I want to post a photo. My Dad's WWII photos aren't scanned yet. My brother was in the Navy a long time ago, but I don't think he would appreciate being posted to the internet in his uniform. Hmm. Should I call him & ask? He'll think I'm insane (yeah, like that will be the straw that breaks the camel's back). Should I do it anyway? Nah.
Ok, I looked through my photos & came up with a pretty cool one that's appropriate for the day. I took it in '95 and it's from a cemetery somewhere in Northern New Jersey (possibly Frankfort Plains in Sussex County) & the grave is that of a 21 year old Union soldier during the Civil War, who was killed in Virginia 8 days after Lincoln declared the Emancipation Proclamation (There's no history book in my head. I had to look that up). I'm distantly related to him & his stone reads: "Thomas B. son of Wm. P. & Abigail Struble. A member of Co. D 25th NJ Vols. Died Jan. 9th 1863 on the banks of the Rappahannock. Aged 21 years, 5 mons. and 16 days." Wow, that's young. Cool how they wrote the years, months & days on the stones back then. I like that. I like the winged skulls on the old tombstones in Salem, too. Jeez, I'm designing my tombstone now. I think it's time for me to sign off. Here's Thomas B.:
