Claudia Harju:  

After graduation I attend one year at St. Procopius College, now Benedictine University in Lisle, IL. Married Craig Harju in 1972 and moved to Ft. Campbell, Kentucky where Craig Jr. was born in 1975 . That same year we moved to Friedburg, Germany. Our family expanded in 1977 when Caren was born at Frankfurt 97th General Army Hospital. We made another move in 1978 to Ft. Knox, KY. Then in 1979 it was on to Fayette, Iowa where Craig taught college ROTC. Next stop the Netherlands in 1982, where Craig worked with NATO in Maastricht and we lived in Heerlen. Still moving, in 1985 it was Frankfurt, Germany and in 1986 Kirch-Goens, Germany. Ft. Knox was home again from 1987 to 1991. Then things got really interesting when we made the trek to Izmir, Turkey for another NATO assignment. C.J. had the incredible luck to have his high school graduation ceremony held at the ruins of the ancient library in Ephasus, Turkey. In 1994 Craig retired from the Army (not really) and became the Senior Army Instructor for JROTC at Joliet West High School. Caren was extremely unhappy to graduate in the high school gym. C.J. went into the Army in 1994 and got out in 1998. He moved to Carbondale to go to SIU but instead went to work as a security guard at the hospital where he met Suzanne, a nurse. They married in 2004 and in 2005 he became a deputy with the Jackson County Sheriff's department. Caren hated Joliet, so in 1995, she also went into the Army. While stationed at Ft. Huachuca, AZ. in 1997, she met Mark, they were married in 1998. They both got out of the Army and now are contract workers with Raytheon and live in Alice Springs, Australia. Devastation hit my life in 2005. Craig died from a massive and totally unexpected heart attack while working out at a local gym. I'm still trying to come to grips with that. I went to visit Caren and Mark in Australia and then I moved to Murphysboro in southern Illinois near C.J. and Suzanne. In all those years of moving I've served on tons of committees, held various offices in several organizations, su...Expand for more