My grandfather on my mother's side passed away when I️ was young. He lost his legs in WWII, but I️ never knew much more than that, and didn't know if I️ should ask.
My brother is tracking family genealogy and was talking with my grandmother, who is 100 btw! She was telling him all about it, and many other amazing things.
Back in the war, they were never officially instructed to do this, but it was common knowledge amongst the soldiers that if you get hit with missiles or artillery, to throw your rifle as far away as you can, because the pain is so excruciating that it was common for soldiers to shoot themselves to end the pain.
My grandfather was in France at the time, and was resting while leaning against a tank. That tank was hit with an anti-tank missile, blowing the legs off my grandfather. He immediately threw his rifle as far as he could, remembering what he was told. Lying there in pain, he started crawling back to his rifle so that he could shoot himself. By the Grace of God, he wasn't able to make it, so he lived to come home.
I️ remember sitting on his lap when I️ was young, and I miss him so much. He died before I️ got much older. I️ always wondered what had happened, but this just makes me love him and appreciate him so much more.
My other grandfather, on my dad's side, also served. He made a life of it. I️ found out at his funeral a couple years ago about many missions he had never talked about. He was all over during WWII, he was also in Korea, the Philippines, Guam. He was in the Arctic Circle at Camp Century, which was a cover for a project where the US Military was building underground missile silos to defend ourselves against Russia and other forces (turned out that the glaciers shifted too much to make a silo last more than 2 years, so it was abandoned). He even spent time on top the White House as a sniper covering for JFK!
My brother also recently traced our family back to men who fought in the Civil War.
I️ just look back and think about what they have gone through and I️ can't imagine being the men they had to be. I️ am so proud of my family. My dad served in the Air Force, and I️ had the pleasure of serving in the Army, I️ was in Iraq in '04.
I️ don't know what is in store for America, but I️ know we are currently at war, and I️ hope I️ can continue to be the soldier this country needs.
Thanks for reading, I️ just had to share this and I don't know anyone else who would appreciate it.
I have an ancestor that fought for Washington and was at Valley Forge. He was a drummer. He had several drums shot in the line of duty. The first three drums were replaced by the Patriot forces. But, all subsequent drums that were shot, he had to replace himself. If I remember the story, there were four more. I think the drums more than likely saved his life and it also shows how close to the action he was. He was only a young teenager at the time.
I have another ancestor that was in the Durham boat that crossed the Delaware with Washington. His father came from Europe to escape religious persecution. There are some amazing stories out there if we take the time to dig them out.
I don't live far from where that boat crossed. Pretty cool stories. It is amazing, our history, and especially what our young could do generations ago. I would like to get back into it some day. I have some civil war ancestors, and, if the people who I linked trees with did the research proper, it says I am descended from the Mayflower - a trouble maker, of course haha.
Mayflower troublemakers you say.... the apple did not fall too far from the tree.
Doing proper research on these trees is time consuming. I did it for awhile and then life got in the way. Too many people just post links to their trees without verifying that the links are valid. I have one in my tree, a civil war vet, that I cannot find any public records to back up the information others are claiming. Therefore, I did not run with the information and post the info. My tree stops with that particular line right there. I think the guy was raised by an older sibling because the parents died. The only thing I could find was a census record - but the information was possibly inaccurate as well. Other than that, I have come up with goose eggs. Maybe someday I will jump back in.
If you are implying I am a troublemaker, you are not far off - I have no problem calling out bullshit when I see it.
I am ashamed to say before I was awake I bought into a lot of that curiosity & submitted my DNA. Only for that reason do I assume the tree links are correct.
I do have to say, something I find quite interesting about all of it.... Family search has much information on my father side. But ancestry is completely quiet about it. I find that rather odd. Until I consider that 1 of the richest families in Germany has my uncommon last name. I truly think they are suppressing the information.