Category: Stories

Paul H. Carr

A couple of links to Articles about Uncle Paul

Paul Henry Carr

This is an article on some website “The American Culture” – this is an article written about Paul Carr and The Battle of Leyte Gulf; the article was written by S. T. Karnick and dated November 7, 2009.

Lest We Forget Paul Henry Carr VMA-322

This is from an article for the November, 2004 issue Proceedings magazine.  The article was titled:  Lest we Forget:Paul Henry Carr, VMA-322.  The VMA-322 I’m not sure about – VMA-322 was a Marine Attack Squadron.

Juanita Carr Rush

“NOT SO HARD, GOD!”

When Juanita Rush was pregnant with David Stephen, her firstborn, she came home to Checotah to be with family. Her husband, David Marrs Rush, was TDY (military-speak for Temporary Duty) or out to sea, or she just wanted to be with her mama. You have to remember, she was 18 years old when David was born!

At that time, Peggy Carr Dodd and her daughter, Nancy Lynn Dodd, now Milam, were staying with Mama Carr while Peggy’s husband, Harry Dodd, was serving in the Korean Conflict aboard the USS ESSEX (CV-9), an aircraft carrier (David Marrs Rush also served onboard the ESSEX, albeit as an Airedale, after Harry Dodd had rotated off). Harry Dodd had been recalled to active duty approximately September, 1950, after serving a few years immediately after the end of World War II.

David Stephen Rush was born April 13, 1952, so Juanita would have been in Oklahoma late March, early April when those lovely Oklahoma thunderstorms come sweeping down the plains, as it were. Nancy Dodd would have been about four years old, and was a quite lovely four year old, full of spunk, and faith, and compassion, and so forth. Apparently, Nancy had been told by her mother, Peggy, she did not have to be afraid of thunder because it was just God rearranging his furniture up in heaven. To those of us who remember wooden floors, rearranging furniture by sliding it on wooden floors could be a noisy experience. A thunderstorm brewed up one day and soon turned into a loud affair. The storm continued to build and the thunderclaps continued. After one particularly loud clap, Nancy stuck her head out the back door and hollered up to heaven, “Not so hard, God!”

Those of us who know and love Nancy recognize the complete faith that God heard her, and the complete assurance of a four-year-old girl that God would obey her!

Juanita remembers quite vividly the picture of little Nancy Dodd, with her long red-haired pig tails, leaning out the back door and looking up at the sky. She also remembers that Nancy would come and pat her on her belly, quite swollen at that time, and telling her that she did not have to be afraid when the baby came.

Grandma Austin

Grandma Austin’s Golden Hair

When Juanita Carr, now Rush, was a little girl her grandmother Nancy Austin, came to live with her and her family. Apparently, prior to that, Nancy Austin would, like they did in the old days before Social Security and nursing homes, spend a few months with each of her children. As she aged, dementia started manifesting itself. As she advanced in her dementia, there were one or two episodes that made Mama Carr fear for her safety, and so Grandma Austin was brought to stay with Mama Carr and her brood. (more…)

Peggy Carr Dodd

Poems by Peggy Carr Dodd #4

GOD’S CARE

I stand here washing dishes
In an attitude of prayer.
I think of God as being above,
And ask,” Is HE really there?”

I think of all my cares  and woe,
My problems great and small.
They seem to be more than I can stand
Then, I think of God, as man
And what HE endured so long ago

My spirit seems a little brighter,
My body not quite so tense.
Then, I think again,  God…for man
Has done so many things since.

I guess we have all asked this question,
Especially in times of stress and strain.
“Is  God really there?”  “Does HE really care?”
Then the answer comes plain—-
Praise His name!  Praise His name!
When we follow this suggestion,
Our spirit is raised again.

Composed by Peggy Carr Dodd   Depew, Oklahoma

Peggy Carr Dodd

More poems by Peggy Carr Dodd #3

THE LOST WATCH
I searched and searched within my purse,
But no watch could I find.
I sadly fear, Paulette, my dear
That watch is no longer thine.

But, I want you to know the good that came about,
From the search within my purse.
It proved to me, I’d better be cleaning it out,
Because it couldn’t get much worse!

The moral of this poem
Is for you to see,
The help you gave  your ‘ole Auntie’,
For a better purse cleaner she’ll be.

Written by Peggy Dodd  for her niece Paulette Lorsbach
December 10, 1978

Peggy Carr Dodd

More poems by Peggy Carr Dodd #2

A POEM TO JEFF

Well,  a new school year has begun,
Are you going to study,or
Will you just want to have fun?
The decision is yours to make.
I hope it is right, for your sake.
Just keep this thought in mind,
A boy of your intelligence should do fine.
If he will only do his best,
On daily work  as well as tests.
And then, when a reward comes your way,
You will be able to say,
“I earned it with study,
And not with play!

The moral of this poem is for Jeff to see,
The more good grades he makes,
The greater his reward will be!!!

Composed by Peggy Carr Dodd for her nephew, Jeffery Bryan Rush

September 3, 1971