VETERANS

Veterans Day-2016

Once again its Veterans day, when we all come together to remember our loved ones that lost their lives serving their country. To honor the ones that never make it home, that were lost or missing in action. For a solider to be missing in action is even worst because you never know what terror he/she is going through. Also, there is no closer for the families of the soldiers lost in war. So, I pray for all soldiers that have served and that have been missing in war. That you will have peace with your God…

I was lucky my father served and lived through 2years in Germany in the Cold war. To come home; later to have a family – three children including me and four grandchildren and 57 marriage with my mom! He is my hero! I love my dad, and I feel that I am one of the lucky ones to have him all my adult life. I had a wonderful Uncle too! My Uncle Ed who I love very much too. Who is in my heart and watches over me.

He passed do to the Asian orange and other cancer related stuff. He was exposed to it as a very young man at only 17years old in the Marine Corp, In the Vietnam War. I lost him about 9years ago but I think of him every day and this day most especially with my Aunty Linda. Who is fighting for him on the Asian orange too. I pray if any of you out there that have lost a loved one to the Marine Corp in the Vietnam War or any War that you find peace today with all our hero's. For all wars are terrible - older wars  before my father and my uncle Ed  - To the World WarI  - World II Wars - To more reset of Desert Storm ( I had a friend in that war who had migraines all the time. He was young & said that he thought he had chemical war far that might be the cause and he was scare he could have a brain tumor). Then the War after the two tower in 911 in  2001 to even now! I believe that not all our troops both men and women in Iraq haven't made it home yet. I worry too with the new election for are new president coming up too!  I am worried what is going to happen to all our men and women in the armed forces - All I can do is pray that things will work themselves out. I thought  I  would do a post about Veterans on what they called D-Day because what I have learned from the War is that, we as many countries had to come together to stop Hitler to save the rest of the World and all other nations within it...So, here are some very fascinating facts that you may have not known about the Normandy invasion or World WarII.

World WarII on June 6, 1944 Allied Troops boarded an armada of ships and crossed the English Channel to begin the monumental task of taking back control of the Continental Europe from Germany. It was a war of all nations. And we honor all Veterans of all WARS from this one and so many after that and before the World WarI and WarII ...

I hope I honor All Veterans by showing some of the facts that we went through as many countries as one!

And I pray that we look at this as a sad remembrance that we never go to this again.

1-It would seem that June 6 was referred as ‘D-Day’ – ‘The invasion of western Europe by Allied forces was actually known as ‘Operation Overlord’. Plus, the landings at Normandy which commenced the invasion were called ‘Operation Neptune’.

2-The ‘D’ in ‘D-Day’ doesn’t actually stand for anything meaningful however, it is military speaking for the day an operation is scheduled to begin something!

3-During this war the Allied forces who landed on the beaches of France on D-Day totaled up to more than 156,ooo men. Americans made up about half of the total numbers of troops, fighting alongside forces from Britain, Canada and many other nations.

4-When WW2 Began Some say the war started when Japan invaded Manchuria on September 18, 1931. This fact is very interesting; It seems on the morning of the invasion; Hitler was sound asleep and had left specific instructions that no one should wake him. Because his generals could not call up forces without Hitler’s authorization, this meant there was a delay in the German response. Apparently, this proved to be critical for the eventual success of the invasion at Normandy and Hitler’s undoing in the war ….Hitler believed that invasion was a ruse; to distract his German forces from the real invasion HIS! As he would put it! Hitler, refused to release his nearby armies - Germany officially declared war on just one nation in World War II: The United States of America.

5-The Normandy American Cemetery in France overlooks Omaha Beach and the English Channel. It was created on June 8, 1944, as the first U.S. cemetery in Europe during World War2. More than 9,300+ U.S. Servicemen are buried there.

6-The Man who invented all the flat boats, landing crafts that were used by the U.S. Army were the brains of a businessman from Louisiana. His name ‘Andrew Higgins’. General Eisenhower felt that his inventions for the war were so success in us winning the operation with his 20,ooo of the boats used in the D-Day invasion that he called Higgins ‘The man who won the war for US.’

7-The D-Day invasion was the largest seaborne invasion in war history and the first time since 1688 that an invading army successfully crossed the English Channel too!

8- “The Momentum Shift’ for many reasons permanently shifted the Normandy invasion momentum of World War2. From that point on, the Allies would only advance toward Berlin and the Germans would only retreat.

9-Ghost Armies. Now, I have heard about these myself. Actually, I heard about these from my dad. He told me lots about what has happened in the war and this was a common thing in U.S army being he was in the U.S Army for 2years. What the U.S. Army would do is create several false army camps and fake military equipment to keep the Germans guessing as to where the invasion would actually happen. This fake equipment included camps, trucks, tanks, inflatable men, and even fake airplanes too.

1o-The Germans were expecting an invasion in their country for quite some time. Apparently, Hitler knew a man with buildings, that the Germans called the ‘Atlantic Wall’. These buildings were about 2,400 miles long of military fortifications, including beach & water obstacles, bunkers & machine gun nests, mine fields and much more. The man’s name was Erwin Rommel and this was the tasked Hitler had for Erwin Rommel

11-There were 12-15,000 paratroopers that landed in the French Village of Sainte-Mere-Eglise on the night of June 6. It seems that on that day one American paratrooper got hung up on a church spire and dangled there in his parachute for several hours before being taken prisoner by the Germans. Ever since, the people of the town Sainte-Mere-Eglise have hung a dummy paratrooper from that same church spire.

12.General Eisenhower, the head of the Allied invasion force, caused all men to wait until June 6 to date for invasion…

13-Normandy of World War2 was an incredible amphibious invasion. However, it also included an unprecedented cover and force from the air too! More than 11,000 aircraft flew nearly 15,000 sorties that day to provide cover and protection for the 5,000 ships that landed on the beaches of France. Planes dropped more than 7 million pounds bombs during  invasion.  

14-The code names for the five beaches where Allied troops landed were Gold, Juno, Sword, Utah, and Omaha.

15-It would seem that the Allies had continued moving their troops and fighting for a full week. And by the time the invasion was completed, 326,000 troops and 50,000 vehicles had made landfall into Normandy.

