Going Home

Finding my grandfather in River Rouge

In honor of Veteran's Day and my grandfather’s recent passing, I decided last week to investigate some of his past.

My grandfather, Robert F. Wagensomer, after returning from the Korean War

My grandfather, a veteran of World War II and the Korean War, was never a man who revealed the details of his life, and, accordingly, I didn’t know much about his youth. Grandpa was a great storyteller, but the problem was that he told two stories over and over. One was about how he was once a great baseball player, and the other was about his experience as a military policeman in Japan.

After some Veteran's Day reflection on him and his service, I decided to see what other stories about him that I could discover.

Grandpa grew up in River Rouge, and according to his discharge papers, lived there until at least 1946. After that, he lived in Lincoln Park. After some digging through paperwork and old love letters my grandmother had sent him, I finally found his address and some photos of him during that era.

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River Rouge, MI

Kindness is often overlooked and underrated. However, when entering an unfamiliar area, it’s the first thing we wish for and the last thing we expect.

In trying to decide on a community to cover, I researched different areas of Detroit, both online and on foot. The first things I read and heard were disparaging. I even read a post on an online board that said, “Just to be safe, stay north of M-59.” Safe was the one constant word I came across.

"How safe is it?"

"It's not very safe there."

"It's safe if you act like you belong."

It came to be that the very word "safe" no longer had a definite meaning. After so much repetition, it sounded ridiculous.

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