My Mom

Before I dash off to Maryland I want to pay a tribute to my mother - Adeline Smith Webster, born and raised in Sandersville, Washington County, Georgia. She, her sister Lillian, and their two brothers all joined the Army together when WWII broke out. She never crossed the Georgia State Line until she went into the military. The girls went into nurses training and the boys became infantry soldiers. The brothers, Fred and Billy, got on a bus and didn't come back for five years. Fred went island hopping in the Pacific and was part of the invasion force in Japan. Billy went to the European theatre and ran for his life at the Battle of the Bulge. I was raised on these stories. Mom told me she never even "rinsed out a pair of panties" until she joined the Army. She volunteered for every overseas mission that came along, but was stationed stateside nursing the wounded. One day she met a handsome young Army officer from a Swedish immigrant family from New York. The rest is history. They were married and when my dad was sent to Munich, Germany, to become part of the occupation, my brothers Willie and Freddie were born. After several years they came home in time to have me and my brother Mark. I miss my mother more every year. I appreciate her hard work and sacrifice in raising us more and more as I grow older myself. I miss you, Mom.