16-Brigadier General Theodore Roosevelt Jr.; son of the President Theodore Roosevelt was the oldest known man and only general to be part of the initial wave of soldiers to land at Normandy…General Roosevelt was 56yrs old at the time and because he carried with him wounds from fighting in World WarI, he stormed the beaches at Normandy with a cane in one hand and a pistol in the other…General Roosevelt survived and led his men to victory, however he would die of a heart attack just one month later sadly after the war. He was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor; and the General Omar Bradley. Roosevelt had displayed the single most heroic action he’d ever witnessed in combat.

17.The Battle of Normandy had ended at the End of August 1944. And by that time, the Allies had driven the German forces out of the Northwestern France and were advancing into Germany.

18-As far as Planning for D-Day it began nearly a full two years before the invasion itself. It seems that there were a couple of attempts or failed invasions of the French and a few others. The first invasion was the failed one by the French Port of Dieppe on August 1942, Allies leaders began discussing a massive invasion that would give them all a foothold on the European Continent. So at least three major conferences were held in the U.S. and Europe to strategic, interspersed by countless other meetings and planning sessions before the invasion in June 1944.

19-Of course the location of the invasion was perhaps the most carefully guarded secret on the planet. It is said that most of all the soldiers, even the officers that were involved in the invasions were in the dark about the location. And most if not all the soldiers that were aboard the ships; started off without even knowing where they were going…The plan ‘Absolute Secrecy’.

20-The Ultimate Sacrifice According to the U.S. National D-Day Memorial Foundation, It, was a total of 4,413 Allied troops that died during the Normandy invasion on June 6, 1944. Now of these brave soldiers-2,499 were Americans & 1,944 were from the other Allied nations. Omaha Beach witnessed the most casualties, followed by the four beaches-Sword,Juno,Gold and Utah. As for the Germans deaths, no one’s exactly knows, but there is estimates that range anywhere from 4,000 to 9,000 troops lost that day.

21-Did you ever hear of “The Roosevelt’s Prayer?” Well, the day after the invasion, President Roosevelt held the entire nation, on a radio broadcast which led the country in Prayer…These are the words: “Our sons, pride of our nation, this day have set upon a mighty endeavor…to set free a suffering humanity. Lead them straight and true. They will need thy blessings. Their road will be long and hard…but we shall return again and again. We know..our sons will triumph.’ His prayer included these word; "Our sons, pride of our nation, this day have set upon a mighty endeavor...to set free a suffering humanity. Lead them straight and true. They will need thy blessing. Their road will be long and hard...but we shall return again and again. We know...our sons will triumph.'

22-World War2 was the most devastating conflict in the history of mankind. It spread across multiple continents and cost millions of lives.

23-First American That was killed in the War - American serviceman Captain Robert M Losey. He was serving as a Military attache and was killed in Norway on April 21, 1940 when German aircraft bombed the Dombas railway station where he and others were awaiting transportation.

24-First German soldier killed in World War2 was Lieutenant von Schmeling, who was a military advisor to the Nationalist Chinese. He was killed while leading a Chinese infantry Battalion of the 88th Division of Shanghai in 1937.

25-Japan employed multiple types of suicide attacks during the war, including suicide submarines called Kaiten-'The turn toward Heaven'. Approximately 100 of these were used, the most famous of which used in the sinking of the USS Underhill-Flight Accidents.

26-Finnish snipers were some of the deadliest in the World. During the Winter War (November 1939-March 1940), the Soviet Union invaded Finland hoping to gain Finnish territory and create a buffer zone for Leningrad. Because of the inexperience of the Soviet Troops and the incredible effectiveness of Finnish snipers, the USSR lost more than 40 men to every Finn that was killed by a Soviet.

27-In 2005, dive researcher from the University of Hawaii discovered the remains of a massive Japanese submarine-I-401. This behemoth was basically an underwater aircraft carrier and was built to bomb the Panama Canal-it carried three folded up bombers inside its watertight hangar. These huge submarine could sail up to 37,000 miles or one and a half times around the World. Three of these subs were captured at the end of the war. They measured 400 feet long and 39 feet high and could carry a crew of 144 men.

28-According to the AAF Statistical Digest, the U.S. Army Air Forces lost 14,903 pilots and crew...in the United States. These men died as a result of more than 50,000 accidents during the course of the war. Another 1,000 planes disappeared in route from the U.S. to foreign countries.

29-Air losses were so staggering during 1942-43 that it was statistically impossible for bomber crews to complete a 25-mission tour in Europe.

30-American POW's, there were more than 41,000 American servicemen that were captured during the war. Of the 5,400 captured by the Japanese, half of them died. About 10% of those captured by the Germans died.

31-The youngest U.S. serviceman was just 12 years old. His name; Calvin Graham who lied about his age to get into the service & was later wounded at the Battle of Guadaicanal. He was given a Dishonorable discharge for lying about his age, though is benefits were later restored by the act of Congress.

32-793 German U-boats were lost in World War2. Of the nearly 40,000 men onboard those subs, 75% died at sea.

33-More men died in the U.S. Air Corps than the U.S. Marine Corps. It is estimated that while completing your required 30 air missions, your odds of being killed were 71%. Plus 30% of the American troops was even more sobering.

34-It was hindsight that the power grid in Germany was more vulnerable than the Allies realized during the war. Some experts speculated that if the Allied bombers had dropped just 1% of their bombs on the power plants instead of the industrial factories and targets, the whole of Germany's infrastructure would have likely have collapsed.

35-Russian pilots destroyed hundreds of German aircraft by ramming them in midair. A few famous Russian pilots were able to eject after ramming enemy planes and survived to flight in future battles. Germany also began using aerial ramming near the end of the war.

36-Because of its massive number of troop transports, the U.S. Army actually had more ships than the U.S. Navy.

37-When the U.S. Army landed in North Africa, they brought along more than troops and equipment along with them; They also set up three complete Coca-Cola bottling plants to keep troops well supplied.

38-Some of the Germans captured during the invasion of Normandy weren't German at all, they were Korean. These soldiers had been forced to fight for the Japanese army until they were captured by the Russians, who forced them to fight for the Russian army. They were later captured by the Germans and forced to fight as German Troops.

39-The Dachau Concentration Camp first opened in 1933 Six years before the War2 even started. The Dachau Camp system grew to included nearly 100 sub-camps. One wonders originally how big the Dachau Concentration camp truly became if it started 6yrs before the war2. To me it's a frightful thought. Makes me wonder if the amount of Jewish people that were murder was higher than 12million...

