Question of the Week: Who are the veterans in your family tree? [closed]

Question

Who are the veterans in your family tree?

Please tell us about them with an answer below. You could also use the question image to share your answer with friends and family on social media.

By the way, have you visited our Military and War project?

Comments

My grandfather Vernon roby served in the army in the Vietnam war as a civil engineer. He built bridges. I always remembered him when my high school had the veterans assembly. To honor the veterans who served.

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My great grand father William John Metcalf  service number VX12934 unit AIF 2/5 died 19/04/41 from Echuca is buried in Athens Greece.

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I find it rather sad that the postings about family and people themselves who served during times of conflict are rated. The more screens of answers one scrolls through the fewer the votes for each response to the question, especially if the person who served is not American!

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Upvotes are not ratings.  It also has nothing to do with someone being American, or not.

edited to correct typo

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And what does that mean? Why are they called votes?

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Because that's how the platform  for g2g is set to operate.

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Also, Clare, I think the later posts get fewer "likes" because general interest has moved on to the next topic, because we genealogists are notorious for short attention spans due to chasing after shiny things, and following rabbits down holes.  (Research is probably the only thing that truly holds the attention of many of us.)

There is not any one "best answer" to threads such as this one (and it really should say that in the opening post, just as the weekend chats do), but some people's stories may resonate with some people more than others.  An example would be -- tell the tale of a young person who lied about their age to enlist, and died, and I will give that post a "like" (aka upvote), or a tale about someone who lied to enlist in one war, claiming to be older than they were, then lied about their age in the next war, claiming to be younger than they were -- and I will likely give that post a "like".

The problem for me is -- the subject doesn't "grab" me the way it did the first couple of times, because it gets recycled on military-related dates.  (That, plus I can only take so much heart-rending in any one day - and these threads usually hold many a heart-breaking story.)

To answer, again, the point about Americans ---- my family veterans are my brothers, my maternal uncle, my mother, my father, my paternal grandfather and his two brothers (one of whom died during the Great War), at least one maternal cousin (who suffered terribly from shell shock post world war two (we now call that PTSD)), my paternal grandmother and her brother (he died within days of being taken prisoner by the Germans in the Great War pretty much within hours of landing in France), my paternal-maternal great-grandfather, who was a career soldier, serving his Monarchs in England, South Africa, and Ireland.  Then there was my maternal grand-uncle, who did not enlist - because he was "elected" to stay at home and care for the wife and children of one of his brothers (said brother left behind a small child and a very pregnant wife), while that brother and two others enlisted.  Of the three who went overseas, one came home.

There are many other cousins, and in-laws, who also served.

My military family is Australian, English and Scottish, not American -- although my paternal grandmother's half-sister's second husband was an American GI, and she emigrated from England as a War Bride.

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I give every reply an upvote for these, my extended family and by that I mean up to 5th cousins and further removed have fought in so many wars. I had "cousins" face off against each other (well not literally but they were on different "sides".)

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Thank you for your comprehesive response, Melanie. I do find it all rather unfortunate, however, Everyone matters!

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I do too, Will!

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My grandfather James Isaac Enox, 1918 was in the Army, my uncles, Kenneth P. Enox and James Quincy Enox, 1940’s  were in the Navy, my father, Eugene St Patrick Buxton, 1948 was in the army, my Husband, David A. Burgess, 1975 was in the Air Force my nephews, Christopher Neff 1980’s and David Dickerson, 1980’s were in the Army, my son, Kyle W Burgess 2009 was in the Air Force.

Answer 1

William James Page (abt. 1886 - 1961), https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Page-12283

Husband of my great aunt, Infantry Captain served from 1914-18, wounded at Ypres 1915, gassed and wounded at the Somme 1916, seriously wounded near Arras 1917, lost both legs 1918 as a result of his injuries.

