tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-65126177954804294582024-03-13T01:51:01.960-07:00War Brides - All WarsWomen Supporting Women.
Collecting Stories of war brides who left their homeland for the love of a soldier.
Please sharing your story about what life was like during war time and after.
What life was like in your new homeland?
Was your soldier all the things he told you he was?
What was life like living with strangers?
What were some of the heartaches that you or your family member endure?
Did you ever returned to your homeland?
What life was like for your children?Michelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05443381679891745283noreply@blogger.comBlogger14125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6512617795480429458.post-61749279610126204092011-04-08T19:21:00.000-07:002011-04-08T19:21:54.965-07:00Australian WWII War Brides in the United States<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">Many Australian war brides may have heard the song The Bridal Train by The Waifs. It tells the story about Aussie gals from Perth taking a special train across Australia to the east coast to board the SS Mariposa to sail to the US to be with their US sailor and GI sweethearts. If you haven't heard it or seen the video please stop by YouTube to view it.<br />
A theatre piece called The Bridal Train is currently under development in Brisbane, Australia.<br />
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The writers are seeking war brides who originate from Australia and travelled to the USA are willing to share their stories. These stories will be compiled into a script that will be performed for educational and entertainment purposes in 2012. <br />
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The Bridal Train began as a Griffith University performance as part of first year course work in 2007, and the positive responses from audience members and professional peers has encouraged them to continue the development of the piece. In the interest of historic accuracy they are seeking true stories from women who travelled from Australia to meet husbands and fiances in the USA.<br />
The project deadline is 27 May 2011. <br />
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Please contact either Chelsea Thomas thomaschelsean@gmail.com in Brisbane or Michele of the American War Bride Experience website: uswarbrides@yahoo.com<br />
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Australian Citizenship for War Brides and their Children<br />
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Don't forget that the Australian Citizenship Act 2007 gives Australian-born war brides who lost their Australian citizenship by becoming US citizens before 4/4/2002 the right to apply to resume Australian citizenship now (and thereby become dual citizens).<br />
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US-born children of Australian-born war brides can now also apply for Australian citizenship by descent or special conferral. For further guidance, email the SCG.<br />
</div>Michelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05443381679891745283noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6512617795480429458.post-60334155015719820502011-01-21T19:13:00.000-08:002011-01-21T19:13:06.862-08:00Elizabeth Guyver looking for WWII soldier David Greene<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">War children's search U.S. dads gets urgent <br />
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By Edward Colimore Inquirer Staff Writer <br />
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Beth Guyver never knew her father. For most of her life, the London resident believed he was a British pilot, killed during World War II. She thought he had died just before her birth in 1945. The truth came out at a family Christmas dinner in 1990. Her mother looked across the table at one of Guyver's sons, then 18, and made a startling observation: He looked just like an American GI she had known in 1944 . . . just like Guyver's father. The revelation changed Guyver's life. For nearly two decades since then, she has been searching for her father, David Greene, a Pennsylvania man who was stationed at an Army Air Corps base in Chelveston, Northamptonshire, in the fall of 1944. She has spent thousands of British pounds, filled up nine two-drawer filing cabinets with correspondence, and traveled to the United States, even knocking on doors in Philadelphia as she tried to find him. Today, Father's Day, is emotional for her. Time is running out. Every day that passes makes her long-anticipated reunion less likely. "Half of me is missing," said the 63-year-old clinical psychologist. "I don't feel a complete person." Guyver is one of tens of thousands of children across Europe and the Pacific who were fathered by American GIs during World War II. They are in England, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Australia, New Zealand, Germany, and elsewhere. The sons and daughters are in their 60s and the fathers in their 80s or 90s, giving the search a now-or-never urgency. "I would like to know what he did with his life," Guyver said. "Where did his family come from? I did my family tree to 1295 on my mother's side, and I went back to 1442 on my husband's side. But I can't do anything on my