Storytime Tapestry Newsletter

The newsletter devoted to spreading love and cultural awareness around the world.

March 31, 2006

I am so sorry I goofed up, I did not realize that to of the three stories Sharon wrote that stirred up the interest on NBC had not been published yet.  So I am posting them here so that you guys know what she is talking about, the original message is still posted at the bottom of the newsletter.

OVER HALF A CENTURY AGO

In another part of the world, long ago, thanks to many, we live with freedom today.  Today, in another part of the world, thanks to many, we still have that freedom today.

This story is about not freedom alone, but the hearts of so many in this nation and across the great ocean.

My life changed on Jan. 18, 2006 when my wonderful father passed away.  I never knew he was a pack rat and maybe that's where I got my pack rat ways from, maybe from a tiny piece of my being that is so much like my dad.

A simple plain brown box has changed my life.  For inside it my siblings and I found a treasure.  No, not money.  Photographs.

I will probably will never find out how the photos got into my father's hands.  I will probably never know how he obtained the photos while a raging war was going on....but he did.   And now, I will hold onto them until a mission I can only dream of, is completed.

There are fifteen photos.  They are all eight by ten in size and they are all black and white.  The faces are different and yet one thing is the same in all the photos.....they are all in military uniforms from the USA.  Their names are on the photos.  Some have the years from 1941 - 1945.  Some have one year on them.

Dad brought these photos home for a reason.  I've sat for many hours thinking about these photos wondering what dad was going to do with them.  Surely, if he had known the parents or a relative of these men, he would have somehow tried to contact them and gave the picture to the families.  And yet, without the Internet, I  now see finding the families would have been impossible.

Dad never did that.  The photos were tucked inside a large box,  wrapped in a towel.  Each photo has a thin plastic frame around them.  Most are the US Army, but there is one Navy man, and one Marine from what I can make out, trying to recall my knowledge from the military life I once lived long ago.

I posted this information on a military web site this past week.   It was this past week I've learned just how massive the Internet is when you are really trying to find out something.  I have been swamped all week with tons of emails from WWII Veterans, Korean Vets, Viet Nam Vets, Gulf War Vets,  not to mention the military wives and wives of Veteran's who have contacted me.  I'm told that my search has reached Iraq and many soldiers are trying to help from over there. 

Tonight a WWII Veteran sent me a photo of himself.  He's just a little younger than my dad was (85) when he died in January of this year.  The Veteran wanted to thank me for the search I have taken upon myself to find the families of the military men in these photos.

Last night I was looking at the list of names of these soldiers.  One was an unusual last name.  Using a people finder site someone sent me to, I researched this last name.  There are not that many in the US by this particular last name.  By some fluke, the name showed up in the state of Michigan, where my dad was from.  There was a phone number.  I dialed it.  It was disconnected.  I was beginning to feel I'd taken on the hardest thing I've ever done, when this little tiny voice in my head said, "Keep looking."  I did.  Another man with the same last name showed up in Michigan.  I wondered, "Could this be a relative of this WWII Vet?"

I dialed the phone number and a woman answered.  She verified that I had reached the household of the correct last name.  I asked if I could talk to her husband.  It was obvious she seemed a little irate with my call, but I told her it was really important, that it was concerning her husband's father.  She handed the phone to her husband.  I asked if his father had served in the US Military during WWII.  He said yes.  I asked if he knew where his dad took his basic training.  He said, "Yes, Great Lakes."  Knowing that is a Navy base, I figured I'd run into a brick wall.  I told him about the photos I had and that my dad had been in the Army during the war.

And then a light bulb went off inside my head and I remembered........there was one man in a Navy uniform in the photos.

I did not bring the photos back to Alabama with me when I was in Michigan for my father's funeral.  I told my sister I would try and do the searching and IF we found a relative or the Veteran himself, she would mail the photo from Michigan once it was confirmed it was the family of the Veteran in the photo.  (The photos will be mailed to me tomorrow).

I called my sister this morning and asked if the two boxes the photos are in were sealed with tape yet.  She said one was, one wasn't.  I asked her to look in the open one for this certain man's name and tell me what branch of military uniform he was wearing.

She found it and she said, "He's got a Navy uniform on."

I believe I may have found the son of one of these WWII Veteran's.  My sister scanned the photo and sent it to me today.  I sent it to this man I talked to last night.  He will be looking at it tomorrow when he gets back home, and if it is his dad, what a wonderful feeling that will be for not only me, but him.  He told me if it's his dad, it will mean the world to him as his dad died three years ago.  And if it's his dad, it will push me more to find the other fourteen Veteran's relatives.

