My Dad Missed the War

My dad, George Robert "Bob" Martin, was 21 when he was drafted into the army sometime in 1951. He was somewhat surprised as he thought his blindness in one eye would prevent him from being drafted, but that didn't happen.(My dad always joked he was blind in one eye and couldn't see out of the other.)

Bob started training in the Signal Corps, which included Communication and Cryptography. His training was done in Georgia, Texas, and California, and when it was completed at Camp Gordon in Georgia in December 1951, he got a Certificate of Completion of the Military Cryptography Course #4805. This allowed him to code and decode messages on "secret equipment."[1] 

The Korean War started in 1950, and when Bob was sent to Fort Stoneman in San Francisco, he figured he'd be on the next ship to Korea. At the time, my mom was expecting little ol' me, so he was naturally worried about going overseas. 

It seems like he got lost in the chaos. He stood in line a couple of times, duffel bag in hand, waiting to board the ship. But the ship filled up and he was sent back to the barracks. Some of his friends went, but he still waited. 

Whatever the reason, Bob never made it on a ship heading overseas and, thankfully, never served in Korea. In 1953, he was discharged from the Army and went back to Chicago, where he got a job. He commented to a newspaper reporter who was writing a short article about him, "The Army does prepare you for life. You learn life skills." [2]

[1] George Robert Martin Certificate of Complete and Separation Papers, Copy in author's possession.

[2] "Vet Recalls days in Signal Corps," Daily Southtown, 4 November 2007.Digital copy in author's possession.

The Butzek Steps

The topic of "Step" for #52 Ancestors could mean a lot of things. But it made me think about the Butzek step-siblings.

My grandfather, Anthony Butzek, died in a 1943 coal mining accident. Because of that, we weren't very close to his side of the family. We lived in the southern suburbs of Chicago, and they mostly ended up on the north side. It seemed like another world. We'd see them a couple of times a year so I knew most of my great uncles and aunts.

It wasn't until I started working on my family history that I learned a surprising fact--my great-grandmother had been married previously and I realized that some of this family were step-siblings. There was never any differentiation that I could tell. They all used their step-father's last name, and the fact that they had two different fathers seems to have made no difference.

Here's the list of siblings:

Children of Anton Martinek and Marie Miencial

• Gustav (Gus), born 1905
• Anton, born 1907
• Meloda (Lila), born 1908
• Rudolph (Rudy), born 1910
• Albert, born 1911

Children of Albert Butzek and Marie Miencial

• Camille, born 1913  [Camille is the only one I don't remember ever meeting. He moved to Wisconsin.]
• Vilma, born 1915
• Nellie, born 1916
• Stephanie, born 1919
• Olga, born 1923
• Unnamed female, born 1926
• Otilia (Tillie) Still living

It wasn't until I typed the above names and birth dates that the number of children my great-grandmother had given birth to really hit me. She was almost constantly pregnant during the twenty-plus years she had children. I was thinking, "Well, she lived to be quite an old lady," because that's exactly how I remember her. But she was 76 years old when she died—just four years older than I am now. 

While I only know pieces of her life, she seems to have built a comfortable blended family.

School Days

As part of this week's #52 Ancestors theme of School Days, I started thinking about my own education and the elementary schools I attended.

The first was Franklin School in Dolton, Illinois. I was there from K-2. I have vague memories of walking to school with the neighbors. My kindergarten memories were mainly of bringing a rug to school and having to "nap" during the morning. We only went for half days, so I didn't appreciate the naps. I don't remember much else. I found a photo but it only looks vaguely familiar. 

Franklin School, Dolton, illinois

At the end of 2nd grade, we moved to South Holland. In fact, we moved a couple of weeks early, and it was decided that I didn't need to start a new school or finish the old one, so I had a bit of a vacation.

In South Holland, I went to Roosevelt School.  I was there from 3rd through 7th grade. It was an old building, even at that time - overcrowded with extra mobile classrooms on the playground. The playground was both in the front and the back of the school. I loved the fact that there were books I could take home to read - I loved reading. But I detested writing book reports. Raise your hand if you loved to write book reports? Ha! I don't see any raised hands. I was always in trouble for failing to turn in the requisite number of book reports.

Another thing I enjoyed about my school days at Roosevelt was lunch and shopping. Yes, that's right!! We lived a way out of town but the school was just off the main street of South Holland and very close to the Ben Franklin. A couple of times a year, my friends and I (Susie Ward and Debbie, with a long Dutch name) would get permission to shop at lunchtime. We'd eat somewhere, but the real excitement was going to Ben Franklin. I seem to recall that we'd do this around Mother's Day. I can remember buying some perfume for my mom. It came in a blue bottle, and I suspect it smelled horrible. 

The last big memory I have of Roosevelt School was the day Kennedy was shot. We heard about it either just before or at lunch. I remember a couple of kids who celebrated, probably parroting something they would have heard at home. But most of us were just shocked. The father of one of our classmates owned a local TV shop and brought a TV into our room so we could watch what was going on. I spent the next few days glued to a TV screen. 

I couldn't find a photo of Roosevelt School. I assume it was long ago demolished. Sadly, the school district was heavily involved in desegregation battles. (South Holland at the time was a very Dutch, very white town.) But I did find a current photo on Google of the house we lived in. It's much, much smaller than I remember; the driveway is gone, and the corn fields are now filled with light industrial buildings. 

87 W. 153rd Place, South Holland

After seventh grade, we moved to Oak Forest, where I went to Laramie Junior High School for one year. It was a great year. I loved the school. It was so modern compared to the schools I had attended. The classes were more interesting - and I made a lot of friends, some of whom I still call friends today. The school is now called G. Kerkstra Elementary School, named after Geraldine Kerkstra, who was our principal at the time. She was an interesting lady who kept a pretty tight rein on us students but got us ready to move on to high school, which in my case was Tinley Park High School. 

Just Cut Off the Black Parts!!

 This week's #52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks topic is Favorite Recipes. I was lucky enough to get copies of various recipes from both my grandmothers, but my favorite, I think, is my mom's Chicken Divan recipe. It used to be the dish I made for potlucks and special dinners, but I haven't made it in a while.

My maternal grandmother was actually a pretty good cook, but she had a tendency to, shall we say, overcook things. I can remember many a meal where the toast or the chicken or whatever was being fixed, came out with some black crust on it. I would turn my nose up at it but she was raised a poor farm girl - nothing went to waste. So she'd say, "Just cut off the black part - it will be fine." And, of course, it usually was. I miss hearing her say that!