For The Loved Ones Yet To be Known
Write down the stories before they are lost.
The Swatzell Family History Project
A public home for the stories, service records, songs, and photographs of the Swatzell family, built so the record outlasts the memory, and so relatives near and far can help fill in what’s missing.
Two Books, One Family
The record starts on the page: Vietnam, then the years that came after.
Three Brothers, One War
The Conversation We Never Had
The consecutive Vietnam service of three Swatzell brothers, told from the record and from memory.
- Lloyd: U.S. Marine Corps, 9th Engineer Battalion, 1st Marine Division. Chu Lai, 1968–69.
- James: U.S. Army, Company B, 5th Battalion, 60th Infantry, 3rd Brigade, 9th Infantry Division. Mekong Delta, 1969–70.
- Ray: U.S. Marine Corps, Company L, 3rd Battalion, 1st Marines, 1st Marine Division. Que Son Mountains, 1970–71.
Served alongside Lloyd, James, or Ray, or know someone who did? We’d welcome your stories and photos for this book and future ones.
The Gift Hidden in Plain Sight
Swatzell Stories, Connections, Discovery
In progress. A memoir of the places a Navy career took our family, told in nine chapters:
- Time Will Pass (Camp Pendleton and Greeneville)
- The Jet That Stood Still (Patuxent River)
- The Abandoned Sub Pits (Key West)
- First Flight (Johnson City to Guam)
- Father-Daughter Walk (Guam)
- Near the Capital (Suitland)
- No Thunderstorms for You (Hawaii)
- Black Tar (Corpus Christi)
- The Faces of Culture Shock (Japan)
Songs
Each song accompanies a chapter or a special someone
meant to be heard, not just read.
“People We Have Known and Bridges We Have Crossed“
Visit the Swatzell Stories Song page to view and listen to songs connected to different chapters of books and stories related to Swatzell family history.
About the Songs
All my songs start with what I bring to the table: family letters, old photographs, records I’ve dug up over the years, things I’ve written down, and memories I’ve carried most of my life. I gather it all together, go through more drafts than I’d care to count, and make the final call on every song. I’m a writer first, and I’m still learning with every story I tell. These songs come out of that work.
AI helps me shape and polish the lyrics, and then it puts those words to music and gives them a singing voice. The performance may come from technology, but the people, moments, feelings, and words in these songs are real.
Why Songs?
Music has always told stories and kept them alive. Most of us can still sing something we learned in school, long after we forgot the rest of the lesson. That’s how I think about these songs.
Each one goes with a chapter in my books. You can read the chapter, listen to the song, or do both. It’s the same story, just told differently.
AI didn’t live or create memories for me. It gave me another way to hold on to my memories and pass them along to family I’ll never get to meet.
Luther Ray Swatzell Jr.
Author and Family Historian
The Family Tree
Every story begins somewhere, and every name connects to another. Explore the genealogy behind these stories, and add what you know.
Stories, History, Discovery
Life moves on. We lose people we love, and memories can fade. But their stories don’t have to disappear.
Swatzell Stories preserves those stories, photographs, letters, family history, music, memories, and ordinary moments that helped shape our lives.
Some stories reach back generations. Others come from places we’ve lived, people we’ve known, and moments we didn’t realize were important until years later.
And some are still being written.
Because while there is time to preserve what remains, there is also something just as important to remember:
“We’ve still got some living to do.“
Stay Connected
→New songs and stories are added as they’re finished. Subscribing to the Swatzell Stories YouTube channel is the easiest way to hear them first.
What subscribing means for you:
- It’s free. You just need a Google or YouTube account.
- New songs will appear in your YouTube feed and Subscriptions list.
- For a notice each time a new song is posted, tap the bell next to the Subscribe button and choose “All.”
- You can unsubscribe anytime with one click.
When you select the button below, YouTube opens in a new tab and asks you to confirm. Just click Subscribe, and you’re all set.
Every subscriber helps these stories reach more of the family and loved ones.