Meet Julie Moradi (492,D53,112,1), the daughter of Jeni Moradi, and granddaughter of Holly Van Valkenburgh. Julie is 15 years old, lives in California, and is a junior in High School. She takes Advanced Placement classes and intends to become an attorney (as was her great-grandfather, Horace B. Van Valkenburgh III). Julie plays the flute in her high school band, is treasurer for that organization, and is a member of California Scholarship Federation. She is a volunteer at El Monte Hospital, in the emergency room and for Health Fairs, and also for the kindergarten at Murphy Ranch School. Julie has a brother, Ryan, 14.

New Van Valkenburgh: Thomas W. and Dianne M. (Peek) Van Valkenburgh of Crystal Springs, MS are the proud parents of their first child, Alanna Danielle Van Valkenburgh, born July 18th in Brookhaven, MS. The grandparents (for the first time) are Robert and Jean Van Valkenburgh of Raleigh, NC.

Hello! I am the first child of Alfred K. Van Valkenburg (my brother tells me my VV number is 643,582,115,1) of Syracuse, NY.

My dad's older brother, who died a few years ago, Edgar VV (#643,582,111) was imprisoned in a German Stalag for most of WWII. All of our lives we heard about a diary Uncle Eddie kept and that he was an adviser to the movie "The Great Escape."

Anyway, on my way home from a business trip, my husband and I stopped at Andersonville, Georgia, site of the infamous Civil War prison. In April 1998, the National Ex-POW Association opened a National Prisoner of War Museum.

I was looking in a room with many WWII/Stalag exhibits hoping to catch a glimpse of Uncle Eddie in a picture. I found a display case in the center of the room and in it was Uncle Eddie's diary. They have his name on a placard and some explanation of the page that the book is opened to. Either the Association or the National Park Service (it's unclear to me who runs the museum) had, unfortunately, misspelled his last name (berg instead of burg). I notified the person at the front desk but I will follow up to make sure the name is corrected.

My brother, Mark E. Van Valkenburg of Glenmont, NY, just thought this might be a bit of VV information to pass on, perhaps in a newsletter. Andersonville was awesome enough but it was especially memorable to finally see the diary I'd heard about all my life.

Karen A. Van Valkenburg Kirkman

<kkirk@eng.ufl.edu>

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