ANCHORS AWAY!

At age 24, Ed enlisted in the U.S. Navy on Feb. 16,1938.

At the time of enlistment in the Navy, Ed was stationed in Norfolk Va. on the U.S.S. Boise. He ended up serving twenty-one years.

In 2005 I was invited to my cousin Carole's birthday party in Louisville. While I was there it was important to me to go to New Haven and Colesburg. Dad took me there every summer of our life together. My cousin lives in Bardstown, another small town in that area. When I arrived and went in her living room I saw many photos on the wall of my ancestors. I was surprised to actually see photos of the people I had just learned about while doing our geneology. Later that day, Donna brought me to her kitchen and I sat down at her table. Donna went to a closet and brought out an old scrap book. Here is where I found the photos I have previously posted on this blog. I wept at the discovery of these photos and old letters that he had written home during his time in the service. There was a faded

typewritten "History of the USS Boise" in this book . Donna gave me some of the letters and this typewritten report to me as I left. I told her I would return and that I would retype the document she gave me. It was August before I got around to looking at the documents more closely. I began retyping the faded, worn out pages. With a magnifying glass in hand , I began this project. I learned to Google anything that I had a question about. Every question turned into a mystery to solve each day. This day at the computer was life changing to me. It was the start of a project that I had no intention of getting into. As I found out more and more about my father, I discovered more and more about myself and my "roots".