Do you have a skeleton in the closet??

[MacDawg]

Ruby was a good friend, and wrote to Billy Boy when Alice Rose wouldn't. She also wrote for RC too! Listen as she writes to Billy Boy before RC is sent back to the action. This is before RC is shot down.

I'm including this letter because of the section Ruby writes about the "good old days". This would have been when they were in HS together, and Billy Boy had a "Chevie". Those were the carefree days before the war. She says, "so much has happened since then."

Woof, Woof - Dawg

 

[MacDawg]

So, back to Billy Boy's love life. We have seen that he had a thing for Alice Rose before the war, and during the war, and we will see that he carries it all throughout his time in the service, and comes back home to see her.

But, along the way there were a few others. Remember in one of RC's letters above that he says that Billy Boy ought to go for the English girl, if she meant what she said... wonder what that was? There is also mention of some French girls while in North Africa, but nothing compared to the Italian girl.

Now I have mentioned her much earlier in this thread, but her name is Dina Scarciglia. I erroneously had her named "Vima" because I misread the handwriting, but I have since found several letters of hers, and it is clearly Dina. Now none of these letters were written to Billy Boy, he would have probably gotten rid of them like those from Alice Rose, but these were written to his dad, Dr. TD, and they are quite revealing.

Billy Boy met Dina in Italy, and spent the better part of a year with her, as you will see. She wanted to write to Dr. TD, and finally Billy Boy granted that request of hers. She is 22 years old, the only daughter in the family with 4 brothers.

She tells his dad that "I love him very, very much, never I loved so but I know in all the time he will be home to finish his school he will forget me". She hints that she wants to come back with him, but says that it is impossible, and he has to finish his studies. He does come back without her, and as far as I know, never contacts her again. He doesn't complete his studies either, or at least I don't think so. He ends up at Lockheed.

She mentions a picture, and that is very important to her,
and there is more about that later.

Notice the part that says, "Bill says you can show this letter to Alice because he does not care about her." Billy Boy will write a letter and send it off ASAP to his dad about this!

Billy Boy adds his own postscript to this letter and says that Dina is a very sweet girl. He adds he has been seeing her for about a year and that "she is that way about me, and I am that way about her." He also says that he hopes his dad will "understand me". I'm not sure I do!!

Woof, Woof - Dawg

 

[MacDawg]

Well, Billy Boy fires off a letter to follow up on this letter!

He writes, "By the way, she wrote you once before have you received it yet. She said in the letter that you could show it to Alice because I didn't care anymore for Alice, well don't show Alice anything and I hope that you didn't."

Ha! Ha! Our Billy Boy was a player!

He even prompts his dad about what to say in his next letter.
Dr. TD is supposed to write "how about this girlfriend of yours
where is her picture, send me one".

Woof, Woof - Dawg

 

[MacDawg]

Dina wanted an response from Dr. TD about her picture, but it was a long time coming to her. She continues to write him and ask him about it. She talks about spending the day with Billy Boy on his birthday, and she is sad to think about him leaving her.

The Doctor has sent her a watch, and she likes it very much

On the back side of this letter Billy Boy writes his own letter.
He says he is very fond of Dina, but that he has no intention of bringing her back with him right away. He plays her by indicating that there is hope that after he gets settled she might come. She never did.

Woof, Woof - Dawg

 

[MacDawg]

I'm including this letter from Dina because of what she says about Billy Boy and his dad and mom. She writes, "Very often we speak about you and always I can understand he wishes very much to see you - Very often we speak also about his poor mother and some times he weeps - "

She continues to be concerned that the Doctor get her picture.
She desperately wants him as a support for her cause.

Woof, Woof - Dawg

 

[MacDawg]

Billy Boy is now ready to come home. The war is over, and he is making his plans. Dina is heartbroken, and writes to the Doctor.

So much is made about this picture that I wanted to be sure and find it, and I think that I have. These pics were found in a bundle of letters that Dr. TD sent to Billy Boy. All of the letters talk about the Italian girl, Dina, and the picture as well. I see no other reason to have these pics here unless they are of Dina.

Woof, Woof - Dawg

 

[MacDawg]

Now the interesting thing about this pic is the similarity with the pic I posted earlier in the thread. I don't know if they are the same person. What do you think? Are these the same as the girl above?

Woof, Woof - Dawg

 

[MacDawg]

Now comes the heartbreaking letter. Billy Boy is gone, he has returned to the states. Dina writes to the Doctor in secret, saying that she will keep it private. She needs to know about Billy Boy and Alice. Are they back together? Does he still love her. It is a heart wrenching letter, filled with pathos and emotion.

For anyone who has ever loved and suffered a broken heart... these words cause you to ache down to your very soul. Of course we know that Billy Boy never ended up with Alice, nor did he bring Dina over to be with him. He met Mary, my mom and fell in love for good.

Woof, Woof - Dawg

 

[MacDawg]

Well, there is a LOT more, about TD in the first World War, Viola's family, lots and lots of more letters, and pics from Billy Boy's adventures, but not sure if there is enough interest.

I don't want to waste my time posting if you've had enough.

If you have trouble reading any of the letters, let me know and I'll "translate" them for you.

I head back to work tomorrow.

Woof, Woof - Dawg

 

[Chip NoVaMac]

Thanks for sharing more with us 'Dawg. Have you considered getting iLife 6 or iWork with Keynote to do a more formal Cd or DVD? Hell, I might just buy one if the price were right. Such a great look in to ones families past and to realize how much some of us are missing since our families may not have been the savers of memories as yours has.

