Wednesday, November 11, 2026

Veterans Day 2026

    

    Every year on November 11, communities across this country pause to honor the men and women who have served in the United States Armed Forces. While many enjoy the day off or attend a local parade, the history behind the date and the specific purpose of the holiday are often overlooked or misunderstood.

    Understanding how Veterans Day came to be - and how it differs from other patriotic holidays - helps us honor our servicemen and women with the clarity and respect they deserve.

    The origins of Veterans Day trace back to the end of World War I. Major hostilities officially ceased on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month in 1918, when the Allied nations and Germany signed an armistice.  

    The very next year, 1919, President Woodrow Wilson declared November 11 as the first "Armistice Day" to commemorate the heroism of those who fought in World War I and celebrate the return of peace.

    In 1938, an act of Congress officially made November 11 a legal federal holiday, originally dedicated to World War I veterans and the cause of world peace.

    After World War II and the Korean War, veteran service organizations urged Congress to expand the holiday's scope. In 1954, President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed legislation changing the word "Armistice" to "Veterans," officially broadening the honor to all American veterans of any war.

    Between 1968-1975, Congress, under The Uniform Monday Holiday Act, moved Veterans Day to the 4th Monday of October to create a three-day weekend for federal employees.  However, due to widespread public disapproval and the deep historical significance of November 11, Gerald Ford signed a bill restoring the fixed November 11 date starting in 1978.

    Today, November 11 remains a fixed anchor on the calendar, ensuring the legacy of the 1918 armistice is never forgotten. 

Veterans Day vs. Memorial Day: What's the Difference?

    One of the most common misconceptions surrounding American military holidays is confusing or merging Veterans Day with Memorial Day. While both pay tribute to service members, their purposes are distinct:

Holiday

When

Primary Purpose

Who We Honor

Memorial Day

Last Monday in May

Remembers and mourns those who died in service or as a result of injuries incurred during battle.

Deceased service members who made the ultimate sacrifice.

Veterans Day

November 11

Pays tribute to all living and non-living military veterans who served honorably during wartime or peacetime.

All U.S. military veterans, with an emphasis on thanking living veterans for their service.


    Remembering this distinction allows us to direct our gratitude appropriately: Memorial Day is a solemn time of remembrance for the fallen (think funeral or memorial service), whereas Veterans Day is an opportunity to thank living veterans for their duty, sacrifice and continued contributions to our nation and communities.

- Historical information provided by Google Gemini with some editing and tweaking by me.  


Harry Tapley Sr.
U.S. Marine Corps, Vietnam
my brother

    Today, please remember to thank a veteran or honor your relatives and ancestors who served. 

Charles Morgan Tapley
U.S. Navy, World War II
My grandfather "Pop Pop"

   
  
Comfort Ranney
U.S. Army, Civil War
My 2nd Great-Grandfather

 
                    
 

Tuesday, November 10, 2026

Tombstone Tuesday

 

Recently, my cousins, Keith and Jimmy, and I visited cemeteries in South Carolina (Don't panic - I live only 15 minutes from the South Carolina state line!). We hunted and hunted (cemeteries are not marked well or at all; if they have a map, it is confusing; or there is no office in which to inquire) and were rewarded with finding a few relatives' graves.  I love when it is cool enough to go cemetery hunting!  



Robert Washington Page

buried at

Sunset Hill Cemetery
North Augusta, Aiken, South Carolina, USA



Robert Washington Page is the 1st cousin, 3x removed of Keith, Jimmy, and Andrea.  

Monday, November 9, 2026

Military Monday

 


John Albin Helland

born 07 Feb 1897 in Fertile, Polk, Minnesota, USA
died 16 Nov 1959 in Crescent City, Del Norte, California, USA

Served in Battery C, 38th Field Artillery Regiment 
from Minnesota
World War I

The 38th Field Artillery Regiment was constituted in the National Army on July 5, 1918, during the height of the U.S. mobilization for World War I.

The unit officially organized at Camp Lewis, Washington on 17 Aug 1918. The 38th Field Artillery was assigned as part of the 13th Division.  Troops from across the country - including recruits and draftees from Midwestern states like Minnesota - were transported to Camp Lewis for artillery drill and unit integration.

The Armistice agreement that ended the fighting on the Western front in World War I was signed on 11 Nov 1918, before the 13th Division completed its training pipeline for overseas deployment. Consequently, the 38th Field Artillery remained state-side at Camp Lewis, completing its training duties until the unit was demobilized on February 10, 1919.   Unit information provided by Google Gemini.

On a personal note, John stayed in Washington after his time in the service was over. He met his wife and raised three children in Washington. Just 5 years before his death, he and his wife moved to Crescent City, California, perhaps for retirement.  