father's side." Guyver said her mother and father had met a few times at dances in Chelveston in October and November 1944 while he served as an Army dispatch rider, probably in a support unit of the 305th Bombardment Group of the Eighth Air Force. She served in Britain's Women's Auxiliary Air Force. "He told my mother he had been in the police force before," Guyver said. "It might have been in Philadelphia or Pittsburgh. He said he went out on a domestic call one time and was hit over the head with a frying pan. My mother thought that was quite good." People from many backgrounds were thrown together during the war and struck up quick friendships. Guyver's mother used to see Greene riding his motorbike around the air base. He was a striking GI, standing 6 feet tall, weighing about 160 pounds, with an athletic build. "During World War II, life was so different in Great Britain. . . . You could be bombed at any time and be gone," Guyver said. "You could be dead just like that. You lived for the moment." Guyver's mother became pregnant, gave birth, tried unsuccessfully to find the GI, and ended up marrying a member of the British navy. Even now, the 87-year-old - whose identity was withheld by her daughter - keeps her GI secret, not wishing to carry the stigma of giving birth to a "war babe." "She just wanted to forget him. She doesn't know if he survived the war," Guyver said. If he's living, "my father doesn't know he has a daughter, two grandsons, and four great-grandchildren." Some of the GI children have joined support organizations such as Transatlantic Childrens' Enterprise, known as TRACE (www.tracepw.org/), a British group founded by a GI war bride, and www.gitrace.org, which offers tips for finding fathers and useful online links. The music of "Somewhere Out There" plays over the gitrace Web site, and poems express the feelings of those still looking for their fathers. One, by Janette Taylor, reads in part: I've longed to know my father the heartaches never end I've missed his love and comfort my broken heart he'd mend! Part of me is missing I'm feeling incomplete Oh Lord look after daddy until the day we meet. Guyver listed her father on the site's search list, hoping to hear from someone who has information about him. She also has written countless letters and made innumerable phone calls looking for leads. In 1997, she flew to Philadelphia to follow up on a tip from a friend in Hatfield who had information from a Philadelphia police officer that seemed promising: the city address of a David Greene who had been on the force. It turned out the man had died the previous year. She knocked on neighbors' doors and found they weren't sure whether he was 60 or 80 years old.<br />
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Undaunted, Guyver headed on to Pittsburgh to check more leads, later returning to England without an answer. Today, the search of the war babies continues. This weekend, one of Guyver's friends is looking for leads on his father at the National Personnel Records Center in St. Louis. "Some have been lucky and found their fathers," Guyver said. "There are many like myself who are still searching. None of us feel that we are a complete person as we have no knowledge of 50 percent of our genes. "Some, like myself, have medical problems," added Guyver, who has a blood disorder, "and it would be a great help to our treatment if we had our paternal family history." Guyver thinks of her father often and tries to picture him. "I imagine he would be like my son because my mother said he looked like him when he was 18," she said. "She gets very frustrated, and I see it," said the son, Gerald, 37, a database employee for the Metropolitan Police at New Scotland Yard. "She does have her moments. "She sees everyone else finding their parents, and she's the one who can't find her father." But Guyver is not giving up. "I feel like I will find him," she said. "I'm a determined person. My mother said I'm like my father. June 21, 2009<br />
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Elizabeth ‘Beth’ Guyver</div>Michelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05443381679891745283noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6512617795480429458.post-16919771150939014552010-08-14T18:59:00.000-07:002010-08-14T18:59:39.955-07:00The War Bride<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I would like to share with you a movie about an English war bride who married a Canadian soldier. It will give you some ideals as to what many of the thousand of brides had to face. The loneliness, language problems, tears, missing family and friends back home, city life, dancing and drinking, parties, and much, much more. Dealing with his family, his problems, his drinking, in many cases.</span> <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cAPP45Xs1RQ&feature=related">The War Bride</a>Michelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05443381679891745283noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6512617795480429458.post-7062897699456060642010-08-09T15:36:00.000-07:002010-08-09T15:38:26.815-07:00Czech Republic Remembers American Sacrifice during WWIIGOD BLESS THE PEOPLE OF THE CZECH REPUBLIC!<br />
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Have you ever wondered if anyone in Europe remembers America's sacrifice in World War II? There is an answer in a small town in the Czech Republic. The town called Pilsen (Plzen)<br />
