Obviously all ww1 vets are dead but in just wondering if you have any idea where they served during the war. My great grandfather was a ww1 vet and we can barely find almost anything about where he served or what unit he was in.

8 comments

  1. Great grandfather was a young 20 something year old from a rural tiny Southern town. Like his parents and siblings, he was illiterate. He got shipped off to France when the US finally joined the war. The story goes that while he was there, he found out just how many opportunities he was missing out on due to a lack of basic skills and education.

    When he came back, he told his girlfriend, that all of their children would graduate high school even if it ment he had to work multiple jobs. He was determined that the lack of education would not put another generation at a disadvantage. 12 out of 13 of their children ended up graduating high school.

    The only one who didn’t was his oldest son who dropped out his senior year to join the army during WW2. His father was so angry at him, he almost disowned him and scared the crap out of the other high school aged brothers so bad they waited to graduate before joining.

  2. My great great grandfather was a WW1 vet and we know his basic service record. We also know he got the Spanish Flu in France and they basically chucked him in a barn for a couple weeks and it was “survive or don’t” and then back to active service after whatever the quarantine was.

    We know he saw combat but not much specifics. We could probably find out more but my mom hasn’t done his specific genealogy yet.

  4. Not a whole lot honestly. My great grandfather was with the 5th Marines as part of the American Expeditionary Forces. I have his little service card which mentions a couple of the notable battles he was in. He was an OG devil dog. I have a portrait of him in uniform, one with his company at the Koblenz bridgehead just prior to the occupation of the Rhineland, and one with the entire regiment on the US Capital steps the following year. Personally, I don’t know much from his perspective, but I have read a couple books written by others from the time period.

  5. I have copies of my Great great great? Uncles letters home. Lucky for him his regiment didn’t get to Europe until the war was almost over. Other than a few “light” artillery strikes he didn’t see any action.

  6. My grandfather (born in Palermo Sicily) was drafted at the age of 22. As I’ve been told… he was drafted into the 332nd Army Regiment which fought on the Italian front.

    Would love to tell you some war hero stories… but he was a barber and didn’t get remotely close to a forward area.

    GIs needed their hair cut too I guess.

  7. I think I have some relatives that were in WW1. I wouldn’t want to know anything about their experience. A lot of my more recent relatives were/are in the military (grandfathers, uncle, cousin) and I will never ask any question about their military experience. 1 of my grandfathers died 2 years ago tomorrow. About all I know of his experience was that he was in the Air Force, and a few of the locations where he was stationed (just because my mom had to move with him).

  8. Moms Side: Grandpa’s uncle (and namesake) fought with the Connaught Rangers in Mesopotamia, he died there.

    Dad’s Side: Great Grandpa fought for the US in France shortly after immigrating here from Ireland.

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