Sunday, June 07, 2009

Attention: Tom Brokaw

One of the good things about finding out more about my family tree was learning a bit about my English cousin, Colin Robb. We're not exactly close relatives, but his search for his mom's relatives opened up all sorts of facts about our joint family history.

Colin lives in Freckleton, which is a little bit north of Liverpool near the west coach of England. He's done some work for the Parish Council.

Colin sent this note along over the weekend as we mark the 65th anniversary of D-Day:

I thought you might like to know that the Freckleton Parish Council, at my request, have been flying the Union Jack at half mast today to celebrate those that died on D Day and before.

You may not be aware that Freckleton has a very strong bond with what was known as BAD 2 (Base Air depot 2), where the USA was based in servicing aircraft for the front line during WW2.

There was an air disaster in 1944, which we still remember every year in August with a church service. I advise you to take a look at this:


World War II seems a long time ago now. But one point in history, in my parents' lifetimes, tyranny was definitely winning in the Eastern Hemisphere. Winston Churchill's magnificent voice of defiance was about the only sign that dictatorships were not the wave of the future.

It's nice to have a bit of a connection to all of that. It's a good weekend to think about it.

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