40-Poland during World War2 had the highest percentage of death of any nation.  

41-An Polish Catholic Midwife 'Stanistawa Leszcaynska delivered 3,000 babies at the Auschwitz Concentration CAmp during the Holocaust in occupied Poland. I wonder when finding this bit of history what happened to this wonderful angle, Stanistawa Leszcaynska who helped all those women in need in the concentration camps, pregnant and scared. I am scared really what happened to all those babies and new moms...

42-In the Soviet Union the Casualties were only 20% however, they were of all males born under the age of 18 years. So if you think about it during the War2 in 1923 they lost most of their youth in the war that was under the age of 18year all their children...to rebuild their nation afterwards.

43-Hiroo Onoda, an Imperial Japanese Army intelligence officer who officer who fought in World War2, held his postion in the Philippines and refused to surrender until 1974. His former commander traveled from Japan to personally issued orders relieving him from duty.

44-U.S. Troops More than 16,000,000 American troops served in World War2. Of these 405,000 were killed during the War...

45-They were 50 Million+ Dead Total Casualties for World War2 as an estimate between 50 and 70 million. It is said that 80% of the deaths came from just four countries; Russia, China, Germany and Poland.

46-An amazing thing about the war is that people come up with amazing things to use for emergency aid. Like Coconut Juice was used as a substitute for plasma...

47-American soldiers were know as the 'Ghost Army' What they would do is use fake tank and pre-recorded sounds to deceive the Nazis into thinking their army was much larger that it was. The Ghost Army...

48-Adrian Carton de Wiart served in the Boer War - World War1 & the Second World War2. He was shot in the face, head, stomach, ankle, leg, hip and ear; yet he survived two plane crashes; tunneled out of a prisoner of war camp; and tore off his own fingers when a doctor refused to amputate them...What a survivor!

49-Holocaust Memorial in Berlin of 12million Jewish people where murder by Hitler. It was a nice thing to do for the millions of Jewish people however there is a silver coating that makes it kinda sad in many way I think...You see the coating that was put on the Memorial to protect it from graffiti is the same chemical that was used in the concentration camps in World war2 that killed 12million of their relatives. I wonder what the relatives of the millions that were murder in the memorial, truly think about the way it was done? I understand why they wanted a type of coating with a anti-graffit in it. but why on earth would they use the same company the used this chemical in the concentration gas chamber during WW2. It just doen't make since?

50-Penicillin was recycled and extracted from the urine of soldiers that already on the antibiotics Penicillin so that they could spread the penicillin as far as they could during the war.

51-Pooli, the Cat was a WW2 Veteran. Pooli earned 3 service Ribbons and 4 Battle Stars Too! 

52-Did you know that Nutella was invented during WW2?

53-The U.S. Aid is estimated to have fed 6 million Soviet citizens continually during the war.

54-Britain began the war without rationing only modesty introduced it in January 1940. In contrast, Germany began rationing at the war's onset and struggled to feed its armed forces and the wider population from start to finish. The county's demand for food from occupied territories led to a lot of hunger for a lot of people. British people rarely had to go hungry and although a number of foods were rationed there were many that were not.

55-More than 300,000 Russian soldiers died during the German siege in the city of Leningrad. What that meant for just one city, is a lost of 75% of the number of troops lost for the U.S. during the entire War2 

56-The Soviet Stalin dictator had Purged killed more of his own people than Hitler during purges of what he would call the all of the 'Undesirables'. It is estimated that Stalin killed an estimated of 25million people to Hitler's 12 million However it really doesn't make it a contest. It just shows how evil a person can be & how one person can have no soul or no care for human life.

57-U.S. Nurses When the US declared war on Japan in 1941, there were a total of 1,000 nurses in the Army Corps. By the end of the War2 there were more than 60,000 nurse.
Well, Happy Veterans Day my dears, I hope if you have a special Veteran in your live that you do something special for him/her today. I always do a post for my Dad and my Uncle - God rest his soul...and since I don't live near my Dad I have always write my father a special letter too. When I do get to see him in the summer I bake him his favorite Cheese cake the family recipe. Which I did for him last summer and  I will do again this coming summer once again. We must Honor all our Veterans for they are the ones that make it so we can live with freedom in this beautiful Nation the U.S. that we all live in...And that goes for all nations around the World. For there are Veterans in every country too. So give a hug to all Veterans all over the World...

My Thoughts for Election 2016

My Thoughts for Election 2016

Good afternoon my dears. Welcome to my humble blog. I thought I would write down my
feeling after the very long election has ended. Well, I woken by my dear husband telling me the

news. I don't know any of your opinions, but mind was very frightful & I cried all morning. I prayed for my family and all America's that didn't vote for Trump. I have in my own way, acknowledge he is our next President . What have I done?Well, I have Depression, Social Anxieties, Personal Anxieties . So I went to my laptop this morning which has windows 10 and lots of apps on it. Movies, games, news, weather etc. I decided that I just could look at the incoming news that I would get everyday. Now that Trump is now going to be our next President. So I took off all my news or anything that related to him, that I wouldn't get any new feed as I work on my computer. I also cut out my News Feed on my Browser Microsoft Edge too. This is a help hint for any of you out there that just can deal with all of this...Like myself. I am also lucky that my husband and son don't turn on the news when I am in the room. So that is my take on what is happening and my thoughts on it. I heard that in my State of WA. that last night after Trump was elected the next President there were a few groups of people that stated their opinion on the streets of Seattle. So these are my Thoughts for the Election of 2016...I am still very frighten on what is going to happened to our Nation/country but I have to have faith. I thank you all so very much for being so supportive of me and my blog these pass 3yrs. love you all 

Your friend always WENDY...

