James Batura

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Biography

General

• Residence:
  • Haydenville, Williamsburg, Hampshire, Massachusetts, USA
  • Northampton, Hampshire, Massachusetts, USA
  • U.S. Marine Corps (South Carolina, North Carolina, Maryland)
  • Hatfield, Hampshire, Massachusetts, USA
  • Glyndon, Clay, Minnesota, USA
  • Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
  • Pittsfield, Pike, Illinois, USA
  • Kampsville, Calhoun, Illinois, USA
  • Moorhead, Clay, Minnesota, USA
  • Sunnyvale, Santa Clara, California, USA
  • Tokyo, Japan - Nov 1991 to Feb 1993
  • Sunnyvale, Santa Clara, California, USA
  • Chula Vista, San Diego, California, USA

• Education:
  • 1957-1963: Bridge Street Elementary School, Northampton, Massachusetts, USA
  • 1963-1966: Hawley Junior High School, Northampton, Massachusetts, USA
  • 1966-1969: Northampton High School, Northampton, Massachusetts, USA
  • 1969-1971: University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Massachusetts, USA
  • 1975-1976: Greenfield Community College, Greenfield, Massachusetts, USA, Associate of Arts/Liberal Arts Degree
  • 1976-1978: Minnesota State University Moorhead, Moorhead, Minnesota, USA, Bachelor of Arts/Anthropology Degree
  • 1978-1980: University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
  • 1983-1986: Minnesota State University Moorhead, Moorhead, Minnesota, USA, Master of Science/Computer Science Degree

• Military:
  • Active Duty - 1971-1975 U.S. Marine Corps
  • MCRD, Parris Island, South Carolina, USA
  • Infantry Training Battalion, Camp Geiger, North Carolina, USA
  • 2nd Battalion, 2nd Marines, 2nd Marine Division, "The Warlords", Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, USA
  • Marine Amphibious Unit (MAU), Mediterranean Sea, USS Raleigh (LPD-1)
  • Security Guard, NSA, Marine Barracks, Ft. Meade, Maryland, USA
  • 23 April 1977, Honorable Discharge, Sergeant (E5)

World Tour 1972 - 2016

In the Marine Corps

In February 1972 I boarded a U.S. Naval vessel (USS Raleigh LPD-1) in Morehead City, North Carolina on what was scheduled to be a 6 month deployment in the Mediterranean Sea. Several hours later we crossed into International waters. Our first port of call was at the Naval Base in Rota, Spain. We remained there for a couple of days and I, along with some of my buddies, got one day shore leave and managed to explore the Spanish town located immediately adjacent to the main gate whose name I no longer remember nor do I have many recollections of my first foray into a foreign land except that there was a lot of beer drinking.

From Rota we sailed through the Strait of Gibraltar and entered the Mediterranean Sea. During the next several months I had the opportunity to visit Barcelona and Valencia, Spain; Athens, Greece; and Crete. During one of the several visits to Barcelona, a couple of us rented a car and drove to the Costa Brava on a 96 hour pass. We made an attempt to cross into France but refused entry because we didn't have international insurance for the rental car. Although there probably was way too much alcohol, I did not waste all of my liberty time. I did visit the historical sites and museums in Athens as well as Mycenae and Corinth. While in Crete we rented a car a drove up into the mountains and stopped at a small cafe. I think that American visitors were uncommon and many of the villagers had to investigate. No one spoke English but somehow we managed to communicate. It was a great experience. Five months into the six month deployment I transferred to Marine Barracks, Ft. Meade, Maryland. I would not return to Europe seventeen years.

The College Years

In the summer of 1978 I graduated from Minnesota State University. I had been accepted into the Graduate Program at the University of Manitoba. In August of that year I moved into a third floor walk up in downtown Winnipeg a couple of blocks from the Capital building. I would spend two winters in Winnipeg. During the summer months I had a job in Illinois.

Winnipeg was a relatively safe choice as a location for my initial expatriate (expat) experience. Manitoba is an English speaking (albeit Canadian English) Provence in Canada. The culture in Canada is very similar to the United States, very similar but not identical. There are enough differences to make for a worthwhile experience. Observe the differences and at least attempt to adapt your behavior so you don't come across as the "Ugly American". You could shop in the Hudson Bay company and buy items such as Cuban cigars and Polish vodka. You could experience a variety of culinary delights not readily available at that time in the United States such some really great Indian restaurants. The most memorable experience was that it gets really cold in Winnipeg in the winter.

