This is my dad when he was around eighteen or twenty. When the first
World War came round, he was eager to join up. He went off and spent
some time in Siberia and he talked about how cold it was there. In
fact he never stopped talking about the war years and years later. He
sang all the old songs: It's a long way to Tiperary...Pack up Your
Troubles in Your old Kit Bag...Over There...and all the rest. He was
in the Signal Corps and taught us kids the Morse Code. I used to use
it to write notes in school and after teaching it to some other kids,
the teacher couldn't figure out our messages!
My dad was a mechanic, farmer, lumberman, carpenter and a lot of other
things. One of the things I remember about him the most is how he
would start to sing as soon as he got in the car and he never stopped
until we go to our destination. (we didn't need a radio)