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Every five years Plzen conducts the Liberation Celebration of the City of Pilsen in the Czech Republic. May 6th, 2010 marked the 65th anniversary of the liberation of Pilsen by General George Patton's 3rd Army. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhX_3jlILIM6-z4QLfjlBFMn3_0t52WYQCh-Brb2DCskJTXsUrDxaCT1Lz1bEfgbdikK0XYr8AjqeszvOfErikxZSVFIj6G6NIjafdz5YeSQnoW4S85JApMkvSB0zrsiPhPC6PRL-0le_w/s1600/ATT00019.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" bx="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhX_3jlILIM6-z4QLfjlBFMn3_0t52WYQCh-Brb2DCskJTXsUrDxaCT1Lz1bEfgbdikK0XYr8AjqeszvOfErikxZSVFIj6G6NIjafdz5YeSQnoW4S85JApMkvSB0zrsiPhPC6PRL-0le_w/s320/ATT00019.jpg" /></a></div>Pilsen is the town that every American should visit. <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXJINUn0tm4JKATg0BegloOKctI_Y1yGV9ZBIR9cJOxlWsoX_oyGOoPq_l4OFVfVNvidSpZvnKZawF9xIIzvXg6dvL4mlwkSuenzs5WL-kIr9KeIRqzw7EY9HlNlZhWOLlMR0p3Bsdb0U/s1600/ATT00021.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" bx="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXJINUn0tm4JKATg0BegloOKctI_Y1yGV9ZBIR9cJOxlWsoX_oyGOoPq_l4OFVfVNvidSpZvnKZawF9xIIzvXg6dvL4mlwkSuenzs5WL-kIr9KeIRqzw7EY9HlNlZhWOLlMR0p3Bsdb0U/s320/ATT00021.jpg" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiekg0ogZllCBXkQvP3mSyTuuPHzIKoZZCfSlD9FsjODG_f9GpseFBje_KI9_oFLCg3GCwM_i4po-IAiHaVq95Th30vtHNNq1TM-Vh-kGYTdddQb28EgVushyEnlBeae6VYLKYP6HaVtr0/s1600/ATT00020.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" bx="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiekg0ogZllCBXkQvP3mSyTuuPHzIKoZZCfSlD9FsjODG_f9GpseFBje_KI9_oFLCg3GCwM_i4po-IAiHaVq95Th30vtHNNq1TM-Vh-kGYTdddQb28EgVushyEnlBeae6VYLKYP6HaVtr0/s320/ATT00020.jpg" /></a></div>Because…..they love America and the American Soldier...<br />
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even 65 years later.......by the thousands <br />
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the citizens of Pilsen came to say thank you...<br />
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lining the streets of Pilsen for miles.<br />
From large crowds…<br />
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To quiet reflective moments…<br />
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Including this American family's private time to honor and remember their American hero.<br />
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This is the crash site of Lt. Virgil P. Kirkham, the last recorded American USAAF pilot killed in Europe during WWII. It was Lt. Kirkham's 82nd mission and one that he volunteered to go on.<br />
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At the time this 20 year old pilot's P-47 Thunderbolt plane was shot down, a young 14 year old Czech girl, Zdenka Sladkova, was so moved by his sacrifice she made a vow to care for him and his memory.<br />
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For 65 straight years , Zdenka, now 79 years old, took on the responsibility to care for Virgil'scrash site and memorial near her home. <br />
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On May 4th she was recognized by the Mayor of Zdenka's home town of Trhanova, Czech Republic, for her sacrifice and extraordinary effort to honor this American hero. <br />
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Another chapter in this important story.....the Czech people are teaching their children about America's sacrifice for their freedom.<br />
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American Soldiers, young and old, are the ''Rock Stars'' these children and their parents want autographs from..<br />
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Yes, Rock Stars ! ... As they patiently waited for his autograph, the respect this little Czech boy and his father have for our troops serving today was heartwarming and inspirational.<br />
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The Brian LaViolette Foundation will established The Scholarship of Honor in tribute to General George S. Patton and the American Soldier, past and present. <br />
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Each year, a different military hero will be honored in tribute to General Patton's memory and their mission to liberate Europe.<br />
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This award will be presented to a graduating senior who will be entering the military or a form of community service such as fireman, policeman, teaching or nursing, a cause greater than self. The student will be from one of the five high schools in Pilsen, Czech Republic. <br />
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The first award will be presented in May 2011 in honor of Lt. Virgil Kirkham, that young 20 year old P-47 pilot killed 65 years ago in the final days of WWII. <br />
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Presenting Virgil's award will be someone who knows the true meaning of service and sacrifice... someone who looks a lot like Virgil…<br />
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Marion Kirkham, Virgil's brother, who himself served during WWII in the United States Army - Air Corps. !!!<br />