Journey to the Ancestral Homeland - Kresy Wschodnie

After years of dreaming and many months of research and planning, I was finally able to achieve my goal during the summer of 1989. During the previous year I had started planning a trip to Poland. Years of listening to family stories had led to the conclusion that my paternal grandparents were "Polish" and had come to America in the early 20^th century. What was lacking from the stories was the exact location of their villages. Another problem was related to the shifting international borders of eastern Europe. We knew that when they departed the area their villages were located in Imperial Russia. And since they knew each other prior to arriving in Massachusetts, it was highly likely that they lived in walking distance of each other. The only hint was a place called "Wydminy". With the help of my friend Jurek in Poland, I learned that the town Wydminy was located in a part of Poland that was controlled by Germany (Prussia) at the turn of the century. Therefore I had to eliminate it as a viable home of either grandparent. My initial plan was to visit Poland and accept the fact that that would have to be close enough.

During the Christmas 1988 holidays new evidence emerged. My aunt produced a letter that had been sent from my grandmother's brother Karol in the 1920's that included an envelope with a return address:

At the time this information did not mean too much since no one really understood the meaning of the various categories. I was allowed to take the documents back to California. We got the name of my grandfather's village from his death certificate.

Back home in California I had two excellent research sources. Both became enthusiastic collaborators in my quest:

• Szweda Slavic Bookstore, Palo Alto, California
  • Owners were Polish and Ukrainian
  • Provided translation and first hand knowledge
  • Located some 1920's Polish Military maps of the region which I used to locate the villages of Leonowicze and Postarzynie. I would use a copy of one of these maps to show the Intorist Office in Lithuania where I wanted to travel.
• Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Karpinski, Cupertino, Califorina
  • Born in Poland
  • Spent World War II as slave labor in Germany
  • Emigrated to America after the war instead of going home to Communist Poland
  • Joe's family were from Russian Poland and was familiar with the region where my grandparents were born.
  • Provided translation and first hand knowledge

The results were fantastic and based on some hard work, some excellent sources and a whole lot of luck. By the end of February I had gone from a three week trip to Poland and added an additional week for a side trip to Lithuania and Belarus. I was granted a Visa to the USSR but it was only good for travel to Lithuania. I was informed that I would need to arrange the trip into Belarus once I was in Vilnius through the Soviet travel agency called Intourist. They U.S. tourist agency could make no guarantees as to whether or not such a trip would be granted.

Podróż - samoloty, pociągi i samochody

The total travel time for the journey was 36 Hours and 35 minutes. That would include the wait time in airports between flights. It does not include the wait time in Warsaw and Vilnius. But some 5 days after leaving California I arrived at my final destination:

Byelorussian SSR - Беларуская Савецкая Сацыялістычная Рэспубліка

• 4 July I989
• About 75 - 80 Kilometers (45 - 50 miles) east of Vilnius, Lithuania
  • Leonowicze/ЛЕОНОВИЧИ
    • Wieś mojej Babcia (Grandmother's village)
    • (54^o 46' 24.41” N /26^o 27' 36.02” E)
  • Postarzynie/ПАСТАРИНИ
    • Wieś mojego Dziadek (Grandfather's village)
    • (54^o 42' 40.42” N /26^o 28' 45.72” E)

This initial trip to the homeland was only partially successful. While I was able to confirm that I was indeed at the correct location I did not meet any relatives. I did speak to an old woman in Leonowicze who provided me with an address to a girlhood friend who had moved to Poland at the end of World War II. She had not heard from this friend for years and was not even sure that she was still alive or that the address was still valid.

I would later discover that even though the address used an out dated format, that the Polish Post was able to deliver the letter I wrote and several months later I was in contact with a number of cousins in Poland.

Traveling for Work

In summer 1991 I took a three month leave of absence from work for my second trip to Europe. I returned in late August to learn that the private company (Software Components Group) had been acquired by a larger public company, Integrated Systems, Inc. The market space for the main product of SCG, pSOS (real-time operating system) was expanding to include Europe and Japan. The distributor in Japan requested that ISI would station a support engineer in Japan to better support the Japanese customers. I was asked if I would be interested in such a position. The small private company where I had been employed for five years no longer existed shortly after I returned. The new regime imposed a different set of regulations that I did not like. So when the opportunity to live in Tokyo was presented, I jumped. In November I left California for Japan.

