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Thank You

I was just reviewing our Amazon book sales page and saw 5 books sold so far in September.  That was a lot of books but what surprised me was that they were all to one person.

3 were the “Heroes of Frankford High School” and 1 each of “Frankford Stories” and “Frankford Heroes“.

The “Heroes of Frankford High School” has been very popular this year.  It attempts to include all students (over 200 men and 1 woman) who attended Frankford High and later gave their life in service to their country.

Frankford Heroes is the story of the Frankford residents who gave their lives in service from the Civil war to the present time.  Frankford Stories is a good read about life in Frankford.  Its lots of nostalgia.

These books all came out of my experience of writing the Frankford Gazette for 13 years. I met Leon Brantley and he introduced me to Ned Johnson and they wanted some recognition for Frankford veterans.  Since I’m a veteran myself, I agreed and we started a monthly feature for the veteran of the month.

Doing all those stories, it reminded me that veterans are the ones who came home.  That was when I started to look for the stories of those who did not return. Every veteran remembers the day that he left home for basic training after taking the oath, not knowing what lay ahead.

Every Veterans Day we take pride in our service but think back to the sacrifice of those who did not return.  It could have been any one of us.

Veterans day is November 11th.

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Frankford Stories

Frankford Stories

Reflections on life in a Philadelphia Neighborhood

Our new book Frankford Stories is out today, available on Amazon at this link.  It’s available in print and also as an ebook and if you have Kindle Unlimited, its free.

This is the second in the Frankford series, following Frankford HeroesFrankford People will be out later this year.

This is a collection of stories published in the Gazette going back to 2010.  I had a good time reading them again as I put this collection together.  There is a lot of humor and some nostalgia, mixed with a bit of some of the not so good.  They are all interesting from the best story tellers from Frankford.

If you live in or have lived in Frankford or if you have roots in Frankford in generations past if you grew up in Philadelphia or any other big city, you will enjoy this book.

To the authors: Al Houston, Joe Menkevich, Jack Hohenstein, Julia (Robinson) Mitchell-Hoffman, Lyle Larkin, Peter Dawson, Terry Rowley, Tony Wilkerson, and William Mastropieri;  I’ll get your copy to you as soon as I can receive  them from the printer.

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Thank You For Your Support!

Pat Smiley and I thank you for your support of our Memorial Day fundraiser and efforts to promote his and Richard Johnson’s book, “Frankford Heroes, 2nd Edition”! If you’ve been busy or just didn’t quite get to ordering their book, you can still do so and we will still honor our pledge of 20% of book sales to be split between St. Mark’s Church and the Catholic Daughters’ Matthew 25 Food Cupboard. You will still get the ebook edition, too, for free. This effort will officially end on Friday, June 5. Here’s the link for you to use – https://frankfordgazette.com/books-for-sale/

We have mailed the books to those who ordered and have mailed the donations to St. Mark’s Church and Court St. Francis de Sales #2617 CDA. Every little bit helps!!!

For all of you who have purchased the book since it was available last fall, please check your email as Bob Smiley has emailed you a link to the ebook. Please check your email and let us know if you did not receive one and had purchased a book. We do our utmost to insure our records are accurate but… We hope you enjoy this ebook version, too. If you would like to share your comments about the book and allow us to use them as testimonials, please email gil@frankfordgazette.com

We would appreciate hearing what you think of the book!! Thank you again for your purchase and we look forward to sharing more publications with you that pique your interest. Stay well!

 

 

 

 

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Our “Frankford Heroes, 2nd Edition” Honor Roll!

This Memorial Day, May 25, 2020, we wanted to let the “Frankford Heroes” tell you their stories themselves. It’s true that Bob put their stories into the 2nd Edition of his and Richard Johnson’s book, but he is simply retelling the stories of the lives they lived and the sacrifices they have made so that they are always remembered!

