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My grandfather, Irving Roland Swall, and his parents lied about his age when he was a teenager so he could enlist in the U.S. Navy early. He served in World War II and Korea and stayed enlisted in the Navy Reserves through his life. He retired as Master Chief, the highest enlisted rank in the […]

“Photographs open doors into the past, but they also allow a look into the future.” -Sally Mann Meet my Grandpa Reinhold, pictured here as a little boy in Chicago circa 1933. A few years back he gave me hundreds upon hundreds of old family photos…many of him and many of family members I never knew. […]

“Hopefully the power of these stories, when you hear one from someone who almost by definition is a stranger, is that you’re going to recognize yourself in that person.” -David Isay This is my grandfather on his family’s farm around 1926. He’s sitting on his pony, Prince. He and his siblings worked alongside their parents […]

I was cleaning up my iPad and found these gems. My grandpa Lee (the handsome man in the top squares), his sisters and some friends when they were teenagers in the 1930s. The girl next to my grandpa is NOT my grandma, but was IN LOVE with my grandpa. Can you blame her? My Mom […]

This was the first and last family portrait taken of my Mother’s family. Pictured in the photo are (left to right) my grandfather (Gun Noh Kim), uncle (Nanichi Goto), grandmother (Hee Soon Park), and two little girls: aunt, Kyung Hee Kim and my mother, Young Hee Kim. This was a tumultuous time for South Korea […]

My brother and me in West Java, circa 1975. One of the joys of having had a Dad in the foreign service is finding random photos of yourself in cool places. My brother and I had a hard time keeping friendships because we moved around so much, but there’s something so amazing about the bond […]

This is one of my most prized photographs. My grandmother Virginia Benton O’Brien and my grandfather William A. O’Brien. My mother is with them in the stroller, and my Aunt Peggy and Uncle Bill are walking alongside. My grandfather was a physician and professor at the University of Minnesota. My grandmother was hired to care […]

This photo of my grandmother, Mary Ella, was taken in Korea during her service in the Korean War as a librarian. She came home fluent in Korean, with life long gal pals, well-traveled AND pregnant with my uncle. I have an entire album with pictures and hand-written notes describing her adventurous and passionate traveling experiences. […]

I miss these faces every day. My Great Grandparents posed for this picture in the early 1950’s during a family picnic at Franklin Park in Columbus, OH. He was a country boy. She was a city girl from a prestigious family. Despite her father’s disapproval, they married and spent over 67 years together. I can’t […]

Old family photos tell tales of service and sacrifice. On Veteran’s Day, we honor loved ones who served their family and their country. My wife’s grandfather served in the Vietnam war during the 1960s. He was in the Navy fighting overseas while his wife was here in the states raising their first child. His name […]