Legend of the Gray Man of Pawley’s Island-

Legend of the Gray Man of Pawley’s Island-

Good evening my dears, welcome to my humble blog. I’m not one to talk about politics, so I discovered this amazing legend/history about what they call ‘The Gray Man’, that I believe is true of the Pawley’s Island. I happened to find it while watching T.V. late one night so I wrote down the legend and decided to look him up for an interesting post for you all. I hope that you all find it as interesting as myself. Apparently, he is quite popular on the east coast with the hurricanes season. When I watch the show, it had a very sad story that started in 1822 with it first rate 5 hurricane Hazel in 1954. Apparently, there are many different versions of the tail. This is the one that I heard of myself;

In 1822 a young woman was staying on the island of Pawley Island with her family when she received word her fiancée was going to join her on the island after going to see his family. Delighted with the news, she had the servants prepare all his favorite dishes and decorate the house in anticipation for his arrival. When the time for him to arrive, no one showed. For hours, she waited upon the beaches of the island worried and holding the very watch her fiancée had given her. Later she was visited on the beach by her fiancées servant with the tragic news. What had happened was, that her fiancée was in great haste to see her. So, as they were traveling down the road, her fiancée was in great spirits. So, he was racing his horse to her home. Not watching carefully as he would always do before. He then saw a shortcut through the marsh but didn’t think first before checking it out. In those days, the marsh had what they would call blogs – they look fine on the top but that was just a thin layer on the top. Underneath was like quicksand, once you got stuck you never get out no matter how his servant tried to help. The more he moves the faster he sank into the blog. So, Fate caused his horse to stumble, throwing him off into the blog. He tried to stand, but he found himself sinking in the quicksand. Despite his best efforts, he or his companion were able to free him and the young woman husband sank beneath the very deep sand. This news nearly drove his fiancée mad. She would spend hours just walking along the sandy beaches of Pawley’s Island strand. However, one afternoon she while she was out walking on the beach sands she saw a man looking at her out by the water, As, she got closer and closer she felt her stomach get tighter. She couldn’t believe her eyes. When she got just a mere few feet from the man, she was sure it was her love. It looked exactly like him. The way he would dress and his face was him but Suddenly as a wave burst down on them, he vanished in the sand. After seeing her lover, she ran to tell her family of what she had seen. They of course thought since losing her fiancée, that she was starting to lose her mind. That very night, the young woman had a horrific dream of being in a small boat in the ocean tossed by the waves, with wreckage all around her. All the while her lover stood on a dune, trying to wave to her to him. When she awoke, she was terrified. So, her father took her and the rest of the family to Charleston to see a doctor. This act actually saved the entire family. Within hours of leaving their home, a hurricane had struck the Island of Pawley’s with force of a rate of 5 categories – which at the time was the highest rate of a hurricane could be. When it was all over, almost if not everyone of the inhabitants of the North Inlet had died in the hurricane. You see they had no warning back in the day but the gray man. The young woman realized that her lover had returned to save her from a horrible fate, the girl returned to her normal self after that.

There have been many different stories of the origins of the Spirit of the Gray Man and the Young woman who was so much in love with him. Well, I thought I should touch on that part of the story too: So, this is one story about John Calhoun & Belle; The spirit of the Gray Man was John C. Calhoun, the man in live could not top the Gray Mans long enduring history and tragic legend. In the South Carolinas as the most famous ghost. As for the Young woman, his lover was to believe to be of Charleston Belle that was sent away to France because their relationship was not acceptable to their parents. The story goes on…There was a rumor that the two were cousins and that the man was a scoundrel of sorts. The lover had vowed to return and make her his wife one day. Well, time passed on and it was reported that the lover was reported have died in a duel. Grief yet again the stricken young woman mourned her lover. However, another man who had recently been widowed drew the woman out of her grief by marring her-then making the island of Pawley island their summer home from May through October each year. In 1778 John Calhoun joined the Army to fight in the American Revolution. During his absence, a hurricane had hit the Pawley island sinking a brigantine off the islands shores. All, were believed to have perished. However, a lone figure was seen struggling along the shore of the beach line. A manservant helped the surviving man to this Mistress’ door advising that the Master was gone to war but his Mistress would look after him. When she opened the door, and saw her lover their Belle fainted on the spot. The man realizing that his lover had married another and fled. He died alone on the mainland of a deadly fever. The Belle resumed her life but she was frequently troubled by the gray figure that watch her from the dunes from the beaches. He appeared to her prior to any hurricane, advised her to leave immediately, When, she returned to her home it had been the only one that had been spared the devastation wrought by the hurricane.

Another Story was about The Gray Man; This one is not as popular as the one above but I thought to include both…This man was called Plowder Charles Jeannerette Weston who loved his home and the island of Pawley’s faithfully. He died of tuberculosis but he is said to appear to residents to warn them of impending storms. No one could identify the Gray Man as he does not have a face some say or it’s not clearly seen. Even someone coming face to face with him cannot make out his facial details as they are a blur almost like a silhouette. The Gray Man to this day continues to warn his residents of hurricanes of the Pawley’s islands and the spirit who remains behind do so for various reasons that we still haven’t figure out. These are some of the various reasons that the people of the Pawley island believe;

Some because they don’t want to believe they are dead, some who died tragically, and those who love someone or something so greatly they feel a need to be the guardian for eternity. Sometimes there is no explanation only faith! We have faith that someone will watch over us and keep us safe. Pawley’s Islands sits along the coast line and its home to small cottage homes, inns and one very famous Spirit too! The story is always the same, The Gray man warns the residents to flee the island from an impending hurricane.

The People of the Pawley Island in South Carolina claim to still see the Gray Man. He has been walking the coastline for nearly 200years. Much like what he did in the pass he does now in the present is helping the people of the island of impending danger of the small island and the people that dwell there. It seems that while he is responsible for saving lives he was unable to save his own...So he is walking the beaches of Pawley’s to do what he couldn’t do for his own life… During the life time of the Gray Man there has been five deadly hurricanes that have battered the Pawley’s Island over the past 2ooyears, including hurricane Hazel in 1954|hurricane Hugo in 1989. If the stories are true about the Gray Man – he has appeared on Pawley’s Island before each of these deadly storms. Strangely, People who have seen the man in gray not only survive the storm, but their property remains intact as well… There is one such case – Jim and Clara Moore who encounter the Gray Man just two days before the hurricane Hugo roared ashore.  They were taking a walk late in the afternoon which they usually would do. Many folks would take walks on the beach at that time of the day the couple would say. However, that particular afternoon they only saw the one, coming directly toward them. When Jim got within speaking distance, he raised his hand to say ‘Hi’ or ‘Beautiful evening’ or whatever, then he vanished.’’ Hurricane Hugo decimated Jim and Clara’s neighborhood, but the couple’s home suffer very little damage if any at all! Clara attributes their good fortune to the Gray Man and the Lord! Most of all eyewitness accounts are describe as a Man figure dressed in all gray clothing…And when he vanishes it’s like sand in the wind. He will appear mostly on the beach, out in the dunes or waving at boaters or anyone without saying a word…