On my flight to Tokyo I had plenty of time to second guess my decision. On the positive side:

1. I had survived 4 months living on a troop ship living under somewhat less than ideal conditions. The three days that the ship's water purification system was malfunctioning and the only thing to drink was slightly salty coffee.
2. I had survived 2 winters living in freezing cold Winnipeg. A country with a culture not too dissimilar to the U.S, except maybe that in Canada government works have a union and can go out on strike. That would include the Postal Workers who did strike and did not deliver my G.I. Bill check which was my only source of income. At one point I had less than a dollar to my name.
3. I had made two solo trips to Poland, Lithuania, and Belarus. Earlier that year I had spent three months in Europe. I did have a safety net. I stayed with friends and relatives.
4. Part of my acceptance of this position was the guarantee that I would be allowed travel home for Christmas less than 2 months after my arrival.

Despite all three positive previous experiences, I was fly into an almost complete unknown. Several potentially negative issues were on my mind:

1. There would be nobody waiting to meet me at the airport. I would have to catch a bus to the T.C.A.T. (Tokyo City Air Terminal).
2. I was entering Japan on a 3 month visitor visa issued at Immigration Office at the airport. I was informed to not use phrases such as "I am here to work ...". The key word not to use was "work" since that would require a "Work Visa".
3. Accommodations for my stay in Tokyo had been arranged by our Japanese Distributor. The problem was that I did not have this information. I would get it only after I was met at T.C.A.T.

I arrived at Narita International Airport on time and after collecting my baggage, I proceeded without incident through Customs and Immigration with my 90 day Tourist Visa. No questions asked as to what I would be doing beyond "visiting our distributor. Located the ticket counter and purchased a ticket to T.C.A.T. and after a wait of about 20 minutes I boarded the bus for the 60 kilometers (37 mi) trip to Tokyo.

I was met at T.C.A.T. by an employee of the distributor whose surname was Yamamoto. I don't remember his given name and for the time I was in Japan I called him Yamamoto san. I was expecting him to take me to where I would be staying. It had been a 12 hour flight from California and I was dead tired. We walked a couple of blocks to the subway station. The destination was a stop close to the office. I had to meet the staff and go to dinner (Korean BBQ). I discovered that night that the concept of the 8 hour work day was foreign to the Japanese. After dinner I was taken, again by subway, to the extended stay hotel (actually called a Mansion) a shown the room where I would be living. A very small one room apartment with a bath and 2 Murphy beds. I was given some instructions on which train to take in the morning and informed I should be there about 8 am.

Jim-san's First day in Tokyo

After a couple hours sleep I was up. Dress code for Japanese office workers is formal. That means Suit and Tie. I made my way to the subway station and upon entering was confronted by a mass of humanity I had never before encountered. The Japanese are very organized. On the subway platform there are lines painted on the floor. They indicate where the queues should form to wait for the next train. At the top of the stairs go go down to the platform. I noted that each queue had at least ten people waiting for the next train. When the train pulled in it was packed to overflowing. I am thinking that since I am about 11th in the queue that I will be there for a long time. Train pulls in, a couple people get off, and everyone in front of me get on. How the hell did they manage to get onto that packed train. I then realized that I was now first in line and given what I had just witnessed, I became a little nervous. Not to worry. As the next train approached the station I felt hands on my back. Not exactly sure what happened next except that as the train left the station I found myself somewhere near the middle of the car. Usually you would need to be married to be that close to another human being. I now had four stops to figure out how the hell I was going to get back to the door when I had to get off. Fortunately two stops later we were at the financial district and the car emptied out. Even though I did make it to the office I was determined that I had to find a better option (eventually I discovered that leaving at 6 am would beat the morning rush).

The next problem was when I arrived at the office. Shoes are not worn in the office. There are slippers at the front entrance to the office. Problem the largest size available was about size 7. The office manager had to go out and purchase some Gaijin (外人) sized slippers.

