Author Archives: aryae@owl1.net

America’s 250th

Dear fellow War Babies,

How are you dealing with America’s 250th Anniversary July 4th weekend? At a time when the news headlines are all about how Trump and his followers are “celebrating” their view of America in our nation’s capital and across the country, what are you seeing, thinking, feeling?

What if anything are you doing to celebrate America’s 250th birthday?

Given the American story that we’ve each witnessed over the course of our lives, I invite us all to share what this moment in that story is looking like to us today. In service of our shared vision of helping to welcome a time of healing and renewal that could lie ahead.

Please scroll down to see the additional reflections, and to share yours in the “Leave a Reply” box below. (Your reply will appear once I’ve had a chance to see and approved it)

Thank you!

Aryae

Loretta Donovan

Loretta Donovan Photo Album

Click on any photo to see the full-size original.

1945
1945

Loretta with dad and grandmother in Vallejo, California.


1945
1945

Loretta with mom and dad in Vallejo, California


1945
1945

Christmas in Clearfield, Utah.


1952
1952

First communion with dad and sister Irene.


1952
1952

Christmas with dad and siblings.


1962
1962

Loretta and siblings: Helen, Irene, Louis, Loretta.


1962
1962

Loretta in her high school year book.


1967
1967

Wedding, Loretta and John.

1976
1976

John Donovan and daughter Courtney marching in the neighborhood Bicentennial Parade.



John-Courtney-Donovan-7-5-76
1977
1977

"The neighborhood moms' softball team. Loretta is in the top row, 2nd from left.

1978
1978

Loretta, President of the Scarsdale Junior Womans Club, at the Holiday Fair.


1980
1980

Riding in our 1958 BMW Isetta, in costume for the Disney-themed school fair.


1984
1984

Donovan family Christmas: Loretta, John, and their children.

1985
1985

Loretta as Girl Scout troop leader.


1992
1992

Family celebration of the 50th anniversary of the ordination of Loretta's uncle: Msgr. Stanislaus Jablonski.


2007
2007

First grandchild, Jonah.


2008
2008

Loretta with her daughter Courtney at Courtney's PhD commencement.


2018
2018

Welcoming teachers with gift bags.



2020
2020

Brookfield Covid Vaccine Team, on which Loretta volunteered for 120 hours during the covid 19 pandemic as a clerical assistant in her town.


The Interview

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Paul Stolen

Paul Stolen Photo Album

Click on any photo to see the full-size original.

1947
1947

Eating lunch in about 1947 outside with my father Elmer, 7-year older brother Stan, and younger sister Marilyn. I am on the left. This was before we had electricity. My father raised pigs, milked about 14 cows, and raised grain on our 160-acre farm in NW Minnesota.

1949
1949

I'm sitting on the lawn at our farm with one of our dogs in the background.

1952
1952

Family gathering. My mother is standing in the back on the right; my father is in the foreground on the right. I am next to the tall uncle on the left. My grandfather on my father’s side is on the left. He emigrated from Norway in about 1893 and had been a fisherman on the North Sea for cod. He lived to be 99.


1963
1963

At the research lab of Dr. Lloyd Smith at the University of Minnesota. I had chosen the fisheries and wildlife program because of my interest in the outdoors as well as Rachel Carson’s book “Silent Spring” which I read right after it was published. This was my first ecological job. I graduated from the University in 1966.


1968
1968

I was on guard duty in the front bunker of the 9th Medical Lab in Vietnam. I spent a year at the Walter Reed Institute of Research after being drafted in 1966 and then was sent to Vietnam in September 1967. I processed samples for rabies and three other human diseases and worked with military dogs. I started grad school at the U of M eight days after discharge in September 1968.

1972
1972

My brother Stan and me. He was seven years older. He is wearing my Army coat from Vietnam. I am wearing another which I asked for when I was released.


1984 or 85
1984 or 85

My wife Deb and I while backpacking in the Bob Marshall Wilderness. We lived in Montana from 1979 until 1985. I had met Deb right before leaving Minnesota and then worked for the Montana Dept. of Natural Resources and Conservation, Energy Division.


1990s
1990s

I was employed by the Minnesota Dept. of Nat. Resources, and this is our division’s Environmental Review Team. We analyzed impacts on the environment and tried to reduce them. I’m the guy with the beard sitting at the base of the tree.

2009
2009

Deb and I were at the 2009 retirement party given to me when I retired from the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. This might have been right before my supervisor, a computer geek, found out that in my past life, my animal behavior studies had been cited in feminist journals. (Laughter ensued.)

2016
2016

Taken at our farm in Polk County, MN with Deb, Evan, and Martin in about 2016. Both sons are woodworkers and carpenters. We had two foreign exchange students this decade, one from Thailand and another from Japan. We have visited both of them. This photo also reflects our current life; Evan lives on the farm with a nice woodworking shop. We are often at the farm and also have an apartment in Minneapolis. Martin lives in Helena, Montana, and is the only employee of a high-end woodworker.

