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Memorial Day Tribute to Unsung Heroes
May 30th, 2010 Categories: Random Topics
When Memorial Day rolls around each year, I can’t help thinking about my dad’s experience as a
I embarked on a mission, a few years ago, to assemble into albums the correspondence my grandmother saved from those days after her 22-year old son was shot down about 40 miles south-east of Paris. It was a fascinating lesson in history and heroism on the home-front in both America and in France.
The cigar-box full of yellowed and brittle paper included several hand-written letters from mothers of those missing crew members, as well as my dad’s letters and postcards to his mother after he was captured by the Germans. As a mother myself, I could barely read those letters through my tears as I realized that none of these other moms had any idea of their sons’ fate for months after the plane went down. As weeks and months passed, you could feel their fear, pain and desperation growing with each new letter. I noted they received no official word of their sons fate for nearly e
ight months…
“Just a few lines to tell you we got a telegram Sunday at ten to six that my boy S/Sgt. Ray Scwabenbauer was killed Sept. 6 over France. Mr. Morrison of Altoona got a telegram Sunday at 2 o’clock saying his son was killed on Sept. 6. So far we have not heard about the Lawrence boy or the Lincoln boy… No one will ever know how broken-hearted I am over my boy’s death…” (May 1, 1944)
As I went through these letters, it did seem that my grandmother was indeed a “lucky” mom because she at least knew that her son was alive - even though the circumstances were not ideal.
Additionally, the box contained letters from a woman in France, the matriarch of a family who initially rescued and hid my dad from the Germans after his plane was shot down. Unfortunately, he was injured and could not escape eventual capture by the enemy, but the family who helped him was very active in the French underground. The woman’s letters speak of amazing courage on the part of French villagers who risked their own lives to help Americans shot down over France.
In fact, her 8-year old son was able to travel with one American soldier at a time, pretending to be the son (or brother, depending on the age of the American) of a deaf and mute farmer going to purchase supplies. When Germans stopped them, the boy (often riding on the shoulders of the American) would explain that his papa couldn’t hear or speak. The boy would accompany an American from Paris to England by hitch-hiking or walking the entire way and then travel back to France alone to begin the dangerous journey again with another American - a scared young man hidden in the attic of a villager’s home to await safe transport. One of those he helped in this way was a member of my dad’s flight crew. Another member of the crew was picked up by a nearby motorist and driven straight to England.
When my grandmother learned about the bravery of this family and their neighbors, she tasked her older son - another member of the Army Air Corp - with helping to deliver supplies to the French Underground for the remainder of the war - many of these items were sent to Europe by her for this purpose at a time when rationing was in place for Americans. She had to rely on the generosity of her own friends and family to give up their limited supply of
The two women became great friends, united in their common desire to help the American servicemen avoid capture and imprisonment or firing squad, and they worked together again after the war to do something quite incredible:
They each convinced their own government to find the remains of the five members of my dad’s crew who didn’t survive and to move them to the French village where the plane had gone down. In order to accomplish this, my grandmother had to obtain permission from the boys’ survivors and the French woman had to persuade local people to donate grave sites and markers. With these tasks accomplished, they pressed both governments to co-operate, and the burial of these American boys in their permanent place of rest at Champigny sur Yonne took place in 1948 on the 5th anniversary of their deaths.
Two of my children and I attended the memorial ceremonies held there on the 50th anniversary, in 1993. We discovered that September 6 is a local holiday when schools and businesses are closed, a delegation of American military officers stationed in Europe joins the locals, and the entire village celebrates their own very personal Memorial Day to honor the sacrifice of these five young men and all the other Americans who gave their lives to liberate France from Hitler.
The pilot of that plane attended with his wife, as well as my mother and father, and both couples laid wreathes at a monument in the church yard honoring the French Resistance, at the grave sites of the five crew members, and at a sculpture carved into the side of the hill where the plane hit the ground (photo on the right). My daughter sang the National Anthem at the close of the Mass that preceded the all-day event, and villagers traveled in a caravan with the dignitaries to each of these locations, ending in a courtyard at the Town Hall where the Mayor and others spoke.
The speeches were in French, so we listened politely without understanding, and I noticed that the man standing next to me held tightly in his hand a very old photograph of a young man. He tried to ask me a question, also speaking in French, so I took him to meet the family who had helped my dad. We watched as they spoke in French, embraced in tears and began laughing.
They excitedly explained to me that this man had come every year to the ceremonies, hoping to see a face in the crowd that resembled the man in this photo - an American he had hidden from the Germans five decades earlier. He never knew if the American had made it to safety until this day, when he learned from our French friends that the little boy described earlier in this story (now a man in his seventies) had, in fact, traveled with that young American to England and freedom.
While we honor our nation’s fallen heroes on Memorial Day, think of their families and the many unsung heroes like my grandmother and these members of the French underground. Think of the Americans whose final resting place may be a little village in a far away country.
Say a little word of prayer and thanks for them, too.
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First published by Margaret Woda at www.MarylandRealEstateBlog.com
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Vacation in Crofton, Vancouver Island BC
March 29th, 2010 Categories: Random Topics
The Crofton Maryland area is a great place to call home, but it’s not the only Crofton in North America.
