180514 May 14, 2018
Planting a memorial to my father at a monument on Omaha Beach.
A Long Overdue Visit
Tommy Towery
LHS '64
I want to thank all of you who have been concerned that something had happened to me for the last three weeks, but fear not. I am alive and well. I have adopted a policy not to post things or photos when we go out of town on long trips to prevent the word somehow getting out that no one is at home while we are gone. I especially avoid posting any comments or photos on social media sites - we don’t trust the Facebook world to not let others know we are away from our home for an extended period of time. We trust our friends - but not the Facebook app.
The reason I have been silent is because Sue and I have just returned home from a 13-day trans-Atlantic cruise on the Norwegian Jade from Miami to Southampton, England. The trip turned out to last three weeks before it was over. We were joined by our traveling buddies who were friends from my early Air Force days.
On April 20, we flew from Memphis to Miami to catch the cruise on April 21. For the next 13 days we were without internet service since it costs a fortune to purchase an internet package on a cruise ship, and even when you do it is very unreliable. We were at sea for six days before we made our first stop at Ponta Delgada in the Azores, then two more sea days to Brest, France. From there we went to Portland, England and took a tour to the historic Roman ruins in Bath.
Our next stop at Le Havre, France, was my personal highlight where I was finally being able to visit Omaha Beach in Normandy where my father landed with the 29th Infantry on D-Day, June 6, 1944. He lay on the beach there for 18-hours waiting for a medical evacuation after he lost a leg when he stepped on a German land mind during the invasion. My personal souvenir of the visit was a small vial of sand from the beach where my father once lay bleeding.
Click on the picture below for some information about the sculpture I am in front of in the photo above.
Memphis, TN - I will spend a large part of this coming week trying to catch up on over three weeks of emails on two accounts and trying to find the ones needing posting on this site. I know there are several, but to be able to get this issue to press (and get some sleep after a seven-hour time difference between Germany and Memphis) this will not be done for this issue.
I know there are several emails about the typewriter article I did and some photos from the latest Lee Lunch Bunch meeting which I missed (see above for the reason).
I hope all of you are well and will understand the confusion I may have created.
Our final stop on the cruise was Southampton, UK where we took a tour to Stonehenge, Salisbury Cathedral, and then on to Windsor Castle where the Royal Wedding will be held later this month. We visited London of course, with the highlight of the day was attending an Evensong church service at Westminster Abby.
Following a few days in London we took a shuttle bus to RAF Mildenhall, the airbase where I was stationed back in the mid-Eights. We had hoped to get a space-available military flight back to the states from there, but none became available.
Checking the schedules we felt we had our best chance for a free ride by taking the high speed train from London to the US Air Base at Ramstein, Germany via the Chunnel. We hit speeds of 180mph on the train. After one night in Ramstein, we were able to get seats on an Air Force C-17 cargo plane flying to the old Pease AFB in New Hampshire, then a bus to Boston, a Southwest flight to Nashville, and a rental car back to Memphis.
I had pre-canned three weeks of Lee’s Traveller, but the mail service I selected to send out the emails failed to do so; hence the delay in letting everyone know the latest editions were available.
I received several emails while I was out of contact, several of which were time sensitive and which I was unable to meet the requested inclusion date. I hope those involved now understand why that happened.
From Our Mailbox
Subject: Checking In
Judy Hubbard
LHS '65
Judy Hubbard here, looking fondly at your ongoing posts in Lee's Traveller, but am unable to reach the link to enroll in mailing list - you know the error 404. I am new and very late but trying social media at the tender age of 70 years., alone here with my three cats. Hmmm....
I never would have pictured myself as the old cat lady, but I suppose we do not often look that far into the future. Came here by way of University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa and then Birmingham where I finished my masters degree, retired from University Hospital where I worked as a cancer research nurse. I moved on to continue the same kind of work at MUSC in Charleston for just a few years (loved the city, not so much the medical center.)
Came on over to the rural, mostly, city of Anderson, SC to be near my family, but they are mostly gone now. I married a time or two but did not work out and I have no children. So, lots of time on my hands to explore Facebook and you tube. Anyone can find me on Facebook as “ Judith Hubbard,” in Anderson, SC. I think there is a picture of me and a white cat on my profile page if anyone wanted to get in touch.
I would welcome new old friends! Don’t me misled by the obituary for a sweet black lady named “Judy Hubbard.” I found over the years there are many Hubbard’s but most of them are black, and very kind, but not my in particular family. I hope things are going well for you and your family as well as your work keeping the Lee Fami-Lee together. That is an awesome task! If you can add my email to your list, I would certainly enjoy it.
Good luck!
(Editor's Note: For Judy and anyone else who is interested. The link to automatically sign up no longer works. If you want to be notified when the new issues are available, just send me an email at tommytowery@gmail.com.)
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