Here is a link to a story about a B17 pilot from Graceville, Minn. Frank Valesh flew with the 8th Air Force out of England from September 1943 until August 1944 with the 100th Bomb Group.
Unusual to a Southern or Texan mind is this paragraph:
“His
mother's maiden name was Burns, which explains why a family of Bohemians would
live in a predominately Irish neighborhood.”
Most of
us raised in Texas or in another state with Southern influence, would say,
“What the heck does that have to do with anything?” and, “What the heck is a
Bohemian? Is that some kind of Baptist? Maybe a Holy Roller?”
Always amazed with people like that
ReplyDeleteWhere I was raised, and when, there was social division, black and white. My wife has many friends, almost all from the Northeast. At a gathering, one of her friends said, "The people from the South do not know where they are from." My wide said, "That's not true. I'm from Texas." Her friend said that was not what she meant. She gestured at other women. "Mary is Greek, Angie is Italian, Elisabeth is Polish...," and she went on, naming several European countries. Most Southerners are Scots, Irish, Scots-Irish, English or African. But our ancestors pretty much left that when they became Americans. We had more room to move around in, while Europeans settled in ethnic neighborhoods in Northern cities. Our people were more adventurous, more willing to take chances,
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