On March 6, 1944, an uncle I've never met died in WWII on an island in the South Pacific. Per the newspaper article below, he was a member of the famed First Marine Division and fought in many places during the war including Guadalcanal.
One of the many stories I've heard over the years is that Raymond's parents - my maternal grandparents - refused to accept the insurance money detailed in the two letters below.
Flatly refused.
Many years later, a decade after my grandparents wrote to the VA and asked them to stop sending the checks, it was discovered that someone in the US Postal Service was intercepting the monthly payments and cashing the checks.
Above/Below: Ray on the South Street Bridge in Wilkes-Barre PA in July 1941
Raymond M. Raykovitz was interred in Arlington National Cemetery on March 3, 1949.
Above: My Mom/Raymond's sister - pics taken 57 years apart
RIP, Ray.
No comments:
Post a Comment