Here in the US, November 11th is Veteran's Day. Last year I wrote a post about my grandfather who served in WWI that was very well received. You can see that entry and his letters to the young girl who would become my grandmother here: "...that love has been branded on my heart by fire and shells." Letters from a WWI Soldier.

This year I thought I would share a story about my Dad, WWII, a camera, and the Internet...

My dad was stationed in Italy during the latter stages of WWII. His two older brothers also served in the war. Pictured here are those three brothers: Alfred, Jr., Larry, and Bernie Hoehn. They are the sons of my grandfather who I wrote about last year.

Click to enlarge

My uncle Alfred was stationed stateside in Texas where he did servicing and repairs on B-17 Flying Fortresses. He passed away in 1989. My Uncle Bernie, who still lives in Rome, New York where this picture was taken, was a B-24 Liberator nose gunner during the war. He spent 3 years in a Veteran's Administration (VA) hospital recovering from wounds he received in battle when he got hit by a 50 caliber round fired from a German Messerschmitt Bf-109. His leg was badly injured; the surgeons rebuilt the tendons in his ankle and eventually restored the use of his leg and foot.

My dad, Lawrence Hoehn (Larry) was deployed to the European theater in 1945. This is a picture of my Dad taken there. Boy! He sure looks young. He was 18 at the time.

Click to enlarge these.

And now the story...Fast forward to 1996, 51 years after this photo was taken. I was visiting the family back in Rome. We were sitting around the kitchen table where I was explaining this new thing called the World Wide Web. I was using my laptop and a super slow modem connection (it was fast at the time!). As I was describing various things I mentioned the site switchboard.com where you could look up any address. (Times were simpler then, amazement came easier.) I asked my Dad if there was anyone he had lost track of and wanted to look up. Without hesitation he said Heino Jones (last name changed to protect the innocent). I said; "Pardon me, Hi-no?!?" He repeated the name. I entered it and voila there was Heino's address in Indiana. He said; That must be it! I remember he lived in the Midwest."

He went on to explain that he had borrowed Heino's camera, a Kodak Brownie(!), for a weekend leave. When he got back he found that Heino had shipped out and that he couldn't return the camera.

My Dad got up from the table and called Heino. After some foggy recollections, after all it was half a century ago, they connected. He mailed the camera to the address we had discovered. Yes, my Dad still had that camera!

My father, who passed away a year later in 1997, my grandfather, and uncles all served our country. This Veteran's Day give pause and think of those who have protected our freedom in the past and still do so today.

Click to enlarge these photographs from
the WWII Memorial in Washington, DC.

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