All,
Just wanted to share with you a special Mother's Day gift I was able to put together with help from one of my forum members.
My Mother-In-Law's father died in February of last year after a long battle with cancer. He a great guy, a strong person with a very gentle heart. One of the things i had learned about him is that he had served in Europe in WWII with the 101st Airborne as a paratrooper. He won a purple heart, but it was unfortunately stolen from him many years ago by a foster child they had taken into their home. I tried to learn some more about his service even before he passed away, but found out that there were some memories that I think were too hard for him to bring up again. I never pushed it, and was thankful for the things he was open to share.
After he passed away, I tried to learn some more information about his service. I contacted the government about getting a copy of his DD-214, but his was among those lost in a big fire some number of years ago. I knew he was in the 101st Airborne "Screaming Eagles" and remembered seeing that insignia somewhere around the forum. A little searching yielded member scmhogg. I PM'd Steve and he provided invaluable information about the unit and put some of the information we had in context from his own time in the 101st. When I talked about putting together a display frame for my MIL, he generously offered to send me a pair of his old "jump wings" from his time in the service. Between those, a blown up picture from WWII, a 101st patch from Ebay and a replacement Purple Heart (which are available online), I put the following together in a beautiful Oak display box (I took it out of the box for a better picture). It really turned out better then i thought.
When my son gave it to her today for Mother's Day, she was very touched. I was so thankful we had a way to honor her father's service with such a nice tribute.
Thanks again Steve - I owe you one....
Pete
Just wanted to share with you a special Mother's Day gift I was able to put together with help from one of my forum members.
My Mother-In-Law's father died in February of last year after a long battle with cancer. He a great guy, a strong person with a very gentle heart. One of the things i had learned about him is that he had served in Europe in WWII with the 101st Airborne as a paratrooper. He won a purple heart, but it was unfortunately stolen from him many years ago by a foster child they had taken into their home. I tried to learn some more about his service even before he passed away, but found out that there were some memories that I think were too hard for him to bring up again. I never pushed it, and was thankful for the things he was open to share.
After he passed away, I tried to learn some more information about his service. I contacted the government about getting a copy of his DD-214, but his was among those lost in a big fire some number of years ago. I knew he was in the 101st Airborne "Screaming Eagles" and remembered seeing that insignia somewhere around the forum. A little searching yielded member scmhogg. I PM'd Steve and he provided invaluable information about the unit and put some of the information we had in context from his own time in the 101st. When I talked about putting together a display frame for my MIL, he generously offered to send me a pair of his old "jump wings" from his time in the service. Between those, a blown up picture from WWII, a 101st patch from Ebay and a replacement Purple Heart (which are available online), I put the following together in a beautiful Oak display box (I took it out of the box for a better picture). It really turned out better then i thought.
When my son gave it to her today for Mother's Day, she was very touched. I was so thankful we had a way to honor her father's service with such a nice tribute.
Thanks again Steve - I owe you one....
Pete
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