52 Photos Week 45: Veterans

Question

This week's 52 Photos theme:

VETERANS

To participate, simply:

1. reply below, and
2. add a photo that fits the theme to this week's free-space gallery.

If you use a social network (Facebook, Instagram, etc.) please share the photo there as well, using #52photos and #wikitree. This can be a great way to involve more family members. If you use a blog, include a link to your blog post in your answer below so we can all read it.

You don't need to participate every week to share a photo. But members who do participate every week can earn challenge badges. Click here for more info. If this is your first time participating and you don't have the participation badge, or if you pass a milestone (13 in 13, 26 in 26, 52 in 52) please post here.

For help with how to add photos, see here.

Comments

This was a good question. A lot of people wanted to show their pictures. Unfortunately the instructions for doing so are complicated and confusing. Please, please make it easier!

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Deleted and reposted in the correct place.

Answer 1

Andrew Anderson

This is my Grandfather Andrew "Gumps" Anderson 1923 - 1991

He was born and raised in Donkin, married my Grandmother Charlotte (MacKinnon) from Glace Bay. on August 23rd 1943 in Halifax just prior to shipping out overseas. On the marriage certificate, his occupation is listed as soldier. He served in World War II as an Anti-Aircraft Gunner as part of The Lanark and Renfrew Scottish Regiment.

"The Lanark and Renfrew Scottish Regiment was allied to the Imperial Black Watch (Royal Highlanders)... During World War II (1942), the Regiment was divided into two battalions. The 1st Battalion was mobilized for active service and was employed on home defence on the East and West coasts until disbanded in October of 1943. Meanwhile, in July 1944, 1st Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment in Italy was reorganized and became the 1st Light Anti-Aircraft Infantry Battalion. On 11 November 1944, it was announced that the Battalion would be re-designated The Lanark and Renfrew Scottish Regiment. The Regiment served in the Italian Campaign and landed in France on 5 Mar 1945. Shortly thereafter, it was re-designated 1st Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment (Lanark and Renfrew Scottish) from Lanark & Renfrew Scottish Regimental History

The memories of the war were with him all his life, he was proud of his service and he was my hero growing up. . I wear my poppy proudly for him each year. I will never forget him and we as a nation should never forget the men of his generation who gave up so much for us so we could enjoy our freedoms today. He was one of the lucky ones who returned and to tell their stories.

Answer 2

My great uncle Percy was one of the three Nash boys from my Grandmother's family that served in WW2. It was his interest in Genealogy that inspired me to pursue research into my family tree when I was a teen.

Comments

Thank you Ron for sharing your handsome great uncle Percy Nash wearing his WWII uniform. So glad that he inspired you to become interested in genealogy,

Answer 3

This is a 1945 photo. It is from my father-in-law LeRoi Nelson's WWII album. It reads: United States Navy Cemetery in Okinawa. Left to Right: Lt. James M. Smith, Lt. LeRoi Nelson and Lt. Cmdr. Matthew C. O'Hearn.

Comments

What a wonderful old photo Alexis

And you have the names impressing

Thank You for sharing

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Thank you Susan for your wonderful comment. His album has over 150 photos and most have names, since he was his ship’s photographer.

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Wow you are so fortunate, I wish my grandmother had put names on the photos

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What a great photo Alexis. Thanks for sharing.

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Ron, thank you for your nice comment.

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OK Alexis,

You deserve a platinum award for this family photo.

My father-in-law also served as a Lt.  on a ship in the Pacific  (U.S.S. Alabama).    But your photo certainly tops any I have....  it's incredibly sad yet makes me proud.

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Peggy thank you for your dear comment.  My husband and I had the same sad reaction to this photo. These questions have made me look deeper at these photos. On the U.S.S.Alabama is a room dedicated to my father-in-law’s ship. In the room dedicated to the U.S.S.Evans, a tape plays continuously of kamikazes hitting the Evans.

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Peggy this is the room on the U.S.S.Alabama.

