Did any of y'all have relatives/grandfathers who fought in WWI?

[Dan_San_Abbott]

Gentlemen:
My Father, Harry W. Abbott, was Electricians Mate, !st Class. enlisted inthe U.S.Navy in 1917, and volunteered for submarine service. He served on several F boats. After the War, he was a member of the prize crew that brought the German submarine UB117. They sailed from Brest, France to New York. I have never understood this, He had learned to fly before he joined the Navy??
Blue skies,
Dan-San

[karrart]

Yep. My mom's dad, Simon Watson, AEF,in the trenches, got gassed and joked in later years that was what got the family through the depression since the state of Arkansas payed him an $8 a month stipend for his troubles. Together with a little (very little)farming and runnin' a little 'shine around the Ozark mountains- acting as an "agent" bewteen maker and customer, it all turned out OK. He lived until the early 1970's.
Robert Karr
OLD BIRDS STAYING ALIVE - THE AVIATION ART OF ROBERT KARR

[Sreiko]

My grand-grand father Stojan [I think this should be writen here as Stoyan], was in artilery crew in WW1. He has killed in the penetration of the Salonika front. I have no image preserved.

[JerryBoucher]

My great grandfather on my mother's side was a concientious objector, and AFAIK spent quite some time in prison. My great grandfather on my father's side was too old to be called up. My step-father's great grandfather was a career soldier, having first fought in the British army in South Africa. He survived almost until the end of WW1, only to be killed in France in 1918 by a British mine.

[AZ Aviator]

One of my uncles who served in WWI was Sgt. Fred J. Knapp of 336 Crown St., Akron, Ohio. He was a sergeant in Company "F", 110th Infantry Regiment, 28th Division, A.E.F. His service number was 3485944. Date of birth was 6 October 1895. Although the 28th Division was a Pennsylvania based National Guard Division, I think Fred initially trained at Camp Sherman in Ohio with the Ohio National Guard, and then was promoted to sergeant at Camp Gordon in Georgia on 16 July 1918, prior to embarking for Europe. His appointment paper shows that he was still considered to be assigned to a National Army Division at that point. I assume that he was ultimately assigned to the 28th Division as a replacement, probably due to his Ohio National Guard background. As far as I know, he fought in the St. Mihiel Offensive and Meuse-Argonne campaign. He was discharged on 23 May 1919. Fred died 1 May 1972, and is buried in Holy Cross Cemetery in Akron, Sec. 21, Lot 2059, Grave A.

The weirdest thing that happened to me regarding my uncle's service is that I once worked with a guy, who after talking to him about his grandfather's service in WWI, we figured out that his grandfather and my uncle both served together in Company "F" and fought side-by-side in the trenches. Why only one generation removed you say? My mother was born 13 July 1912, as the youngest of eight kids. I think Fred was the oldest brother, but he was almost 17 years older than my mom. One of my mom's sisters had a boyfriend who was a doughboy, and who made her a large mahogony jewelry box as a present, which I inherited and still keep today.

Three of my uncles also served in the Artillery, Battery "B" of the Ohio National Guard out of Akron, and one of the them served as a corresondent for the local Akron newspaper, reporting all of their activities and exploits during WWI.

[gregoire]

All of my 4 great great father have fought in the trench (french army)
One died and one was seriously injuried (gazed)
In total they get 3 croix de guerre and one legion d'honneur
Strangely my mother's father's father had four brothers among them one fought with the russian army one with the austrian, one with the french (and was gazed and decorated) and the last one joined the US army (but never leave the us)

[Hans]

My Great-Uncle was drafted in 1918 and after one week on the Western Front he made POW with US troops. He was attached to them, still wearing his german uniform, with a large POW painted on his back. He and a comrade made a stretcher party and where ordered in the aftermath of fights and battles to bring back wounded and deads - US military first, of course.

He made home in 1919 and in WWII he did not have to fight because he was busy as a taylor in a uniform making company.

My brother, at last, served as a officer's adjutant in a WWI movie (see my avatar), side by side with Burt Lancaster. Does this count also?

H

[Roadhog]

Yes sir, My uncle Bill, William Sexhaurer, served as a doughboy in the trenches of the Western Front. He had been born in Germany and came to America as a toddler. German was spoken in the family home so the Army used him as a wire intercept man and a front line translator. He was gassed in 1918 and died of lung problems 40 years later. BTW, Happy Memorial Day. VR, Scott Price

Hey where are you from in Alabama? I was raised up north in Huntsville. ROLL TIDE!

[Bob_D]

My grandfather fought in the Italian army. Unfortunately, I don't know many specifics. I know that he fought against the Austrians somewhere in the Italian Alps. He had one close call when he was wounded in an avalanche caused by shell fire. I do have a few interesting original photos that he brought back showing a trench position, an ice cave, a battle damaged church, a wounded comrade, and a rather gruesome shot of a decapitated Austrian soldier. I am in possession of his discharge certificate and two of his campaign medals. At one time I actually had his original Adrian style helmet with a bullet crease in it's side. My step-mother actually sold it without consulting me when they moved from my boyhood home! ARRRRGH!!!! Talk about a lost family heirloom!

[frontflieger]

Most of my Great-Grand-Fathers were already too old for trench duty. Two s (Heinrich *1880 and Jacob *1874) served in the infantry, the first in Landwehr-Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 76 (Hamburg) and was wounded in 1916 - one arm lamed.

Thorsten