Who here had a relative in the First World War?

[Javaman]

I had 2 uncles and a cousin.

One in the US Navy. One in the US Army. (He got gassed, but lived to tell about it.) And an Italian cousin that fought for Italy.

I honor them.

"All wars are miserable, only the weapons change."
-Unknown

Correction: Great Uncles.

[Swede]

1. I had grand uncles and cousins in "the Great War".

My grama would talk about them. Some of them never came back.

[NWHarkness]

30. My grandfather was in the army

But he didn't go overseas. The army sent him to Washington state to work as a lumberjack.

[bikebloke]

2. Grandfather

He, too was gassed. But he died young from it afterwards, like many of them. Not long after my father was born.

[sinkingfeeling]

3. My only great-uncle did not come back from WWI.

[sinkingfeeling]

4. Duplicate after message that post didn't happen.

[MineralMan]

5. My grandfather was in the Spanish American War.

Uff da! I'm old.

[Xipe Totec]

6. My wife's grandfather

Mine were busy fighting in the Mexican Revolution.

[Hell Hath No Fury]

7. Great uncles --

three of them, all made it out alive. All war is horrible but I think the 1st was especially so. :(

[Lasher]

8. Both grandfathers were in the Army

One of them manned a tripod mounted machine gun. He had nightmares about it until the day he died in his eighties.

[DefenseLawyer]

9. My grandfather was in WWI

In the Army in France.

[Cleita]

10. My father, who is deceased now.

He told me he was lucky because his job was to be behind the front lines so he missed a lot of the action and gassing. He loved Paris though when they got there.

[peace13]

11. Grandfather....

He came home. I always remember him as a quiet guy.

[FredStembottom]

12. My beloved step-Grandpa.

He was the best. Especially to my Father who always felt like he was rescued by this wonderful WWI vet. Sometimes a step-parent is a dream come true.:patriot:

[wryter2000]

13. Father in law

I have his victory medal. I never knew him. He died when my husband was quite young.

He drove an ambulance and was never injured as far as I know (very fortunate guy.)

[old mark]

14. My grandfather was killed in WWI. He was a Corporal in the Imperial German Army,

an enemy soldier, whose wife and son (my dad) emigrated to New York in 1920, lived in Brooklyn and then moved to Southern PA. My dad now lives in Texas - he will be 93 on January 1st.
One of my brothers and I are US Army vets from the '60's and '70's.

I have almost no information about my grandfather, other than his name and rank and that he died in 1918.

mark
former Sp4, 1/504 PIR

[guitar man]

15. My Grandfather and Great Uncle

My mom's dad was in the Army medical corps during WW1, got hit with mustard gas but lived. My great uncle that I was named after was in the 15th field artillery regiment.

:patriot:

[no_hypocrisy]

16. My SO has an Iron Cross his grandfather received.

All soldiers were and are victims of their governments.

[closeupready]

18. As are their wives and children.

n/t

[proud2BlibKansan]

17. My grandfather

[SIMPLYB1980]

19. One of my Great Grandfathers was.

He died when I was young before I ever had a chance to talk to him about it.

[havocmom]

20. three great-uncles, one of whom was disabled from 'Mustard Gas'

My granddad got a letter from the government, just about this time of year. ;) Granny handed him the envelope and said, 'Mr. Weed, it seems you will be going away for a spell' but he worked at the newspaper, and knew things had changed. He was one of the first in town to see the wire that the war was over.

His Uncle Sam sent a note, within a few days, to disregard previous message. Granny smiled.

[bigtree]

21. Granddad Searcy

[mrcheerful]

22. My moms Grand Father marched with Sherman through Georgia

to the sea. One of the neighbors that lived across the road from me when I was a kid was a dough boy, he served as a mine detector that went ahead of the tanks clearing land mines. He often complained that the electronic equipment was useless that the army gave him to find mines with. From some of his stories I learned that it was one of the most dangerous duties during the war. He passed away in the 90's at the age of 98, he was 17 when WW1 broke out and lied about his age in order to serve.