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Alexis,

I know you realize it's how important it is to preserve these photos and make them public.

I'm certainly willing to help,  if you find anything useful for me.

My father-in-law was a wonderful man... but we haven't been to see the  "preserved"  U.S.S.  Alabama  in Mobile Alabama yet.   Certainly on our Bucket List.

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Thank you Peggy for your offer to help me. You are so right about the photos. The ones on the walls are from negatives borrowed from my mother-in-law. She is also credited with loaning some for a book, but my husband and I have all the original 152 photos. You are going to have to let me know when you get the chance to see the Alabama. It is so big, it takes most of a day to see all of it.

Answer 4

Every November, the Kiwanis club of Pittsfield, Massachusetts sponsors the Park of Honor at Park Square. Each flag honors a veteran, "those who have given in so many different ways so we are able to have the freedom to celebrate our flag."

Answer 5

The image was made after WWI to remember Martin Lewerenz (my grandfather) on his participation in WW I.

He was Wounded in Action near Amiens in France during World War I.

He also participated in WW II. Because he was a shoemaker, he was lucky enough to serve as a shoemaker in an army headquarters to make military boots for other soldiers.

Comments

Thank you for posting this certificate. It looks great. Do you think that Dieter could have fixed my uncle's shoes when they were both in France during WWI? Uncle James died in battle in France during WWI. I admire all of our brave veterans. It is challenging to fill their shoes.

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The saying is "an army marches on its stomach," but an army also marches on its feet. My relative was also in France in World War 1. Most of his diary entries tell how far they marched that day. He must have worn out a lot of shoes.

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Shoemakers were highly sought-after craftsmen at that time. After the Second World War, however, the craft went completely to pieces, since shoes could be produced industrially faster and cheaper.
Whether they were also better is a matter of opinion.

Grandpa's shoes were definitely of high quality; he had made riding boots for my father in the late 1930s, which I even wore as a young man until the end of the 1970s.

Answer 6

This is a photo of my husband's grandfather, William Arthur Shaules, while he was serving in France during WWI.  He was about 50 years old at the time.

He was also a veteran of the Spanish American War, serving in the Philippines.

Comments

Robin, thank you for sharing such a fabulous photo. William is so handsome with a bit of a Kirk Douglas look.

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Thank you, Alexis. I never noticed the Kirk Douglas look, but now that you mention it, I can see it.

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Thank you sweet Robin for sharing this wonderful photo of your lovely husband grandfather what a gorgeous photo

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Thank you, Susan!

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Thank you for posting this photo. I wonder if my Uncle James D.W. Ceruti, who fought in France in WWI met William. We will never know. James died in France and his remains are buried there.

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Thank you for your post, Marion.  I see from James' profile his Regiment and Division.  Perhaps one day I'll be able to find out which unit William was with -- then we might know if they possibly knew each other.

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It would be very cool if some day we did find out that they may have known each other. WikiTree has facilitated these kinds of connections before.

Answer 7

Grandfather Truslow was career US Navy.  He graduated from the US Naval Academy in 1926.  He served aboard USS Sinclair (DD-275) in 1929 before being transferred to the Naval Air Station, in San Diego, California where he survived a training flight crash on September 10, 1930.  From 1930-1934, he was stationed at the Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida.  He then went back to Coronado, California before landing in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii in 1939.  In 1941, he was the Commander of the USS Swan (AM 34).  The Swan was one of the few ships to escape the attack on Pearl Harbor.  He served aboard the Swan for the balance of WWII before taking command of the USS Kenneth Whiting (AV 14) in 1945.  After retiring from the Navy, he and his family settled in Santa Rosa, California, where he died on 26 February, 1976.  He's buried in Arlington National Cemetery along with his wife.

https://www.wikitree.com/photo/jpg/Truslow-201-2

Comments

Thank you Dorothy for sharing your grandfather Alfred Truslow and the story of his distinguished Navy career.

