Photo Sharing Theme of the Week: Military

Question

This week's photo sharing theme: Military.

To participate, simply:

1. Choose a family photo that fits this week's theme.
2. Add it to this week's free-space gallery.
3. Reply with an answer below to let us know which photo you're sharing. If you want to include the photo but don't know how, click here.

The photo you share might be featured on the WikiTree home page and in our social media channels as next week's Family History Photo of the Week.

If you use a social network (Facebook, Instagram, etc.) you might want to share your photo there as well. This can be a great way to involve more family members. Many people love seeing old family photos. Be sure to add #52weeksofphotos and #wikitree to your post.

Also see: Profile Accuracy Theme of the Week: At the Cemetery.

Comments

((Removed, meant to reply as an answer))

Answer 1

Adding for Kimberly Lindsay. 

Comments

My father-in-law, in the middle, on an island in the South Pacific War during WWII. Charles Lindsay-6122 was an architect before joining the war. Because of his expertize, he was the "Demolition Expert," meaning he was 1st off the amphibious assault ship to search for land mines and dismantle them. The beaches were filled with land mines placed there by the Japanese soldiers to 'surprise' American soldiers. But, they did not have a Charlie who survived every land mine he dismantled. He came home to marry his sweetheart and have 5 children. I married one of them, who is an architect too. We have 2 sons. One of Charlie's grandsons is a neuroscientist doing research on the human brain. Charlie did not understand why he survived, and his friends died. I know why he survived. God had a larger plan for him than to walk the sandy beaches in the South Pacific and defeat death every day. I had to remind Charlie of that plan.

Answer 2

This is a photo of my mother and father taken 11 Apr 1942 in Wichita Falls, Texas. It was the day Clare Alexander "Chick" Lovelace and Clarice Marvin were married. His B-29 was shot down on 29 May 1945, so this week marks the 76th Anniversary of his being killed in action.

Comments

Thank you Stacie for your sweet comment. Yes, photos like this are treasures.

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A beautiful memory.  My thanks to your father, and his family for his service to our country.

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Thank you so very much Ellen for your comment.

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Thank you Alexis for sharing your wonderful photo of your parents, they look adorable and so much in love.

The both are so beautiful and sweet to look at

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Thank you dear Susan for your always precious comment.

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This is a beautiful and special photo, Alexis.  Your mother's smile lights up her face and she looks like she feels blissfully safe tucked into your father's arm like that.  I too had to read your story twice to be sure I understood what had happened.  What a sad loss for your family.

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Thank you Betsy for such a lovely comment. She stayed very close to his parents, and we lived with them after the war. I sleep in the same bed that she and I slept in at his mother’s house.

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A beautiful picture of the showing of true love. Mom lost him and got you in the same year. Sorrow followed by joy.

if I remember correctly, our birthdays are 3 days apart and 4 years.

Thanks again for all the help.

James

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Thank you James for the nice comment. We will need to wish each other a happy birthday in October.

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It would be my pleasure.

Answer 3

Most ​​​of the photos I have come from the Second World War since I inherited my step great-grandfather's collection. This photo was taken in the 40s and is of a group of soldiers held in Stalag 383 in Bavaria and seated third-left on the second row is my (biological) great-grandfather Samuel Buck (captured at Calais May 26th 1940). 

Sadly, though, the photo has not survived stupendously over a 1000 miles and 77 years and I don't know of anyone else in the photo (including the photobomber in the window).

Comments

Thank you David for sharing the wonderful photo of these men with your great grandfather Samuel Buck. His profile is extremely interesting.

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Great photo, it is lucky that it survived as well as it did. It took me a minute to find the photobomber. They all look happy despite the circumstance.

Answer 4

My sister sent me this picture just this week. It's small (2"x3") and worn, but it is the most interesting "military" picture I have. (I am hoping Scott Lee can work his magic on it. The man is holding a cat.) The picture is labelled "Christmas in France, 1917." The man sitting on the right is John Mason, who later married my grandfather's sister Irene Auger. Uncle John kept a diary during his army service. There is no entry for this day, but here are some from that time:

Wednesday, Nov. 14, 1917-- First instructions in rifle grenades, hand grenades, bomb throwing, bayonet practice & machine gun firing. Taught by French officer just out of the trenches. Walked 10 miles to the rifle range.