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In closing... Here is what the city of Pilsen thinks of General Patton's grandson. George Patton Waters (another Rock Star!) we're proud to say, serves on Brian's Foundation board.<br />
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And it's front page news.. not buried in the middle of the social section..<br />
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Brigadier General Miroslav Zizka - 1st Deputy Chief of Staff - Ministry of Defense - Czech Armed Forces.<br />
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So please join this amazing journey…<br />
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Come visit Pilsen in the Czech Republic during the first part of May 2011, it may also be a life changing experience for you.<br />
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And please share this email with your family and friends and ask them to do the same.....every American should hear this story.Michelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05443381679891745283noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6512617795480429458.post-38440340353115586082010-04-19T14:49:00.001-07:002010-04-19T14:49:34.793-07:00Claudette Pfingston commented on your post:"My Mother told me she breast fed a lot of the other mother's babies, because the other mothers were so sea sick. My Mother told me she didn't get sea sick and had a lot of breast milk. - ClaudetteMichelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05443381679891745283noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6512617795480429458.post-84946569637458300582010-04-19T14:44:00.000-07:002010-04-19T14:44:27.182-07:00Doris Galentine commented on your post:"I didn't get seasick , we used cloth diapers when we came over, and had to wash them, my daughter was 15 month old and every morning the steward would take her to the kitchen and she would come back with cookies or friut, one day he told me I looked a little green but I didnt get sick." -DorisMichelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05443381679891745283noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6512617795480429458.post-39428335997263838712010-04-15T13:27:00.000-07:002010-04-15T13:27:40.537-07:00Dealing with babies on the ships.<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Can any warbride tell me about how you all managed your babies on board ships, please? I'm writing a book about women on the wartime seas and would love to know how did you cleanse the bottles, launder the diapers, </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">cope with nursing a baby if you yourself were seasick, and make up the formula in hygienic conditions?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In talking about the Argentina's January 1946 voyage from the UK to the US, The Argentina ‘s Lt. Col. Lyle commented that laundry was one of the trip’s problems. Practically all of the 18,000 disposable </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">diapers were used up-on the 170 babies. </span><br />
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</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This statistic enables us to do some interesting speculation. If there were indeed 170 babies rather </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">than babies and potty-trained children on board then actually each one used 105 nappies on the nine-day trip or eleven a day. Babies are usually changed 6-10 times a day. So maybe some mothers salted away the </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">nappies for future use.</span><br />
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</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As for laundering terry toweling nappies a ship full of 100 babies would need to process 1200-400 nappies (two day’s supply to allow for drying time). It was surely a logistical nightmare. Not every ship had a laundry; few had endless supplies of fresh rather than salt-water and none were used to supplying such a quantity.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There were three problems soaking to get rid of stains and any remaining faecal matter; boiling to get them, </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Enviably white as well as reduce bacteria; and a drying time of at lest two hours. Most nappies were 24inches square (61cms)-so 400 would have required 4-800 feet of clothes line, almost a mile. Perhaps one good thing about sailing on a troop ships was that they had massive cooking pots which could now boil nappies instead of potatoes?</span><br />
