but it was staple, and it was plentiful--fried chicken was common, we always had lots of mashed potatoes, a treat was Aunt Annie's fried bread.  Most evenings they played pinochle, but some nites they played Blackjack, but called it 21.  Then the older kids got to play, and it was used to teach us to add quickly in our heads. 

But, here I've digressed.  It's just that family always brings back so many great memories--as it should.  About thirty years ago my family put together a family history book.  One of the cousins, Darlene, took the lead and got the majority of the family to write down dates and places of births, deaths, marriages, and other significant life events.  She also asked everyone to write down a few pages of memories of the family.  While not documented, most of the information was at least close if not accurate. 

After I retired, I picked up the journey, and went through the book, put all the information online into a family tree.  One of my cousins Chris, scanned the whole book, put it into a pdf file and we were able to upload it to the family tree site so coming generations would have access to it.  It's been a marvelous journey, and one I feel fortunate to have traveled. 

As with all travels, we occasionally run into deadends, or make wrong turns.  I've found sufficient along the way, and while disappointing at the time, they can sometimes have the best of outcomes.  Today was one of those days we squeaked through a narrow road and ended up in front of a beautiful destination.

Michael Krieger and Caroline Amanda Bush married in 1879 in Nebraska.  The "Book" records show they had nine children, all born in Sutton, Clay County, Nebraska.  The first born was John W. born January 28, 1880 and died in infancy on February 28, 1880.  Despite several searches, I could find no documentation for John W., could not find burial information, nor a gravesite.  Finally, I located a 1880 Census for Michael and Amanda, and it was enumerated in Farmers Valley, Hamilton County, Nebraska.  I went to Find-a-Grave online and searched to see if there is a cemetery there, and if so if there might be a John W. Krieger interred there.  I found a cemetery, but no John W. Krieger.  However, there was a single tombstone for the unknown dead.  On February 20th, I submitted a photo request, and asked if someone might be able to "...just look around". 

Today, I had a note from Find-a-Grave, and opened it.  A wonderful lady "Wendy" wrote back to me, "Well, it was a BEAUTIFUL day here in Nebraska so I headed out with my camera to fulfill some requests. Lucky you - yours was on my list! Wow! Farmer's Valley Cemetery is such a beautiful little pioneer cemetery! Anyway, I did find a "Krieger" marker - the only one there. I am pretty sure it is who you are looking for, but I wanted to pass a little information by you before I post the pictures. The marker was for a William Krieger. Could be your John W. was called William. He was born on Jan. 28, 1880 and died on Febr. 28, 1880. It says he was the son of A. and M. Krieger. Amanda and Michael? If you think this is him, let me know and I will post the pictures. As, I said, there were no other Krieger headstones that I found, so don't know where the parents are buried. Wendy"

It was a match to both Caroline Amanda and Michael Krieger, and the dates were exact.  I wrote back, and within the hour, Wendy had posted the photos, established a memorial online, and sent me another note, "I am glad I could help you out. I so enjoyed my visit to this little cemetery. Someone obviously cares alot about the cemetery. I think this is the first cemetery I have ever been to that had outhouses! Yep - two of them nestled in the corner. It had a nice cement picnic table and other signs that it was not a forgotten place. EVERY grave had flowers on them so there was not a single forgotten person there. So, don't worry about little William. Someone is taking care of his gravesite. :) ...Again, fulfilling this request was truely a pleasure! Enjoy!! Wendy."

So now we have completed another journey and found another ancestor along the way.  It's when you are up against a road block, at a deadend, when the research truck seems to be deeply mired in the muddy records of history, that someone like Wendy comes along and gives you the tug you need.  And, these are the events that keep us researching, and hopefully helping others as Wendy has helped us.  Thanks a million Lady.  You've definitely made this a great ride.  VR. Mags.

Photo taken by Wendy Redman Hudson, posted on Find-a-Grave 14 Mar 2012. 

Beauty is Where You Find It!

Sitting in Mass yesterday afternoon for the beginning of Lent, I was looking at the four stained glass windows high above the alter in the front of the Church.  Although they are beautifully designed and installed, I thought of another Church--St. Catherine. 

Last spring, Deb and I took a day trip to Twin Falls to see Shoshone Falls and Twin Falls while the river was at it's spring high.  We had an incredible trip on several accounts.  We of course stopped at the Perrine Bridge and found we'd just missed some BASE jumpers.  They were down on the South shore packing up their parachutes.  But, the day was beautiful and we enjoyed just seeing the view. 

 After we crossed the bridge we pulled in at the information visitor's stop on the South side of the bridge.  Two really neat people offered us considerable facts and information, including where we might find a great breakfast.

