more about uncle Pat

War time photograph of my uncle Patillo Ainsworth Finlayson. Westbrook's kids here in Gadsden call him uncle Pat but to his brother's and sister's he's called Ainsworth. It fun to here aunt Jennie Llew Guytonget on to him and call out "AIIIIINSWORTH!" in mild disgust. It makes his name sound kind of dirty for some reason. I was thinking about this photo when posting yesterday and went searching for it late Monday evening.

I found an image online about a year ago of Pat's LST amid a dozen other LST's on Omaha Beach. They had the file protected so that I couldn't copy it. The numbers 312 can easily be seen and I was able to put my finger on the screen and say, "there's my uncle Pat!" One had to realize at the time what an monumental day that was....to be a part of that enormous invasion...scary as hell...never the less...monumental.

The above image isn't Pat's ship, so if you want to see it...click here>Pat's LST<...you'll then need to click on the small image on that page in order to read the numbers on the hull. You'll then be able to see the 312 markings clearly seen on the far right. I'm going to try to purchase a copy from the National Archives.