Just want to take a moment to remember two friends whose lives were lost in Afghanistan, and all those who I don't know who personally who have given their lives. Political feelings aside, let's take a moment over the next couple of days to remember them and their families.
My two grandpas served in Vietnam, and I plan on thanking them tomorrow. I remember going to Arlington National Cemetary and how it affected me, it was so beautiful.
I'm with you in remembering our vets. Both my grandfathers were in the military during WWII. One was in the Army and later the Air Force, the other in the Navy.
Me too, Gigi. Watching war documentaries gets me teary-eyed and the such. I'm quite patriotic. I really didn't get to know them, though. My paternal grandpa passed on first and then my maternal grandpa when I was still a baby. But from what my parents tell me, both were rough and tough, the epitome of military men. Makes me curious talking about them. I should really ask where they served and look them up. I know my paternal grandpa, who served in the navy, was stationed in the Pacific. There's one story I was told that while in Hawaii (long after Pearl Harbor) he went and got a patriotic tattoo. It was an eagle clutching an American flag, and as he hurried out the door to get back to base, the rainy weather whetted his skin and the ink smudged on his arm, making the tattoo a little blurry. He was proud to have the tattoo, but relatives would ask him what the picture was.
My paternal grandfather on my mother's side fought in the Pacific theater on one of the battleships. Had Truman not ordered the bombs dropped, he would have been among those selected to invade Japan. My grand-uncle fought in Vietnam. I think I even had an ancestor who fought in the War of 1812 under Andrew Jackson and one sitting in the First Continental Congress. (Needless to say, I think they hated the Brits and would probably be flabbergasted if I told them I like the Brits. Specifically Scotland. Love Scotland! ) Though I'm sad to find no records of anyone in my family fighting in the Civil War as that's my favorite period in American history.
^ Have you tried Ancestry.com? I would expect there would records somewhere about your ancestors enlisted in the Civil War.
