Who were your childhood heroes?

Question:
Who were your childhood heroes?

Answer:
I had a few people that I idolized when I was a kid. From singers, to actors, to family members, to friends, there were people that were popular and I wanted to be just like them. Case in point, I seriously wanted to be like Arnold Schwarzenegger in the movie Commando. Just watching him kill the bad guys and rescue the good guys made my day (as did Stallone, Norris, and others).

But all of these people were not really heroes to me. These were just people that were "cool" and I wanted them to be my friend. The real hero I idolized was my great uncle (as in he was my father's uncle), Uncle George.

Uncle George (Neil George Richards) served as the tail gunner on a B-24 that was shot down in September of 1944. The story I was always told was that he was shot down and got shot in the butt with a crossbow by a Russian woman. How much of this is true, I have no idea. But in September of 1944, he was indeed shot down over Russia. As their plane took fire from the ground, he bailed out over water:

My chute would not open at first but did just about the time I hit the water. Next thing I did was to get out of it and inflated my Mae West so I could stay afloat.

And he was "captured" by a woman, but there is no account of any shots fired (by crossbow or otherwise):

Just as I had reached the top of the cliff I was covered by an armed Russian guard which happened to be a girl. She pointed her gun at me and loaded it then hollered and three more girls came up. They had guns with bayonets on them which they also pointed at me.

Regardless of what happened and how the story was told, Uncle George was always a hero to me. He rarely spoke of his time in the war and only had a few modest displays of his mementos from the war.

Photos:


Neil George Richards is on the far left




References:
- 1409th AAF Base Unit, European Division Air Transport Command, Historical Record Report, Ball Project.
- Numerous facts were gathered from the private Richard Family Estate collection. These facts span numerous sources of information and contain genealogical data, photos, and newspaper articles.

Do you know Fred G. Gies?

Question:
Do you know Fred G. Gies?

Answer:
We do not know Fred, but we did find a little information about him that seems to pan out based on the photos we have. Fred appears to have been born March 1910 in Nebraska to parents of Russian and German origin. He and his family eventually ended up moving from Lincoln, Nebraska to Keystone, Nebraska. The link to Keystone is clear in one of the photos below.

We also found another reference to Fred on the Keith County, Nebraska GenWeb site, where it appears the coordinator, Susan Anderson, is related. We attempted to contact Mrs. Anderson but were unsuccessful.

Photos:






References:
- "NEGenWeb--Keith County--WELCOME!" RootsWeb.com Home Page. Web. 28 Jan. 2010. http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~nekeith/.
- "Walter Message Board." Web. 28 Jan. 2010. http://erikas.cc/walter/walter.htm.
- Numerous facts were gathered from the private Richard Family Estate collection. These facts span numerous sources of information and contain genealogical data, photos, and newspaper articles.

When did you have to lie as a child?

Question:
When did you have to lie as a child?

Answer:
A lot of the time. But I never liked it because I knew I would always get caught. I know one of the biggest lies I ever told was in third grade. I was living with my mother and stepfather in Bellevue, Washington for the year and they somehow saved enough money to buy me a bicycle. Times were tight then (I know that now, but didn't then) so it was a big deal for them. It was a big deal for me because I could ride around the trailer park. I wasn't allowed to take my bike on the little trail that went between it and the nearby shopping center. I'm not sure if it was because of the hills or because they didn't want me to take my bike out of the trailer park.

Anyway, I remember there was this little stream on the hillside that was close to the trail. I loved to go there and build dams, play in the dirt, and explore the nearby woods. Anyway, one day I went and left my bike at the fence as I went exploring. I'm sure I was told that I wasn't allowed to leave it there, but being the stubborn mule that I am, I left it to go play. When I came back, it was gone.

I'm sure my mother will tell it differently (and I'm sure her memory is better than mine), but I remember walking home thinking my bike was stolen. When I got home, I broke the news but refused to admit that I left it by the fence. I knew I'd get in trouble for that, but it didn't register that it would be less trouble than loosing my bike.

In the end, I still had a bike, but I don't think I got to ride it for awhile after that. You see, my stepfather saw the bike and took it back home to teach me a lesson. And I learned not to leave my bike there, but I didn't learn to stop lying. I mean, I still lied about the time I said I was going to that play, but really I went.....well.....let's leave that story for another day.

Photos:
None were readily available. You'll just have to use your imagination.

References:
- Numerous facts were gathered from the private Richard Family Estate collection. These facts span numerous sources of information and contain genealogical data, photos, and newspaper articles.

Do you know Frank Adams?

Question:
Do you know Frank Adams?

Answer:
According to the 1920 Federal Census, Frank is 19 years old and was born in Indiana (as were both of his parents). Also listed in this census is a John Adams (age 26) and Joseph Adams (age 33). The Barbara Adams listed (age 20) appears to be married to John since they share the same last name, are listed next to each other, but their parents were born in different states.

Aside from that, all we know about Frank is that he can ride a calf one-handed.

Photos:


References:
- Numerous facts were gathered from the private Richard Family Estate collection. These facts span numerous sources of information and contain genealogical data, photos, and newspaper articles.

I said stick around

That's right pardner, better stick around after the holidays to see what's new. Meanwhile, the UFO Team will be enjoying the holiday season with family. We suggest you do the same, just remember to come back when you're done.

Do you know Floyd and Inda Brown?

Question:
Do you know Floyd and Inda Brown?

Answer:
We sort of know them, but only in passing. We found a few photos of them in our UFO collection and need your help in finding out how she is related to the matriarch of our family tree, Bertha (Phillips) Richard.

In three of the four photos we have, Inda Brown (there is speculation that it is spelled "Linda" but we have no sources that can confirm that) and Bertha Richard (Bertha married in 1936 so she would have used her married name). These three photos are all dated to May and June 1937 and have several of the same women in all three. Based on Bertha's known (and assumed) timeline, we also assume that the photos were all taken in Nebraska.

The fourth image is identified as Floyd and Inda Brown with no date. We therefore assume that "Brown" is Inda's married name and that Floyd is her husband. Although there is a chance that "Brown" is Inda's maiden name and Floyd is her brother.

Any help in identifying Floyd or Inda Brown or any of the women in the photos with Inda and Bertha would be appreciated.

Photos:

May 1937


June 1937


June 1937


Floyd and Inda Brown


References:
- Numerous facts were gathered from the private Richard Family Estate collection. These facts span numerous sources of information and contain genealogical data, photos, and newspaper articles.

What is the hold up?

In case you have not noticed, the UFO Team has taken a break from doing family research. We will be back soon enough, so don't let us hold you up any more.



Go spend some time with your family and friends this holiday season.