Another example of the Gray man’s warnings of the people of Pawley

Island…One lone fisherman had spotted the gray man in Murrells Inlet, at the coastal town about 10 miles north of Pawley’s island. He said he had been out on his boat nearly the entire day and the sun was beginning to set. He was going to do one more sweep of the Inlet for oysters when he noticed a man standing alone on the shore waving at him. As the fisherman drew closer to the man, he realized he wasn’t waving at all. He had his hand out as if he was telling me to stop. He was dressed in all gray and looked like an old pirate. He couldn’t believe what he had saw. He had to literally rub his eyes and look again. But he was gone…A few hours later, a powerful storm had rolled ashore, it was pounding in Murrells inlet with heavy winds and lashing rains. The fisherman truly believes the Gray man appeared to him to get him off the water and out of harm’s way. So, there you have the legend/truth of the Gray Man. I myself truly believe he is real. I hope that you enjoy the story…

Your Wendy hugssss.

Real Haunted Houses & the Stories behind them..

Real Haunted Houses & the Stories behind them…

Good afternoon my dears, Halloween is pasted but, I thought even though you might enjoy a few Haunted House stories for today’s Post. I found about 25-different kinds. Some are very creepy to downright scary while others are just very interesting. I think Everybody has in their life time, been exposed to some kinda ghost story involving a haunted house, a ghost with or with not a terrifying experience. However, these stories aren’t like many stories that you might have heard or experienced yourself. Putting the urban legends in as some factors, the pure fear, unknown occurrences, pure speculation, paranormal which has been reported for years and documented too. In the passed the Haunted house has been a far-fetched type of thing, but now not so much…There are so many houses across the country and the world that have been found to be haunted to a point that some won’t even go never these haunted houses. There have been a lot thru the 3years I have been posting…It is interesting when I have done a few of these posts on the hauntings of homes across the world. It really doesn’t matter what type of style, time period, ordinary famers to wealthy businessmen, the country you live, wealth, high society families or poor. It is said that many homes that are haunted have a common trait and that would be that someone had died within that house. As for how haunted the house may be afterwards it really depends on how the person or persons died. It can also happen, when a traumatic death occurs in the house such as a murder, suicide or even the occupants inviting a hostel entity in their home without knowing it.  I found this can be the difference between a sighting of a ghost to a very malevolent or even a violent entity within a haunted house. Note; You will find that some of these will have longer statements than others on the haunted homes, it doesn’t mean they are any less important it just means that more has happened in the house…

Sturdivant Hall – Selma Alabama-

The Sturdivant Hall was built in 1856 in the Greek Revival Style, this beautiful antebellum mansion was bought in 1864 by John McGee Parkman. In the years after the Civil War, John McGee Parkman was arrested and imprisoned for cotton speculation. While he was in prison, Parkman attempted to escape but was shot and killed in the process. When his wife was forced to sell their house a few years after his death, his ghost began to appear regularly throughout the house and the grounds. And even today he is seen to this day at the Antebellum Mansion. People often have report hearing windows and doors being opened then shut when no one else is in the house, as well as doors that will close behind people and lock on their own too! The apparitions of two little girls are also frequently seen too! Though their identities remain unknown. We don’t know if Parker had any children before he was sent to prison or if they were to young slaves that had work in the house.

Whaley House – San Diego California

The Whaley House in San Diego was once a private Residence, in the mid-19^th centuries. However, it is now a museum that is dedicated to its former owners & the history they created in that home. Part of this house was once rented out to the County of San Diego for use as a Courtroom…which may explain the appearance of several unidentified ghosts within the house. Apart from these unnamed apparitions, the original owner, Thomas Whaley, his wife, one of their children, a little girl, and a convict are repeatedly seen within the house. It would seem the house was apparently haunted as soon as it was built, as the spirit of a man who had been convicted and hanged on the site took up residence in the house upon its completion – The two – story Greek Revival house was designed by Thomas Whaley himself and construction began on May 6, 1856 and then Completed in 1857, the cost of the house was more than $10,000. It was made from bricks created in the Whaley’s own brickyard on Conde Street. The house was the first of its kind in San Diego. It would seem that the Whaley House was originally built where a graveyard once was. Thomas Whaley was of Scots-Irish origin, born Oct 1823 in New York City – Seven child of a family of 10. After taking over his fathers, family business, he left New York for the Gold rush arriving in San Francisco where he engaged in his business. Then soon left for San Diego in 1851. After living there for 2years he married Anna Eloise and they started a life together in 1857 in San Diego in the Whaley House. I thought by telling you all a bit of the history would help understand the haunting of the house. Thomas and Anna had six children, Francis Hinton-1854B, Anna Amelia, Thomas Whaley Jr, George-1860B, Violet-1862B and Corinne Lillian-1864B. Sadly, it would seem their family had terrible lost when their children were very young to even when they were adults on their own…So I don’t know if this all had to do with the House but it very much could have…  After losing two children in the Whaley house, the couple decided to move the family back to San Francisco of 1859, while Thomas turned his affairs over to business partner Frank Ames. By the summer of 1868, Thomas invested some of his new Capital of Stock in merchandise and then headed back to San Diego. He decided to fix up the old Whaley House for his family and then he brought his family back home to San Diego in 1868.

The Bad luck of the Whaley Family continues:

In 1882 Violet Eloise Whaley and Anna Amelia Whaley married in Old San Diego. Violet Eloise had married George T. Bertolacci – Anna Amelia had married her first cousin John T. Whaley, son of Henry Hurst Whaley. It seems that only two weeks into Violet Eloise marriage, traveling on their honeymoon she awoke finding her husband gone. Later she found George Bertolacci was a con man only after her family money. Due to the restrictive morals and societal standards of the time period, Violet never recovered from the public humiliation and betrayal and suffered from depression after her divorce. Corrine Lillian was engaged at the time of her sister Violet’s death, sadly her fiancé broke of the engagement due to the scandal it had raised.

1-Thomas Whaley Jr. born 1856 suffered Scarlet Fever at 18months died 1858.

2-Anna Amelia born 1858 died by fire of their wooden store.