I can only think of the letters that were written but lost to the ages in mine.

 

[3rdpath]

great stuff dawg, thanks for sharing.

my family's closet(s) runneth over...

a secret marriage, a secret divorce, mental illness, domestic abuse, mistresses, hookers, drug abuse, millions of dollars squandered in vegas, alchoholism, illegitimate children...heck, that's just scratching the surface.

and my mom wonders why i don't visit...

 

[makisushi]

MacDawg,

Thanks for sharing! I was very entertained.

You are very lucky to have so much family history. You must put together a book or dvd with all this stuff...it is priceless.

Also, not to be rude or anything, but your mom is pretty cute.

 

[Lyle]

Also, not to be rude or anything, but your mom is pretty cute.

I thought so too. The pictures of her remind me a bit of Judy Garland (the young and cute Judy Garland, not the old, sad one).

 

[MacsRgr8]

Dear MacDawg,

Your posts have really captured my imigination.

WW II has always intrigued me, and seeing these personal experiences, gets me that feeling "a little more closer to home".

Let me explain:

Most of our generation in Europe hardly understands what war must be like, and how it must be like living in a country at war, let alone fighting in one. It is a privilege not to know this, and we all hope we will never have to.
But the souls who did go out there and fight for a free Europe as we know it today are forever heroes.
But they are heroes without a face. Watching documentaries, movies or other footage from that period is "from a distance"...

Looking at the pictures you posted, and especially the letters, given the fact that they are your relatives, gives me a feeling of "getting emotionally closer"... It's really hard to describe.... But I hope you get he idea
It "feels like" I know a little more of one of those heroes, and can identify myself with him. Very intriguing...

I think it is tremendous you wanted to share this.

Tnx.

 

[parrothead]

Thanks MacDawg for the wonderful stories.

I have a couple of my own skeletons to include.

My great-grandfather was a sherrif in a small Texas town. He became famous when he hunted down a pair of criminals. He put them in the jail house and while he was at home one night the deputy watching the cell fell asleep and the criminals escaped. Well my great granddad had to go back out and recapture them. I cant remember one of their names but the main one was Clyde, of Bonnie and Clyde fame. Apparantly Clyde escaped later from a different prison and met up with Bonnie.

And the other skeleton: I found out that my grandfather was shot multiple times with a machine gun in the stomach. The interesting part was that he was in NYC hanging out in a speakeasy when it happened. I have never found out what he was actually doing there, but I am sure he was up to no good.

 

[stubeeef]

Well have you thawed out yet Dawg? Or just trying to find the ibuprofen?

well, as far as skeletons go, I know there are some, not privy to them yet, we well see when I open our chests of goodies.

Anywho, who cares about that, what about your saga there Dawg, can't leave us hanging...............

 

[Doctor Q]

Dina has very nice handwriting, easy and pleasant to read. Overall, it seems that you've been lucky to be able to read the handwriting on the various letters you've found.

 

[MacDawg]

OK, I know it has been quite a while since I've posted,
but I found Billy Boy's WWII ID card to go along with his Dad T.D.'s WWI card.

Woof, Woof - Dawg

 

[MacDawg]

And I also ran across the 1st Year Anniversary Card from Billy Boy to Mary

The text says:
"I have loved you every second we have been together,
Love Always,
Bill"

There is a rose included that is now very brittle

I know it sounds incredibly bizarre, but I also have the gown, bra and panties that she apparently wore on their wedding night.

Sorry, no pics of that to post!!
But it isn't exactly Victoria's Secret stuff!

Woof, Woof - Dawg

 

[Mechcozmo]

I know it sounds incredibly bizarre, but I also have the gown, bra and panties that she apparently wore on their wedding night.

Sorry, no pics of that to post!!
But it isn't exactly Victoria's Secret stuff!

Woof, Woof - Dawg

That is pretty amazing, although hard to believe. But we believe you, don't worry. Still amazing how long all of that "stuff" has lasted.

 

[MacDawg]

Just an update for anyone that remembers this thread...

My wife has put together several 8x10s that I printed of my grandparents that I never knew and framed them beautifully in our dining room. Along with them we now have several smaller photos out in the same room. On the wall are 4 or 5 "shadow boxes", one with my dad's WWII pics, ID, medals, etc., one of my grandfather's WWI stuff, one of my dad's pipes and things, and others with various trinkets. She did a wonderful job.

I still have not gone through all of the letters and stuff. Once my job changed (twice), I have lost the time to do it. I need to get back at it though.

I got a call from a lawyer the other day, and my dad's cousin died. She had no surviving family that he could tell. I haven't heard back from him.

Thanks to everyone that shared my story with me...

Woof, Woof - Dawg

 

[Doctor Q]

It's been a great story to read, Dawg. You deserve at least honorable mention in the "2005" category. If you learn more, please keep talking.

 

[MacDawg]

Here are some bad pics of my wife's handiwork...

The silverware was my mom's

Woof, Woof - Dawg

 

[MacDawg]

Dad smoked a pipe... especially after his first heart attack
He was supposed to have stopped smoking cigarettes then, but he didn't. He would hide in the bathroom to smoke, then light up the pipe. He thought we didn't know, but we did. We never gave him a hard time about it, and he thought he got away with it.

My dad was the best... and I still miss his wisdom and counsel

Woof, Woof - Dawg

 

[MacDawg]

And this these are just a few of the war memories of both boys...
My dad, Billy Boy WWII and his dad T.D. WWI

My wife did a great job, but there is still so much stuff, pictures, trinkets, letters... oh the letters, must get back to the letters.

Woof, Woof - Dawg