Wednesday, Nov. 21--Was transferred to company headquarters to learn telegraphy. Am in training with Signal Corps.

Thursday, Nov. 29--Had turkey for dinner. Spent a pleasant day.

Monday, Jan. 15, 1918--Went to the trenches. Walked 30 miles.

Tuesday, Jan. 15--Lecture. Feet are swollen and sore.

Tuesday, Jan. 22--Caught a message from the Eiffel Tower, Paris, by wireless.

Thursday, Feb. 7--Landed at Soissons at 6 a.m. This town was held by Germans last October. Air raids occur twice daily here. We were given a farewell by a French band. Walked 4-1/2 miles to a rest camp just back of the lines. We sleep in caves.

Saturday, Feb. 9--3 a.m. left for 3rd line trenches. Walked 4-1/2 miles. We stay here 5 days and our home is in old stone houses which have been destroyed so there is nothing left but the cellar and the roof that is full of holes. At. 10:30 a.m. I saw a French aeroplane cross the German lines amidst heavy shell fire 3 times.

Comments

Aggh! After all the help I've given other people for posting pictures, now I need some myself. I can't get the picture so that it can be examined closely. I've tried twice, and now there are two copies of it in my answer. (At least, you can see the cat now.)

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Yes, I'd like to see this photo "cleaned up." The diary is interesting. I posted a picture of my grandfather; his profile page has letters he wrote from the war.

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Thank you for sharing this photo and the story. What a treasure to have the journal.

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Great pic Joyce!  Here's a modified version but maybe not too good!  Scott

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Small photos can only be enlarged so much and this one is quite small. When you zoom in on it the sharpness is not that good and it becomes "pixelated".

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  A picture is worth a thousand words, and it's intriguing to think maybe we can find discover even more. Not a great clean-up, but getting there. It appears the man with the cat was once colored with a highlighter maybe.

Answer 5

First Lieutenant Irvin John "I.J." Koehnline (1891-1952), 324th Field Artillery, WWI.

My great-grandfather never spoke much about his war experiences to his son, & never knew his grandchildren, but we are fortunate enough to have a giant collection of letters between him, his sisters & other people back home in Wheeling, WV & Bridgeport, OH. I.J. survived the war with his sanity mostly intact, but his brother, "Uncle Bill," returned home with severe 'shellshock,' PTSD caused by the war, & spent a number of years in an institution before being taken in by his sisters; he was never quite the same. Bill outlived his younger brother I.J., & my father once said that "though he barely spoke, I thought him a gentle, lovely man who had been through hell & not quite returned." I don't have a military photo for Bill, however, so I'm using this photo of I.J. instead.

Comments

That is a sharp uniform - not your ordinary issue item. Did he attend an Academy? Pardon my ignorance, but which war did he serve in?

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I'm not much of an expert in the military side of history & genealogy, so I can't say too much about the uniform, though I actually do have a small patch of fabric cut from one of his uniforms (I don't believe it is the one there) with a red arrow-like symbol on it, which I believe was a symbol of the 32nd division (which the 324th FA was part of). I don't believe he was at any academy, but he received training at Camp Sherman in Ohio. This was all World War One; I.J. enlisted 15 Aug 1917 & was honorably discharged 14 Aug 1919, though after his discharge he chose to stay in Paris for some time, studying at the University.

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Thomas, I don't know much about uniforms (even though I wore one for twenty years). I posted a picture of my grandfather in his WWI uniform; it is very different -- maybe a difference in officer and enlisted clothing.

Is this the arrow you speak of? [http://www.32nd-division.org/32ndww2.JPG]. The ‘Red Arrow’ is the insignia of the 32^D Infantry Division, and now the 32^D Infantry Brigade.  The 32^D Division was created in 1917, comprised of National Guard units from Wisconsin and Michigan, to take part in “The Great War” or “The World War,” now referred to as World War I (WWI).

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Yes, that's the one! I.J.'s is a bit worse for wear, compared to the one in the image:

There could be a few explanations for the difference in uniforms- perhaps related to being infantry vs artillery, or rank, or just setting; I'm not sure. This site has a pretty good set of images showing different US WWI uniforms, though I don't have the opportunity to properly look at all of them just yet.

