Legends

As a kid, I always thought Uncle Mike and Uncle Emil were somehow bigger than life. Uncle Mike was occasionally available to interact with, but Uncle Emil was mostly out to sea.

I think Dad looked up to his oldest brother with a sense of some pride -- Emil was the kid who left home for the sea, became a war hero of sorts, and ended up losing his Navy commission (as Dad told it, for refusing his orders). Somewhere around here is the photo of the ship that the Japanese torpedo bomber took out from under him in an Australian harbor; the story goes that he escaped through a porthole in his underwear, saving only his sextant.

Sunday night, while visiting Mom (Mother's day, of course) I got a call from Mixie saying that Bruce Banyai had called and would be calling back. Last night he called back. On one of his visits here we had talked about the passing of the Old Guard, the tape I had made of Mom telling of her childhood in pre-WWII Europe, and the fact that while I had finally located my grandfather's gravesite at Greenlawn, I had no idea where my Grandmother was buried. Dad had never said where, and Bruce said that Uncle Joe never talked about his childhood.

Well, the phone call was to let me know that Uncle Joe had finally talked. Bruce had set him down and recorded about 2 hours worth of video of Uncle Joe's reminiscences. That will be edited and turned into a DVD for the next reunion, whenever, wherever. But then Bruce dropped a bombshell.

It seems that after Aunt Maxine died in 2003, Uncle Joe was contacted about whether he wanted her collection of Uncle Emil's old letters, dating back to the beginning of their marriage. He accepted a large box of documents, but busy man that he always is, never took the time to look at them. Apparently several museums turned down the collection of a seaman's letters, and they were destined for the dumpster.

However, during the videoing, Bruce was asked whether he wanted to see the collection. Being the history buff that he is, it was too good an opportunity to pass up. He was surprised by what he saw; the letters were not only the letters home to a landbound wife, but also a very detailed accounting of wartime life as a Merchant Marine captain. From what I understand, it also contains a copy of his resignation letter as he refused to captain a ship he deemed unseaworthy, and a copy of the inquest into that ship's sinking several days out of port.

Bruce has asked me to archive that material. When it gets here, if it is what I think it is, a whole new blog should be devoted just to that archive. Stay tuned, don't touch that dial!