My Uncle Eddie
Edwin James Miller, my Uncle Eddie, was 88 when he passed away in 2008 on the island of Hilo, Hawaii. During WWII, he served as a radioman in the Navy and was deployed to the Aleutian Islands, Alaska, specifically the island of Kanaga. When the Japanese invaded the Aleutians, he and four others, the last Americans on the island, destroyed the radio equipment before being rescued by Lieut. W.N. Thies, formerly of Portland, OR, who was squadron commander of PBY-VP-41. The Japanese fired several rounds into the water plane upon their take-off.
Following his rescue, he was stationed at Dutch Harbor for the rest of his Alaskan duty. His second tour of overseas duty was spent in the Pacific (Hawaii), what he later described as “paradise”, and vowed that someday he would live there.
At the age of 70, Uncle Eddie packed up his belongings, built wooden crates specifically for his favorite record albums, and put everything he and his wife, my Aunt Ann, owned into two climate controlled cargo containers and left their home in Milwaukie, OR to fulfill his dream on the Big Island of Hawaii. There, they homesteaded an acre of land in Hilo. The name of this new community was aptly named Paradise Park.
While living in Hilo, Uncle Eddie joined the local amateur radio club, using his same call letters since 1936, W7GMH (Where 7 Girls Make Hamburgers) and eventually became President.
There was much more to Uncle Eddie’s life, but this is the part that led to my gaining over 2,000 albums of his record collection, still in the wooden crates that he built in Milwaukie and stored for 18 years on the island of Hilo. If he particularly liked an album, he would buy a second one of that same album and not open it. Those, and more, are included in this website.
Addendum: From an entirely different era, Larry Brane, of Vancouver, WA was a muscle car/rock ‘n roll enthusiast of the ’50s, ’60s and 70’s. After his passing in 2020, I purchased his inventory of albums which are now a part of the selections in this website. Why? Because they just don’t make ’em anymore!
Enjoy!
Debbie