PRENOTE: Today is the 80th anniversary of the first use of the atomic bomb over Hiroshima, Japan.   I wonder what centuries of war and destruction have taught humanity, if anything.   Today, and on August 9 (Nagasaki) are items directly related to the whole business of peace.  They are notes ‘off the beaten path’.  I hope you take time to take a look.

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In late May, 2025, my cousin Remi Roy gave a preview of a planned trip to the area of his mothers ancestors in what is today southern Ukraine and easter Romania.  The post is here.

Remi and group subsequently made the trip earlier this summer and in the last few days he sent his summary in three pdf’s which are shared here.  These three items are not lengthy, include photos and are very interesting, as was the originating post in May.  They speak for themselves.

 A RETURN TO CARAMURAT;  Destruction of the Old Country;   postcards

POSTNOTE FROM DICK:  Remi and I tend to highlight the diversity of North America.  Our great-grandfathers were French-Canadian who travelled together with most of their family to the United States from Quebec in the 1860s.  They both married French-Caanadians in what became the Minneapolis-St. Paul area, and from their respective unions were born our grandmothers, who would have been first cousins.

Remi’s great grandparents moved from North Dakota to southern Manitoba (Morris-Ste Elisabeth) in the early 1900s.  His French-Canadian grandmother married her French-Canadian grandfather and they took up farming in Lampman Saskatchewan, north of Portal North Dakota.  My grandmother married a French-Canadian from Quebec, and they lived a long life in Grafton ND.

Remi’s maternal parent was part of the large German from Russian population in southern Saskatchewan.  It is her family that originated in the Black Sea area and ultimately were forced to move during revolution times in Russia.

My maternal parent was 100% German ancestry, whose roots were in northwest Germany.

Remi is lifelong Canadian; I’m lifelong U.S.  All that separates us is the border.

North America is really a nation of immigrants.