[RamboLiberal]

44. My Great Grandfather was with Sherman's Army as well

Though he got wounded in Georgia before Atlanta & was out of the Civil War after that. His unit - 28th Pennsylvania had quite a history. Antietam, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, Lookout Mountain & Sherman's march among their battles and history.

Kind of neat to see his name engraved on PA monumnent at Gettysburg and in his home PA county of Cambria.

As I mentioned my grandfather was in WWI and unfortunately my grandparents lost their only son on a B-24 in a training crash in Nevada in Dec 44.

I always wish I could've met my late-uncle Chuck - sounded like a neat guy and someone who shared some interests I had & could've taught me a lot.

[kwassa]

53. My great-grandfather was also at Gettysburg with a Pennsylvania regiment

though he was from the First Maine Cavalry, he was being used as a courier with the 149th Pennysylvania under Colonel Roy Stone.

[xxqqqzme]

23. my paternal grandfather

He was in France. He was so unimpressed, he said everything he ever needed to see he could find in the United States. The only time, I know of, he ever left Indiana again was to travel to California for my wedding in '68.

[Laelth]

24. I had a great-grandfather who was an Army doctor. n/t

:dem:

-Laelth

[neverforget]

25. My grandfather was an Military Policeman who, at one time, guarded

General Pershing.

[slackmaster]

26. My grandfather went to prison because his application for CO status during WWI was denied

A kangaroo court sentenced 42 members of non-violent Christian sects to life in prison. They really were given no chance to defend their positions. The sentence was reduced to 25 years on appeal.

President Wilson pardoned them all after the end of the war.

My stefather, an uncle, and my other grandfather all served in World War II.

[Captain Hilts]

27. Several! Two in the RN, two British Army, one in the Fighting 69th. nt

[liberal N proud]

28. Step-Grandfather

[unblock]

29. my grandfather. fled russia as a kid and lied about his age so he could fight for the u.s.

[ddeclue]

31. My paternal grandfather did.

[shraby]

32. Grandpa was.

[MilesColtrane]

33. Both my granddads were doughboys in France.

[bluesmail]

34. My father was. Of course he's gone now.

He'd be over 110. I have nothing good to say about him except he loved animals and wasn't a racist. Daddy Daddy You Bastard I'm Through. Sylvia Plath

[hfojvt]

35. ignored

Sort of. Officially my grandfather is a WWI vet, but he never fought. He was finishing his training in Washington when the war ended. Of course, as a German American whose patriarch came from Alsace, I sorta wish we had fought WWI against the French instead of against the Germans. I have some other relatives who fought in WWI. When I visited a German village there was a monument to their war dead. Everybody listed there was a relative of mine on my mom's side. There are also plenty of distant relatives on my dad's side who fought in WWI on both the American and the German side.

[eShirl]

36. My grandfather was about to be shipped off, but they called off the war at the last minute.

They even had the goodbye banquet and everything.

He got discharged, bought 2 army surplus horses and sold one on the way home.

Then he got married, raised a family, and his oldest son was in the Battle of the Bulge.

[saracat]

37. I had a great uncle in the Army.He was in France I believe.

On my Dad's side of the family we have folks who have served in the Army sice the revolutionary war. My father and his brother were in WW11. I don't think my grandfather served in WW1. I think he may have been too old.

[Feron]

38. My great grandfather served in the Army.

He was gassed, survived, but had a chronic respiratory problem for the rest of his life due to being gassed. My grandmother said that the cold weather would make it worse and he would suffer greatly in the winter.

He died at age 51 in part due to his war injury.

[ProgressiveProfessor]

39. Every male in my family foing back generations has been in the military

My wife and I had daughters, but one of them is in uniform now.

[jxnmsdemguy65]

40. My grandfather ...

was with the Louisiana National Guard and participated in the Pancho Villa Expedition. He was set to go to WW1, but contracted Spanish Flu and didn't go. He recovered from the flu, so here I am. The best illustration of 'existence being but a thread' in my family background.

