Pug, Tug and Me

They were born in the 1920's. They grew up in the 1930's during the Great Depression. They went to war in the 1940's. They served in the armed forces during World War II. They became part of what is now known as the Greatest Generation. This account shares their ancestry, life stories and many experiences that shaped their destinies as members of the Greatest Generation. There's more truth than fiction in these accounts of their lives. It's a some what fictionalized account of true stories about two cousins, their best friend, and their distant cousin, a knock-kneed freckled-face kid of a girl, and their families. It's also about some of their ancestors and historical events that helped shape their beings. Some is about their ancestral family lore. Some is about their wartime experiences and the aftermath. Their story provides an unblemished insightful awareness of the depth of adversity and character of a generation whose final destiny now looms on the ever closer horizon to soon be gone forever. This is their story.

They were born in the 1920's. They grew up in the 1930's during the Great Depression. They went to war in the 1940's. They served in the armed forces during World War II. They became part of what is now known as the Greatest Generation. This account shares their ancestry, life stories and many experiences that shaped their destinies as members of the Greatest Generation. There's more truth than fiction in these accounts of their lives. It's a some what fictionalized account of true stories about two cousins, their best friend, and their distant cousin, a knock-kneed freckled-face kid of a girl, and their families. It's also about some of their ancestors and historical events that helped shape their beings. Some is about their ancestral family lore. Some is about their wartime experiences and the aftermath. Their story provides an unblemished insightful awareness of the depth of adversity and character of a generation whose final destiny now looms on the ever closer horizon to soon be gone forever. This is their story.

Don was born 1928 in Oklahoma City. He was the middle child with two older brothers and a younger sister and brother. During the hard times of the Great Depression his family moved to a farm near Moore, Oklahoma. Later they moved to a farm in northeast Arkansas at the edge of the Ozark Mountains. As WW II began his family moved back to Oklahoma City for his parents to work in defense plants. Don attended Classen High School. He played football on the high school team. He later worked at the Union Bus Station loading and unloading baggage on buses. He then worked in a defense plant as a spot-welder making parts for bomb racks. He entered the military service near the end of WW II. He was an expert rifleman. He was an army paratrooper and served on Occupation Duty in Japan after the war. After his military service he married his childhood sweetheart. He attended Oklahoma A&M College, now Oklahoma State. He received a B.S. in Industrial Engineering. He was employed by two different oil companies. One in New York City and Iran, and the other in Dallas and the North Slope of Alaska. In between he worked for an aerospace contractor in Huntsville, Alabama, on the Apollo Program. Don and his wife became interested in genealogy and family history. As time allowed they researched, studied and recorded historical and life events for the family history. When he retired from the oil company he worked for his wife in her Dallas business. They became interested in Texas Longhorn cattle and operated a small ranch northwest of Dallas. Ten years later when his wife sold her business they moved the Longhorns to a small ranch a few miles southwest of Brenham, Texas. They continued to operate the ranch and were active in local politics. When Don's wife of 65 years died of a heart attack he continued to live on the ranch. He soon sold all the Longhorns except one old steer with handsome horns. Don continues to live alone on the ranch. Several years ago he set up a blog, The View from Grand Ranch. In his spare time he writes and posts to his blog. It was his wife's urging and encouragement that he undertook to write a book.