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Thank you, I'll look it over.

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Very handsome and a kind face. I have a friend that came home from desert storm with PTSD. He saw too much and had too many close calls.

Answer 6

This is a photo of my grandfather Frank Williams Cartwright, he was a member of the Lancashire Fusiliers Border Regiment. He never spoke of his time in the war, he suffered injuries that affected him for the rest of his life but we always knew him as 'funny grandad' 

Comments

Thank you Gillian for sharing such a great photo of your grandfather, sad that his injuries affected him for the rest of his life. The photo is so clear, and he is so handsome in his WWI uniform.

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Another uniform I am unfamiliar with. I'll assume from "Lancashire Fusiliers Border Regiment" that he was in the British or Canadian Army?

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He is very handsome in his uniform. I first noticed his eyes, its like he can see me.

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Thanks Alexis, like many others he was lucky to survive and we were so lucky to have him in our lives.

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He was in the British army Bryan, he lived in Manchester, Lancashire, England most of his life.

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Thanks Stacie, you're right about those eyes!

Answer 7

This is a photo of my Uncle David taken during WWII in 1943 while he was in the United States Navy.

I love this photo because he looks so young (actually about 18 years old) and so happy. He had probably been waiting impatiently to "join up" as his two older brothers had.

Fortunately, he returned home. But unfortunately, he died in a car accident in 1947, six months after marrying leaving a pregnant wife. My cousin David was born 3 1/2 months after his father died.

Comments

I was going to say, "He looks very young." I guess you covered that point. (smile)

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Thanks, Bryan. Yes, he looks almost like a young boy "dressing up", as they often did back then as cowboys.

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He has a great smile. I first thought, before I read how old he was, he was about 12 years old. So sad he survived war to die so young in a car accident.

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Robin thank you for sharing the wonderful photo of your Uncle David. It must have been very sad for your father and your family to lose him in a car accident. Also I read the profile on your cousin David, and his death must have been another terrible tragedy for you and your family. You have such a great compassion for others; your family is very fortunate to have you.

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I just smiled!!  He’s adorable!! What an adorably young looking young man!  I thought he looked about 14.  Thank you for sharing this great photo of your uncle David.

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Thank you, Stacie. Yes, I agree he looks about 12. If it weren't that he wrote 1943 on the photo, I would have had a hard time believing that he was 18.

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Thank you, Alexis, for your kind words. It was a tragedy when my uncle died for the entire family, especially my grandmother. But then to lose his son, my cousin, the way we did was another terrible tragedy. Father and son were both apparently gentle and happy young men. I knew the Dave, the son, but not David, the father.

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Thanks, Stacie. I agree, he has a very infectious smile. I wish I had gotten to know him.

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Robin what a sad story, about your uncle, most have been terrible for his wife and family to loose him

Thank you for sharing this photo and story

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Thank you, Susan. Yes, it was very sad for the family. Eventually my uncle's wife remarried and their young son was adopted by his new dad.

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This is a fabulous documentary photo. As most of us know, the other side sometimes is not so enthusiastic.

Thank you to all the past and current military personnel. Thank you to all the parents of our military family.

My heart goes out to all the families who have made the ultimate sacrifice. Tears from my heart always.

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Thank you, Donald, for your wonderful tribute to all of our Veterans.

Answer 8

I posted a picture of my dad and myself in our uniforms for the "favorite" theme, and I posted my grandfather's 85th birthday a few weeks ago for the "birthday" theme. Now I'll post my grandfather, Pvt. <a href="https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Lawson-10043">Pvt. Henry Clay Lawson</a> in 1918, before leaving for France for the "military" theme. Clay was rejected for service the first time he applied because he only weighed 99 1/2 pounds. With a full pack, he weighed 135. He really wanted to join the service to see the world."

