This is a desk nameplate from my maternal Great Grandfather Raymond Charles Wood. It was passed down to my Grandfather Raymond Charles Wood Jr. And then onto my mom.

The front of the plate says "R.C. Wood." On the back of the plate, there is an inscription etched in with the words, "Philippines 1945." It is an original piece of wood from the Philippines Islands. The Philippines are located in Southeast Asia in the Pacific Ocean. My Great Grandfather got the nameplate while serving in the Philippines during World War 2. My Great Grandfather was the Head Engineer on a Philippine Island (we don't know what island exactly). He was responsible for overseeing the construction of the only runway on the island. He only had 24 hours to create a runway from scratch with a group of workers otherwise Allied planes wouldn't have had a place to land on the island. Once the construction was complete he rewarded all the workers with cases of beer.

My Great Grandfather passed the nameplate down to my Grandfather,  who passed it down to my Mother. My Grandfather was a writer and he kept the nameplate on his desk throughout his writing career. He eventually started his own business and kept the nameplate on his new desk. He kept it on his desk to remind himself that if you work hard enough you can be successful. My mother is a writer and keeps it on her desk just like my Grandfather. This story relates to migration because my Great Grandfather stayed in the Philippines for four years of his life.

I hope one day I will be able to keep this on my desk as a reminder to my origins.

– CM

Relationship:  Great-grandchild of im/migrant or more Great-grandchild of im/migrant or more