List of Places Visited

• Europe
  • England, Wales, Ireland, France, Monaco, Andorra, Belgium, Netherlands, Germany, Spain, Portugal, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Austria, Liechtenstein, Switzerland, Italy, Vatican City (Holy See), Greece, Crete, Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovakia, Slovenia, Poland, Belarus, Lithuania
• Asia
  • Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, People's Republic of China, Thailand, India, Israel, Palestine, Turkey
• South Pacific
  • Australia (Surfers Paradise, Queensland's Gold Coast), New Zealand, Fiji
• North America
  • United States (44 States), Canada(Ontario, Quebec, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, British Columbia), Mexico, Trinidad and Tobago
• South America
  • Venezuela, Colombia, Brazil (Rio de Janeiro)
• Dead Countries and Territories
  • Union of Soviet Socialist Republics/ Союз Советских Социалистических Республик (Lithuanian SSR/Lietuvos Tarybų Socialistinė Respublika and Byelorussian SSR/Беларуская Савецкая Сацыялістычная Рэспубліка)
  • Polish People's Republic (Polska Rzeczpospolita Ludowa)
  • Czechoslovakia (Czech and Slovak Federative Republic/Česká a Slovenská Federativní Republika)
  • Federal Republic of Germany (Bundesrepublik Deutschland)
  • Hong Kong (UK)
  • Macau (Portugal)

My DNA Story

Introduction and Personal Observations

A person's DNA does not change but the Ethnicity Estimates provided by testing firms such as Ancestry.Com do. Why?

Millions of people, around the world, are taking advantage of a service by several organizations to have their DNA tested, analyzed and compared. I first had my DNA tested as part of National Geneograhic Project conducted by the National Geographic Society about 1998. The study was designed to report an individual's deep ancestry between 1,000 - 100,000 years ago. It primarily looked at human migration patterns out of East Africa. Ethnicity estimates were not provided and looked only at male lineage. The three markers closest in time to the present were:

• Branch: M207
  • Age: About 30,000 Years ago
  • Location of Origins: Central Asia
  • Notes - M207 was born in Central Asia around 30,000 years ago. His descendants would go on to settle in Europe, South Asia, and the Middle East over the following 20,000 years. Today, most Western European men belong to one branch (R-M342) that descended from this lineage. While it appears to have been one of the earliest lineages to settle in Europe more than 25,000 years ago, more recent population expansions associated with the post-glacial re-population of northern Europe after the end of the last ice age, as well as the spread of agriculture during the Neolithic, also contributed to it's high frequency in Ireland, the UK, France, and Spain.
  • One descendant lineage -- R-L62 -- is common in Eastern Europe and India, and was likely spread in part through the migration of Indo-European steppe nomads over the past 5,000 years

• Branch: P231
  • Age: 25,000 - 30,000 Years Ago
  • Location of Origins: Central Asia
  • Notes - The Paleolithic ancestor who founded this lineage lived a nomadic lifestyle. His descendants included two major descendant branches that today account for most European men and many more from Central Asia, South Asia, and West Asia.

• Branch: M128
  • Age: T.B.D.
  • Location of Origins: Central Asia
  • Notes - Today (1998), geneticists have found men from this lineage in Azerbaijan (9%), Malta (4-5%), and Qatar (3%). It is present in trace frequencies of less than 1% throughout Central and Western Europe. Note: This branch is note accompanied by a major movement on the map, and research on this branch is continuing.
  • Point of Interest: This is the ancestral line of the Ashkenazi-Levite founding lineage.

Compared to the types of results available in 2018, the study did not exactly provide a plethora of information. It seemed to indicate that my male ancestors were from Central Asia. To be fair and updated test is now available through the National Geneograhic Project that examines both male and female lines and I do not know what kind of results are currently provided and they require a new DNA sample ($99.00).

I took the Ancestry test about two years ago. I waited several weeks with great anticipation to receive the results.

My paternal grandparents were both born in Eastern Europe in an region now governed by Belarus. They spoke Polish and their ethnicity was assumed to be Polish. On my 2nd or 3rd trip to Belarus I asked my father's 1st cousin how he would categorize himself. He seemed a bit confused by the question and responded “Catholic”. I was not certain how to interpret this response. I assume that they probably don't spend a great deal of time contemplating their ethnic origins. Based on what little information I had available I would have expected an Ethnicity Estimate of 50% Eastern European or Slavic. This is based on the assumption that 50% of my DNA comes from my father's branch of the family.

My maternal grandmother family had deep roots in French Canada. My mother's aunt had spent time in Quebec going through church records and had verified those deep roots. Therefore I expected results that had 25% French. There were some family rumors that there might be some Native American contribution.