2016
2016

This picture was taken at one of the high schools in Ho Chi Minh City (often called Saigon by its inhabitants) where we volunteered to help the students practice spoken English.

The Interview

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Document

The American Vietnam War

 
 
 
 

Satsuki Ina

Satsuki Ina Photo Album

Click on any photo to see the full-size original.

1944
1944

Brother Kiyoshi and Satsuki, Tule Lake Segregation Center

1945
1945

Satsuki with mother Shizuko, Tule Lake Segregation Center

1945
1945

Satsuki, Tule Lake Segregation Center

1946
1946

Satsuki with mother Shizuko and brother Kiyoshi, Tule Lake Segregation Center

1946
1946

Satsuki and Kiyoshi, Tule Lake Segregation Center

1946
1946

Ina Family, Crystal City Texas

1947
1947
Satsuki and Kiyoshi, Cincinatti, Ohio.
1947
1947

Satsuki's birthday, three years old, Cincinnati, Ohio.

1954
1954

Ina family, return to San Francisco.

1985
1985

Satsuki

2005
2005

On the road of protest.

2017
2017

Satsuki, protest speech.

2019
2019

Protest Action

2022
2022

Satsuki with paper crane necklace.

The Interview

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Dan Howard

Dan Howard Photo Album

Click on any photo to see the full-size original.

Early 1940s
Early 1940s

Auerbach Family Portrait. My parents are third and fourth from left; my maternal grandparents, Samuel and Sarah, are in the front row. Sarah came from Ukraine when she was a girl of 14 to save her life; Samuel escaped the programs in Czarist Russia at 21. They met in Chicago.


1947
1947

Young Mozart. I must have been around three. Despite my earnest practice, I never did make it to Carnegie Hall.

1948
1948

Writing First Novel. My Grandpa Sam owned a men's clothing factory in downtown L.A. and would throw a big Christmas party for all his employees every year. Finding this office typewriter was the beginning of my budding career as a writer. (I'm still working on that novel.)

1950
1950

Reading with Sister Judy. My sister is three years older and we shared a room when we were small.

1950
1950

The Tiger. With sister Judy at World Jungle Compound in L.A. The tiger's name is Sultana, and, yes, she is real. One of my favorite childhood photos capturing my inner ragamuffin.


1954
1954

Nerdy Dan at 10. The Cold War, Eisenhower, Korea, Rock Around The Clock, Doris Day, Sinatra, From Here to Eternity.

1962
1962

High School Graduation. Feeling very happy and ready to move on to my next adventure: college in San Francisco.

1963
1963

Marriage to Beth in Mill Valley. My life changed very rapidly with the responsibilities of a married man at 19.

1964
1964

Young Father. Beth, Dan, and my wonderful daughter, Anya. 1964.

1970
1970

Alaska Pipeline Worker. I hitchhiked to Alaska in 1970 on a lark just to see the country and ended up spending six years there. I worked as a union laborer on the Trans-Alaska Pipeline Project in 1975 along with thousands of others from around the world seeking their fortune (not unlike the Klondike Gold Rush a century earlier.)

1980S
1980S


With My Father. My father loved music and people and had an incredibly passionate zest for life. He inspired me to play the harmonica and guitar as a way to spread joy and, ultimately, to have a career in music. His memory is with me every day.

 

Halibut Fishing. Out on the Pacific with my son-in-law Ross Taylor in Humboldt County. Nice catch for a novice angler.


 

Minstrel Dan. I've been a freelance entertainer for the past 25 years and feel so fortunate to continue doing what I love. (I've also been an adult education music teacher working with frail and elderly adults in care facilities.)

 

Giants Game. Having fun with my daughter Anya and her family in San Francisco. Go Giants!


 

Groupies. One of the perks of my job is to have the attention of lovely ladies. It's rumored that some think I'm really Elvis.


 
 

The Interview

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Richard Strong

Richard Strong Photo Album

Click on any photo to see the full-size original.

Family Gathering
Family Gathering

At the Strong Family golden gathering in  Gresham, Oregon on my grandfathers'
farm.

Horseback with Cattle
Horseback with Cattle

My age, 19 years, in the middle of my six years as the Business Manager of Deep   Springs College in the White Mountains east of Bishop.


Mules
Mules

My age 21, the summer I packed out Rock Creek pack station on the East Sierras. Old Duke, my lead mule, would tolerate any load. Toby, my favorite, had been a plow mule. Bud, my third mule, came to us from the west side with Jay in the rear. He had to be tied down to shoe.


Writing

Johnny Appleseed of Range Soils

Butte, Wyoming

 

The Interview

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