Will be speaking to a group of interested genealogists in Janesville, WI in middle of September.

Today, May 26 my maternal Grandpa Orv Maas would have been 101 yrs old. Born in 1914 in Lake Geneva, WI. This picture was taken in the 1930s when in was in the Civilian Conservation Corp (CCC).

The following pictures show the various Rettammel, Wentland and Podrasky male relatives that served.

On this Memorial Day I remember all the years I witnessed the annual Lyndon Station, WI Veteran’s ceremonies that took place in the village of only 500 people. For such a small town there were a lot of men and women who served in the various branches of the U.S. Military. I in fact have more than a dozen male relatives who served from what we call the Spanish-Philippines War (1898-1902), World War I (1917-1918), World War II (1941-1945) and the Korean War period of the early 1950s. My Dad is below.

Waiting for this conference at UW Madison this morning.

Recently I was at Wisconsin Department Veterans Museum looking for my uncle’s World War II records. This uncle served in the Pacific front under the 32nd division. I found out that due to a WI law I could not receive his service records until the last WI WWII veteran has died.

Because this uncle was never married and never had children, there is no living relative to access the records. However he was very close to my family and he was considered a grandpa to me.

As a genealogist you might think I would have known this but as all of us know we always learn something new everyday. So now I continue to figure out how I might be able to get the records, it might be possible through another federal way?

This is a picture from 1968 when my Grandma Ernestina (Tina) Rettammel, nee Wentland turn 81. I was young but remember the day. Picture taken in house in Lyndon Station, Wi.

Kohler is a company in Northeastern, Wi., near Sheboygan, Wi that began in 1873 (plumbing industry) by immigrant John Michael Kohler who came to U.S. with parents in 1854 from Austria. They started with farm equipment and then made bathtubs which lead to plumbing industry known throughout world today. A German-American success story. Also a beautiful place to visit in WI.

Today a German silent Expressionist film, accompanied by organist.