When you have an unusual surname in your family tree, your genealogy antenna go on full alert when you hear that name. At least, if you are like me they do. So last weekend when we were at the airshow, my antenna perked up when I heard the announcer say that one of the pilot's names was Sledge. Sledge isn't the most unusual name in my family tree, but it's not terribly common. And being the curious sort, I had to do a little research when I came home. The website for his flying team said he was from Mississippi. It didn't say Sledge, Mississippi, but it sure narrowed the odds. It did have the name of his college, so I turned to ancestry.com and found his college yearbook picture and description. Then I turned to the Sledge book and found his entry. Everything fit. The neat part is that his air team is based not ten miles from my house.
From the website, I emailed him and waited with anticipation for a return email. Unfortunately, there has been no return email. It could be the email went to their spam folder, or it could be that he is just not interested in making a family connection. That's the sad part of genealogy. How many times have we found a long-lost branch of the family, only to find that the interest is one-sided? More times than I can count I'm afraid.
But since I told mom, she pulled out all her Sledge records in anticipation of filling in some missing information. Sorry mom. But I did get video of his part of the airshow, so copy this to your program if you can.
Should I rub it in that this man is only six years younger than mom? Yeah, I thought so too.
Marti
Genealogy, Video
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