The 100th Birthday

Today would have been my father’s 100th birthday (Raymond Willard Stone). We lost him February 13, 1996.  I still miss him greatly and wish I could have spent a lot more time with him.

  

This photo was taken somewhere in the South Pacific during WW II. He was Army, and was one of those who wouldn’t talk about his time in the service.  He only shared two things about his service.  

One was that he was a radio operator and carried a large radio backpack and when they went out on a mission or patrol, and the enemy always knew where he was because of the long radio antenna   

The other story was how after he returned to the states and before he was sent home, he was part of a group sent to Bullhead City, Arizona where he helped build a cattle grate across the main roadway.  As we traveled nearby, he took me there once to show it to me.

Photo taken by one of my sons while they were on a vacation road trip with my dad.  I think this was likely taken at the Nevada state capitol in Carson City.

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A funny related birthday story.  My mother, Dorothy Jean Rogers, graduated from U.C. Santa Barbara to become a teacher.  She stayed in contact with several of her classmates after graduating.  All got married in the early 1950s, and as a result, us kids were in the same age group.  All were teachers, so almost every summer we went on vacation with the combined families.  We usually camped for a week or so, often at a Lake Tahoe location or house boating on Lake Shasta.  

One the classmates, Virginia Petrasek (married name), married Fred Petrasek. Fred became a Wood Shop teacher in Van Nuys or Sherman Oaks, California.  Fred also served in WW II, but in the European theater as a B29 pilot, and as I recall, was even shot down at least once.  I’m sure Fred and my father must swapped war stories. How could they not?  Surprisingly, it wasn’t until the late 1980s that my dad and Fred realized that they were born on the same day.  So happy heavenly 100th birthday to you too Fred!