3-Violet-22yr Suicide by shooting herself in the chest with her Dads 32-calibre in 1885

5-Anna Amelia Whaley died 1905 [meanwhile the Whaley house remained vacant in disrepair]

6-In late 1909 Francis Whaley undertook the restoration of the building and turned the home into a tourist attraction.

7-Anna Whaley, Thomas’s widow, Corinne Lillian Francis and George all lived in the old Whaley House in 1912.

8-Anna died at 80yr 1913

9-1yr later Francis Whaley died 1914

George Whaley died in 1928 and last of the Whaley family died was Corinne Lillian Whaley till her death in the house in 1953.

To this day the house remains haunted. It is said that it guests and the staff from time to time will catch a glimpse of the ghost of a Whaley family member who died inside the house such as the baby Thomas Jr. Violet, Anna, Francis, George and Corinne Lillian Whaley too. It is said to be one of the most haunted houses in American. Shortly after the Whaley family moved in, they told the San Diego Union that they would heard heavy footsteps in the house which they believed to be the ghost of James “Yankee Jim’ Robinson, who had earlier been hanged on the property. There were some visitors that reported seeing apparitions of Thomas Whaley or Anna Whaley.

Octagon House-Washington D.C.

It is said that the Octagon House is another very much Haunted House in the US. Let see why? It was completed in 1801 and is a former mansion of the most historic in the nation. It was built for Colonel John Tayloe lll. It was also briefly the site of the French Embassy during the War of 1812 – As Well as the Temporary Residence of our President Madison who signed the Treaty of the Ghent in its Central Parlor.  It was also the home for President James Madison and his wife Dolley on Sept 8, 1814, after the White House was buried down, by the British, during the war of 1812. Today, the Octagon house is used by the American Institute of Architects as a museum, but it has also made quite a name for itself too. Apparently, the Octagon House is also the center of paranormal activity too! Creepy!  These go far back as the mid-19^th century’s. The central staircase is the major hotspot in the house. They say it is the supernatural hotspot. What they mean by this is- they would often hear footsteps there along with the saddened voice of a woman. Doors have been locked only to suddenly be found standing wide open. Lights would turn on & off on their own, and footsteps would be heard all the time. From the loudest to the faintest footprints too! There have been even reports of objects that have been seen moving on their own without human interference. I found later that it was the Formal oval curved stairway, that had all the creepy apparitions and a presence of another worldly force that many had either felt or even seen. For some reason The Octagon Spiral staircase seemed to be a portal for either ghostly apparitions or entity’s that sometimes were not very nice is some cases. It has happened also on the second-floor landing, the third-floor landing, the third-floor bedrooms and the garden area in the rear of the home too! Among the eyewitnesses, who have seen these ghostly apparitions & entities – is the curators, other employees hired by the museum and visitors of the museum during the day. These variations ghost stories in the Octagon House in Washington D.C. have been reported and seen for over the last 200+years. There is also the Angled Service Stairway too!

Another interesting thing about the Octagon House was its ancient ghost legend of the mysterious ringing of the servants call bells. It is said that one of the legends was linked to the African American Slaves who once lived there. You see, when the house held bells to summon servants, the spirits of the dead slaves would announce their presence by ringing these bells very loudly. The ghostly bell ringing is believed to have first occurred in the mid-1800s. It was Virginia Tayloe Lewis, a granddaughter of John Tayloe lll, who grew up in the house and recorded this family memorate in an unpublished manuscript… It would seem that the bells rang for a long time after Grandfather Tayloe’s death. And after that everyone said that the house became haunted: the wires were cut and the Bells still rang…In the dining room the servants would come upstairs to ask if anyone had rung the bell, but no one had! There is a story by Marian Gouverneur or actually an account that had happened, who was the wife of Samuel Laurence Gouverneur Jr. who tells the story of General -George D. Ramsay Chief of Ordnance for the United States Army and commander of the Washington Arsenal in Washington D.C. and his experience of the BELLS. This is what happened at the House of Octagon overnight told by the daughters of General George D Ramsay – which it is said upon one occasion their father was requested by Colonel John Tayloe… It would seem that General George D Ramsay was obliged to be absent that night however, he said as a protection to his daughters he had to be there. This is what happened:

While the members of the family were at the evening meal, the bells in the house began to ring violently. General Ramsay immediately arose from the table to investigate, but failed to unravel the mystery. The butler, in a state of great alarm, rushed into the dining-room and declared that it was the work of an unseen hand. As they continued to ring, General Ramsay held the rope which controlled the bells, but it is said they were not silenced still with being held by the General. One gentleman, that was dining with the Colonel Tayloe, when this mysterious ringing began, being an unbeliever in mysteries & a very powerful man, jumped up and caught the bell wires in his hand, but only to be lifted bodily from the floor, while he was unsuccessful in stopping the ringing! So, declared that it was discovered, after a time, that rats were the ghosts who rung the bells; others, that the cause was never discovered, and that finally the family, to secure peace, were compelled to take the bells down and hang them in a different fashion. Among other remedies, had been previously tried that of exorcism, but the prayers, of the priest who had been summoned availed nothing.”

The servant’s bells are no longer in the house, and there are no more reports of their continuing to ring to this day. This legend was established in 1874.

The White House, Washington D.C.

The White House, Well I bet you would never guess I would put the White house in this list of Haunted Houses. However, a lot has happened in this National treasure of house of our Presidents that you might think! As they say the no residence in the country has had a history quite like that of the White House. That was Completed in 1800, sadly burned to the ground by the British in 1812 and summarily reconstructed

Over the last two centuries. Of course, during those rebuilding there were many different changes to protect the house of the president and to help insure the safety of our nation. So really no one knows all that went into the re-built of the white house but the people directly involved. However, through all that construction in the year 1812 of the new White house, it was told through generations and generations of reports of ghosts & apparitions that have come from those living and working in the building including from such sources such as presidents as their family members, visiting rulers and dignitaries too! The most frequently of all the Presidents that have shown their presence is that of President Abraham Lincoln. He has actually been seen sitting on his bed and tying up his shoes, lying in bed with a contemplative expressive, as well as walking down the halls. Also, Abigail Adams has also been seen too!

