Lynne's Lens
Dolls, Horns, and Cigs
Found in Josephine Neill's photo album.
I love this photo with the scrappy boy paying no attention at all to the photographer and concentrating on his horn instead. Boys are boys, no matter what era, aren't they?
I think that this may be Josephine's younger sister, Ernestine, and her younger brother, Sammy. I presume that they are posing with their dad, James O. Neill.
Myrtle Ernestine was born in 1920, and her brother followed two years later. The kids were quite a bit younger than Josephine (products of a second marriage) -- she was out of the house and at college shortly after this photo was taken. Like Josephine, Sam and Ernestine grew up in Bradley and attended school there.
Here's a photo of what the school they attended looked like (go down about half way on the page and click the image of the two-story school to enlarge the photo):
Ernestine graduated in 1938. The next year, the old school was torn down and a new one was built, and I presume that Sammy graduated from the new school the year it was completed in 1940.
Shortly after graduation, Sammy enlisted in the Army Air Corps and was assigned to the 597th Bomber Squadron, 397th Bomber Group (Medium). I don't know if he was a pilot, gunner, or what. Here is more information about this group what what it did during the war:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/397th_Bombardment_Wing
Sam was killed at the age of 21 on June 24, 1944 while on a mission to blow up a bridge in western Paris. I couldn't find anything about Sam's specific story, but another pilot in Sam's group was shot down that day, and his story is riveting:
www.b26.com/marauderman/gatewood/04.htm
I did find a listing for Sam on a WWII website. He is buried at the Epinal American Cemetery in France and received a posthumous Air Medal and the Purple Heart. Next to his name are the initials, FOD (finding of death). I don't know why he wasn't listed as KIA -- any ideas of what the distinction between the two may be?
As for Ernestine, after she graduated from high school, she went to the Oklahoma College for Women (now the University of Science and Art) in Chickasha and graduated in 1943. Ernestine became a teacher and taught in several small Oklahoma towns, such as Hendrick, Bradley, Amber, and Piedmont.
In 1947, Ernestine married Rupert Wallace, and I believe that they settled down in Chickasha, and had two sons, James and Samuel (wonder who he was named after!).
Ernestine died in 2005 at the age of 85.
Dolls, Horns, and Cigs
Found in Josephine Neill's photo album.
I love this photo with the scrappy boy paying no attention at all to the photographer and concentrating on his horn instead. Boys are boys, no matter what era, aren't they?
I think that this may be Josephine's younger sister, Ernestine, and her younger brother, Sammy. I presume that they are posing with their dad, James O. Neill.
Myrtle Ernestine was born in 1920, and her brother followed two years later. The kids were quite a bit younger than Josephine (products of a second marriage) -- she was out of the house and at college shortly after this photo was taken. Like Josephine, Sam and Ernestine grew up in Bradley and attended school there.
Here's a photo of what the school they attended looked like (go down about half way on the page and click the image of the two-story school to enlarge the photo):
Ernestine graduated in 1938. The next year, the old school was torn down and a new one was built, and I presume that Sammy graduated from the new school the year it was completed in 1940.
Shortly after graduation, Sammy enlisted in the Army Air Corps and was assigned to the 597th Bomber Squadron, 397th Bomber Group (Medium). I don't know if he was a pilot, gunner, or what. Here is more information about this group what what it did during the war:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/397th_Bombardment_Wing
Sam was killed at the age of 21 on June 24, 1944 while on a mission to blow up a bridge in western Paris. I couldn't find anything about Sam's specific story, but another pilot in Sam's group was shot down that day, and his story is riveting:
www.b26.com/marauderman/gatewood/04.htm
I did find a listing for Sam on a WWII website. He is buried at the Epinal American Cemetery in France and received a posthumous Air Medal and the Purple Heart. Next to his name are the initials, FOD (finding of death). I don't know why he wasn't listed as KIA -- any ideas of what the distinction between the two may be?
As for Ernestine, after she graduated from high school, she went to the Oklahoma College for Women (now the University of Science and Art) in Chickasha and graduated in 1943. Ernestine became a teacher and taught in several small Oklahoma towns, such as Hendrick, Bradley, Amber, and Piedmont.
In 1947, Ernestine married Rupert Wallace, and I believe that they settled down in Chickasha, and had two sons, James and Samuel (wonder who he was named after!).
Ernestine died in 2005 at the age of 85.