At the end of this post, there is a a list of all those who are featured in this latest edition of “Frankford Heroes, 2nd Edition”. And here are some of their stories. Remember, through Tuesday evening, May 26, if you purchase a copy of Bob and Richard’s book ($14.95) through our website, we will donate 20% of the list price to be shared between St. Mark’s Church in Frankford and the CDA Court St. Francis De Sales #2617 Matthew 25 Food Cupboard at St. Mark’s. Also, by buying this print edition, we will give you the ebook free. The ebook has additional information and links and has just been finished. Nothing is ever as easy as it may seem. (So, if you bought the book previously, we will be emailing you the pdf asap. Thank you for your patience.) We accept PayPal, Credit or Debit Cards or you can mail us a check. You’ll find all the details at this link:    https://frankfordgazette.com/books-for-sale/

“Frankford Heroes, 2nd Edition” contains the stories of almost 190 Veterans from Frankford. Frankford was a small town before it incorporated with Philadelphia and patriotism and a sense of history continue to be a large part of our traditions. 147 of these stories are those who made the ultimate sacrifice for their country and for our freedom. The rest of the stories are those who served proudly and most, if not all, still call Frankford their home. To all our Veterans, past and present, thank you! We thank also, all the men and women of our Armed Forces currently serving so proudly and in unexpected ways. Many have been a real support to areas of the country struggling with coronavirus. We salute you and ask God to bless you abundantly!!

I chose a story from Bob’s book that I wanted to share with you. The first is about a young man named Stephen Blanchett. “Stephen Paul Blanchett was born on October 20, 1947 and lived on Foulkrod Street in Frankford.  He enlisted in the Army early in 1965 and served as a corpsman. He was awarded the Silver Star posthumously: ‘He distinguished himself by exceptional valor while serving as Medical Specialist for his unit when it came under heavy small arms fire in rice paddies northwest of Dong Tam, Vietnam, on March 7, 1967. As the unit was maneuvering slowly through several rice paddies, they came under enemy sniper fire. Immediately, one of the unit’s leaders was hit and severely wounded. Private Blanchett, 350 meters to the rear, was notified, and began racing through the paddies in order to reach the wounded man. When he had come to within 50 meters of the casualty, he was urged by fellow comrades to go no further, due to the increasing amount of hostile fire. He courageously disregarded the warning and with fire all about him, ran to the side of the wounded man. He then pulled the wounded man behind the safety of a dike separating two paddies and administered vitally needed first aid. This courageous act was one of many times he unhesitatingly risked his life in behalf of his fellow soldiers.’” Paul was 19 years old – 19!!! There have been so many just like him – good men of valor, courage and a strong sense of duty and caring for their fellow man!

“Frankford Heroes, 2nd Edition” – Let’s take a look and see if you are familiar with any of the names! These are our honored Veterans who made the ultimate sacrifice by giving their lives for our freedoms during the following wars! There are two pages of names and there are two arrows at the bottom of the document to let you move between the pages. Remember our special offer ends Tuesday evening, May 26 at 11:59 PM!

FH Alphabetical LIsting

 

 

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Honoring the Original Front Line Helpers – Members of Our Armed Forces!

This Memorial Day Weekend, we want to remember those who have served our country as well as all of us! We are proud of our “Frankford Heroes” who demonstrated time and again their dedication through the years.
 
Bob Smiley, the Editor of The Frankford Gazette, has continued to compile their stories and update their stories. Bob’s book, along with co-author, Richard W. Johnson, tells the story of 190 brave souls willing to risk all for their country and 147 of them did give their lives.
 

Through Tuesday evening, May 26, if you purchase a copy of Bob and Richard’s book ($14.95) through our website, we will donate 20% of the list price to be shared between St. Mark’s Church in Frankford and the CDA Court St. Francis De Sales #2617 Matthew 25 Food Cupboard at St. Mark’s. Here’s the link – we accept PayPal, Credit or Debit Cards or you can mail us a check. Also, Bob has just finished the ebook version of “Frankford Heroes, 2nd Edition” which contains even more information and links. https://frankfordgazette.com/books-for-sale/

Here is an interview done with Bob today where he explains how his passion to tell our local Veterans’ stories continues to motivate his efforts. For more information, please contact gil@frankfordgazette.com
 
Thank you! Have a safe holiday! Let’s Remember and Honor Our Vets – past and present!