We had to laugh. The gent told us it was his favorite, but was just a local hole-in-the-wall.  He said it wasn't difficult to get to, but you had to keep an eye out for it.  We followed his directions, and looked where we were supposed to, but didn't see any restaurants.  It was in the middle of an industrial and storage area, so it should have stood out.  We circled the block again--nothing.  So, drove out a block to the main street, stopped at a 7-11 and asked.  Two out of the three had never heard of it, but fortunately, a young woman stocking in the back room said, "Yes, it's just over one block, and down about half-way in the next block."  So off we went again looking for the Buffalo Cafe.

Buffalo Cafe in Twin Falls

He was right, it was a hole-in-the-wall, but turned out to be a very fun experience, and the food was superb.  Helpings were way greater than needed, but delicious, hash browns to die for and an omelette that would make you proud, and extremely full.  Unending hot, fresh coffee topped off the most attentive and friendly waitress we've enjoyed in some time. 

With our 'bellies' full, we headed on up the road and saw the falls, scanned the cliffs for raptors building spring nests, and just a pleasureful, non-rushed morning into afternoon.

Shoshone Falls

The river flow was high, the water rushing over
was impressive, and the beautiful rainbow from
the sunshine was brilliant.  Deb took lots and
lots of pictures.  We felt very fortunate as the melt was usually not this great this late in the year.

After visiting the two falls locations, Deb was scanning the route to go home so we didn't travel the same ground and discovered there was a balancing rock out to the West of town.  Actually, it was quite a ways out West of town, but all we had was time and the desire to enjoy a day together. 

Off we went towards Buhl, and then SW about ten to twelve miles.  You end up driving across some great agricultural land, and then suddenly the terrain drops away and you drop down and cross a river and then you are back up into rocky high desert terrain.  But, sure enough, crawling up out of the river bottom, on the right hand side Deb spotted our interim destination.  Funny how you can live somewhere for ten years and not even know there are new and fun destinations to explore.  We'd not even heard of this balancing rock, but found there was a neat history to it, and of course added a new piece of history to our travels. 

From there we took off winding our way North on farm roads looking for the well traveled means back to I-84 and our return to Boise.  Without venturing over into Owyhee County we found our way back to Highway 30 and headed for the freeway.  Hwy 30 takes you back up towards Hagerman, and passes the famous Hagerman Fossil Beds National Monument.  Unfortunately, with all of our meanderings that day, we didn't leave time to go explore the fossil beds (and that is so one of Deb's long lived desires in the world).  But, that can be another day trip for us in the future.  So, on up the road we traveled and finally entered the little town of Hagerman.  
If you count all the cross streets, Hagerman is ten blocks long South to North.  As we approched the next to last block there was a little church on the West side of the road.  I was looking around, but didn't look too closely, but fortunately my wife did.  Suddenly she says, "Mike! Stop! Turn around we need to go back!"  Now she has always had a pension for taking pictures of churches, church spires and crosses, so I wasn't totally surprised, but didn't see the cross on this church as particularly spectacular. 

St. Catherine Church, Hagerman, Idaho

What Deb saw that I missed were the stained glass windows in this little church.  We went up a block and turned around and came back into the parking lot.  How I'd not seen the beauty of these windows was beyond me.  Deb jumped out and was snapping a picture of the side of the church and the outdoor statue of St. Catherine along side the building.  About then a truck drove in and went to a little maintenance shed at the back of the lot.  A gentleman got out of the truck and walked over toward Deb.

She explained she had seen the stained glass windows and just wanted to get a picture of them and hoped he didn't mind.  You know, the thing about Idaho is there is no greater feeling than the friendliness with which you are greeted by locals--especially by locals of small towns.  Hagerman and this resident and church member were no disappointment in that department. The gentleman asked Deb if she would like to go inside and take pictures so the light was coming in through the windows.  He was clearly very proud of his Church and extremely ready to show his pride to us. While not wanting to impose, we could not resist the opportunity.  The gentleman unlocked the front doors to the church, and below you see the results of Deb's visit to St. Catherine Catholic Church, Hagerman, Idaho.

I love being On the Road, I particularly enjoy being On the Road with Deb!!!!!

Inner Doors to the Church

Main Aisle to the Church Alter

On the Sea!

One of the things I noticed growing up was those I knew who had been to War, Korea, WWII never spoke of their time there. Even when asked, they usually just somehow kind of passed it off and never ended up saying much.


In the years since I served in Vietnam, I've found I do the same. Often I have asked myself, "Why?" I don't really know, but I've settled on the idea it's because civilians, who have never experienced combat can't really associate with what one is saying or sharing. I don't know that to be true, but just figured it to be true.


I have a friend, a sister-in-law to a service wife I've know for years. And when I posted some of the statistics about Vietnam casualties who are on the Vietnam Wall just prior to Pearl Harbor day she wrote and asked me why I posted it at that time. Don't ask me why, I don't know, but because of the type of person she is, I shared not only the why of the post, but went on to share a story from Vietnam. She understood, not just in her mind, but in her Heart. So, I want to share this email with you.


