Mack Thomas Dastrup
Mack and I are 2nd cousins. John Dastrup was my grandfather and Mack’s grandfather was Jacob Dastrup. We were inseparable when we were growing up and always viewed each other as brothers.
Working in the fields, accompanying each other to church and school, swimming together in the Sevier river in the nude, malted milk drinks and movies on the weekends, the fun visits with him and Lindford while they milked the cows, and just enjoying one and another.
Sigurd Elementary School 5th & 6th grade
- John Black 2nd row 4th from left
- Harold Dastrup bottom 6th from left
- Mack Dastrup top 3rd from left
- Irva Warnock top 4th from left
The Sigurd experience, that I loved so much, ended when I joined the army on my 17th birthday in 1948. After training I found myself under the cover of night on a DC3 airplane heading for Berlin Germany. This was just when the Russians cut Berlin off from the rest of the world. The yearlong blockade ended just about the time Mack got his call to go to Finland. Bottomline, I completed my four year tour a year before Mack finished his mission.
I got married to Marian Jensen right after I got home, and we’ve been married after 68 years. My world over the years has been on the East coast and mid-west. Mack’s world has been on the West coast. It wasn’t until Mack and family moved back to Sigurd that we started to see each other more often and as years have gone by we have stayed very close.
About 2 ½ weeks ago, Norma called me and gave Mack the phone and he said “Happy birthday John.” These words and his voice still resonate in my mind.