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</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Thank you. Dr Jo Stanley , j_v_stanley@hotmail.com.</span>Michelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05443381679891745283noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6512617795480429458.post-50163804591089771492010-04-08T15:34:00.000-07:002010-04-08T15:42:37.469-07:00World War II War Brides Reunion Set<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I'm sorry that I having been keeping up with my blog, but I was in Florida taking care of my very sick mother, Louise. She is doing great now and back in her home. I must say these war brides are a tough bunch. Mom was giving a week to live, but she would not have anything to do with that. She has a reunion to attend in October and she plans on being there.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I hope you will find the time to join us here in St. Louis for our next reunion. It will be held at the Airport Hilton on October 6 - 10. You can stop by the Hospitality room anytime. It is open to the public. Check out the displays and visit with our members. If you would like to join us and all the actives please email me for more information. We will have the following activities.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Welcome Reception Dinner, War Babies Meeting, My Stories taping, Annual Buiness Meeting for members only, City Tour, Sing-a-long, Tour of Historical St Charles, MO, Banquet Dinner with program and dancing, National Anthems Sungs, Farewell Breakfast. Here's a picture on the 2009 reunion in San Francisco, Ca. </span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEkX-uZMm430_bjJCn-g98hQzTPOf9CA_HjaJX6jLBhH58mjjP-nSS4iPU9gce0SF4qhzMtZ8I3WHfD60EWqg90nfG6QcJ92WAqNqCXqcPu_SvQLapTd_1vo2QF4k7F0PeSe0OPvM4rnI/s1600/WWII+Warbrides+Reunion+SF+09+189.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEkX-uZMm430_bjJCn-g98hQzTPOf9CA_HjaJX6jLBhH58mjjP-nSS4iPU9gce0SF4qhzMtZ8I3WHfD60EWqg90nfG6QcJ92WAqNqCXqcPu_SvQLapTd_1vo2QF4k7F0PeSe0OPvM4rnI/s320/WWII+Warbrides+Reunion+SF+09+189.jpg" wt="true" /></a></div>Michelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05443381679891745283noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6512617795480429458.post-84315757487365754752009-12-31T21:50:00.001-08:002009-12-31T21:50:42.289-08:00Carolina Sims<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Carolina E. Sims was born Oct. 18, 1926, in Bergamo, Italy. Being the youngest of 16 children, her family was hoping for a better life for her after the war in the United States, so she became a war bride. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Unfortunately, they couldn’t have known the hardship and struggles that she would face. She divorced and though she didn’t speak English very well, she found a job and worked hard and saved her money.</span><br />
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</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Later she met and married Gino Del Guerra, an accordion teacher. They had two daughters, Kathy and Anna. There were many struggles during their marriage and sadly, it ended in divorce.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Lina worked hard washing and ironing clothes for other people day and night to feed and raise her daughters. But she was able to buy a small house in Empire, Ore., which is now part of Coos Bay, and continued to wash and iron for local military men and other local people.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Then she started dating again and met her future husband and life partner, Tony L. Sims. They married on Dec. 3, 1959, on a quick trip to Reno, Nev., and started their life together. In 1961 they moved to a house in North Bend, Ore., which had a lot more room for the entire family.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In 1968 they bought an old farm house up Haynes Inlet just north of North Bend. There, they spent many years remodeling and putting just the right touch in the old house, from beautiful chandeliers to custom kitchen cabinets which added to the old charm. They were even able to acquire items from each person who had lived in the house before them, from a beautiful piece of myrtle wood for the mantel of the fireplace to pieces of ceramic to decorate with.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But of all the things Lina adored most in the house was the old Home Comfort wood cooking stove. She spent many hours baking, cooking and canning on it, as well as drying fruit on the screens that Tony had made for her. It also kept the house very warm on rainy, cold days as it was her favorite way to heat the house.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">She was an avid antique collector from furniture to glassware, and loved nothing more than to find a good bargain in her travels.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Lina was preceded in death by her husband of almost 50 years. Tony Sims passed away on June 23, 2009.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">She is survived by her daughters, Anna and her husband, David Humbert, and Kathy, and her husband, Bill Bullack.</span><br />