Sunday, November 8, 2026

Black Sheep Sunday - The troubled marriage of Claud Deese Tapley

 

On September 23, I posted a "Wordless Wednesday" post" with a crazy news article I found on Newspapers.com from the Waukegan, Illinois newspaper about C. D. Tapley and another man disappearing.  Their wives had filed complaints with the police, since in 1923, abandoning your wife and family was against the law.  This is the news article:

Newspapers.com, Waukegan News-Sun (formerly Waukegan Daily Sun and the Waukegan Daily Gazette), Waukegan, Illinois, Friday, July 20, 1923, Page 6

Now at the time, I thought this was just a funny little article about a cousin of mine... "the two men are believed to be on the their way to South America on a fortune hunt."  I mean, really?!!

There was no more information about the men returning home or anything.  However, I found this week that Claud Deese Tapley actually did, at some point, return home.  I know this because a short two years later, Claud was up to some shenanigans again.  

Newspapers.com, Waukegan News-Sun, (formerly Waukegan Daily Sun and the Waukegan Daily Gazette), Waukegan, Illinois, Tuesday, October 20, 1925, Page 1


Newspapers.com, Waukegan News-Sun, (formerly Waukegan Daily Sun and the Waukegan Daily Gazette), Waukegan, Illinois, Monday, October 26, 1925, Page 7


Then, not a week later..



Newspapers.com, Waukegan News-Sun, (formerly Waukegan Daily Sun and the Waukegan Daily Gazette), Waukegan, Illinois, Monday, November 02, 1925, Pages 1 & 13


Newspapers.com, Waukegan News-Sun, (formerly Waukegan Daily Sun and the Waukegan Daily Gazette), Waukegan, Illinois, Tuesday, November 03, 1925, Page 1

Then I found this hilarious tidbit published just a week later half the state away:

Newspapers.com, The Daily Palladium, Pana, Illinois, Excerpt from the Purely Personal column entitled "Sucker-Tash" by Robert I. Weller, I. N. S. Correspondent,
Tuesday, November 10, 1925, Page 4

Newspapers.com, Waukegan News-Sun (formerly Waukegan Daily Sun and the Waukegan Daily Gazette, Waukegan, Illinois, Wednesday, November 04, 1925, Page 7

I was unable to find any other newspaper articles about the charges and their disposition. I believe Claud and Roxanna reconciled once again for an unknown amount of time.  Around 1934, Claud relocated to Fort Pierce, St. Lucie County, Florida, USA. I do not know whether she accompanied him at that time.

In 1940, a Bill for Divorce notice was published for 4 consecutive weeks in the Vero Beach, Indian River, County, Florida, USA newspaper.  Claude was listed as the complainant and Roxanna as the defendant.  It says her whereabouts were unknown, which leads me to believe they had been separated for a period of time.  However, since these notices were printed in Indian River County, Florida, that indicates to me that her last known whereabouts Claud knew of was this area, and he just didn't have an address for her.  

The divorce was finalized in 1940 in Indian River County, Florida. They had been married 21 years.  It seems they were just not compatible.  

Claud remarried in 1947. He passed away from a heart attack, still in Fort Pierce, Florida, in 1959.  



Saturday, November 7, 2026

Sympathy Saturday

  Sympathy Saturday will be where I share the obituaries and my condolences for members of my family tree who passed recently.  When you get to be a certain age, you begin to read the obituaries every day.  As the days go by, you read about more and more of your friends and family members who have died.  You compare their age to your own and get a jolt. "That could have been me." 

    For genealogists, checking obituaries and visiting cemeteries is as normal as breathing. I learn so much from an obituary, i.e., maiden names, parents' names; children's' and grandchildren's' names, funeral and burial locations, sometimes even a cause of death.  I want to learn these things not for any purpose but to put it on the family tree for future generations to see and learn about the family that went before them. I admit, most of these relatives I have never met, but I think it is important to share that they were here on this Earth, and they were important.

    So I am signed up with at least three funerals homes from Swainsboro, Vidalia, and Wrightsville to get daily notices of obituaries sent to my email.  Every day, I peruse them and with the help of the family tree, figure out who is related to me and add any new information to the tree. Some weeks there are several, and some weeks there are none. We have two this week

    Please join me in offering condolences to their families and holding them in the light.



Lyneve Wheeler "Lynn or Lynn Lynn" Powell
Sep 11, 1944 - Oct 31, 2026

Funeral services for Lyneve Wheeler Powell, age 82 will be held at 2:00 P.M. Tuesday, November 3, 2026, in the Richard N. Stanley, Jr. Memorial Chapel of Stanley Funeral Home and Crematory, with interment to follow at Westview Cemetery. Rev. Randy Adams and son-in-law Jim Dutcher will officiate.

