When we first met Jim Morrison at the UGA Family History conference last April, he was interested in having us create a book about his wife's family. We were fascinated as he described some of the history his father-in-law, Robert "Rip" Young, a two-star brigadier general in the US Army. An engineer, Rip was instrumental in many events in our nation's military history, including the Manhattan Project and the creation of NASA, as well as spearheading Army Engineering Corps projects in Korea, Europe, and Vietnam. Rip's wife Bettye also came from a military background; her father, Emmett Bean, was also a 2-star Army BG. (Rip and Bettye met and married at the USMA at West Point.)
The opening chapter, which tells the story of how Rip and Bettye Young met and married while Rip was a cadet at West Point.
We got even more excited when we visited with Bettye Young at her home for the first time. She had kept volumes of meticulously organized and preserved photographs from their world travels. Jim and his wife Barbara (Rip and Betty's daughter) had also helped organize Rip's extensive collection of military papers, photographs, and memorabilia. I could barely contain my excitement as I began to envision the design possibilities for this book.
A young Bettye Jean Bean, c. 1940
The project just kept getting better. Jim, an accomplished writer, researched and wrote the narrative for the book, which started with Rip and Bettye's wedding in 1943 and told the story of both sides of the family back to the earliest known generations in Europe before continuing forward to embrace the current generations of the Young and Bean families.
We enjoyed so much working as a team with Jim, Bettye, Barbara and other family members to finish "Duty, Honor, Country--the Rich Heritage of the Young and Bean Families" in time for Christmas delivery. The project was truly one of the highlights of our year! See below for more pages from "Duty, Honor, Country."
Bettye today, seeing the finished product for the first time. She is holding the 10" square book that was given to family members. We also printed a spectacular oversize coffee-table version at twelve inches square.
Click on any thumbnail below to zoom in.