Answer 8

I come from an extremely long line of veterans. My father, both my grandfathers, my great grandfathers, and great uncles, going back to the Revolutionary War (on my father’s side). Today, I chose to honor my maternal grandfather, Albert J Whittingham (1926-2007). He served in the Navy in the Pacific during WWII from 1944-1946. He told me he was a gunner.

Missy 

Comments

Gorgeous photo Missy thank you for sharing

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Thank you, Susan! 

Answer 9

The story has been handed down among the family that my bloodline ancestor, William Humphrey (1747-1832), was a veteran.  

He was a Major during the Revolutionary War.  It is told that he served directly under George Washington.  And was with Washington during the time sent in Valley Forge.

He also is only one of many of my ancestors who served.  Some have been approved by the SAR.  Below is the Certificate for William. 

There are also many more veterans who served in every war that was waged by Americans.

Answer 10

My Grandma's step brother, Corporal Sydney Walter Reeves in the uniform of the Royal Australian Air Force Enlisted January 1942 Discharged June 1946

Comments

Wonderful photo of your grandmother step brother thank you for sharing

Answer 11

Dad and his buddy Red near Nijmegan in early 1945

Comments

Okay, Mark, now you try to get your picture posted.

Answer 12

Dad and ;His Buddy Red near Nijmegan in 1945

Comments

The picture is not showing. It is probably privacy protected. (On the profile page, look for the lock emblem, top right. If it is closed, the picture is privacy protected and you will need to move it to this week's free space.)

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I unlocked it and added Space:52_Photos_Week_45_Veterans-1

to the photo.

Is there something more I need to do?

Thank you.

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Go to the picture on the free space page. Put your mouse on the picture. Click "copy image location." Come back here to your answer. Click "edit." Above the text in your answer, click the "picture" icon, which looks (vaguely) like two mountains and a sun. This will open a dialogue box with a space for a URL. Paste your image location there. Click "okay" and then save.

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I did all that.  All it produced was another blank image. Image link: https://www.wikitree.com/photo/jpg/Weinheimer-68-1

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Well, I don't know. But it is a great picture and well worth sharing. I just tried it myself. The step you are missing was:

After you paste your link into the dialogue box. you will see (on the left), a number of boxes. The first of these is Width. If you just click there, a number pops up. Now you are good to save OK. Or if your picture is too big or too small, you can change the WIDTH. The height will adjust automatically in proportion. There are a number of other things you can adjust if you want to get fancy, but I am happy if I just get my picture to show. Now may I present:

DAD AND RED

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Thank you, Joyce

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I love this photo! It really gives you perspective on their daily life and their friendship.

Thank you for sharing

Answer 13

This is my father's brother Clarence James Isleman (Isleman-9) he joined the Canadian Army during WW2 even thou he was an American , he was in the A/22131 Private Essex Scottish Reg , he was born in 1917 in West Virginia and died in 1944 in Toronto, Ohio

Answer 14

This is a family photo of my father, Richard Lee Isleman (Isleman-2) he was in the army in 1946 , he did his basic training in Louisiana, USA but ending up being stationed in Japan to help with reconstruction , he was a medic 

Answer 15

I only just found out what my paternal grandfather did when he served in WWI. This evening, I found an engagement announcement (in Elmira, New York) written about my paternal grandparents, Raymond R Berryann (1895-1952) and Madeleine S Brock (1901-1969). The article included some information about each.

My grandfather, Raymond, drove an ambulance on the front lines in France (1918-1919) bringing back the wounded. He said that he had a few close calls himself.

Unfortunately my grandfather Raymond died before I was born, so I never got to meet him. I do not have a photo of him in uniform (yet), but here he is with my grandmother. I apologize for the poor quality photo. It is a photo of a photo taken in about 1950. Every photo I have my grandfather, unfortunately, is grainy.

Missy 

Comments

I wonder if your grandfather, Raymond Berryann, picked up my uncle James David Wark Ceruti, when he was wounded in France. Unfortunately Uncle James did not survive and we have few pictures of him, none in uniform. His remains are buried in France in a military cemetery.

