American Legacies Organization, Inc.

By Betsy Gilbert

Too bad Mark Twain isn’t around today. If he were, chances are he would have added Margaret Brooks to Huck, Tom, Jim and Becky’s gang and moved them off the Mighty Mississippi. Her life along the Missouri River certainly qualifies her for honorary membership in their adventurous club.

How many retired school teachers have spent a decade as a cook and the only woman on a towboat? Not alot, one wagers. But Brooks did, and counts those ten years among the most interesting and rewarding in her rich life.

By Laura Jean Bhadra

There are no manuals on how to be a mother. The majority of new moms have quick access to the most natural teacher, their own moms via phone calls, emails, or a short drive. However, for those of us whose mothers are dead or otherwise unavailable, we must turn to other mom-like influences, parenting classes, or the memories of how our mothers parented us. This last is what I find myself reflecting and relying upon time after time as I face the challenges and joys of raising my own family.

If a Tree can Grow in Brooklyn,

a Bush can Grow in the Bronx

By Pearl Hoffman

My maternal grandparents immigrated from Russia to America in 1893. When my grandfather was interviewed at Ellis Island, the first question he was asked was his name.

July 4th family picnic

July 4th is an exciting time in Gettysburg. We have the famous reinactors in town in full costume. The women dress in those full gowns. I really do not see how they walk in the dresses. They are very long and they have the big hats and hair wrapped in a net which helps keep their long hair from blowing.

By: Sandy Williams Driver

My father, Dalton Williams, came home from Burma in 1945 with a far away look in his eyes, a mangled left hand and a pack of cigarettes.

U.S. Legacies July 2003

Wartime Memories

Never before in any war that the United States was in, did we as Americans sit in front of the television crying with the families who lost their loved ones. Prayers were heard from the West to the East coast, and the from North and South. Every American shared one common belief, bring our soldiers home safely.

By Lynn Ruth Miller

God gave us memory so that we might have roses in December.

James Barrie

Author Unknown

I am a small and precious child, my dad’s been sent to fight…
The only place I’ll see his face, is in my dreams at night.
He will be gone too many days for my young mind to keep track.
I may be sad, but I am proud.
My daddy’s got your back.

From the Book “Not Ready To Die”

My Life As I Remember It

Nacho Vasquez
As Told To Nila Gott

Nacho Vasquez was part Yaqui Indian and was born in a boxcar along the New Mexico SP rails (his father was an employee).  The following is an excerpt from a book about Nacho's survival in life.

by Laura Pearce

San Dimas, CA