The Edwin Washington Project

Neil Steinberg and Dave Prebich photodocumenting the Training Cetner on Union Street for the first time. March 2022. We have many more.

I'd like to wish all of you a happy New Years' holiday. Be sure to shake someone's hand today, especially that of a stranger. When I was a child, one of my experiences was surviving a war in the Middle East, being shot at, etc. It actually happened twice. On one occasion, we were evacuated under fire and then transported to Naples by the US Navy, and later Dad showed up. He remained behind in Cairo to help American interests.

I wanted to know why people were trying to kill Mom and I, plus the other evacuees. To make a very long story short, my parents felt that war and internal conflict were often the result of not being willing to learn about strangers. If we learned about people who are different, we could gain empathy. Give a stranger a smile or a shaken hand today. Perhaps if we all did that, we might need fewer ambulances.

A lecture I am leading on volunteer ambulance drivers of WW2 will be on Jan 11 at 2pm at the former home of General George Marshall in Leesburg, Va. Because so many of you live abroad or in other states, the Loudoun County Library system has agreed to film the meeting and then broadcast the recording on YouTube at a later date. Once I have a link for you, I'll share.
If you are in the Leesburg area, please join us. See https://www.georgecmarshall.org/events/2026-volunteer-ambulance-drivers for details.
Larry Roeder

Volunteer Ambulance Drivers in World War II and the Influence of Revolutionary War General Lafayette — George C. Marshall International Center Volunteer Ambulance Drivers in World War II and the Influence of Revolutionary War General Lafayette