"I received that from my cousin who was also in the Navy and served during Vietnam. He said he hoped others would not just focus on Pearl Harbor tomorrow, but remember all the wars this nation has fought and the losses we’ve experienced in human lives. Did you know we’ve been in twelve different wars since we fought the British in the Revolutionary War? (Revolutionary War: 1775-1783; Indian Wars: 1780’s-1800; War of 1812: 1812-1815; Mexican War: 1846-1848; Civil War: 1861-1865; Spanish-American War: 1898; Philippine Insurrection: 1899-1902; WW I: 1917-1918; WW II: 1941-1945; Korean War: 1950-1953; Vietnam War: 1965-1973; Gulf War/Iraq: 1991--??)."


She also asked me if I'd served in Vietnam. My reply, "Yes, I served in Vietnam three different tours. The first in 1967, and the last when the peace accords were signed. If I may, I’ll share a story with you not many are aware of. Before I went over the second time, in the training for our new aircraft the A-7 several of us went through the training together. One was a gent named Phillip Clark. We called him Flip. While in training, he learned his wife had breast cancer. They fought it, but back then we didn’t have all the knowledge we have today, and so the day after Christmas of 1971 she passed away. They had two little kids, a daughter and son. We took care of them on weekends so he could spend time with his wife at the hospital. As a single parent, he could have certainly asked not to go to Vietnam, but he felt a strong commitment to serve his country as had his father."


"On Christmas Eve of 1972 our Carrier (Enterprise) had the day off, but we still always kept aircraft ready to launch in the event of emergencies. Just about dinner time we were called and told an aircraft had been shot down in the islands just south of Haiphong Harbor, and they sounded the alarm to launch the Rescap (Rescue Combat Air Patrol) aircraft. Another gent and I were on standby, ran up, and launched. We spent several hours looking for the pilot in the islands, but unfortunately did not find him. As darkness closed around us we angrily gave up our search and returned to Danang since our carrier was not operating."
 

"The next day, Christmas day 1972, we returned to the carrier. It was then during the debrief of our mission from the previous day I learned the downed pilot was Phillip “Flip” Spratt Clark Jr. My squadronmate who had lost his wife the previous year to cancer. Flip’s children were staying with their grandparents who ended up raising them. I’ve been to the Wall in D.C. and to the traveling wall three different times, and always go spend time with Flip. I think of the sacrifice of that family, of two little kids growing up, not only without parents, but really never knowing a lot about who their parents really were, what they believed, what their values were. Each year on Veteran’s day I’ve written letters to his hometown paper telling about his sacrifice. Never knew if they were published. That was before internet. And of course on Christmas Eve I try to spend a few moments, off to myself, remembering I’m with family, but his family is not with him and his wife."
 

"A few years back when they finally posted the names on the internet of all those on The Wall, I looked it up. There were a couple of omissions and one or two small errors for Flip, so I added a comment and corrected those. Two years ago I received a note from someone who had found my additions, and written because she wanted to know if there was more I could tell her about “her dad”. Shannon was in Northern Idaho visiting her “mom” grandmother, and came across the notes. Of course I wrote back, and we’ve remained in contact. Unfortunately she was headed back to Southern California the day we talked on the phone. Proudly, I learned her brother, Terry had gone into the Navy, and as did his father, went into aviation and became a Navy pilot, Terry flying F-14 Tomcats. Sadly, she also shared he’d been killed in an aircraft crash off Southern California in 1996. So while I very sincerely appreciate your thanks for my service, I feel just a little embarrassed in accepting when there are other families who have given so much more than I did. But I will accept the big bear hug, because when I think of Flip and his family I really need a hug."


"May I also say thanks to you, because without people like yourself, we who serve could not and would not do it. It’s folks like you who make it worthwhile, knowing you are here and acknowledge and appreciate what we as Americans have because others have served. Thank you very much, and God Bless you. Love to you and your family. VR. Mags"


It took awhile for a response to come back from my friend, but when I received it, I understood why the delay, "I never responded to the story you shared because I could not think of words to say...Christmas Eve is almost upon us and I wonder ... I wonder so many things... about you and about Shannon and her brother. The story haunts me. While I sit in church on Christmas Eve and again Christmas morn, I will remember...and whisper my thanks to your friend and hero and his wife...and I will continue to wonder..."


Thank you Lee. I wish there were more people like you in this world. People who do wonder about events, about life, about what happens and has happened to others. Thank you very much for asking me to share. I realize it is better having someone to share the loss of this family and that many more prayers for them is better than just mine. VR. Mags.

On the Sea!

