Yahoo! 360 invitations

I managed to secure an invitation to the new Yahoo! 360 community. Similar to the strategy that Google used when introducing Gmail, Yahoo! 360 members have free invitations to use for anyone who wishes to join. Let me know if you want one.

Madrid Cemetery -- Floyde and May's grave

My father passed away in January 2002. Later that summer, I accompanied my mother back to Nebraska to pick out a tombstone for his grave. The Madrid Cemetery -- where he is buried -- and the Mt. Calvary Cemetery in Ravenna -- where my mother grew up and where her family is buried -- is a virtual walking history of my two families. In fact, that is what I did -- spending several hours walking among gravemarkers looking at the names of my relatives.

Both cemeteries are very old and a number of my relatives lived and died long before I was born.

Over the next few weeks, I am going to post photos of some of the markers. This particular stone marks the graves of my paternal grandparents.

Push 'em back, push 'em back, waaaay back!

I found my father's Madrid High School football picture. I believe they played 6- or 8-man football back in his day. Doesn't appear they were on steroids either!

Maria Rogers

My maternal great-grandmother, Maria Rogers. This photo was taken during the 1940s in front of my grandparents' house in Ravenna.

Maria (pronounced Mariah) was born in Ireland in 1859. I don't know a lot about her background. She came to America in the late in the 19th century (my grandmother was born in 1898). She lost her husband who left her with a number of children to raise.

She was living with my grandparents in Ravenna when she passed away in 1946. She is buried near my grandparents' grave in the Ravenna cemetery.

TA-267

This is a photograph that was found in my uncle's possessions. It's a picture of a T-6G "Texan" training aircraft. We don't know if this is a stock photo or a photo of the actual plane in which he trained. I found several websites with information about this plane.

"Uncle Jimmy"

This is a picture of my mother's brother, James Kostal. "Uncle Jimmy" was five years younger than my mother. He was an excellent athlete in high school and enrolled at the University of Nebraska in Lincoln. He left school and enlisted in the Air Force. He was a 2nd Lieutenant in the Air Force with the 462nd Strategic Fighter Squadron. On October 15, 1953, he was practicing carrier landings in the Sea of Japan when his plane crashed. Despite a lengthy search, his body was never recovered. I was only 14 months old when he died. I did meet him once as we have a picture of him holding me. Ironically, my mother and I were visiting my grandparents in Ravenna when the telephone call came from the Air Force notifying my grandparents of the accident. My grandfather was so shaken up that he gave the telephone to my mom. There is a small military marker with his name on it in the Ravenna Cemetery next to my grandparents' grave. He was only 23 when he died.

Sad.

I'm sorry I never got to know him.

"Deeply regret to inform you..."

Click on the picture for an enlargement.

This is a telegram my great-grandfather James Kostal received in late November 1918. My grandfather Ed Kostal was wounded in action in the Argonne Forest in late September 1918. The telegram states that he was wounded on the 30th, but we always understood that it was the 29th.

My grandfather was severely wounded in the leg and arm and left for dead on the battlefield for several hours. He eventually required several months of hospitalization and rehabilitation.

Because of limitations in the way information flowed back to the States in 1918 (no Internet, no satellite links, no cell phones, no embedded journalists!), my great-grandfather received this message nearly two months after his son was wounded. We have letters from my grandfather to his sister dated after September 30th and before November 26th (the date on the telegram). We don't know if these letters made it home before the telegram reached the family.

Ironically, the Armistice was signed on November 11, 1918 (ending the war in Europe) so the telegram was received after the war ended.

My mother found this telegram in late February with some old family papers. Thank God she's a pack rat!

Gmail invitations

I use Gmail (Google mail) and like it a lot. I have 50 free Gmail invitations that are available to anyone who wants one. Don't be shy, just ask.

Tommy Dorsey

My mother had her 15 minutes of fame back in August 1945. During the war, she worked as a private secretary for a captain at the old Kearney Army Air Base. The captain was in charge of ordinance and a couple other departments on the base. It was common for some of the big-name entertainers of the day to go on the road and entertain the servicemen at the various bases throughout the country.

According to the unofficial history of the Kearney Army Air Base, many big-name bands came to play at dances held at the N.C.O Club or in one of the hangars on base. Bands such as Duke Ellington, Tommy Dorsey, The King Cole Trio and Les Brown and his Band of Renown (including singer Doris Day) played there.

Twice a week, Mom would stay on the base and play her accordion at the Officer's Club. She was a music major at the University of Nebraska and played the piano in addition to the accordion.

In August, the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra was coming to play. It was customary to bring most of the musicians with the band, but also fill in with local musicians when necessary. The Dorsey Orchestra had made arrangements to use a local piano player, but on the day of the dance, the piano player was sick. The quartermaster knew that Mom could play the piano and asked her to sit in with the band. The night of the dance, Mom played with the orchestra, but just played chords instead of playing any solos. It was a fun evening, especially for a girl from a small town in Nebraska!

Mom still remembers most of the set list:

• Jersey Bounce
• Green Eyes
• Can't Get Out Of This Mood
• Blues In The Night
• I'm Beginning To See The Light
• All Or Nothing At All
• Brazil
• The Moon Got In My Eyes
• Beer Barrel Polka
• On The Atchison, Topeka And The Santa Fe
• Tangerine
• Mairzy Doats
• It Might As Well Be Spring
• Moonlight Cocktail
• Sentimental Journey
• Linda
• Don't Sit Under The Apple Tree

January 13, 2002

I've posted several pictures over the past few months that were taken on the farm where my dad grew up. The farm is located several miles southeast of Madrid, Nebraska in Perkins County. When I was much younger, I always looked forward to summer vacation where a kid from the Chicago suburbs could go out to a farm, chase pigs and chickens, play with his cousins and basically lose himself for awhile. I loved to walk along the treeline northwest of my grandparents house pretending I was an Indian scout searching for buffalo. I learned to shoot a rifle on the farm. I would climb onto the roof of the hog house, sit there for hours just looking at the land south of the farm. It was fun for me to sit in the pickup with my grandfather while we drove to the pasture to count his cattle. I enjoyed giving sugar cubes to his horse, Lady. Those are all great memories for a young boy to keep. Of course, we all grow up and those to whom we are close eventually pass on. My grandfather died in 1968 and my grandmother passed away in 1969. After they died, the farm was rented out to several tenants and the farm house fell on hard times. Fortunately, the land has stayed in the family and my uncle now farms the land. Sometime in the late '80s or early '90s, the decision was made to intentionally burn down the buildings. I had not been to the farmstead for over 20 years until my father passed away in January 2002. It was his wish to be buried in his hometown. A few months before he died, he told me that he never wanted to see the farm because it would hurt him too much to see his boyhood home destroyed. He accepted that it needed to be done, but he still would have been upset to see it. The day after Dad's funeral in Madrid, we drove out to the farm and I was shocked at what I saw. Nothing was as I remembered it. The house, the barn, "my" hog house and other outbuildings were all gone. The only remaining building was the grainery. It still has the farm name -- Fair Acres -- on the front. I took several pictures and this one shows it best.