His son John Humphrey Page MC OBE CB (1923 - 2011) https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Page-12285

Major-General John Page, who died aged 88, was awarded a Military Cross in Korea and, after retiring from the Army, dedicated himself to a wide range of charitable work.He was 'mentioned in dispatches' on 30 September 1958 while serving in Cyprus. A soldier mentioned in dispatches (or despatches) (MID) is one whose name appears in an official report written by a superior officer and sent to the high command, in which is described the soldier's gallant or meritorious action in the face of the enemy. He was awarded the O.B.E. Order of the British Empire in 1967. On retiring from the Army he was appointed CB; Companion of the Most Honourable Order of the Bath on 11 June 1977.

There is a sad connection between these 2 Griffith brothers who both served at the Somme.

Llewelyn Wyn Griffith (1890 - 1977) https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Griffith-8524

Part of the 38th (Welsh) Division during the First World War, Captain in the 15th Royal Welch Fusiliers, Novelist, most known for his memoir, "Up to Mametz", Well-known broadcaster: Founder-member of the Round Britain Quiz team, Career civil servant, rose to a senior post in the Inland Revenue, Vice chairman of the Arts Council of Great Britain, Awarded CBE, OBE, Croix de Guerre and was MID.

His younger brother Watcyn Emil Owen Griffith (1897 - 1916) https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Griffith-8526

Watcyn Griffith died during the assault on Mametz Wood on 10 July 1916. He has no known grave, but is commemorated on Pier 4 Face A of the Thiepval Memorial near Arras and Bapaume, France.

Answer 2

Well for one thing, I am a veteran, both of my brothers,. My father, his two brothers.  I could list hundreds of them but I won't.  Lets just say that my family was involved in the call to duty.

Comments

Thank you for your service, Kevin.

Answer 3

Although many of my direct ancestors and their siblings and cousins of all levels were veterans, the most important one to me is my husband, George Connolly, who died 5 months ago but it is still as raw as yesterday, now as I am contemplating the first Veterans Day that he is not here to commemorate - it was always a very important holiday for him.

Comments

This will be my third without my beautiful Veteran husband, so I share your sorrow, and will pray for you on the 11th.  God Bless.  Linda

Answer 4

Mother, father, grandmother, grandfather, husband, father-in-law, great grandfather etc etc.

Answer 5

Me, an uncle [[Brown-110610|Roy Allen Brown]], my great grandfather [Brown-47047|William Edward Brown], my 2nd great grandfather [Hunt-19615|Thomas Aaron Hunt]

Comments

Thank you for your service, Luther.

Answer 6

My maternal Grandfather was an Engineer with the British Army, somehow came to Canada (work?) and joined the Canadian Army's Corps of Engineers for WWI.  He was injured at Vimy or Mons (gassed and shrapnel in his lungs) and was mustered out as a Sergeant-Major.  I have no idea how to trace his military service as I found half a dozen men with the same name:  WILLIAM DOUGLAS.

He was called back up into duty for WWII as an Instructor at the Connaught Ranges in Ottawa.  It's my understanding he won many shooting awards.  Could that be what he taught, or was it engineering related?

He brought a young Cape Breton Highlander home to dinner one weekend (name of GORDON MacDONALD), and this lad later became engaged to William's daughter, JEANNIE.  

I am a result of that union and would dearly love to find out the entire story of my Grandfather.  Unfortunately, he passed when I was an infant.   Linda

Answer 7

Known veterans in my tree were:

• my father in law Egon Petersen (German Bundeswehr)
• my father Heinz Lewerenz, the paternal grandfather of my wife Gustav Petersen, the stepfather of my mother Josef Beumer and my paternal grandfather Martin Lewerenz (German Wehrmacht)
• my paternal grandfather Martin Lewerenz, the maternal grandfather of my mother Edmund Grabow (Reichsheer)

and a lot of cousins in the Bundeswehr, Wehrmacht, Reichswehr, Deutsches Heer and other ancestors during the centuries in the Reichsarmee and the Kaiserliche Armee.

