Colleen Gordon, Fargo, North Dakota: During the summer of 1953, my grandmother Margie Blegen worked at a fire watch tower in Isabella, Minnesota. My father, Robin Marsh, was under a year old at the time. Before each shift, Margie strapped Robin to her back to climb 100 feet into the air to the lookout platform.

Jim Ottevaere, Warrenton, Virginia: My father, Henry Ottevaere, enlisted in the U.S. Army Cavalry in 1941 and then transferred to the Army Air Corps, where he served in a B-17 Bomber Squadron throughout World War II. He returned home in late 1945. Like many veterans who served in combat, he rarely discussed his war experiences, except to share that he served in the Philippines, New Guinea, and the Pacific.

Patti Wawzyniecki, Vernon, Connecticut: In the 1910s, my paternal grandfather, William E. Sowerbutts, worked as a weaver in a Fitchburg, Massachusetts, woolen mill along with many other members of his family. When I discovered that William was not enumerated in Fitchburg for the 1940 census, I searched for him in other areas. I found him in Athol, Massachusetts, working as a line foreman for New England Telephone and Telegraph. In his role, William traveled throughout New England setting up telephone line networks.

Robin Rhein Hurwitz, San José, California: My father, Robert Rhein, tested high altitude parachutes for the military. Thankfully, they all worked!

Janet Peabody, Rowley, Massachusetts: My third great-grandfather Louis Anselm Lauriat was born in Marseilles, France, in 1785. Around 1812, Louis immigrated to Boston, where, by 1835, he was established as a renowned aeronaut. Multiple articles were published about Louis’s balloon feats, including his 1840 piloting of the first manned flight over Canada in his Star of the East balloon. Louis died in Sacramento, California, in 1858, leaving behind a legacy of forty-eight balloon flights that delighted and inspired spectators across North America.

Lynn Thye, Blacksburg, Virginia: My mother, Madeline Rockcastle (1919-2015), completed her stewardess training in New York City and became one of the first married, non-nurse stewardesses to work for American Airlines. Madeline flew the Boston-New York route from 1943 to 1945. She wore perfume behind her knees, so the scent was at passenger level, and learned the names of all twenty-one passengers on each flight. Among her passengers were Cab Calloway, Rita Hayworth, Babe Ruth, and Eleanor Roosevelt. Throughout the rest of her life, my mother stayed active in the “Kiwis,” an association of retired American Airlines flight attendants named for the flightless Australian bird.