July 22, 2015

        As you can see, I have many green tomatoes – but how long will it take for these to ripen?  And I have numerous additional green tomatoes on the vines.  There is something very satisfying about growing tomatoes.  Growth happens rapidly.

Our tally so far is three small red ones which we ate 2 or 3 nights ago.  No photo taken alas – maybe I just thought they were too small to really count.

In My Past

   Elizabeth Bryant 1792-1865,  my Great Great Grandmother,  born Elizabeth Thrift in Leesburg Virginia    married Gilman Bryant in 1809 in Ohio     Elizabeth’s father was the Rev. Absalom Thrift, 1760-1821.  He moved his family from Virginia to Ohio in 1808.

William Absolom Thrift came to Knox County, Ohio in 1808. He was a pioneer Baptist minister who preached in Licking , Coshocton, Muskingham & Knox Counties. He was a soldier in the Revolution, entering when he was 16 years old.

The fact that William Thrift fought in the Revolutionary War is of particular interest to me.  I am finding that many of my ancestors supported this cause.  I’ll explore this more in future blog posts.

Dr. Paul J. Vega – “We Did Some Crazy Things”

Veteran Voices

Captain Paul J. Vega

Bombardier/Navigator

United States Army Air Force – 15th Air Force

376th Heavy Bombardment Group – 514th Squadron

WWII – Mediterranean Theater

“Oh, we did some crazy things.  You don’t realize what you have to be.”

Dr. Paul Vega, who has retired as a successful surgeon, was part of one of the most decorated bomber groups in World War II — the 376th Heavy Bombardment Group.  He flew forty-one combat sorties in ten months into Italy, Greece, Bulgaria, Austria, Germany, Hungary, Romania, and France. Dr. Vega was navigator and bombardier as part of a B-24 Liberator bomber crew.

Captain Paul J. Vega

Dr. Vega first flew as a bombardier out of North Africa and later as a navigator/bombardier out of sites north in Italy. 

The bottom, or rear plane is a B-24 painted “pink” so it would be camouflaged in the sands of north Africa.

Navitator/Bombardier Paul Vega (R) with a…

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Jacqueline “Jackie” Hinson – “Jackie the Riveter” (1923-2014)

Veteran Voices

As the train approached the station and came to a stop, Jackie and “Sug” stepped out onto the depot ramp in the legendary “Cow Town,” Fort Worth, Texas.  They were excited about the adventure of being on their own in the big city, which was quite a change from the rural life they were used to back in the piney woods of southeast Louisiana.

Jackie (l) and Sug (r) strolling in downtown Fort Worth

It was the summer of 1942 and World War II had engulfed the globe. Sisters Jackie and Sug (as in “Sugar”), my great-aunts, had recently finished training in Rayne, Louisiana to work in the newly built Consolidated Aircraft Corporation plant outside Fort Worth.  They would be helping to build “bombers,” — the new B-24 “Liberator” bomber, as well as the C-87 Liberator Express Transport.

The B-24 was to become the most produced military aircraft…

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