After being at the front a while, he was hit with mustard gas after which he spent the remainder of his time in a hospital in France. He wrote to his hometown paper in 1919:

"I knew nothing of concerning my relatives and friends during all the time I was in France, and was surprised when I learned that many of my friends were in France that I did not know were in the army. I landed back in the states on the 30th of December and have been waiting [illegible] since. During the short eight months I have traveled many thousand miles, seen many grand sites, had some nice times, and some tough ones too. I’ve lived under most all conditions. I’ve slept in the woods; in the trenches; in holes; in barns and lots of other fine places. We done most of our traveling on foot and on box cars and a fellow didn’t care much which way he went. They put about 40 of us on a car that was not more than half as big as our American cars and we all did not have room to lie down. I have rode as long as 4 days that way. Oh, a soldier don’t mind that, especially after the trip is over and he gets a good night’s sleep."

Comments

Thank you Brian for sharing the fascinating story and photo of your grandfather Henry Lawson. His letter to his hometown newspaper is wonderful; what a treasure you have in having it.

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Can someone help me fix that link? My grandfather's profile has more letters and postcards home. Thanks.

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Wow he looks so young. I have a 4x great uncle that was discharged after a month of service in the Civil War. This is the letter the doctor attached to his discharge, "I certify that I have carefully examined the said Huffman of Capt. Ryan's company and find him incapable of doing the duties of a soldier because of his diminutive size (weighing only 80 lbs) and a weak and scrofulous [tuberculosis] constitution, his physical strength is not sufficient to carry the arms and accutrements and go through the fatigues of the camp." He did go on to father and support 11 children.

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Those little guys are the toughest. (wink)

Answer 9

Grandfather Alfred Truslow, Jr. graduated from the US Naval Academy in 1927, and went on to have a lengthy career in the US Navy.  He began as a Navy Pilot and ended as commander of a ship.

Comments

Interesting bio. A very successful warrior.

Answer 10

This is not the best photo technically, but it is a special one in our family.  That's my Dad's youngest brother (https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Stewart-42315) with my Grandma.  He was home on leave in December, 1966.

In February, 1968 Uncle Joe was killed in an auto accident while home on leave after finishing his deployment to Vietnam.

Answer 11

Here's a photo of my late uncle Richard "Dick Payne" in Korea during the Korean War.  Dick was the kinda guy that every guy wants as a neighbor.  Heavy Cat operator in Southern Oregon, building roads for logging trucks to reach the top of the mountain to load up.  Dick rolled his cat several times and spent some time in the hospital.  He taught me how to fall trees and sharpen my McCulloch.  I have fallen many trees with success.  Uncle Dick is second from the left in the back row.

Comments

Thank you Scott for sharing such a fabulous photo of your uncle. They are certainly brave men. I can not even imagine what it would be like to parachute into battle.

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He has a kind face.  It's a special thing to have adults in your life other than parents and school teachers who help you to learn things.  Thanks for sharing, Scott.

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Uncle Dick sounds like my kind of guy, Scott.  Reminds me of 'borrowed' McCulloch chainsaws when I was still riding my bicycle,  D8 Cats  and Hayes logging trucks, off the tops of mountain valleys......only in British Columbia.

Answer 12

My wife's great great grandfather, Sherlock Foster Black, Union Soldier, Andersonville prisoner, U. S. Marshal. https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Black-15412

Comments

Thank you Mark for sharing the photo of Sherlock and his very interesting profile about being an Andersonville survivor. My travel partner and I had planned a trip to Georgia, and we were going to visit the cemetery and POW museum. Her great great grandfather and my cousin 3 times removed died there. The Covid virus caused our trip to be canceled, but we are hoping to go this year.

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It's interesting that you found so many source documents for his bio.It sounds like he had all of the war he could stand by the second year of his enlistment.

Answer 13

Following the lead of Alexis Nelson (thank you, Alexis), I decided to go with military romance. This is my dad's youngest brother (he had six of them), Gerrit "Lee" Wright (1918-2010). Next to him is his soon-to-be bride Marie Ellen Gleason (1918-2012) (please pardon the power pole growing out of her head) and on the right is his sister Persis Anna Wright (1907-1978). Lee and Marie were married soon after this photo was taken, 6 August 1943. (Photo and wedding were both in Albany, Oregon, USA.) Lee had been in Army ROTC at Oregon State College (I threw in that detail for Scott Lee, since he has a thing about the Beavers ;-) and at this time he was on active duty with the Army Corps of Engineers, stationed in North Carolina. He had driven across the country to Oregon (over 3000 miles/5000 km) to marry Marie, and drove back across the country to North Carolina with her so he could return to duty. They enjoyed a few months of married life in NC before he was shipped overseas. At that point Marie returned to family in Oregon, with no assurance she would ever see her husband again. And they didn't see each other again for three years while he served in the Pacific until the war ended. But it worked out okay--they were married 67 years before Lee passed away in 2010.

