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Celebrating 300 Blog Posts with My Top Ten Favorites

  October 1st marks my 300th Leaves on the Tree blog post. Hooray!! Writing my blog posts is one of my very favorite things to do. I am excited to share my discoveries, family stories, photos, heirlooms, and more. It's always a kick when a cousin, subscriber, or even casual reader comments on a post or finds their own link to my extended family. What could be better than to find connection ?   To celebrate this milestone, I've picked my Top Ten Leaves on the Tree Blog Posts .  And wow, it's hard to pick just ten favorites. But here they are, in no particular order: What Would You Tell Me, Catherine? My imagined conversation with my second great-grandmother, Catherine Ryan Gilbride. In Periculo Mortis A reflection on my strange baptism. Mom's Chocolate Covered Cherry Caper A favorite holiday story! Family Fun Stories: The Rabbit Another fun anecdote involving my mother and brother. What is a Pickslate? Defining the role my great-great uncle took as an eleven-yea...
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GENEALOGY CHALLENGE 2021 - Military Photo


GENEALOGY CHALLENGE 2021

Military - January 15th entry of a 31-day challenge to post a document, photo or artifact on social media every day in January.  

by Nancy Gilbride Casey

 

My Dad, Joseph John Gilbride, Jr. (1937-2018), was incredibly proud of his time in the Air Force. He had not been successful in high school and decided to drop out after the 10th grade. He joined the military in August 1954, when he was just 17 years old. Eventually he earned his GED while in the military.

From 1955-1957 his specialty was AC&W Operator (aircraft control and warning squadrons), first with the 646th AC&W based at Highlands AFS, New Jersey; with the 913th AC&W, based at Pagwa Air Station in Ontario, Canada, and finally with the 662nd AC&W, based closer to his Ohio home, at Brookfield AFS.

The oldest son of his family, he desperately wanted to make his own way in the world, and joining the military was one way to break with his blue-collar neighborhood in the Collinwood neighborhood of Cleveland's East Side. And it allowed him to see a bit of the world as well, which for a time, satisfied the romantic in him. He was the arms-crossed, confident 18-year-old in the photo above.

In the end, Dad moved between several branches of the military, including the Air Force Reserves and the Air National Guard and served nearly 10 years all together. Though it was not to be his career, it was an important part of his identity throughout his life.


NEXT UP: Newspaper Clipping

 


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