My family history is full of farmers and warriors (often both when the country called, dropping the plow for a rifle). I spent 10 of my growing up years in Dayton Ohio, back when NCR and Wright Patterson were the main employers. My father took me, as a young child to see the final landing of the XB-70 and I was hooked. I spent many a weekend at the Air Force Museum, going back to the days it was in old hangars. Of course, growing up in Dayton, I also got to see the Wright Bicycle Shop in Carillon Park and several Dayton Air Fairs. I had 2 uncles that served in the Pacific in WWII, cousins in Vietnam, Grenada, and both Gulf Wars. I was about 15 when we moved to Wisconsin and I got to spend time in the EAA Museum, first in Milwaukee and later in Osh Kosh. After spending that much time around historic items, you meet some of the characters that survived those things and get to meet some people with amazing stories. When I was a teenager, we would go deer hunting in Antigo, Wisconsin. One morning, at breakfast, our hunting buddy introduced us to an older gentleman who ran a business locally. My step-dad was floored after we left the restaurant. He asked me "Do you know who that was?". I had no idea. The man was Doc Bradley, one of the Iwo flag raisers. I still get goose-bumps thinking about it.
The things you witness yourself will all be things to tell your kids and grand-kids about. My grandmother died about 15 years ago. She was born before cars, airplanes and all kinds of things. The stories she told about the past and the family history are golden. Her father and three of her brothers opened the first Ford dealership in Indiana. We have photos of some of those Model As on the farm in Clear Creek. She told stories of her family moving from Pennsylvania to Indiana in a covered wagon! I used to laugh, because she would say "I don't know how they did it. I can't survive without my microwave"!