Villisca Ax Murder House – Iowa 6

This one happened to be a creepy & scary one! I was on the night of June of 1912 that a family of eight people including 6 children were murdered in this house by an unknown assailant wielding ax. The murders, not surprisingly had caused a national sensation.  Even though there were many suspects & many were questioned plus tried in the court of law sadly all were acquitted later. To this day the mass murder has remained a cold case as you say… Either from the violence of the people deaths, or by their unresolved nature or even a little of both, this house has subsequently has become a very active sight for the supernatural. It is said that Apparitions have been seen often and disembodied footsteps and voices are very common occurrences in the home. The sight and sounds of the children that were murdered are the most widely reported with a EVPs and personal accounts indication laughing and then crying as well as some children telling others to hide.

The house is nearly lost among the rolling hills and fields of southwestern Iowa in the tiny town of Villisca where this horrific thing accrued in a house in 1912. It was a quite peaceful place of only a few hundred people that lived in the town – when one terrible tragic struck the town and the enduring mystery continues today. I was a morning of June of 1912, when the horrific mass murder took place that wiped out an entire family of ten. Murder never solved to this day ‘COLD CASE’ WHICH CASTED A SHADOWED OF CHACOS OVER THE TOWN OF VILLISCA THE LINGERS ON TODAY! This dark cloud many not be the only thing that still lingering here in the town.

Pirate’s House, Savannah, Georgia

Now, were in Little Savannah Georgia, one of the oldest known cities with haunted houses. The Pirate house happened to be construed in the years before 1753 when it was first used as a private residence. Sometimes later in the century it became a tavern an inn, which it remained for many decades. Today the building is used as a restaurant with the former inn space on the second floor used for storage. During its time as the Tavern and Inn, it was mostly frequented by mariners and others of the rough sort. It was apparently the site of many Shanghaiing episodes where privateers would get men very drunk or drug them so that they could secret them away through a tunnel and to their ships, pressing their victims into service. Today many spirits from this time period still would frequent the establishment …Apparitions are often seen on the second floor and laughter is heard there as well. The first floor and the basement are also very active, with chairs and place setting being rearranged in the dining rooms and people reporting being suddenly overcome by cold and nausea. So, that is the Pirate house.

House of the Seven Gables, Salem Massachusetts

Now, were’ in one of the most well-known historic houses in New England -THE HOUSE OF THE SEVEN GABLES…It was immortalized by Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novel of the same name. The house was built in 1667 and over the many years the house has evolved. What I mean by this is; it has had many additions to the home and then later renovations that had altered the house. There were even removed items and additions until finally being restored to its original grandeur. The house is now a museum and the staff and its visitors which are many often report supernatural occurrences quite often. Some of these occurrences could be, the electrical and plumbing systems to have minds of their own, as lights and faucets would turn on and off unaided. There were shadows and full apparitions that people at the home which have been encountered, including a woman believed to be a former owner and a little boy who plays in the attic.

Lizzie Borden House, Fall River, Massachusetts

Well, my dears I have done an entire post on this House and the famous Lizzie Borden sisters if you are curious. Sometime you’ll have to check it out just look on my labels or just look on my search on the top of my blog and put in Lizzie Borden… Well, as we all know undoubtedly in Massachusetts the Lizzie Borden House is the most infamous of residence. You all must know Why? It’s because the house was the site of the notorious ax murders of the parents of Lizzie Borden and her older sister. Lizzie was the main one who all believed that she alone had killed her own parents and in time even her older sister had come to that conclusion and left her sister, to never speak again. The thing about this case is that there was so much evidence against Lizzie, that she was quickly charged with the crime of her parent murders and sent to court however, even with all the evidence she was still acquitted of all guilt. To this day everyone doesn’t really understand how she got away with it. Also, the fact that no other person at the time was ever charged with the murders, which makes this one of the nation’s most well-known Cold Cases murder cases of all time. To make things even stranger, Lizzie Borden remained in Fall River for the rest of her life, residing in a neighborhood not far from where the murders of her parents took place. It is believed that her desire was to remain close to her parents’ home and held the true even in death. I have discovered a lot about the case over the years and there are many things that were discover after her death. It is said that her ghost has often been seen throughout the house and has been heard laughing on the second floor near the stairs of her parents’ home. Her father and step-mother have also been seen and heard, along with their former maid who had been heard calling for help.

Adam Thorough Good House, Virginia Beach Virginia-

This haunted home dates back around 1720, although previously thought to be much older that it was, this quaint brick cottage was once the home of Adam Thorough Good, a very successful Tobacco famer and businessman. While this story has had a rather uneventful history over the past three centuries, Inside the house it hasn’t been quiet at all. The activity within has been very active over the span of 3 centuries. By this I mean; Two apparitions are commonly sighted there, one being a man and the other a woman, both in the 18^th century attire. The woman has been known to carry candles through the house while the man is simply observed passing from room to room, perhaps looking for something. It is said a large group of visitors even witnessed the sudden movement of in animated objects!

Manresa Castle, in Port Townsend Washington State-

Well, we are now in my home state of Washington. However, Port Townsend is quite a way from Kent Washington. This Manresa Castle was inspired by Chateaux in the French Renaissance style. This beautiful former mansion is now a hotel and it was completed in 1892 at the behest of Prussian born Charles Essenes. The Manresa Castle was originally supposed to be a hotel, but his business venture fell through so Eisenbeis turned it into his family home. It remained empty for a couple of decades after his death and eventually became a Jesuit school, before finally achieving its original purpose as a hotel. While throughout the building there are instances of electrical devices switching on and off and doors opening and closing on their own, it seems to be the third floor that seems to be the most haunted of all! Footsteps and voices are often heard on the third floor too! But the room 306# is the most active of ALL! It would seem that a female apparition has been seen and felt quite often on the third floor and in the room 306. The female apparition especially likes to go through guests’ belongings and usually moves things around; she’s often heard singing in the bathroom as well. The dining room and the former chapel, as well as the dining area are very active too! With apparitions of Eisenbeis’ wife Kate often seen and reports of glasses have been knocked over or even shattered all over the dining areas’.

Ann Starrett Mansion, Port Townsend, Washington State-

 

We are now in Washington State again, at the Ann Starrett Mansion which is an enduring monument to love in the Port Townsend of Washington State. This Beautiful Queen Anne Victorian Mansion was built in the year 1899 by George Starrett for his new wife Ann. They lived happily together in the mansion for the rest of their lives. The house stayed in the family for some time before finally becoming the bed and breakfast it is today. The house exhibits a great deal of paranormal activity, some of which has been attributed to George and Ann. However, the majority of the activity is continuously linked to the nanny they hired to look after their only child, Edward. Both George and Ann have been seen throughout the house, but it is the nanny who has been seen and felt. She’s generally pleasant, but can take offense to certain people. She’s been known to make pictures fall off the walls, pages of books turn and create extreme cold spots within the mansion. Lights get turned off when they’re left on in empty rooms and has been known to thump guest on the head for offensive remarks too.

