Perspective and Family History

My husband and I just got back from the 75^th Sturgis Motorcycle Rally.  That’s right, we rode our bikes 1,875 miles round-trip PLUS daily excursions through the Black Hills and Badlands.  A great experience and beautiful countryside to ride through.

Have you heard of the Needles Highway?  This route is a motorcyclists dream. Incredible twisties, switch backs, pigtail bridges hills and valleys, and even a few short tunnels.  And the last time we went, my husband was in control and I took the pictures.

Although we ride separately to the rally, we want to share the rally experience and ride together.  However, this time I wanted to ride the Needles so he rode on the back and took the pictures.

It was everything I thought, the twisties were even twister than I thought, the roads were narrower and the switch backs were quick.  OOWEE! that was fun.  But something happened on that ride - our viewpoints changed.  Until this ride he had never seen the beauty and I had never seen the danger.

Although we had both been on the same motorcycle on the same road two years before, we both came away from that ride with a new appreciation of Needles Highway.

That experience got me thinking about how we look at family history.  I believe that it is human nature to see history through our own perspective and easier still to make judgement.  But as family historians, is that our job?  Can we tell the story without bias?  Or can we figure out a way to switch seats for 50 miles to see another perspective?

When we listen to the stories of our family members, we need to remember that their experiences were different than ours which makes their decisions possible different than ones would might have made today.  If they made a different choice than you think you would have made, take the time to ask them why they did what they did.  Find out as much of the circumstances surrounding the situation and keeping asking “why”.  Maybe then your own perspective might change.

I never knew my Great Grandfather George R Bird and my grandmother never talked about him.  When I found his Workers Progress Administration record I found out that he had been fired for absenteeism.  That was no surprise to me at all.  After all, George had been a bigamist, kidnapper and overall louse, according to all of the other documents that I had found.  It wasn’t until talking to a granddaughter from his last marriage that I realized that I needed to change seats.

The more probable reason why he didn’t show up to work was because there were four little ones at home and his wife gave birth to their fifth child on the day he was fired.

Perspective!

Remember with Me is a family legacy company dedicated to recording the stories of the individual and solidifying their place in their family’s history.  Please call us to schedule a time with a trained Life Historian to tell your story, archive heirlooms or identify family photos.

I caught a ball at the baseball game! Preserving your memento's story.

I caught a baseball at the game.  Ok, well, I didn’t really catch the baseball but I have a ball hit by a San Diego Padres’ player on July 4, 2015 while playing against the St. Louis Cardinals at Busch Stadium.

During the course of the game, there had to be over 20 people that “caught” balls.  It wasn’t a special game, but I had a great time with my husband and aunt but you wouldn’t know that by looking at that baseball.

What would you do with the ball?

The question really isn’t about what to do with the ball but how to record a specific story that surrounds a memento. 

In the case of the ball, the game ticket will be helpful in identifying that I went to baseball game however there is no detail in why I kept it.

Throughout our lives we will keep many mementos, some that we will recognize with our hearts their importance for that time and place.  Other mementos, we will look at and have a vague recollection as to why we kept it.  However, without the written history, it will mean nothing to the next generation.

For years, I have heard older generations say “Nobody will want this, so I should just throw all of this away.”  But the truth is that there is somebody who will want something.  Some items of your they will keep because it was important to them and other items they will keep because you stressed the importance of that item to you.

Start with the top 10 items you have and mean the absolute world to you.  Get a notebook and label it  - “My Mementos”.  If you can, label each item with a number if you can’t do that without damaging the item be sure to detail it to the Nth degree so that it isn’t confused for another item.

In the notebook, give the number of the items and start with its description (just in case the number falls off the items).  Then write a few details as to why you kept it; ie, where you got it, who was with you, when you got the item, why it is important to you.

You do not need to write a dissertation.  But do be sure to give enough details so that the next generation has a complete picture of the items importance. 

If you don’t feel this is enough take a photograph of the item and write the story on the back of the picture and file the pictures with your important papers.

