Kdyne, Czech Republic

 5 OCT 2013 - Kdyne, Czech Republic isn't on the beaten path of places to see in Europe, but it has special significance to the Strong family. It was here in this small town that Dern Peter Strong, Cody's grandfather, served most of his time during his service in the Army during WWII. Through Dern's personal history, Google Maps and a little bit of luck, we were able to find the exact locations where this picture of Dern had been taken during the summer of 1945.

Kdyne, Czech Republic

 This was Dern's First Sergeant while he was Kdyne. It's also probably the best picture we had showing the front facade of the building. Dern's personal history states: "The outfit I was with was the 22nd Corps Artillery. We laid communication lines between Headquarters and battalion artillery units. After the war started winding down, our outfit was sent to Czechoslovakia in the Army of Occupation. The place we were sent to was just a small town by the name of Kdyne. Most of the people farmed and they were still using oxen to pull their carts and to plow with... We were quartered in a small hotel in the middle of town and the headquarters was just across the street. The people here were very friendly and we got along very well. Our outfit was made up of 33 officers and less than 100 enlisted men so you see were were top heavy with brass. While I was in Kdyne, I played a lot of table tennis with a little guy from New York. He was really very good at it and taught me how to play the game well enough to play in a couple of tournaments with the town people. I never did win one of the tournaments, but I didn't do too badly. For playing these tournaments, I was awarded a couple of picture albums, one with a water color painting of the local church. It was while we were in Kdyne that the war ended and we all looked forward  to coming home again."

 The hotel is now a cheap clothing store owned by what appeared to be some folks from China. What a difference 70 years makes.

Here's the story with this picture from Dern's personal history. "The lady that did my laundry had a little girl about 5 or 6 years old and was she a little cutie. We all called her "Cookie". She would come and pick up the laundry and bring it back." This is Eve doing her best impression of Cookie. What a little cutie she is!

Here is the plaque located in the middle of the town commemorating the liberation of the town from the Germans.