Cedar Grove Mansion – Vicksburg Mississippi

 

In Mississippi, there are many Mansions that did survive the Civil War even today. One of these is the most striking antebellum mansions in Mississippi, Cedar Grove which has for all of its beauty, it has seen its fair share of tragedy. Originally the Cedar Grove Mansion was the home of John and Elizabeth Klein. It was also the site of some of the family’s deaths too. One of John and Elizabeth Klein sons was killed on the back-porch stairs when a gun accidentally went off – he was only 17years old. A daughter and two young infants died at the Mansion as well, with their deaths attributed to disease. John Klein would enjoy smoking a pipe and near his study the smell of a pipe is often caught. As for his wife Elizabeth, she is frequently being seen throughout the house, acting as if she’s simply carrying out her usual daily chores. The apparition of a little girl has also been seen coming down the main stairs and footsteps on the back-porch stairs have also been heard too. Apart from all the activity linked to this family, many of the guest have reported seeing Civil War soldiers throughout the house and the grounds – hardly surprising since the house was also a hospital during the Civil War.

 Morris-Jumel Mansion, New York City, New York

This is another Mansion that was built during the Pre-Revolutionary War. It’s also a Revolutionary War landmark of the Era. It was built in 1765 by a British Military Officer & would later feature prominently in the Revolutionary War with George Washington. They even use his house as a headquarters at one point during the war.

It would seem with all this past history in the house, the spirits in the house are a little restless themselves. There were several different, distinct ghosts that have been sighted over the years in the mansion. Most of which seem to be from the Revolutionary period and the early decades following the period. The former owner Eliza Jumel has been seen in the house and the presence of both of her husbands – one of which was former Vice President Burr – have been reported. Ghosts here have a bit of a history with startling visitors. One visitor fainted upon seeing a Revolutionary War soldier step out of a painting and another suffered a heart attack upon seeing one of the houses ghosts.

Sauer Castle, Kansas City Kansas-

The Sauer Castle was built in 1871 by Anton Sauer. Anton was originally from Austria but decided to build a beautiful Derelict Italianate home that was Anton Sauer residence for several generations during which time it was the site of many family traumatic tragedies. In the house two people have committed suicide in this house; while a third, a little girl, drowned in the pool on the property. The original owner, Anton died in his beloved home. With so many deaths in the home. Most of which were not peaceful, the house has become a hotbed for the supernatural. Various disembodied voices have been heard, either laughing, shouting or crying while door often open and slam on their own.

People have even reported having the feeling of being watched and having objects shake or rattle violently on their own around them.

The Sallie House, Atchison, Kansas

 

There are few haunted house in America that have come to the level of the Sallie House in Atchison Kansas. This Haunted house has a level of malevolency that has put this house on the Map! And as far as even movies and books too. This is one Scary & Terrifying house…The Sallie House was once a doctor’s house, where a little girl named Sallie had died there during a botched appendectomy and her spirit has been there ever since. This is when things got scary and terrifying in the Sallie House. In the 90’s a family moved in the house. This is when the spirit of the little girl, that had died began to create mischief. It started with knocking of pictures down, toying with electrical appliances and leaving a trail of their children’s toys throughout the house. The level of activity escalated to a violent level over just a few months. Originally the family that moved into the Sallie House in the 90’s thought it was the little girl that their child had seen & in the house as a ghost. However, they inevitably learned through a medium that it was actually a middle-aged woman responsible for the violence. It happened to be from all this middle-aged woman’s ghost and all of her malevolence was directed toward the male of the owner to the house. He was being repeatedly scratched and gouging him, leaving deep red welts and scratching deep enough to cause bleeding and bruising all over his body. After this evil entity shoved the male owner/father and almost sent him careening over the railing of the stairs on the second floor, the family finally decided to move out of fear for his life. These activities have been documented by several paranormal groups that had tried to help the family during that time it was going on while living in the Sallie Home.

The LaLaurie House, New Orleans, Louisiana

This happened to be a very sinister and scary house that had a very deep secret within its walls. Delphine LaLaurie and her husband bought the house in the year 1831. They did extensive and extended remodeling for this elegant New Orleans Mansion which was in the height of luxury and refinement for its day in the year 1831…After they finished the beautiful luxury of the New Orleans Mansion the couple had no idea it held a far more sinister secret in its slave quarter and the attic space above. While Madame LaLaurie seemed normal on the outside to her white, high-society counterparts, she was the devil in disguise. Why? Because she enjoyed the sadistic torture and murder of her slaves in private. In 1834, there was a slave that had been chained to the stove in the kitchen. In an attempt to either commit suicide or gain help, the slave chained to the stove in the kitchen stared a fire in a mutilated slave were found, causing a huge backlash of anger that culminated in a large mob descending on the mansion and destroying it entirely. It would seem that LaLaurie had been able to escape from the mob and fled to France where she died about a decade later. However, the aftereffects of her malicious actions are still felt to this day in the house. There are extreme paranormal occurrences have been routinely reported at the mansion ever since the mid-19^th century. There are Screams and groans that are heard all the time. Apparitions of chained and mutilated slaves are often seen, much to the horror of visitors. Some have even reported being attacked by what appears to be the spirit of Madame LaLaurie.

Molly Brown House, Denver Colorado

The last haunted house is the home of the famed Titanic Survivor Molly Brown and her husband James Joseph (J.J.) This remarkable Victorian is now a house museum dedicated to her Life. While the museum’s collection is certainly the main feature here, the presence of spirits tends to draw a bit of attention as well. Both Molly and her husband have been seen in the house, with the smell of J.J’s pipe and cigars often reported. Another apparition commonly appears in the dining room and occasionally likes to rearrange the chairs here. The couple seems to have a child who died young and in this particular child’s room the blinds raise and lower on their own. Molly’s mother as well as a former servant are also frequently glimpsed.

I hope that you enjoy  the stories my dears, these were just a few of the 38 haunted homes that I found...

love you all my friends, followers and viewers too.

WENDY