(Note: This was also posted on my other blog, Journey to Tunisia)

For my 35th birthday, my father passed down to me all of his collection of Pete’s things.  All of it.  From his surviving uniforms to his glasses case to his letters to the certificate that went with his Purple Heart, I have it all now.  There was so much of it that it filled up both the cargo area and backseat of my HHR.  Yesterday and today, we organized all of his personal effects and have them stored in a great way now.

And what’s pictured here is just one tiny part of the entire collection.  My father was the family keeper of these precious items, and now it’s my responsibility to keep Pete’s memory alive. Dad did so much research, talked to so many of the men who served with Pete, that I have volumes and volumes of things to go through. It’s really great, though, because I’m already feeling like I’m getting to know this man better.  I’ve been reading letters her wrote from 1938 and am finally getting to see his personality in action, not just from the stories I grew up hearing.

As I delve more into Pete’s life, I will start sharing some of his letters and his personal effects.  There are some truly interesting things that have been preserved.

Having all of this in my possession makes our trip to Tunisia all the more real to me.  It also makes me more determined than ever to get us there so that we can stand in the sun in front of Pete’s grave and finally, after 70+ years, give thanks to and for him.