Birmingham Memories

     This is a brief synopsis of my time in the US Air Force from 1965 to 1969.    In 1962 when I was a freshman in high school I did my career portfolio on becoming an Air Force Officer. I “interviewed” John Sullivan, a friend from St Mary's (he was the assistant organist at the church) and cousin of Bobby Alton. John (or Jacky as I knew him) was in the Air Force ROTC at Duquesne at this time. I still have my portfolio and the Interview Sheet from John. He emphasized "leadership, and having a moral and honorable character" as requirements for success. Unfortunately, while in high school I never properly prepared myself for college, at least not from an academic point of view.      The seed for entering the service came from my Dad's military service of which I was always very proud. While my initial intent was to go to college at Duquesne University, I came to realize this was not a good plan. My grades in high school were a strong C (well, m...

  Büchner: My German Ancestry      This Blog Posting is a brief summary of my nineteenth and twentieth century German ancestors and their first-generation American children . The book, My German Ancestry, Büchner Family of Schmidmühlen and their Descendants was self-published through Lulu.com in April 2022. It provides further details of my great grandparents Alois (Louis) Büchner and Thekla Söllner, and their ancestors, and the town in which they lived, Schmidmühlen. The book also provides additional details on the lives of their four surviving children, including my grandfather, Andrew Joseph Buchner, the father of my mother Helen Buchner Birmingham.      The 1942 Death Certificate of my mother’s father, Andrew Joseph Buchner, provided the names of his parents: Louis Buchner and Tecla, both of Germany . The ship manifest record for my mother’s grandmother, Thekla (Söllner) Buchner, provided her place of birth as Schmidmühlen. Louis and Thekla mar...