The Family of Robert Blair
and Rita Connelly

        Robert Sr.was in the Army Air Corps (where he earned pilot wings) during the war and in the Philippines. When the Air Force split off from the Army, he transferred to armored cavalry. He trained in tanks at Ft. Knox (where Bob Jr. was born), served with the 3rd Cavalry at Ft. Meade (where Russ was born), then was assigned to Germany (where Jeff was born).

Stuttgart, Germany 1953.
Two cowboys, a green horn, and their mother.

        Cowboy toys, movies, and TV programs were very popular in the 1950s and 60s. So were toy soldiers and dinky toys, both civilian and army vehicles--sports cars, jeeps, tanks, canons, etc.

Arlington, Va. in November 1954.
Always room for one more.

        We moved back to the States, and our family was completed with the arrival of Greg in February.

Arlington in November 1955.
Robert Jr., Robert Sr., and Rita in the back.
Jeff, Russ, and Greg in the front row.

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Cape Cod, Mass. in the summer of 1956.
We enjoyed the raft and the sand at New Silver Beach.

        When we lived on the East Coast, we visited our grandparents in Philadelphia and at Cape Cod each summer. And we met our Toner and Fox cousins.

Arlington in December 1957.
Blair boys in their bow ties and in the bath.

        Robert Sr. had gone on ahead to his next assignment. Mom and the boys followed him to Taiwan when the school semester finished. There were lots of shots to get before we left. Then we flew over the pole with stop overs in Alaska and Japan.

Tien Mou, Taiwan in 1959.
The Yankees (Russ) vs. the Hawks (Jeff)
with the bat boy (Greg) in the middle
and their impartial mother behind.

        We played a lot of kickball and roamed through the rice paddies that surrounded our house at "Lower Pressure Village". Our second house lay along the main road and close to the American elementary school.

Fort Meade, Maryland in September 1961.
Comparing heights.

        Back to Fort Meade we often played in the surrounding woods. And the boys continued growing. All four eventually surpassed Mom, but none ever quite reached Dad's stature (6' 2"=188 cm). We all collected coins. We'd buy rolls of coins from the bank and check them for Buffalo nickels, Mercury head dimes, and old pennies. (Indian head pennies were already completely out of circulation.)

Thanksgiving 1964 in Arlington.
Robert Jr., Rita, Faz (George), Robert Sr., and Muz (Anna) in the back.
Greg, Jeff, and Dutch (Florence Love) in the front row.

        We returned to our house on the banks of Four Miles Run. Jeff finished up elementary school at Oakridge Elementary, the same one he began at. Arlington had one of the best public school systems in the country. They boys continued at Gunston Jr. High and Wakefield High Schools.
        Kennedy was assassinated. Then the Beatles came to America. Their music was everywhere--at school dances and on the radio as Jeff worked on his Science Fair projects.

Hawaii the Endless Summer of 1967.
Surfing USA--Robert Jr., Greg, Jeff, and Russ
head out to Barber's Point from Schofield Barracks.

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Honolulu in July 1968.
Family photo with all the boys home from school.
Jeff, Russ, and Robert Jr. in the back.
Robert Sr., Rita, and Greg in the front row.

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Honolulu 1977.
Family photo with everyone home. Sixteen months later Robert Jr. had moved
to Washington DC, Jeff had moved to Nagoya, Japan, and Dad died of cancer.

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