Friday, January 4, 2013

Uncle Joe

Yes, there are many Uncle Joes. There was Joseph "Uncle Joe" Stilwell, the U.S. general who oversaw much of the U.S. military operations in China during World War II, not to be confused with Colonel Southwell who may have served somewhere in the South Pacific during the war judging from some of the photos in the family collection although I don't really know anything about that.

And then there was my Dad's Uncle Joe, who was born in China and also lived in Hawaii so he might remember a lot about that even though I don't know that Grandma would necessarily approve of Uncle Joe running the show. Some people in the family sort of thought of Joe and Dora as the black sheep of the family but I am sure that their children would disagree on that point. Anyway, it kind of depends on what points you are trying to make. Uncle Joe died and is no longer available for discussion so obviously Uncle Joe's son Leonard will not have much opportunity to steal the spotlight if he cannot produce any evidence. After all, the story is obviously not about Joe and Dora and their extended vacations in Hawaii.