Joyal Brunch

First Sunday of the month and the Joyal Brunch was held at the Wright's Farm in Harrisville, RI. Long known for it's family style chicken dinners, the restaurant was in full operation on Sunday.

We arrived just as it opened and we seated quickly. As we left, the waiting area was full with more arriving. They are quite efficient so I don't believe the wait was long. The food and value is well worth the wait!

A change since the last time we were there. The paper cup ice cream dessert has now been replaced by a chicken logo'd slice of vanilla and chocolate ice cream. Cute idea!


On the family update front:
Albert is scheduled for a triple by-pass on Friday March 12th. Your prayers will be welcomed.

Jerry is scheduled to talk about his experiences in the Pacific Theater during WWII at the VA Home in Bristol, RI on the March 25th. With a little luck , the talk will be broadcast via the internet and available here both live and then in a recorded version.

Iwo Jima Association

The battle raged on Iwo Jima 65 years ago today. The landing took place on Feb 19th and the fighting continued for 35 days.

The Iwo Jima Association has a website with good info and a great photo gallery!

There are two books of photos reproduced. It takes time to view them as there are shots of the photo and of the accompanying caption.

You can choose to view as a slideshow and then go back to look for the caption on specific photos.

Volume 1

Volume 2


Take your time viewing. The shots are quite impressive. I'll sit with Jerry soon to show him this and get his comments. There are quite a few photos just in the first part of Volume 1 referencing the 4th Marine Division that he was part of.

remembering Iwo Jima

The attack on Iwo Jima started on the 19th of February, 1945. After a couple of days, the scene on the beach was much like this picture:

 

There are over 100 more photos like this in an album on Picassa of Iwo Jima and mostly of P51 fighter pilots and their activity during the battle.

Click through this link to view the pictures Mark has made public

Remember Iwo Jima

On this day 65 years ago, the assault on Iwo Jima started. The battle lasted 35 days. Some of the fiercest fighting in the Pacific Theater took place before it ended.

Jerry was part of the 1st Joint Assault Signal Company, 4th Marine Division that went ashore in the Blue 1 sector. He was also one of the lucky ones who walked off the island.

He has told us many times, "The real heroes did not come back".

On this day and for the next 35, let's remember all who served in the Pacific Theater, in particular those who served on Iwo Jima.

If you would like to know more about Iwo Jima, the book by James Bradley "Flag of our Fathers" is well worth the reading time. There are two movies by directed by Clint Eastwood, one based upon the book and one from the Japanese point of view that deliver a credible rendition of the battle. Jerry said, "it was very much like that." Flag of our Fathers and Letters from Iwo Jima

Jerry talked about Tinian and the recovery on Hawaii before going to Iwo Jima in this audio

Jerry clarifies his statements about life in the foxhole in this audio

Jerry talks about the 1st Joint Assault Signal Company

PC Friars

Dad and his brothers used to have season tickets for the Providence College Friar basketball games. As the season ticket prices increased, including a charge "for the privilege of being a season ticket holder", they stopped. Now with two of his brothers passing on, I try to take Dad to a couple of games. We didn't get to go last year due to Dad's health problems but he can get around well enough now. We saw the Friars play West Virginia Wednesday evening.

Technically the first half was a basketball game but I am not sure what PC was doing. There was a passive attempt at defense and no cohesion on offence at all as they found themselves down by 20 at the half.

The second half was slightly different as their full court pressure defense actually was active and caught West Virginia by surprise. They ended up quickly cutting the margin to 10 scoring on defensive turnovers. Their offense continued to be non-functional from a team-perspective. They would come down, make one pass and the player would go one-on-one. If they got in trouble, they would look to make a desperation pass, otherwise, the other four stood around waiting to see what would happen. Occasionally, the player would get fouled. More often than not, he'd miss, WV would get the rebound and with four or five passes get an easy score. The deficit got to just six points twice during the second half but each time WV got its act together and pulled away.

The Friars were at a size disadvantage but didn't play like a team at all to compensate. We are due to return for another game later this season. I wonder what we'll see then.

There is too much hoopla around the Friars glory days. I realize that college basketball is now an event and not just a game. This team did not play anything like its predecessors and the hoopla was embarrassing.

Note: this was also posted to Steve's 2 Cents

Brouillard Brunch - 2/14/10

Dolores and I took Jerry to the Brouillard Brunch on Sunday, Feb 14, 2010. This gathering was at Savini's in Woonsocket, RI.



A table of family, good food and conversations!

The birthday cake was to celebrate Diane and Helen's recent birthdays.

Happy New Year 2010

Wishing all the best to all for 2010!

Jerry's Family Christmas Gathering

Jerry got to have Christmas dinner with his six kids and their kids. A total of 27 sat for dinner with one grandchild already having left to catch a plane home to CA.

Jerry and the "kids":

Jerry and the "boys":

Jerry and the "girls":

The "outlaws":

Stephen's family:

Robert's family:

Michael's family

Eileen's family

Joan's family

Patricia's family

the grandkids 1

the grandkids 2

the grandkids 3

Jerry and the grandkids 1

Jerry and the grandkids 2

Enjoy!

Brouilland Christmas

Jerry went to the Brouillard monthly gathering, this time celebrating Christmas with a great potluck table of food and desserts followed by a Yankee swap.

This photo depicts the variety of foods available, all very good and worthy of 'seconds'.

Joyal Family brunch today

Joyal Family brunch today, originally uploaded by shersteve.

Jerry had baked scrod for brunch today at Darling's in Seekonk.

Mariette, Albert, Helen, Ann and Fred were there. I recorded a Christmas and New's Year's greeting from the group for the family and will post it soon.

Semper Fi birthday!

Jerry's son-in-law, Frank Moody, sent along these pictures of Jerry at the recent Marine Dinner. Frank writes in the email:

These are some photos from the 234th Marine Corps Birthday Dinner.  My Partner Steve has taken your Dad now for the last three years.  He sits with the Providence Police Marines.  I have to tell you, I'm not sure who looks forward to it more.  Them or your Dad.   One of the guys has posted the photo of the CREW on Facebook.  He refers to your father as the elder gentleman who was at Iwo Jima.  He equates the evening as dining with a ROCK STAR!

Needless to say, Jerry did have a good time.

The cake:

Note: The icing was 'corrected' to show the proper year.

Jerry and Steve Cileli: 

The full table of Providence Police (all former US Marines) with Jerry:

Semper Fi!

Brouillard brunch - logo chocolate

Andy brought some chocolate with the Pepin's Hospitality Centre logo on it to share after our monthly get together this time at Wright's Farm.


Brouillard brunch - logo chocolate from Andy's work, originally uploaded by shersteve.

I had intially propped the chocolate against my coffee cup to take this photo, then realized the chocolate was melting from the heat of the hot coffee. The water glass was a safer prop.

What is the Brouillard's recipe for getting rid of stress?
A great big ol'fashioned family gathering. The table had 18 today. Wright's Farm did it's usually good family style chicken dinner and we were out in about an hour.

Oh, the chocolate was delicious!