I came across a blog posted last week by Canadians Dave and Ginny Harbour, who recently visited the Osborne Bay Resort in Crofton on Vancouver Island, British Columbia. This is one of their photos, but you’ll want to click through to c2c (their blog) to view others. Crofton looks like a beautiful place, although quite different from Crofton MD, so why not add it to your list of places to visit someday.
If you’re new to Focus On Crofton, you might enjoy reading more about this area in a post I wrote about a year ago, Crofton – a Lumber, Mining and Mill Town in Canada, or my series on Crofton, Kentucky, written after a visit there in 2008:
Crofton, Nebraska – I guess you’re next.
In the meantime, if you’re looking for a home in Crofton, Maryland, just click on Search for Homes at the top of this page to see every home on the market in the 21114 zipcode or to create a customized home search that matches your own unique criteria.
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Extreme Makeover for Your Home?
March 24th, 2010 Categories: Random Topics
Have you ever wondered what the selection process is for Extreme Makeover: Home Edition? 
Producers are currently looking for a deserving Maryland family with an inspiring story that viewers will connect with. This family must own their home and it must be in need of major renovation or rebuilding.
Anyone may nominate a family (or themself) by completing and submitting the required application form, including the following information.
- Names of all family members occupying the home AND a photo of them. Include their date of birth and relationship.
- Income, employer(s), and debts of all occupants.
- Description of volunteer work and/or achievements.
- Detailed description and condition of home AND a photo.
- A casting video, if possible.
Your completed application, along with the required photos and videos, must be submitted by April 2, 2010. For more information about Extreme Makeover: Home Edition and their application process, visit the ABC website or email castmaryland@gmail.com.
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Not a Typo - $29,500,000 Historic Mansion for Sale
March 4th, 2010 Categories: Random Topics
If you win the lottery this week and have tens of millions of dollars you don’t know how to spend, let me help you explore Luxury Homes for Sale in Anne Arundel County MD.
Or, if you really want to go all out, it would be a privilege to help you purchase “Evermay Estate” – the last remaining private estate home in Washington, D.C., situated in Georgetown (of course) and overlooking Rock Creek Park. It’s listed with Jeanne Livingston of Long & Foster REALTORS for $29,500,000.
We all like to daydream, don’t we? And who knows… you could have the winning lottery ticket this week. Someone has to win!
If you promise to call me in the event you’re interested in buying the property (or if you know someone or some organization who might like to buy it), I’ll share the link with you to the website that Jean has created for this stunning property:
Evermay Estate for Sale in Washington, D.C.
In the event that property is beyond your budget, you’ll find more than fifty homes priced between two and twelve million dollars in Anne Arundel County MD when you click on the link in the first paragraph of this post. Many of them are waterfront homes for sale.
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Win $500 by Naming This Company
February 24th, 2010 Categories: Random Topics
This is a personal request, having nothing to do with Crofton MD real estate. If that turns you off, just scroll down to read the next post. If you’d like to win $500 or just learn about my sons’ new business venture, read on…
My two sons need your help to name their new business and you could win $500 if your suggestion is selected. I told the my FocusOnCrofton readers could probably come up with some good ideas, and there might even be some folks here who would like to become beta-testers of their product as it comes out of development.
Here’s a little background…
Do you know where your kids are?
They may be sitting right across the room from you at this very moment either texting or playing electronic games on their phone. …Or perhaps chatting on Facebook (instead of working on homework) at their computers. That seems harmless enough, right? After all, they’re in the same room with you so they couldn’t be exchanging inappropriate texts or emails…
Do you respect their privacy, or do you occasionally pick up their cell phones and take a quick glance at their recent activity - for example, the nature of their text messages? My son did that one day, and discovered that his 15-year old son was being solicited by a sexual predator - a 43-year old middle school teacher who (’til this moment) had never been caught.
This individual had “friended” him on Facebook and they subsequently developed an online friendship which spilled over into texting. Fortunately, my son interrupted this so-called friendship before it evolved into anything more serious. (Other families were not so lucky, it turns out.)
Now this former teacher is sitting in solitary confinement in a Maryland prison for 8 long years (32 of his 40-yr sentence was suspended at sentencing), after a plea deal acknowledging guilt to one count of sexual solicitation of a minor (my grandson) and three counts of third degree sex offense (other children discovered during investigation of the solicitation charge). He will be on probation for five years after his release and he will forever be required to register as a sex-offender.
One observant parent brought an end to this man’s years of preying on children and teens.
As a result of that experience, my two sons are starting a business to:
1) Educate parents about the danger of un-supervised communication technology in their kids’ hands and
2) Develop new technology that will track traffic on designated phone and Internet accounts to alert parents know if their child’s online communication is “inappropriate”.
This is an early stage start-up with lofty goals, the first round of funding under their belts, and much work to be done. Naming the company was not their first priority, but now the time has come… and I told them FocusOnCrofton readers might be able to help.
If you want to post a name suggestion in your comment, I will pass it on. BUT you must submit it online at NamingForce.com to be eligible for winning the $500. You can also view other name suggestions at that site.
Thanks everybody!
Originally posted by the author at Maryland Real Estate Blog.com
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