My uncle, Clarence Donald "Red" Lail, celebrated his 80th birthday with a family reunion in Bethlehem in Alexander County, NC.
All his living brothers and sisters, his children (Donnie, Karen and Vernon), his grandchild and, of course, his wife, Mary Lou, were there along with lots of other Lail relatives.
One of his passions in retirement has been planning reunions of World War II's "Little Beavers."
There is a nice piece on his efforts here.
Red, a torpedoman aboard the USS Converse, DD509, during World War II had a dream: bringing all the men of our Squadron together and to honor our great commander, Admiral Arleigh A. Burke. It was a dream that perhaps every member of the "Little Beavers" had experienced at some point in their lives.
The birthday/reunion was really nice, but here's another take on it.
UPDATE: A photo slide show is here. Add yours!
Dad has been asking if I could find out where Red moved to and what he has been doing?
I found this site and him hoping that someone will give Red the message that "Joe Fletcher received a big write up on the Thanksgiving battles and Capt Hamburger and crew. Understand that the Converse Assoc will be no more."
Joe Fletcher