Answer 8

I generally don't think of my family as being very militaristic (many of us are among the anti-war, pacifist types), but we have our fair share of veterans in the lot. My grandfather, William Angus Koehnline was in the Naval Reserve in WWII, as seen here:

His father, I.J. Koehnline, was a member of the 324th Field Artillery in the US Army in WWI. We're lucky enough to have a large collection of his letters home during the war, describing his experiences & travels through Germany & France. Here he is in uniform:

I.J.'s brother also went into the army for WWI, & came back with very severe PTSD, as I have written about before.

I wrote about my great-grandfather J. Lawrence "Lorry" Jurgensen for last week's photo of the week; he was another Navy man in WWII.

A handful of other relatives were veterans, but the one I'll end with was a great-great-granduncle, Joseph Russell Neer Monroe, who enlisted in the Eighth Iowa Cavalry, Company F in the Civil War. His brother, my gggf, wrote quite a bit about his life & service. From his account I post the following:

"In October of 1863, they marched from Louisville, Kentucky to Nashville, Tennessee.

On the Northwestern railroad, ninety miles out from Nashville, they went into winter quarters, but not to rest. All that winter they were kept busy scouting, and fighting guerrillas They took many prisoners during the winter and escorted them to the prison at Nashville.

When spring opened up, they fell in with General Sherman’s army and took up their march south. They struck the rebels in force at Dalton, Georgia and from there on, it was almost continuous skirmishing and fighting the whole of the way from there on to Atlanta, that being the place where they made their last great effort to annihilate Sherman’s army before he could make his famous march to the sea.

Joe was in the battles of White Pine Church, Buzzard’s Roost, Lost Mountain, Ringold, Franklin, and two other battles while on that raid. He was also in the battle of Cassville, Georgia, and at that place had a part in one of the grandest and most daring cavalry charges that were made during the civil war."

I would post more of my gggf's account, but I feel I would be taking up way too much space (already taking up a lot). When I create Joe's profile, which I have yet to do, I'll be sure to include the whole of J.A.'s writings, which describes in great detail Joe's experiences, later being captured & imprisoned by the Confederates. The rest of his life was quite interesting as well.

Comments

Thomas,  great pictures, it is the stories that make our ancestors real!

Answer 9

My uncle, Charles Walter (Jack) Griscom Jr.

Enlisted in the US Marines in 1940 and discharged in 1946. Joined the South Carolina National Guard and was activated for Korea. Awarded the Silver Star Medal, two Bronze Star Medals, three Purple Heart Medals, and the Combat Infantry Badge. During the Vietnam War, he was awarded two Bronze Star Medals and two Purple Heart Medals.

He is buried in Arlington National Cemetery

Answer 10

My father-in-law, Frank David Parks, served in the army during WWII.  He participated as a heavy mortar soldier in the Battle of the Bulge.  He will turn 100 years old next July if he continues to live.

Comments

Amazing! Best wishes and happy Veterans Day to your dad!

Answer 11

My father, Raymond Leonard Anthony, was a World War II survivor who was shot during the war and he subsequently received a Purple Heart designation.  He died in 2010 of unrelated causes.

Answer 12

Lets see, Me (Navy - Viet Nam), My cousin Lawrence Muller (Navy, Viet Nam), my cousin Bill Lamberton (Army - Viet Nam), My Father, James Lamberton (Army Air Corps - WW II) my Uncle Bill Lamberton (Army - WW II), a British cousin, Maj Arthur Dover (British Army - WW II) my Grandfather, Roy Stetson Far (Army Engineers WW I), and then it goes back to the Civil War, the Revolution, and the French and Indian War. My Stetson and Dana families were forever riding off to Alarms in 1775-76. (They are all in WT)

The Stetsons even fought in King Phillips War against the native tribes around Cohassett, Massachusetts.

Enough vets?

Comments

Thank you for your service, Roy.