On May 4, 1945, the USS Morrison, DD560, a U.S. Navy destroyer was on duty at Radar Picket Station No. 1 just off Okinawa. Early that morning, she was hit by four Japanese kamikaze aircraft. The ship sank so quickly only one crew member from below decks is documented as having escaped and survived. One hundred fifty-five other Navy men lost their lives. One of those men who was listed as MIA (Missing In Action) was Frederick Arthur Raycraft, WT3, USNR. Petty Officer Third Class Raycraft was born in 1917 to the George William Raycraft family of Bend, Oregon. He was the eighth of nine children born to George and Florence Raycraft. His younger brother Charles died and was interred in Bend in 2003.  Petty Officer Raycraft's name is on a Memorial in Honolulu, Hawaii. 

We've had a couple of tupperware buckets full of old pictures around the house for more years than I want to say.  Actually, it's since my dad passed away in 1994.  One bucket was pictures my mom had saved from her mother and father's collection when they passed away.  The other one was from mom and dad's closet and friends and family they had. I've been working on scanning in these photos, cleaning them up, trying to see who is who and putting captions on them.  I got all of my grandparent's albums scanned and loaded onto the family website in September 2010. 

This past week, Deb sat me down and handed me the bucket from my folk's closet.  So, first I sorted them by family groups, with the hope that after they have been scanned in I can take them to the family picnic this July and return them to the appropriate families to be distributed.  Keep in mind some of these photos go back nearly one hundred years. One of the photos was a U.S. Navy Petty Officer Third Class.  On the back of the photo, written in pencil was the following, "Fred Raycraft, missing in action Christmas 1945."  Not a lot to go on.  I won't bore you with the details of the search, but after some digging, I was able to determine Water Tender Third Class (WT3) Frederick Arthur Raycraft, from Bend, Oregon was aboard the USS Morrison DD-560 and was one of the one-hundred fifty-five sailors lost that day. 

Fred was born to George William and Florence O. Raycraft in 1917, the eighth of nine children.  They lived on Kingston Street in Bend, and a couple of the family members worked for Shevlin-Hixson Company there.  I was able to find out the parents and the youngest brother's funerals were conducted by Niswonger Reynolds Funeral Home in Bend.  It's still there.  I've mailed a copy of the story along with Fred's photo to Pastor Jim Carmichael with the funeral home and asked him to try to get the photo back to family members.  It's the least one can do for someone who made the ultimate sacrifice for his country.  Fred, it's sixty-six years after the fact, but I salute you. Thank you for your sacrifice to this country, and those of us who live here.  VR.

It's Not Always Just About Us.

Next Monday I'll be getting on the road to ride the bike over to Wilder, Idaho.  Not a long trip mileage wise, but a long trip in that it will bring together a family, and photos of their ancestors from ninty-three years ago. 

On October 10th, 2010 we uploaded 105 photos we had scanned in from my maternal grandmother's family photos and put them into an album on our Family Tree Website. One of the photos was captioned, "1918 in Almira, Washington." On the back of that photo my grandmother had identified the fourth gent in from the left as Wellborn. The corner was torn off the picture, so we didn't have a first name. Doing a little research on a website called Find A Grave, we eventually found a grave in the Almira, Washington Cemetery belonging to a John Leonard Welborn. It showed DOB as 17 Sep 1885 and DOD as 30 Sep 1935, but that was it. Continuing to search, we then found a cemetery transcription on Interment.net. There, John Leonard Welborn with same dates of birth and death had the following additional information: "WWI, Co F Inf"


So back to the photo album--there were several photos of WWI Army members from Company F out of Camp Lewis (what subsequently became Fort Lewis and is now Lewis McChord). We knew John wasn't a family member, but apparently he and several of the other people from some of the camping pictures in the album were friends of my grandmother's family and friends. We then began a search online to see if we could find anyone researching John Leonard Welborn or who had him in their family tree. We found a public tree with John in it. I used Ancestry.com to send a message to the gent maintaining the tree to find out if this was a relative of his. The tree owner, of Reno, Nevada wrote back to let us know John Leonard Welborn was a brother to his grandmother--his grand uncle.

As we've scanned in all the photos and have them in digital format on the hard drive and also backed up on another drive, we offered him the original copies of all the photos with the soldiers/gents in uniform in them. To say the least, he was very pleased and will make sure they get to the appropriate family members. It turns out he and his wife are headed to Eastern Washington to visit next week. I will meet them in Wilder, Idaho as they travel north and be able to personally hand him these photos. What a great feeling it is to know that we've had these photos in our family for ninty-three years and they are finally getting returned to family members of the individual. So, while building the tree, and learning about our own family is really an inspiration and great experience, it's deeply gratifying to know that it isn't just about us. Sometimes we are able to help others discover their roots as well. Life is truly GREAT when that occurs.