Your mementos are important not only to you but to future generations.  Knowing the story  behind the memento just makes it that more special.

Oh and as for the story of the ball?  We had excellent seats on the first base line in the bottom section.  With every foul tip, I would say “I can’t look up because I am sure it would the ball would hit me in the face.”  I felt like Sandra Bullock in “2 Weeks Notice”.

Somehow a commotion started right around us but I have to tell you I couldn’t tell you why.  I hadn’t been paying attention to the game.  The next thing I know, everyone is saying that it was underneath me.  Finally I stood up and my husband got the ball from under my chair.  It was hilarious.  Once the ball was in my hand, I did a happy dance and then spent the rest of the day laughing.

Of course, the ball fell out the sky when I wasn’t paying attention and fell on me then underneath me.  But that wasn’t the best part. I got a great memento of a wonderful afternoon I had on July 4, 2015 with my husband and my favorite aunt and that is what I want someone to know when they find my ball.

Remember with Me is a family legacy company dedicated to recording the stories of the individual and solidifying their place in their family’s history.  Please call us to schedule a time with a trained Life Historian to tell your story, archive heirlooms or identify family photos.

In Honor of Pvt Robert Allen Davis (1947-1967)

I was supposed to be born.

My father, Dale G. Harris, was supposed to live but it would be at the expense of another young life.

PVT Harris had joined the US Army in March 1966 as a Radio Mechanic.  After training at Ft. Benning he was assigned to the Communications Platoon in the Headquarters Company of the 2^nd Battalion, 47^th Mechanized Infantry Regiment, 9^th Infantry Division at Ft. Riley, Kansas.

The 2^nd Battalion moved out from San Francisco, California on Jan 9, 1967 and arrived in Vietnam on Jan 29, 1967.  

The 20 year old Private was assigned as a Radiotelephone Operator (RTO) and from his arrival in January to June 1967 participated in all combat operations that his company and battalion were assigned.

In June 1967, PVT Harris was going to be reassigned to the Ben-Wah base as a Radio Technician and his replacement had just arrived in country.  PVT Harris had been training PVT Robert Allen Davis of Fort Wayne, Indiana for two weeks when Dale received a mission.

Dale was to join his Captain, First Sergeant, driver and gunner and go to a meeting at Camp Bearcat.  They were to load up on an armored personnel carrier (APC) and drive from their current bivouac area to the camp.

Hearing about the mission, Robert told Dale that he would go on the mission and that he should just stay back.  “I have to learn the job anyway,” Robert said as he geared up and went to join the group assigned to the mission.

Five minutes later, an explosion rocked the bivouac area.  The APC carrying the new RTO had run over an explosive device.  PVT Davis died in that explosion as well as the First Sergeant Gene Elwood Calph, Driver Clyde Owenby and the gunner.  The Captain lost his arm.

Dale joined the detail assigned to recovering the bodies of the soldiers that died in the explosion which included the young man that had taken his place on that failed mission.

A couple of weeks after that tragic event, a bible appeared on Dale's bunk.  It was the bible of PVT Robert Allen Davis.  To this day he is still unsure how the bible came to be in his possession but has cared for this bible for almost 50 years. 

I am grateful that my father told me this story.  Without having heard this significant story about his life, I would not have known why he had Pvt Robert Allen Davis’ bible.  Because someone has listened and recorded the story, this bible will survive pass my father's life and the story of a young man who died in Vietnam will be interwoven into the Dales' personal history for his descendants to know.

On this Memorial Day, my hope is that you will talk to the member of your family that served in the Armed Forces.  Take a moment to record their story and learn who they honor on this day.  Please don’t let your loved one’s story fade away.  Record their stories so that they are preserved and passed down to future generations.

Remember with Me is a family legacy company dedicated to recording the stories of the individual and solidifying their place in their family’s history.  Please call us to schedule a time with a trained Life Historian to tell your story, archive heirlooms or identify family photos.