Wordless Wednesday: Dietz Kids, ABT 1961-2

My first cousins the Dietz kids - Regina, Ruth, Rochelle, Richard, and Ronald Jr., probably taken in late 1961 or early 1962.

© Amanda Pape - 2014 - click here to e-mail me.

Military Memories Monday: Dad and Milt "Outside Our Little Nest at K-1", ABT 1952

My dad, Second Lieutenant Fred Pape, and his pilot partner, Captain Milton Royles, outside their tent at the K-1, the Pusan West Air Base in South Korea (Their regular base, K-9 or Pusan East, was closed for rebuilding of a runway).  The back of the photograph is stamped "Kodacolor Print...Week of November 24, 1952," so the photo was taken sometime before that date.  Dad had been in Korea for just a couple months at that point.  Dad said they had the only tent with a red door, because Milt painted it that color.  If you look closely, you can see the words "Sans Nookee Teepee" also painted on the door.

© Amanda Pape - 2014 - click here to e-mail me.

Sentimental Sunday: Happy Mother's Day!

My sister Karen, Dad, Mom, and me, probably late 1958 or early 1959, probably in Houston, Texas.

© Amanda Pape - 2014 - click here to e-mail me.

Friday's Faces From The Past: Military Memories: Bud, Fred, and Bill, 1952

My dad, Fred Pape, home on leave sometime after April 1952, after Dad was commissioned upon his completion of navigator school at Ellington Air Force Base in Houston.  He is pictured with his brother-in-law, my uncle Frank James "Bud" Streff (a World War II vet), and family friend Bill Doyle (in the hat), who dad describes as a "good fisherman."

William James Doyle (born August 25, 1889) lived nearby (7333 N. Damen Avenue) and started Doyle Signs, Inc., in 1916, painting signs on the glass windows of businesses, according to my dad.

The photo was taken outside the Pape family home at 2093 West Lunt in Chicago.  The two little girls in front are my first cousins, Bud's oldest daughters Rosemary (on the right) and Marianne (on the left).

Everyone is a little blurry in this photo, so here is a better one of Dad taken on the same day:

© Amanda Pape - 2014 - click here to e-mail me.

(Not-So-) Wordless Wednesday: Military Memories: Dad at Ellington AFB, ABT 1952

My dad, Fred Pape, wrote the following on the back of this undated photograph, which he believes was taken between January and March of 1952:

"Taken in my eager beaver days on the sextant.  I was shooting from the porch of one of the other barracks in which I used to live."

I know this was taken at Ellington Air Force Base, Houston, Texas. Dad graduated from Navigator Training School there in April 1952.  Dad went back to Ellington after his Korean War service (September 1952 to April 1953) and was training other navigators there when he met my mom.

© Amanda Pape - 2014 - click here to e-mail me.

Military Memories Monday: Dad at Flight School, Columbus AFB, Mississippi, 1951

The picture shows my dad, Fred Pape, and another member of Squadron III, Bob Curley of New York, at flight school at Columbus Air Force Base (AFB) near Columbus, Mississippi, with some of the barracks in the background.

Columbus AFB began as an Army Air Field during World War II, but was deactivated at the end of that war.  "To handle increased pilot requirements for the Korean War, Air Training Command [ATC] activated Columbus AFB on 20 December [1950] to be used as a station for a contract flying school. To manage the base, ATC established the 3301st Training Squadron (Contract Flying) on 1 March 1951 . The contractor who provided pilot training was California Eastern Airways,"  according to a history of the base.

Dad must have been in one of the first classes there, because he has another picture of himself at the school dated June 21, 1951.

Some idea of what life was like in flight school at this time can be found in chapter 6 of the book Unforgotten Hero  by Jim Escalle.  Dad, raised in Illinois, remembers having greens of some type - collard, turnip, mustard, dandelion - with nearly every meal.

© Amanda Pape - 2014 - click here to e-mail me.

Sentimental Sunday: Lorrie Pape and Daughters, ABT 1963

My aunt, Dolores Frances (Lorrie) Olker Pape (1929-2005) and her daughters Donna, Terrie, Judy, and Bobbie, probably about 1963, probably taken the same day as a similar picture with Uncle Bob.

© Amanda Pape - 2014 - click here to e-mail me.

Friday's Faces From the Past: Military Memories - Service in My Family

I'm celebrating my military ancestors during the month of May 2014, Military Memories Month, here are photos of some of my ancestors and relatives who have served our country, with links to their stories:

Top row, left to right:
Civil War service:
-Jacob Shelton, my great-great-great-grandfather, Confederate
-Joseph William Wolfe, my great-great-grandfather, Union
Spanish-American War service:
Louis Henry Wolfe, my great-grandfather
Hugo Aloysius Pape, my first cousin two times removed

Middle row, left to right:
-Fred Pape, my dad, Korean War
-Paul Pape, my grandfather, and his brothers Walter and Lee, World War I (their parents are also in the photo)
-Francis Edward Gresham, my father-in-law, World War II

Bottom row, left to right, all World War II:
-Frank James "Bud" Streff, my uncle
-Paul Robert "Bob" Pape, my uncle (he also served in the Korean War)
-Gordon Merritt Parks, husband of my first cousin once removed (he also served in the Korean War)
-Charles Peter Guokas III, my uncle

While I don't have the content available to write for a series of writing prompts on this topic, I will write when I can, and I plan to post some more pictures and stories from my father's years in the service during the month.

© Amanda Pape - 2014 - click here to e-mail me.

(Not-So-) Wordless Wednesday: Dietz Family, Easter 1961

Ron Dietz Sr. with children Ruth, Regina, Rochelle, and Ron Jr. in the back.  The print was processed in August 1961, but there is a handwritten note on the back saying it was taken at Easter of that year.

© Amanda Pape - 2014 - click here to e-mail me.

Sentimental Sunday: Streff Kids, Easter 1959

Beth, Mare, Rho, Bud, and Tom in front.  Photograph was processed in April 1959; Easter was March 29 that year.

© Amanda Pape - 2014 - click here to e-mail me.