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</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">She also had six grandchildren: Christina, Sarah, Melissa, Michael, Rebecca and Aaron, and four great-grandchildren, Anthony, Sophia, Erin and Owen.</span>Michelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05443381679891745283noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6512617795480429458.post-45684375290216573322009-12-31T21:49:00.000-08:002009-12-31T21:49:17.992-08:00Hanna H. Ebert<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Hanna H. Ebert, of Madison, a war bride and fashion house quality control manager, has died</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">By Independent Press NJ</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">December 30, 2009, 6:03AM</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After a long illness, Hanna (aka Hanni [pronounced “Honey”]) of Madison died on Saturday, Dec. 26, 2009. She was the beloved wife of Harry Ebert with whom she had been happily married for more than 62 years and the daughter of Ludwig and Hertha Sesselmann.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">She was born in 1922 in the green German province of Thüringen and later moved to Essen where she survived the massive bombing of that city; her house was destroyed and she was injured. She had worked as a telephone operator and completed her college studies in fashion design. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After the war she met her future husband, Harry Ebert who was a GI assigned to the US War Crimes Commission. They were married in 1947 in the town of Dachau and had their reception in the former SS Officers’ Club which had been converted into a U.S. Club. After a honeymoon in Garmisch, where the 1936 Winter Olympic Games were conducted, she came to the United States. They lived in Columbus, Ohio where her husband finished his studies, then they moved to Milwaukee, Wisconsin and Marietta, Ohio before settling in the Garden State. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">For more than 10 years she commuted into New York City where she could apply her education and talent in fashion design and become Quality Control Manager of Aileen, a women’s dress house. She enjoyed dealing with many people and solving their technical problems. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Mrs. Ebert was an enthusiastic traveler who visited and got to know the people in 30 countries. Based upon these experiences, she considered herself a citizen of the world and felt that we only can have peace if more people from different countries, religions and ethnic groups get to know each other and meet with open hearts and minds.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The interment will be at noon on Wednesday, Jan, 6, 2010 at the Restland Memorial Park, 77 DeForest Ave., East Hanover. Arrangements are by Wm. A. Bradley & Son, Chatham.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">http://www.nj.com/independentpress/index.ssf/2009/12/hanna_h_ebert_of_madison_a_war.html</span>Michelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05443381679891745283noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6512617795480429458.post-64253808229964070622009-11-07T13:57:00.000-08:002009-11-07T13:57:59.352-08:00Veterans Day is near. Honor your hero hereI would like to honor my dad, Elmer "Eddie" Edwards (WWII), his father, Thomas Ed Edwards (WWI), my father-in-law William "Allen" Thomas (WWII), Samuel 'Pink' Allen (American Civil War), my husband's great grandfather. My dad's grandfather Henry Edwards, Canadian - Boer War. Also all those that died on the soil of my homeland, Belgian (esp. Flanders Fields and the Battle of the Bulge)<br />
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Send me your hero's name.Michelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05443381679891745283noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6512617795480429458.post-33601312233892450152009-10-30T19:27:00.000-07:002009-10-30T19:27:57.584-07:00Women for Women International<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.womenforwomen.org/">http://www.womenforwomen.org/</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Women for Women International supports women in war-torn regions with financial and emotional aid, job-skills training, rights education and small business assistance so they can rebuild their lives. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Today, through November 15th, a wonderful supporter has agreed to match every gift we receive up to a total of $100,000!. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Your matched gift will help Women for Women International build a permanent, supportive presence in the war-torn countries we serve by helping to fund projects like the construction of new Women's Opportunity Centers (WOC).</span>Michelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05443381679891745283noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6512617795480429458.post-78944035986292359742009-10-29T19:38:00.000-07:002009-10-29T19:38:52.410-07:00How I met my wife in merry old England<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">by Bernard G. Owens</span><br />
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</div></span><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I was a wide eyed stranger to the surroundings when I landed in Glasgow, Scotland on my birthday in 1942. After processing through all the channels I finally ended up on Gen. Eisenhower’s headquarters in September of 1992. Spending most of my time getting used to my new surroundings in the next two of three months I decided to stay out a little late on the 15th of December 1942.</span><br />
