February 12th is the 107th anniversary of the birth of Elizabeth Jane Flint White:, mother of Whitey; wife of Colonel Red: daughter of Justin and Sophia Flint. According to Whitey, somewhere along the line she acquired the nickname Susan--so altered her name unofficially--to Elizabeth Jane (Susan) Flint.
From Whitey:
Mom and my sister were evacuated from the Philippines in late 1940. Dad just made it out ahead of war on 5 Sep 1941 only to return to the Pacific a year later in Sep 1942. He fought there with the 129th and 148th Infantry Regiments in Fiji, New Georgia, Vella LaVella, Bougainville and the Philippines until wounded at Irisan near Baguio on 17 April 1945. Dad returned to the States through a series of hospitals and was not well enough to retire until Mar 1947 from Walter Reed Hospital in DC having joined the CIA the previous year.
So Mom had a pretty exciting start to married life moving to Texas, then the Philippines, before returning home without her husband of just three years with a one-year-old daughter to wait for Dad's return first from the Philippines, and then from 3 years of war, followed by two years of recuperation from injuries serious enough to warrant 100% disability.
I arrived in 1947 and my brother followed in 1949, much to the chagrin of our older and very spoiled big sister. But Mom ran a great family and we all loved her a great deal. Our four kids called her Oma Sue; my sister's kids called her Sweetie - which stuck. Mom died 3 April 1999 from congestive heart failure after a bout with dementia in Vero Beach, FL surrounded by her kids and grandkids. She was buried at West Point where Dad joined her 7 years later. Together they rest in peace under the gravestone Jim helped design.
Dad's Memoirs are dedicated to his wife of 61+ years. The inscription reads, "I'd like to dedicate this book to my wife, Sue. Much of what I talk about would never have been possible without her love and support. She died peacefully in her sleep on Saturday, 3 April 1999. I know she has gone straight to heaven."
Thanks for including her in those you honor as family and in our prayers.
Whitey
God bless us and save us and keep us from harm.
Love, Patty
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