Answer 13

These are my direct ancestors who participated in the Revolutionary War:

1. Jacob Deck. Private, Virginia Militia Line
2. Danza Metcalf, Private, North Carolina Militia
3. Alexander Moore,  Private, North Carolina Militia
4. Robert Reed, Private, North Carolina Militia
5. Alexander Cathey, Private, North Carolina Line
6. Ambrose Reese, Private, Pennsylvania Line
7. John Bradley, Private, North Carolina Militia
8. William Patterson, Private, North Carolina Militia
9. John Moore, Commissary Officer, North Carolina Militia
10. William Ruben Briant/Bryant, Private, North Carolina Line
11. James Dillard, Lt., Captain, South Carolina Militia
12. William Reid, Private, Virginia & South Carolina Militia
13. John Runyon,  Private, 24^th Regiment, Virginia Line
14. Gaspar Clubb,  Private, North Carolina Loyalist         

I have two War of 1812 direct ancestors, six Confederate ancestors in the direct line, and my favorite: My dad, who served in WW II in the Pacific Theatre (Naval Air Corps) as a gunner, navigator, and bombardier a PBY-5A. He was also in the US Army during the Korean War.

Answer 14

There are dozens, going back through history, but just to highlight a few: John B. Finster Sr (Finster-51), my 4th Great-grandfather, American Revolution; William Lynn (also spelled "Linn"), (Lynn-3361), my 5th Great-grandfather, War of 1812; George Finster (Finster-89) my Great-great-grandfather, Civil War (Union); Abram Hughes (Hughes-23053), my Grandfather's brother, died one week before the Armistice in 1918, serving in the British Army, World War I;  Daniel Hobart Rapp (Rapp-1434), my wife's Grandfather, World War I; All of Daniel Rapp's sons, including my Father-in-Law Burl Rapp (Rapp-1433), World War II; Ed Hughes (Hughes-23031) my uncle, World War II; myself, VietNam.

Comments

Thank you for your service, David.

Answer 15

On my father's side, my father served as a Captain in the U.S. Army and my grandfather as a Colonel, commanding a field artillery battalion in World War II and serving as an assistant division commander of a reserve division after the war  I have lots of ancestors that served in earlier wars.  One that I grew up I hearing about was my third great uncle Samuel Culbertson (1838-1864) - https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Culbertson-1157 - who served in the 5th Iowa Cavalry in the Civil War and died at Andersonville.

My mother's family - particularly the von Oppens, the von Roeders, the von Itzenplitz's, the von Borckes and others - were Prussian officers for generations, so I am related to most of the German military families.   On that side, I grew up hearing stories about relatives that died fighting in Russia (as well as lots of other things).  

It made joint family events interesting.  My paternal and maternal families would tell stories about World War II, but from different perspectives.

P.S. I tell my wife, whose families immigrated in the second half of the 19th century from Germany, that her ancestors probably emigrated to get away from mine.

Answer 16

My brother Fred Brewster  And myself George Brewster. And our grandfather James S Brewster.

Comments

Thank you for your service, George.

Answer 17

Veterans in my family- My father, my grandfather and his brothers. Several cousins, uncles and Ancestors in Rev. war , Civil war etc.  Alot of my ancestors came in colonial times.

Answer 18

Two of my uncles flew in the world wars. 

Gordon Jennings was a fighter pilot in WW1 and flew a SE5A. He survived at least one crash, but was always very reticent about his time in the RFC.

He died in 1979.

Douglas Jennings  (Gordon's half brother) was a navigator / bomb aimer in WW2.

He flew in Lancaster bombers with 57 squadron RAF and later with 9 squadron, flying similar missions to the more famous 617 Damn Busters, dropping the Tallboy 12,000lb bombs. He was shot down over Belgium and, with the aid of the Resistance, evaded capture for 4 months until the invading allied armies arrived.

A full account of his exploits can be read in his autobiography Jump or Die

He passed away in 2015

Answer 19

There are a few in the immediate family and recent past; my father 5 years WW2, my three brothers in various branches post WW2, my father’s brother WW2, and way back to great uncles in WW1.  I served close to 25 years in the Infantry.

Comments

Thank you for your service, Colin.

Answer 20

My Father (Samuel W, Smith 1914-1992) and his 3 brothers who all fought in WW2 and survived