[RamboLiberal]

41. My grandfather was in Europe as part of US Army

Got gassed. Also worked in the military hospital. Lived for a time with a French family & learned to speak French. Wish I had gotten more info from him before he died when I was 15. I should get around to researching his military record & see if I can find what unit he was in & their involvement in WWI

Had a chance last year when in Kansas City to go to their fantastic WWI museum.

[alittlelark]

42. Grandfather and 2 great-uncles.

[Elwood P Dowd]

43. Grandfather and great uncle.

Neither of them saw any real combat though.

[Bluerthanblue]

45. Great Uncle was "Shell-shocked" and died in an institution and G.Grandfather

was 'Gassed' and died at home with his family a few years after his return.
I'd always thought 'gas' killed quickly- my father never forgot his Grandfathers worsening struggle to breathe.

We don't seem to learn...

peace~

[WhoDoYouTrust]

46. My Great Uncle Alex, a Canadian Soldier...

was killed in The Battle of Vimy Ridge in 1917 one day after his seventeenth birthday. Three thousand, five hundred and ninety eight Canadians lost their lives in that battle.

The Canadian government sent me a commemorative copy of first page of the official memorial and a copy of the page with his name listed.

[Greyhound]

47. Both great grand fathers, one American one British. n/t

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

48. I had two - both French soldiers

My great uncle was a Lieutenant in the French army and part of the French/British expeditionary force sent to the Balkans to assist the Serbian Army. He was shot between the eyes by a Bulgarian soldier. My grandfather on my mother's side was a sailor in the French Navy who survived the war.

[Zoigal]

49. My dad

was in WWI. Fought in the trenches in France. Exposed to gas. Survived but died at an
early age as a result of the exposure. Grandfather in Spanish American War. Uncles, brother, husband, cousins, etc in WWII, Korean Conflict, Vietnam. Am flying the flag in their memories as
well as all the rest.... z

[redwitch]

50. "No Man's Land"(The Green Fields of France) by Eric Bogle

Well how do you do, Private William McBride
Do you mind if I sit here down by your grave side?
A rest for awhile in the warm summer sun,
I've been walking all day and I'm nearly done.
And I see by your gravestone that you were only 19
when you joined the glorious fallen in 1916.
Well I hope you died quick and I hope you died clean
Or, William McBride, was it slow and obscene?

Did they beat the drum slowly?
did they sound the pipes lowly?
Did the rifles fire o'er ye as they lowered you down?
Did the bugle sing 'The Last Post' in chorus?
Did the pipes play 'The Flowers o' the Forest'?

And did you leave a wife or a sweetheart behind?
In some faithful heart is your memory enshrined
And though you died back in 1916
To that loyal heart are you always 19.
Or are you just a stranger without even a name
Forever enclosed behind some glass-pane
In an old photograph torn and tattered and stained
And fading to yellow in a brown leather frame?

Did they beat the drum slowly?
did they sound the pipes lowly?
Did the rifles fire o'er ye as they lowered you down?
Did the bugle sing 'The Last Post' in chorus?
Did the pipes play 'The Flowers o' the Forest'?

Well the sun it shines down on these green fields of France,
The warm wind blows gently and the red poppies dance.
The trenches are vanished now under the plough
No gas, no barbed wire, no guns firing now.
But here in this graveyard it is still No Man's Land
And the countless white crosses in mute witness stand.
To man's blind indifference to his fellow man
And a whole generation that was butchered and downed.

Did they beat the drum slowly?
did they sound the pipes lowly?
Did the rifles fire o'er ye as they lowered you down?
Did the bugle sing 'The Last Post' in chorus?
Did the pipes play 'The Flowers o' the Forest'?

And I can't help but wonder now Willie McBride
Do all those who lie here know why they died?
Did you really believe them when they told you the cause?
Did you really believe them that this war would end war?
But the suffering, the sorrow, the glory, the shame -
The killing, the dying - it was all done in vain.
For Willie McBride, it's all happened again
And again, and again, and again, and again.

Did they beat the drum slowly?
did they sound the pipe lowly?
Did the rifles fire o'er ye as they lowered you down?
Did the bugle sing 'The Last Post' in chorus?
Did the pipes play 'The Flowers o' the Forest'?

