A couple of pics!

I loved Ramona and Sara's post on Memorial Day about Dad's World War II history. I meant to add this sooner, but it's been a busy week -- ending with our attendance at the Scifres Family Reunion -- on the wrong day. As I said on Facebook -- the reunion has ALWAYS been on Sunday. What, no one thought to tell Karl, specifically, that it had been moved to Saturday (apparently, several years ago)? Oh well, we joked about our great day of attending the "Non-Reunion".

Anyway, here's a couple of pictures that I thought I'd share on the Blog.

Dad's Military Service in WWII

Sara and Will came to visit for Memorial Day weekend and we started talking about Dad's military service.  We realized that it would be a good idea to record some of the important information we have about that time period.  After calling Kay and Velma, here's what we have to share.
Dad (Ellis Scifres) began in the National Guard on September 19, 1939 where he served for one year and seven months before enlisting in the army in April of 1941.  He was in the 687th Battalion.  He trained at Fort Sill, OK and left there on Oct. 6, 1943 for Fort Iron Mountain in southern CA where they were stationed in the desert training center.  Mother joined him in CA before Christmas that year.  She and Velma took the bus from OK to Colton, CA.  They spent Christmas Day with Bolivar Aaron in Redlands, CA. 
Dad left Boston on Feb. 11, 1944 on the USAT Henry Gibbens ship and landed in Glasgow, Scotland on Feb. 22, 1944.  Their battalion took the train to Enville, England where they were assigned to the 3rd US Army.  They left England on July 16, 1944 for France and arrived July 18, 1944 at Utah Beach.  They worked their way across France and were in the Battle of the Bulge.  Dad was captured Dec. 15 or 16 near Bastogne, France.  He was working at that time in radio communications.  Someone had been cutting their wires.  When dad and another man returned to their camp from checking the wires, their company had moved on and the Germans were there.  He was captured as a prisoner of war and held in the Stalag IV B close to Muhlberg, Germany and near the Elbe River. 
At the camp they had very little to eat and would dig up potatoes (often rotten) from behind their barracks to eat.  One of their guards was aware they did this, but did not turn them in.  He used to bring them news of the war and reported Roosevelt's death to them - "Your big man, he die."  When they were liberated on April 17, 1945, Dad said this guard dressed in civilian clothes and rode away on a bicycle. 
After being liberated, they were told to wait for the army to get to them.  Unwilling to wait, Dad and another man took off on foot.  He told me the French fed them and let them sleep in their barns. 
He departed May 1, 1945 on a ship for the US and arrived May 15, 1945 in New York Harbor.  Dad was sad that they were unable to see Lady Liberty because of fog in the harbor.  He arrived in McNally Flat May 19, 1945.  He was discharged in August of 1945 from Fort Chaffee, Arkansas.  Mom didn't get to join Dad for R&R in Hot Springs Arkansas because she had strep throat.  She was very ill, but recovered because the military provided penicillin (a relatively new drug at that time). 
This was a nice opportunity to think of the blessings provided for us by so many who served us during the war and to remember the details of Dad's military service.  Feel free to comment on this post with your memories. 
It would be fun to have some of the pictures we have of Dad in his military uniform posted to the blog. 

The OKIE's Christmas . . .

We had a great Christmas! Started the holiday with a one night getaway for Kathy and I to a bed and breakfast in Norman on Monday and Tuesday before Christmas. We really enjoyed the chance to getaway and do a little Christmas shopping. The above picture on the left was taken in the lobby of the Montford Inn, where we stayed.

Kara got home on Sunday night before we left for Norman and stayed with us until Thursday before New Year's. When she went back to Ardmore, she took her Mom with her to help her get ready to return to work. I think they just wanted a little girls-only time and was glad they were able to do it!

On Sunday night before Christmas, we enjoyed our annual Christmas on the Mountain at Mountain Home Baptist Church where Kathy's Mom attends. James and Shawnee surprised their Grandma and came down for the evening. Kara and James sang What Child Is This and I joined them to sing I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day.

James and Shawnee came down on the afternoon of Christmas Eve and stayed with us until Monday morning at 5:30 AM. James had to get back to Stillwater to a class that he was taking. It was a 2-week class that met for the week before Christmas and the week after Christmas.

On Christmas Day, we had the pleasure of having Kathy's brother Wayne and his wife Debbie join us for Christmas dinner. They also brought Kathy's Mom down to have dinner with us. Kathy had never gotten to cook a meal for them, so it was a really special day to her. The above picture on the right is Kathy, her brother, and her Mom. Wayne says he only poses for pictures when he's holding a fish -- so I think he and Kathy just caught a whopper.

After Christmas, Kara, Kathy and I took a quick little trip to Dallas on Tuesday and Wednesday. As I said on Facebook, they shopped until "I" dropped. But I was reading a couple of good books, so I got some good reading time in while they shopped. Kathy and I enjoyed a quiet New Year's Eve -- just the two of us and celebrated the New Year with New York City and went to bed.

As I said, it was a wonderful holiday! The only thing that would have made it better would have been if all of you could have been here, too. We love you and really enjoy treasuring our heritage and memories that we have enjoyed together over the years. Hope you all have a wonderful and blessed New Years!