JJ Ryder and the 106

JJ Ryder and the 106
Bunker 18 outpost in An Hoa, Viet Nam Me and My 106mm   I don’t know if JJ Ryder is still alive and I’m not sure he ever made it back from Viet Nam. I met him 'under fire' for about fifteen terrifying minutes. It was a typical hot, humid and...
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2363 Views
6 Comments

If You've Never Had a Course That's Taken Your Measure

Thirty-nine years old, long-married, father of five children and there I stood, tears welling up in my eyes.  No, it wasn’t a family tragedy.  My wife loved me, our children were all healthy, our parents were still alive and doing well.  But not me.   My world was crashing around me. I had...
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2170 Views
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Always Remember This

Always Remember This
I received an incredible email that was so emotionally powerful I thought I'd recreate it here in by story blog. Hopefully, others will share this because it says it all.  REMEMBER THIS! It is the   VETERAN ,    not the preacher,     who has given us freedom of religion. ...
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2184 Views
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Chapter 1 Who was your favorite ancestor and why?

Chapter 1 Who was your favorite ancestor and why?
Uncle John Zukowski, my fathers younger brother who was also my God Father.  Uncle John was better know to his fans as Johnny Zeke.  Here is his story: Johnny Zeke was a race car driver, promoter, starter, driving instructor, crew chief and a member of the Air Corps during World War...
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2725 Views
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Ultimate MEMCOM

Ultimate MEMCOM
On the road...again!!! Essays, Stories, Adventures, Dreams Chronicles of a Footloose Forester By Dick Pellek     Communicating on Social Media   When I review the number of friends or subscribers that traffic counters on social media sites tell me that I have, it is a bit dismaying to think that...
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3186 Views
4 Comments

Richard and LaNay McGoffin

Richard and LaNay McGoffin
Richard and LaNay Magoffin – By Jane Topham She was still there when he returned from his LDS mission.  Richard was born in San Diego, California on October 30, 1939.  His parents were Garold A. and Areletta C. Magoffin.  He had 2 older brothers and an older sister who died when...
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Google Earth Comes Of Age

Google Earth Comes Of Age
  On the road…again!!! Afghanistan to Zambia Essays, Stories, Adventures, Dreams Chronicles of a Footloose Forester By Dick Pellek   Google Earth Comes Of Age   Storytelling skills evolve with the storyteller. Not that the story changes, if the storyteller is honest and sincere, but the details that were forgotten or...
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1920 Views
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It's Not Rocket Science

It's Not Rocket Science
On the road…again!!! Essays, Stories, Adventures, Dreams Chronicles of a Footloose Forester By Dick Pellek   Sometimes I Just Want To Spell It Out   With all the fake news coming out of the White House these days, I sometimes want to drop my self-imposed injunction about writing snarky political editorials. ...
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2473 Views
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In Flanders Fields the Poppies Grow

In Flanders Fields the Poppies Grow
On the road…again!!! Essays, Stories, Adventures, Dreams Chronicles of a Footloose Forester By Dick Pellek    In Flanders Fields the Poppies Grow  Of the many poems that haunted his imagination from grammar school, the one about a field of poppies in Ypres, Belgium had enough staying power to remain as a...
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1991 Views
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Mavis Nybo

Mavis Nybo
            “I love to teach” was the response from Mavis Nybo.  Mavis was born in a hospital in Salt Lake on January 27, 1930 to Rulon Stromberg and Dorothy Banks Stromberg.  Her father was from Sweden and her mother was from Australia.  Her parents lived in...
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4084 Views
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We Took the Tuk-Tuk

We Took the Tuk-Tuk
On the road…again! Afghanistan to Zambia Chronicles of a Footloose Forester By Dick Pellek    We Took the Tuk-Tuk When you are thinking of taking a cruise you can readily imagine what the major mode of conveyance is going to be and perhaps even know in advance what it will look...
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2157 Views
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Racing A Thunderstorm

Racing A Thunderstorm
It was the trip of a lifetime, the fulfillment of a long-held dream  I was flying from St. Louis to California in my small plane exulting as I watched the West Texas pastureland unfold below me.  I had a chart across my lap to keep track of my progress but I’d been so enthralled with...
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1817 Views
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A Gift Returned . . . With Interest

A Gift Returned . . . With Interest
Life is made up of achievement, failure, frustration, fulfillment, ecstasy and agony: and in my 84 years I have both sampled and sometimes dwelled too long in every one of them.  That is as it should be. I would find it impossible to say which among the thousands of joyful moments,...
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1651 Views
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Lost Bag in Lisbon

Lost Bag in Lisbon
On the road…again! Afghanistan to Zambia Chronicles of a Footloose Forester By Dick Pellek   Lost Bag in Lisbon Long known as the poor man of Europe, Portugal has consistently had an economy that lagged behind other movers and shakers in modern European society. And that is perhaps the secret in...
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1599 Views
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For The Love of Wings

    Why is it that some people, when the conversation turns to flying, enter into an almost rapturous state, their eyes a’gleam like an Old Testament prophet?   Why will they spend fifty dollars to fly a hundred miles or more to eat a hamburger served in a little café alongside...
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1666 Views
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Whales of Magdalena Bay

Whales of Magdalena Bay
                                                                                Baja Peninsula  Every year, we eagerly anticipate our visit to the...
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353 Views
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A Test Pilot's grandson

I've been interested in aviation all my life. My dad was a pilot, and I grew up in a house with a basement full of airplane parts, since he also restored one airplane and built another. We had books and magazines about flying and took annual trips to Oshkosh to the...
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2163 Views
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Maxine Andrews

Maxine Andrews
What a charming lady Maxine Andrews is.  Maxine was born on September 18, 1927, to Ivan and Mabel Reid Dyreng.  She was born in her parent’s home in Manti, Utah.  She was the fifth child of three girls and five boys.  Maxine’s father was a Forest Ranger so they moved around...
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3157 Views
1 Comment

Una Familia Mas Noble y Antigua, A Preliminary Study of the Asturian Ancestry of Capitan Francisco Montes Vigil of New Mexico

Brent Alexander Cruz, Ph.D. has recently published “Una Familia Mas Noble y Antigua, A Preliminary Study of the Asturian Ancestry of Capitan Francisco Montes Vigil of New Mexico”. This is what the newsletter of the GSHA is saying about this book: “This work starts with an explanation of the significance to...
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3485 Views
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The Many Legacies of Ginkgo biloba

The Many Legacies of Ginkgo biloba
  On the road…again! Essays, Stories, Adventures, Dreams Chronicles of a Footloose Forester By Dick Pellek     The Many Legacies of Ginkgo biloba   Storytellers and family historians who aspire to share legacy stories of those they love sometimes find themselves searching for material that people will remember warmly and...
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5469 Views
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