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Marion, I wish there was a way to find out. I am sorry for your family’s loss. I lost a great uncle who died in WWII on a ship off of Japan. He was only 19. His body was returned in later years. Will the government not bring your uncle home? 

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Hello Missy, Thank you for your kind words about my uncle.

You have my sympathy retarding your great uncle. It reminds me of my great uncle who served in the Navy as a young man in WW1. My uncle Wilbur also was in the Navy. He died young but details are sketchy. What we know about that is very little, almost all of it from circumstantial photographic evidence.

As an American with multiple lines of French ancestry, I think that the massive military graveyards in France serve as good reminders to our French brothers and sisters that the USA is ready to stand with them in liberty and fraternity to fight for their freedom.

Answer 16

Pte Kingsley Arnold Wesley Cyril Bidgood - my Great Uncle - KIA 14 Oct 1917, Passchendaele, Belgium. 

Comments

Thank you Roger for sharing this absolutely fabulous photo of your great uncle Kinsley Bidgood. He is such a handsome young man that I had to see his profile. I saw that he enlisted when he was only 17 and was killed at age 18. Seeing Kingsley is such a reminder of how sad that war is so heartbreaking for so many families.

Answer 17

My 3x great Uncle, the Rev. Edmund James Bird, fought in the Civil War on the side of the Union. He served in the 37th Regiment, New Jersey Infantry. Another record of Civil war service for Edmund J. Bird born in "Morris Town," New Jersey in 1839, was found among the United States Naval Enlistment Rendezvous. He enlisted for a one-year term in general service on 18 Aug 1862, at New York, USA. While in service, he lost his right arm. However, he survived the battles and became a minister. He must have made a deal with God.

Answer 18

My father, Ashley E. Fleming, was a WWII veteran of the Army Air Force. A radio man and mechanic, he was stationed in Berguent, French Morocco, 1943, Kairouan, Tunisia, 1943, Castelvetrano, Sicily, 1943 - 1944; Saltby, England, 1944, where he participated in DDay, and Poix, France, 1945.

Answer 19

My father went to Japan in 1945 as part of the Occupation Forces. (this is where the term "Occupied Japan" came from that is on many collectibles.) They got married on Armistice Day, November 11, 1944. Dad passed away in 2018, he never would talk about his military service. He passed away the morning after mom's birthday.

Comments

Picture doesn't show. Try following my instructions to Mark Weinheimer (2 large blank spaces a few posts back)

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it is showing up on my screen,

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Your picture is privacy protected. (On the profile page, the lock emblem, top right, is locked.) You will need to move it to the week's free space before posting it.

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ok, did it.

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I just looked through this week's free space pages and did not see your picture. Did you move it to another page with an open lock? Or did you have trouble moving it off the private profile?

Answer 20

My Great Uncle https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Clark-15870

Cannot get picture to show correctly

https://www.wikitree.com/photo/jpg/Clark-15870-12

Comments

Try following my instructions to Mark Weinheimer (see the two large blank spaces a few posts back.)

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I have this problem ever time I try to post an image of any kind

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I've never had this problem before. I tried numerous times, always get this:  Unable to find a Person or Space record for https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Space:52_Photos_Week_45_Veterans-1

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Jacqueline--your image of Les is an open profile. Put your mouse onto it, click "copy image location." Come back here to your answer, click "edit." Over the text in your answer you will see the photo icon, looks (sort of) like two mountains and a sun. Click photo icon. This opens a dialogue box. Paste the image location into the box for URL. On the left are a number of boxes. The first is Width. Click there and your image will appear and you are good to go. Click OK and then SAVE. (if your image is too big or small, you can change the number in the Width box first.) I liked your story about Uncle Les; maybe you could add some of it to your answer.

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Jon Slaton--You are not the only one having this problem. If you can't get your picture moved onto the free space, you  can try uploading your picture directly from your computer to the free space page.

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Jacqueline,

I went to the page. It is a wonderful tribute! Also, I live about 15 minutes from Sicklerville, NJ!