My maternal grandfather's family history is not as well defined. We know that there was definitely some French Canadian but did not have the same level of details as we had for my grandmother. We did know that his grandfather had fought in the Civil War. Therefore I did not really expect a 25% French Ethnicity Estimate from his branch of the tree.

What surprised me the most when I looked at the initial estimates was the 69% Europe East. I could not explain extra 19%.

In September 2018, Ancestry sent out an update and there were some significant changes.

These updated estimates seem to be much closer to what I would expect although the 59% for the combined Baltic States and Eastern Europe still seemed high. The 6% Scandinavian was also a little confusing until I recalled my extended family tree that I maintain on Ancestry.Com. I have traced a number of ancestors to Normandy, France that had been settled by Vikings in the 9th and 10th centuries.

At the start of this section I raised the question as to why there were significant changes in the ethnicity estimates. There are at least 3:

1. A greater than 5 times increase in the number of samples (3,000 - 16,000)
2. Redefined and increased regions (363 - 380)
3. Improved computer algorithms and methods used in the analysis.

The science of DNA analysis is rapidly improving that result in much more accurate results.

Detailed Current Results

The following ethnicity estimates are based on a DNA analysis conducted by Ancestry.Com Results are a recent update released in September 2018.

Ethnicity Estimate

• Baltic States - 44%: Primarily located in: Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania. Also found in: Belarus, Russia, Poland, Ukraine

Thousands of years ago, the early ancestors of the peoples in our Baltic States region came from the east and south. They entered a landscape of low-lying plains, thousands of lakes, and millions of acres of forest, a beautiful boundary zone straddling eastern and western Europe. Inhabitants have seen Vikings, crusading Teutonic Knights, empires, and Communism come and go, but they have maintained an attachment to land, culture, and freedom.

• France - 35%: Primarily located in: France. Also found in: Andorra, Belgium, Italy, Luxembourg, Monaco, Spain, Switzerland

Our France region is known for both the splendor of Paris and its picturesque countryside of plains and rolling hills checkered with fields and hedgerows. Evidence of human life in France, including the stunning galleries of Stone Age paintings in Lascaux Cave, stretches back long before recorded history. Today’s French are mostly urban dwellers and can trace their roots to several key groups who made their way into l’Hexagone starting about 2,500 years ago.

• Eastern Europe and Russia - 15%: Primarily located in: Poland, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Austria, Russia, Hungary, Slovenia, Romania, Serbia, Ukraine, Belarus, Moldova, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia. Also found in: Germany, Montenegro, Albania, Kosovo, Macedonia, Bulgaria, Kazakhstan

Our Eastern Europe and Russia region stretches from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Adriatic in the south. The landscape is a mix of mountains, rivers, and plains and stands at the crossroads of Europe and Central Asia. By the 5th century A.D. Slavic peoples were moving west into modern-day central Europe, followed by Magyars, who settled Hungary. The Slavic peoples are now the largest linguistic and ethnic group in Europe, and the region’s legacy of beauty and civilization lives on in famed world cities such as Prague, Kiev, Moscow, and Budapest.

• Sweden - 6%: Primarily located in: Sweden. Also found in: Denmark

With its rocky coastline, wooded uplands, and subarctic, mountainous terrain, our Sweden region emerged from glacial ice as a rugged land of lakes and islands. The Swedish people share a common Norse heritage with Norway and, especially, Denmark that includes language, religion, and art, but they eventually developed a culture of their own. Situated north of the Baltic Sea, geographic isolation from conflicts raging on the European continent did not stop the Swedes from influencing the culture, trade, and politics of regions from the Volga River to Byzantium.

Migrations

• Saint Lawrence River French Settlers: Montérégie, Québec, French Settlers. Connection to this region is likely through my ancestry from: France.

Many French settlers of the St. Lawrence Valley came to present-day Québec, Canada, to work in the fur trade. They lived in a harsh climate surrounded by dangerous wilderness and hostile native tribes. Life became even more challenging after the French and Indian War when the British assumed control and classified French Canadians as second-class citizens. While some left for New England and industrialized cities like Chicago, Minneapolis, and Detroit, those who remained created a strong community centered around Catholicism and their French heritage.

Sources

• First-hand information. Entered by James Batura at registration.
• Content is currently being updated by James Batura