Later that month we were also visited by a daughter of Richard “Dick” Adams.
A little over a week ago we had the privilege of joining Dick and his wife Nancy for lunch. Dick is now 88 years old, but he seems much younger than that. He drove his compact convertible from their home in one of Detroit’s suburbs to meet us in Williamston near Lansing. Dick still wears the medal that he lost soon after his landing on Corregidor, and miraculously found several days later while still in the midst of liberation operations. We wish to thank Dick and Nancy for treating us to a wonderful lunch at the 
Brookshire Golf Course in Williamston, and for sharing photos, a book, and great conversation with us.Dick, Nancy, and their daughter plan to spend a few days on Corregidor in January, 2011. We look forward to spending more time with them, and especially to visiting the sites that Dick so vividly remembers. You can read what we wrote earlier about Dick, including the story of his finding that medal, at
http://steveandmarciaontherock.blogspot.com/2010/03/bats-flies-and-parachutes.html
After ten days in the Lansing area visiting some of our friends and our son Alex we are in the midst of spending a few days with our son Nick, his wife Carrie, and our grandchildren. Most of it has been spent relaxing and playing games with the kids, taking walks in their rural neighborhood, and getting our two laptops updated thanks to Nick’s wizard-skills.
On Saturday Steve took Nick and the boys to the Ypsilanti Air Show. We first found out about the show over dinner in Eaton Rapids with friends Rob and Linda. Rob has participated in reenactment jumps in the past, including Normandy Beach in France, and hopes to make a jump on Corregidor one day. Linda has also been involved in the logistics of the reenactment jump trips, as well as making a few jumps herself. They own a 1944 army jeep and Rob gave us a ride around Eaton County in it after treating us to dinner.
The air show featured eight flying B-17’s, nicknamed “Flying Fortress,” three P-51 Mustangs, an F-16, and an F-18 doing their aerial acrobatics. There were many more interesting planes on the runway, many of which were open for us to walk through. The grands
ons enjoyed themselves at their first air show. Before we left, Nick, William, and Brian were treated to a ride around the grounds in Rob and Linda’s jeep. Steve was able to shake the hands of several WWII veterans, but unluckily none from the Pacific theatre. He was also a little disappointed that there were no B-29’s present. The “Super Fortress” was the plane that was used to bomb Japan into submission, ultimately delivering the atomic bombs that ended the war. There was,
however, a B-52 “Stratofortress” for all to see.While the guys were at the air show, Marcia had a girls’ day with our daughter-in-law Carrie and the four granddaughters; Kaitlyn, Claire, Emma, and Lilly, who is only nine months old and whom we saw for the first time on this visit. Some of the day was spent reclaiming the house from Kaitlyn’s birthday sleep-over the night before, and the rest dressing and redressing felt dolls and ‘magnetic’ dolls, maki
ng chocolate chip cookies, and lots of time playing with Lilly – who has become quite mobile - to keep her entertained while the big girls played with things that aren’t baby-safe.We will be taking Amtrak back to the Twin Cities next Tuesday. After a few more days with family, and a wedding on Saturday, we will be heading back to the Philippines and hope to be back on the Rock by about August 20.
Until then…
Steve and Marcia (soon heading back to) the Rock
P.S. If you want to know everything there is to know about the Rock Force that retook Corregidor in 1945, plus a whole lot more about the Rock, visit http://corregidor.org
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