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</div></span><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Upon returning to the barracks at 9 Audley Street, I was entering the underground, which by the way during the war was completely covered with thick material so the light could not get out for the Germans to have a target. On going in I ran smack dab into this very beautiful English nurse in her crisp uniform and nearly knocked her down and her first expression was “You’re just like the rest of the Yanks; you don’t know where you’re doing”. After apologizing for about five or ten minutes, I invited her to sit down on a bench in a nearby park and let’s talk it over. She agreed and about an hour and half later she had calmed down and I found out that she was a nurse at Mile End Hospital, which was a good distance from where we were. I hailed a cab and agreed to see her back to the hospital. I left her at the gate as the guard wouldn’t let me inside.</span><br />
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</div></span><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After several days of frantic unanswered phone calls to her at the hospital she finally took my call and I invited her out for Fish and Chips. We spent the evening together very delightfully and agreed to meet again at her pleasure. These visits ended with me asking her to become my wife on the 20th of January 1943. Unexpectedly she said yes and we put in our letter to the American authorities for permission. On the 20th of March we received our permission and were married on the 23d.</span><br />
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</div></span><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We rented an apartment at 23 Cambridge St., London, W1 and had an excellent landlady named Mrs. Dash whose husband was killed in the war already. We were very happy there and our son was born on January 12th, 1944. After several assignments in England, France and Germany I had enough points to come home, however through a friend in personnel in Paris, I was able to get a six month extension back in England and process all the paperwork for her to come to the United States. I came home the last week of March 1946 and proceeded to New York to meet my love.</span><br />
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</div></span><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">From the manifest she and our son departed Southampton on 18 April 1946 and landed in New York on 27 April 1946. We proceeded to Texas and my new assignment to Carswell AFB, Ft Worth, Texas. We had a wonderful and full military life with assignments to AFROTC duty, Saudi Arabia and Germany. I finally retired in August 1970 and we lived here in San Antonio for over 40 years.</span><br />
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</div></span><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We were married 65 years when she passed away on April 18th, 2008 at the age of 88, which was the exact date she left Southampton 62 years earlier. We had a loving relationship throughout our life together and neither of us regretted the encounter many years before. I am now 93 years old as of the 24th of this month never regret a single day of loving my English nurse. </span><br />
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</div></span><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Dora Owens and son Michael arrived on the USAT Saturnia </span><br />
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</div>Michelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05443381679891745283noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6512617795480429458.post-30927310734231818402008-09-14T15:44:00.000-07:002009-11-07T14:01:08.969-08:00British war bride storyIt was a cold dawn, that March 8, 1946. The light was just beginning to come up from above the horizon. Most of the ship's passengers had already crowded onto the top deck and were looking at the new day appearing. <br />
We were in a strange country but somehow to me it didn't seem foreign. I felt that I knew it so well. There was a toothpaste sold then in England in the mid-40's, I believe the manufacturer was Gibb's? I remember fairy castles decorating the tins. To me, the emerging grey skyscrapers of New York were my childhood castles. They were not unknown shapes but familiar objects not to be feared. Perhaps all the movies I had seen about this fabulous country also helped me at that moment. The Statue of Liberty welcomed this cargo of war brides eagerly waiting to be reunited with their soldier husbands.<br />
I had first met my husband on Christmas Eve, 1943. I was a Wren stationed at Portkil on the river Clyde, opposite to Greenock and Gourock, well known Scottish ports. There were only eight of us in our unit, some living in a small house commandeered by the Navy for the duration of the war while the others slept in a Quonset hut across the path. That particular holiday, most of the girls had gone home to celebrate Christmas. I was on duty with another young woman called Ruth. We didn't have much to do because it was Christmas and were delighted to get a phone call from a friend in the village, asking us if we would like to entertain two young American officers who were all alone, not knowing what to do on Christmas Eve. Well, we said, we would try. And that's how I began my romance!<br />
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Do you have a war bride story?Michelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05443381679891745283noreply@blogger.com0