Comments

Thank you Lloyd for sharing such a great photo. Your uncle Lee is so tall and handsome, and they all have beautiful smiles. Scott Lee is wonderful with photos, and if you ever wanted the photo without the power pole—bet he could remove it from the photo.

Answer 14

During WWII my great-uncle, Dale Omelia Allison (1903-1978), and his nephew and my uncle, John Allison Rammel (1922-1988), both served in the military.

A photo of a newspaper article is in my family history files that provides a photo of both of them.

Comments

Interesting they both made the same paper on the same day.

Answer 15

My grandfather Matthew Jerome Maher Jr. loved uniforms. He was 16 when he doctored his birth certificate so he could enlist in the Army during WW1. He was a bugler and served in France. After the war he worked as a carpenter, was a captain in the volunteer fire department and a policeman. He died at age 27 in an accident.

Comments

Thank you Kathy for sharing such a fabulous photo of your grandfather Matthew Maher. He is so young and handsome in his WWI uniform, and the flag in the background adds so much to the photo.

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Quite a list of accomplishments for one that died so young.

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Thanks, he was quite a guy. His father even built the house the family lived in. And all the other houses on that street, too. I wish he'd lived long enough for me to meet him, but my father was 5 when his dad died.

Answer 16

This is my father with some buddies during WWII on Guam - 1945.

Lits is responsible for keeping my father applied to his trigonometry extension course taken while he was on Guam. That in turn led to Dad graduating from HS on his return from the war and eventually getting a Masters in math. Dad turned out to be an actual rocket scientist - he designed guidance systems for space shots in the 60's and 70's.

Comments

High School Trigenometry + beer party on a tropical island + Master's degree in Math = Rocket Scientist. No surprises there.

Answer 17

Stanley, Ted, and Joe Wierzbicki (Now Wier).

Stanley, the eldest, joined the Navy in 1937 as a medic. He was aboard the USS Wright on the day of the Pearl Harbor attack and was there to see the devastating aftermath of the attack. His LST served in Gaudalcanal, the Invasion of Guam, The Blockade of Rabaul, and the Battle of Leyte. He was promoted to Chief Pharmacist Assistant, Chief Petty Officer. 

Ted, the middle brother, served in the European Theatre. He was the one injured. He manned an anti-aircraft gun when a shell exploded close to him. 

Joe also served the European theatre. He and Ted were Technicians.

All three brothers retired from the Navy after 20 years of service. 

Answer 18

This photo shows my father-in-law, Egon Petersen (1940-2019) as young recruit of the German Bundeswehr in the barracks of Neumünster, Schleswig-Holstein, Deutschland in 1958.

He was stationed there for 18 months as a conscript.

Comments

My OCD is kicking in... straighten your cap, soldier.

Answer 19

This is my great-grandfather:

As can be read he has earned the M.C. Later, after the war he would move to South Africa where I live today

I don't know much about his military career, I do now he flew for the Royal Flying Core in the 10th West Yorkshire Regiment, earn the military cross and I think a bar, he flew in WW1, I believe he served from 1914 - 1921, a lot of this must of have been when he was in France.

Comments

He "earned the MC." ? Not sure I understand...

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The Military Cross (MC) is the third-level (second-level pre-1993) military decoration awarded to officers and (since 1993) other ranks of the British Armed Forces, and formerly awarded to officers of other Commonwealth countries.

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Thank you for the information on the Military Cross. Now I know.

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No worries, Bryan,

I just it helps you in the future.

F.

Answer 20

This is a photo of my 2x Great Grand Uncle, Edward James Ramsay in his WWI military uniform. He served overseas from June 8th, 1918 to March 6th, 1919. He was honorably discharged on March 31st, 1919.

Comments

He was ready for the cold weather.