Over half a century has passed since these photos were taken.  That nagging little feeling in my head keeps telling me to "Keep looking."  And that I shall do.

I would also like to say thanks to everyone on the Internet who is trying to help me, giving me sites to go to, people to contact and talk to.  The response after posting my mission has been massive.  

I know if my dad is looking down from heaven, I think he knew when we found that box, those photos would not be tossed into the trash.  I believe dad had a mission, and now, I want to complete it, if possible.

I have always been proud to be the daughter of a WWII Veteran.

God Bless,

Sharon Bryant

Addendum to the story:  I had told about finding the photos of the WWII veterans at my dad's after his death.

Today, wonderful news.  I found the son of one of them.

He about fell over when I made the call to ask some questions about his father and his service record.

It was confirmed today by the photo that it is his father.

Sixty years have passed and I know I'm dealing with a lot of hard work here, but if you could have heard that man's voice today when he confirmed it WAS his father.......then it's worth the hours I'm putting into finding these veteran's families.

Sharon

And

Hello, You Don't Know Me

The phone rang.  Three times, four five, then a woman answered, "Hello."  "Is this the Engel residence?" I asked.  "Yes," she said.

"Could I speak to your husband?" I said.  "Who is this?" she asked.  "You don't know me, but I need to talk to your husband about his father."  "Is this a joke, his father passed away three years ago," she said.  "It's not a joke, I would like to speak to your husband," I said.

I heard her muffle the phone and tell her husband some woman was on the phone, saying something about his father.  I heard him say, "I'm not talking to some nut case," 

I cut in, "Would you please tell him this is NOT a nut case, and I really need to speak to him."

He took the phone and it was obvious he was not a happy camper.

"Who is this and what do you want?" he asked.

"Was your father in WWII?" I asked him.  "Yes, he was." 

"Can you tell me how old your father would be." I asked.  "He was born in 1923 he said.

"Where did he take basic training at?" I asked.   "Great Lakes," he replied.

"That's odd," I said.  "My father was in the Army during WWII, your father was Navy, but I believe their paths may have crossed somehow back in the 40's," I said.

"What do you mean?" He asked.

"I have a photo of someone with the same name as your father and he IS wearing a Navy uniform.  If it is your father, I would like to send you the photo." I said.

I heard him take a big breath.

"This is a joke, right?" He asked.

"No joke, I'm serious.  If you have email, I will scan the photo and send it to you.  If you verify that it IS your father, the actual photo will be on its way to you," I said.

He gave me his email address.

I was working online when the call came in.  "Is this the lady who made the call about Mr. Engel?" he asked.  "Yes it is," I said.

"I can't believe this, but that photo is my dad.  It looks just like my brother." he said.

"Wonderful," I said.  "Now if you'll give me your address, the photo will be sent.

"Wait a minute, I need a minute to catch my breath." he said.

"Where did you get this photo from?" he asked.

I informed him I do not know how these photos ended up in my dad's house but there are several of them.  Twenty in fact.  (My sister found five more after I came home after my dad's funeral in January.)

I think that was the moment the feelings kicked in.  "Do you know how much this means to me?" he asked.  "I think I do," I said.

"I know how much it would mean to me if someone called me and said they had a photo of my dad," I told him.

'I was in Viet Nam.  Dad never talked much about his years in service only that he served from '42 to '45.  I only know he was in the Pacific."

I informed him my father served from '42 to '45 also, only he was in the Army.

"I just can't believe this," he said.  "I told him neither could I but I'm trying to find the families of these Veteran's and he's the first one I worked on.

"How did you find me?" he asked.  I told him on the Internet, checking Michigan first since my dad was from Michigan, thinking I could find some of the veterans from that state.  His father was born in Michigan.

We both came to the conclusion that perhaps my father met his while my dad was being shipped overseas on a ship. 

In a little town somewhere in Michigan, a grown man now holds the eight by ten photo of his deceased father.  I know how much it means to him.  He sent me an email after our phone conversation.  He has told me it means the world to him.

This search for these Veteran's has not been easy.  But I believe where there's a will, there's a way.  I will continue to search for family members of these Veteran's. 

Sharon Bryant

1946@bellnet.com

Remember Sharon Bryant’s story of finding old photos belong to her beloved father who recently passed on.  Well Sharon has wonderful news to tell us, see below for what she has to say.

Tues. April 4th, I'm airing on NBC with the photos.  NBC called me yesterday and said this is quite a story and they want it.  I have everything ready.  They want a photo of my dad, the soldiers, anything I can give them, which I have.  I've done so much research on this and have talked to so many vets, I feel like I was in the military myself.

I just want to get these photos to the families of these vets.

Sharon