Before my dad came to the USA, a naturalized citizen and joined the USAF

My Dad was born Dietmar Wolfgang Gerhard Boehme ( spelled with an Umlaut in germany Böhme ) He went by Dietmar Böhme in Germany but in America was known best as

Dido

Wolfgang

Wolfie

Dietmar

or Uncle Dido to family and close friends

He was born and grew up in Berlin, Germany with family in what was called West Germany at the time and once the wall went up East Germany as well. I know from stories that the family was bombed out 4 times so he says, but I know that when I knew the family they lived in the Sodener Strasse 3 in Berlin, Germany ( Wilmersdorf area of Berlin ) and lived there until their death. My dad had two siblings

Erika Hertha Bohme

and

Gerda Bohme

they too lived in the Sodener Strasse but they were born 20 years prior to my dad. This is a mystery to me and I am still trying to solve all the puzzle about why and how and what happened….

After attending School and the Hochschule in Berlin, my dad studied Hotel and Restaurant Management in Berlin, Germany.

In July of 1960 My dad took a job in France working for a small family Hotel. A nice French couple with a little boy opened a hotel and hired my dad for his exemplirary work that he did, but told him to tell those around him that he was from Switzerland and not from Germany as at that time, Germans were NOT FAVORED at the time in France. So he did.

The Hotel is still there and running and the son that the couple had still works there, I actually found him and called the Hotel .

He had an apprenciship in Berlin with the Kempinski Hotel from a connection through my grandfather where he started as a Bus Boy and worked his way up.

From what I was told, he was studying Hotel and Restaurant management and five weeks before he was supposed to start his work with a certain company or Hotel ( My dad never told me ) he said that the berlin wall went up and that was the end of that seeing as where he had to go was on the East Side of Berlin and he would have had to go back and forth from one side to the other daily and he did not want to do that.

Thats when he started working on the Sweedish America Line as a Head waiter ( holding the birthday cake in the photo below )

One of the stories he always loved to share was when he was carrying a tray full of food, you know an oblong or oval serving dish with a main course and a ladel for serving…well they were going in and out of the service rooms very quick as you can imagine with those swinging doors that go back and forth very fast in and out to try and serve fast and fresh … if that makes sense.. well someone put there foot out and he was running/fast walking this dish into the dining room and he tripped and whatever was in that oval dish went all over the place! I dont know what happened he never went passed that to know what ever happened but he said they all laughed and kept going with there service for the evening.

In 1961 he sailed on the SS America with his friend Hartmut. I dont know when this was, but I know that he sent this sometime…

and they both went from Germany to America under a tourist Visa and not through immigration on Ellis Island like most Europeans did back then.

While he was studying in the service he passed with flying colors but was still trying to get his citizenship and Naturlization taken care of so they could not pass him until that happened… that is how he explained it to me. That is when he started his Career in the USAF, starting in Otis Air Force Base in the 551st O.M. Squardron. I am trying to find out more information about this and his Squadron if anyone has any information or knows of anyone who was in this please contact me!!

During or after Basic Training ( In Lackland ) I know he had a job at a restaurant called the Brass Key Restaurant and he loved it! I think its in Kentucky, Id love to learn more about that as well and the people who worked there.

He went back to Germany to find my mom as he was in love with her and in the April of 1966 they were married at the Standesampt in Berlin, Germany. They sailed on the SS UNITED STATES ( docked in Philadelphia ) and my brother was born on Otis AFB in October of 1966.

In the 1967 or 68 my dad took on a job at cruise AFB in New Jersey and my parents bought a small place in New Egypt, NJ . In 1977, I was born ( Tanja Jasmine Elizabeth Boehme ) and by that time we all lived in Willingboro, NJ .

In 1983 ( from what I heard when the neighborhood went down …15 Cherry Tree Lane, Penny Pack Park ) we moved to Medford NJ, where we lived until 1989.

In 1989 we moved from Medford, NJ to Frankfurt Am Main. We lived there until 1999 and thats when e moved back to Medford, NJ.