From enlistment till death
While cleaning the attic I rediscovered the box containing the records of a relative of mine, sorry for the crap quality, had to take pics rather than scan as my scanner was deciding to be a pain, Plus we’re dealing with documents near on 100 years old.
Posted by Sim
On January 19th, 2010 under Unfiled.
Comments: 7
Comments
Comment from lex
Time: January 20, 2010, 11:03 pm
that’s pretty damned cool.
Comment from virgil xenophon
Time: January 21, 2010, 2:34 pm
As Lex said, neat–and very fortunate. Wonder how many other thousands of forgotten men who died in foreign climes have memorabelia moldering away in some distant relatives attic? The thought is very sad in a way….and only reinforces that old saying that “life is for the living” and that our time on this mortal coil is short and uncertain and that memories of one’s self are fleeting indeed.
Comment from Ron Snyder
Time: January 22, 2010, 5:15 am
That is great Sim.
Our family gathered up as much as we could find on our Dad about 15-20 years ago regarding his life and experience as a WWII Army Combat Infrantryman in the ETO. Wish we would have started 20 years earlier.
I remember Dad showing me photographs that he had taken when his unit liberated a few concentration camps, him on a hedgerow in Europe with a tommygun, a pistol he brought home, and other similar items. Much had been thrown away, or lost, by the time I got out of the service and appreciated those mementos more fully.
While I have physical possession of most of the exisiting memorabilia, we did have everything copied, scanned and distributed to a number of family members to ensure that what we do have will not be lost.
Hope our older relatives keep their promise and send me the things they have from Dad in WWII before they become lost or thrown away.
We also spoke with the combat friends that Dad had kept in touch with over the years (at least the ones that we knew of), with a similar request for information on their WWII experiences.
Lest we forget.
V/R
Comment from Sim
Time: January 22, 2010, 9:28 am
VX-
Not fortunate, moving houses just meant it took a while to find what box they were in.
If you read the last article his medals etc reside in the War Memorial while his paperwork is in the National Archives.
Ron-
As I’m the only one that’s shown an interest it’s written into my father and Nans will that it goes to me.
Comment from Ron Snyder
Time: January 22, 2010, 8:58 pm
Your point about having the issue addressed in a will was a good one. I had already named one of my nieces to receive all of the family items that I have collected. Items my siblings have will also be going to the same niece.
Comment from Kris, in New England
Time: January 23, 2010, 11:50 am
Sim – very nice indeed. I too am the only person in my family to have an interest in our archives. So they were given to me some time ago and what a mess they were in. It’s getting better little by little.
I do have a great great grandfather’s (there could be another great in there, I’m not sure) discharge papers from the Civil War; they are signed by Grant.
Comment from MajHarvey
Time: January 25, 2010, 2:17 am
A few years back I collected all my military papers – orders, awards, travel claims, discharge papers, etc. – into one big binder. Makes it much easier to access when/if needed. I also turned my military issue footlocker (do they still give these away?) into a repository of all my various memorabilia. Flags, cruise books, pictures, knives, photo albums, etc. go in there. In a small chest go the various trinkets – rings, currency, coins, etc.
This way, should one of my kids/grandkids ever take an interest, they will be readily available for future generations.
Write a comment