Paul Morgan Ryle: Seabees in Guam

This page is dedicated to my dad Paul Morgan Ryle. Dad never talked much about his duty in the Pacific. Now my daughter has found a box of old navy pictures, some tattered, some faded but unmistakenly her grandfather. She asked me about the story that went with so many pictures and I had none to tell her. So she grabbed up the box and invited her grandparents to spend the day with her. In between making dinner she sat and prodded her grandaddy to tell her his story. She told me later while looking at the pictures she could see that a whirlwind of memories had flooded his memory that had long since been silent. After their talk he had to lay down, for the memories had been great for that once 19 year old boy from Florida to remember. It wasn't easy to tell her some of the things he had done, nonetheless he spoke in soft tones and with a far away look. Later as we were about to scrapbook the pictures many had no names, faces that had no names, places that had no dates and so I grabbed up the box and spent many evenings with my dad. What a special treasure that time has been for me and now sharing his story once again a burden has been lifted in the telling of a story from long ago, on a small island named Guam.