Tuesday, July 6, 2010

Gathering Background Material












My sister and I recently traveled to Cincinnati to visit relatives. I took advantage of the road trip to check on a couple of the military bases where my dad had contact during WWII. As I have worked on the book about his military service I have tried to add pertinent information about the places he was stationed. Photographs always add to the story as well.

Our first stop was Fort Knox, Kentucky. When dad returned home from India, his papers were processed here and it was his last stop before heading back home to Cincinnati. The Patton Museum is located on the Fort Knox base, and it has a wonderful collection of military items from the Civil War to current confrontations. Seeing the WWII tanks and other memorabilia really brought things into focus for me. Because Fort Knox is still an active military base, we were not allowed on the actual base itself, much to my disappointment.

We then drove north to Fort Thomas, Kentucky. Located a mere 6 miles or so from Cincinnati, nearly all the men and women from the Cincinnati area were inducted through Fort Thomas. While there is still some military activity in the area, it is no longer a working base so we were able to drive around and take photographs. I imagine that the processing took place in the gymnasium, and that dad may have taken a meal in the mess hall. I'll try to verify this information, but at the very least I was able to see buildings that definitely were in existence at the time my dad was there.

I'm still waiting on the documents I requested from the federal government back in January. If they are correct in their shipment date, I should be receiving the information at the end of this month. Then I will be ready to have the book laid out, which I think my daughter is going to attempt. I have every confidence that she will be able to do a nice job for me.

1 comment:

Mrs. Wryly said...

Nice photos! They will add a lot to the book.

Where do they keep the gold?