Mrs. Powell was born September 11, 1944, in Swainsboro, Georgia. She was the daughter of the late Duncan Wheeler and Lillie Mae Grizzard Wheeler. She was also preceded in death by her siblings, Delma Logue, Shirley Wilkes, and J.D. Wheeler; 4 half siblings, Maxine Nobles, Jackie Reese, Hugh Dorsey Wilkerson, and Weyman Wilkerson. She was a homemaker. She was a member of Brown Memorial Baptist Church.

“Lil Lynn Wheeler” started singing and playing the guitar at the Peach State Jamboree in Swainsboro at the age of 13. A record producer in Nashville, Tenn, met with her parents for fried fish on a Sunday afternoon and later drove her to Nashville to record two songs he had written for her. She made her own record. She was 14 years old and recorded “Too Small” and “Save A Little Lovin” with Elvis Presley’s band. “Lil Lynn Wheeler” from Kite, Georgia was something else. She played and sang in a weekly line up along with Brenda Lee, Hank Williams, Jr., Mel Tillis, George Jones, etc... She has always been the Star of the show. Mrs. Powell passed away Saturday, October 31, 2026.

Mrs. Powell is survived by her husband, Ambros Powell of Wrightsville; 2 daughters, Donna Dutcher (Jim) of Bonaire and Jann Alligood (Chan) of Dublin; 2 sons, Stan Powell (Anna) of Wrightsville and Chad Powell (Kathryn) of Warner Robins; a brother, McCoy Wheeler (Carmen) of Wrightsville; 10 grandchildren, Benton Dutcher (Andi), Nicholas Durden (Bethany), Chanley Alligood (Bryant), Anna Stewart (Zach), Elynn Alligood, Garrett Powell, Ella Powell, Cole Powell, Wayne Powell, and Laura Powell; 3 great-grandchildren, Kinley Dutcher, Beau Durden, and Janey Stewart; and several nieces, nephews, and friends.

Pallbearers will be Dickie Barber, Mike Barber, Greg Rowland, Kevin Brantley, Shawn Wombles, and Kevin Durden. Honorary Pallbearers will be Garrett Powell, Nicholas Durden, Benton Dutcher, and Bryant Blount.

The family will receive friends from 11:00 A.M. until 1:45 P.M. on Tuesday, November 3, 2026, at the funeral home.

Stanley Funeral Homes and Crematory/Wrightsville Chapel has charge of funeral arrangements. 




Susan (Lynn) Stephens
August 11, 1949 - October 31, 2026

Susan Stephens, beloved wife, mother, and Booshie, passed away on October 31, 2026, at the Community Hospice House in Vidalia after an extended illness. She was born on August 11, 1949, to Aaron and Helen Wood Lynn. She lived all her life in Toombs County and was a 1967 graduate of Vidalia High School. Susan was a member of North Thompson Baptist Church, and attended Higgston Baptist Church. She received an Associate Degree from Brewton Parker College and a Bachelor of Accounting from Georgia Southern University. She worked as a bookkeeper over the years and finished her career at Bishop and Associates in Lyons. In addition to her parents, Susan is preceded in death by her husband of 56 years, Ronald Stephens; in-laws, Lent and Annie Pearl Stephens; her brother-in-law, James Stephens; her sisters-in-law, Elma Stephens and Patricia Stephens; and her nephew, Jamie Stephens. She is survived by her daughters, Denise and Christy Stephens, and granddaughter, Maribeth Stephens. Also surviving are her brother and sister-in-law, Steve and Teresa Lynn, along with her sister-in-law, Jeannine (William) King; brothers-in-law, Reggie Stephens, Edward Stephens, and Allen (Tonya) Stephens; and numerous nieces and nephews. Susan enjoyed socializing with everyone when she was eating in town and supporting anything in which her daughters and granddaughter were involved. She will be greatly missed by her family, though we are thankful that she is fully healed in Heaven. The family would like to thank the staff of Community Hospice for their excellent support and care of Susan and the family during her illness. The family will receive friends at the Lynn Home at 806 Orange Street and on Monday evening at the funeral home from 5:00 until 7:00. The funeral service will be held on Tuesday afternoon, November 3, 2026, at 3:00 in the chapel of Ronald V. Hall Funeral Home with Pastor Murray Ward officiating. Interment will follow at Pine Crest Cemetery. Flowers will be accepted, or memorial contributions can be made to Community Hospice Foundation, PO Box 2277, Vidalia, GA 30475. Ronald V. Hall Funeral Home of Vidalia is in charge of arrangements.



Wednesday, November 4, 2026

Wedding Wednesday

Newspapers.com, The Herald-Palladium (formerly The News-Palladium),
Benton Harbor, Michigan, Friday, October 12, 1973, Page 19

 


Ronald Dwaine Dunham
1926-1987

and

Elaine Joyce Mastin
1946-1996

married 
October 12, 1973
Niles, Berrien, Michigan, USA