[MUAD_DIB]

51. I had a great uncle in WWI, and uncle in WWII, my father and another uncle

served in the Korean War, and my great great grandfather served under Phil Sheridan during the civil war.

[InvisibleTouch]

52. A grandfather. n/t

[kwassa]

54. My grandfather was a tourist in Europe when the war broke out

and had to leave, but he was too old to serve. My other grandfather was being trained as a air cadet when the war ended, and never made it over.

[Darth_Kitten]

55. My grandpa fought in the First World War.............

He fought for the Austro-Hungarian empire. In the second World War, he was in the reserves in Canada.

Apparently, my grandpa's best friend threw himself on a grenade to save my grandpa.

[Adsos Letter]

56. My Great Uncle Kenneth was an artilleryman in The Great War....

and was gassed, and lived to tell the tale (into his 90's actually).

My wife's Grandfather was also in the war, in the medical corps.; served as a stretcher-bearer at the front.

A very gentle, loving soul; he spoke of the war to his family on only two occasions, according to their accounting.

[Jankyn]

57. Three great-uncles in the "Great War"...

...a grandfather and step-grandfather in WWII (grandpa was on Omaha Beach and didn't make it off; step-grandpa was with Gen. Mark Clark in Italy and never could talk much about it)...three uncles in Korea and Vietnam...two cousins in Gulf One...a cousin and a nephew in Gulf Two.

(If you wanna know about the Civil War, the Mexican-American War, the War of 1812, I have to look up the relationships, but the first ancestor we had in the U.S. was an Alsatian mercenary for the Brits who deserted during the Revolution and headed for the backwoods. Did right well for himself, too.)

[ProudDad]

58. My Grandfather was and that's why I'm pissed about the change...

The USAmerikan Empire changed Armistice Day, a day to commemorate the sudden outbreak of PEACE on 11/11/19 at 11:11am...90 years ago...

to the glorification of warriors and war now called "veteran's day" (but only here in the uncivilized USAmerikan Empire)...

They did this during the cold war -- at the same time they stuck "under god" up our asses...

Just to tweak the noses of the "Russian Communists"...

What a petty empire...

But then they all are...

[dragonlady]

59. My favorite uncle

He lied about his age to get into the army. We have a large framed photo of him in his uniform with the large-brimmed hat. He didn't talk too much about the war, but one thing he did say was that he woke up in his foxhole one morning and found he was sharing it with a dead German soldier. When the time came to retire and get Social Security, the only proof of his birth that he could offer was his army discharge papers (he'd been born in Sweden), so he retired earlier than when he actually turned 65. That was fortunate, because he had a few good years of retirement before he died at a relatively early age. He was a union member and the only Democrat in the family at that time, by the way. This generation has followed his lead.

[hileeopnyn8d]

60. Sort of...

In? Yes. Fought? Not in a uniform, just for his life.

My Grandfather was either marched out or fled Turkey (Ottoman Armenia) in 1915. He came to the US, and registered for the draft in June of 1918. For that draft you had to be 21, they lowered it to 18 in September of that same year.

He never got called up. I wish I knew more about him, or for that matter more about his life before he came here, but he died when my Dad was young.

[Sabien]

61. Great Uncle Frank

served during WW1, tragically perished in a housefire after he was discharged.

[LaydeeBug]

62. Yup. My great grandfather. We have had men in each war since the American Revolution, except the

Civil War. I can't find anything on that. But I am a daughter of the American Revolution. I should go to DC and join. ;)

[Maestro]

63. I had two great grand uncles

who were living in Ft. Worth, Texas at the time of deployment. Both made it back safely.

[RFKHumphreyObama]

64. Four of my great uncles fought in WW1

One of them never made it home. He died in France the year the war ended. He was my grandfather's favorite brother (my grandfather never served in WW1 as he was too young, being only twelve when the war ended).

May they all rest in peace. I will never forget them nor will I forget their sacrifice

[RagAss]

65. Grandfather ..