# My father....



## ccheese (Jul 30, 2007)

I know a lot of the members can say, my father was in Iraq, or Viet Nam,
or Korea, or even World War II. But how many of you can say, "My father
was in World War One ?" I can.....

Arthur Henry Cheeseman, was born in Cinnaminson Township (now the city
of Cinnaminson) in Burlington County, NJ, on 4 March 1891. He enlisted in
the US Army, in Philadelphia, PA at the age of 23, on 27 July 1917. He was
honorably discharged at Fort Monmouth, NJ, as a Sargeant, on 7 April 1919.

He served with the A.E.F Headquarters 58th Infantry S.D.F.R.S. 322.
And spent eleven months in France. He received a dose of mustard 
gas, and was hospitalized in France in December of 1918. I am not
aware of any medals, altho he was an "expert pistolman rifleman",
and a "sharp shooter"

How do I know all this ? I have his discharge papers from WW-1, and I
am going to put up a copy of the front and the back with this note.

I also have five letters that he wrote to his mother, while he was in 
the hospital, and will put them up at a later date. These letters are
dated in December of 1918

If someone is interested in this, I will put up more of his papers that I
have in my collection.

Charles


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## FLYBOYJ (Jul 30, 2007)

Very Cool Charles - I have a similar one from my Grandfather - during WW1 he was sent to the Canal Zone.


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## evangilder (Jul 30, 2007)

Very neat stuff to have in your possession. I have my great great grandfather's civil war records. It is neat to look at all of the item in the older service records.


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## ccheese (Jul 31, 2007)

I forgot to mention, my father died on 13 Sept 1935 (it was a Friday),
from the effects of the mustard gas. I was eighteen months old, and
do not remember him. There are no known photos of him, and I have
no idea what he looked like. My mother said he was very short, and
his discharge sez he was 5' 2". He died at 42, and by a strange 
coincidence, my sister died at 42 also. He is interred in Lowden Park
Military Cemetery in Baltimore, Maryland.

My mother re-married four more times....... but thats fodder for another
post.

Charles


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## timshatz (Jul 31, 2007)

Great post Charles. Very cool.

Have heard a lot of guys who were gassed die between the wars.


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## Gnomey (Jul 31, 2007)

Very cool Charles, great piece of history you have there.


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## FLYBOYJ (Jul 31, 2007)

Here's My Grandfathers...


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## ccheese (Jul 31, 2007)

Joe:

Nice document. Keep that in a safe place, you can't replace it. I also have
my great-grandfather's discharge from the Civil War. He was a member of
The Jersey Volunteers. I don't remember the dates on it, but it's old.

Me and Edna Mae have been chasing ancestors for thirty years or
more. She's found out she's related to Princess Diana..... umpteeenth
cousin or something.

Charles


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## FLYBOYJ (Jul 31, 2007)

ccheese said:


> Joe:
> 
> Nice document. Keep that in a safe place, you can't replace it. I also have
> my great-grandfather's discharge from the Civil War. He was a member of
> ...



Pretty cool.

I starting to do my family's genology a few years ago - its amazing when you stumble on to information. I manged to get my wife's grandfather's miltary record. He was a B-24 pilot in the PTO.


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## DerAdlerIstGelandet (Jul 31, 2007)

Very cool! Allways cherish that Charles and thanks for sharing it.

I wish my discharge papers looked neat like those though.


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## ccheese (Jul 31, 2007)

Chris:

I have his discharge papers from the National Guard, too, plus letters
and cards he sent to his mother. The letters are in his own handwriting,
which makes them a bit more special.

Charles


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## rogthedodge (Jul 31, 2007)

Interesting documents to remember him by.

I have a relative who was mobilised on 4th August, '14 fought in Palestine, Galipolli and France/Belgium, and died of wounds 11th November '18. Unlucky huh?

He and his only brother (killed in '15) were the end of that line of the family.

Due to Luftwaffe action in WW2 available records are very limited for both no photos found so far.


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## ccheese (Jul 31, 2007)

Rog... In an earlier post, I mentioned that my mother was married five times.
Her third was an Army Cpl. named Frank Waski. He was killed on D-Day and
is buried at St. Lo. I can barely remember him, but I do remember the
telegram.

Charles


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## evangilder (Jul 31, 2007)

Wow, your poor mom. Losing one husband in one war and another in the next is a heartbreaker. It's neat that you have the original documents. The ones I have for my great great grandfather are copies from the National Archives. It's amazing how much is documented in the old service records. 

These days, so much gets redacted, you get words followed by blacked out lines. I had a buddy get his, and he had about 4 pages of just blacked out lines! I got a chuckle out of that. Here's your record, but you can't read these four pages, so we will photocopy that for you! LOL


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## Njaco (Aug 1, 2007)

> Have heard a lot of guys who were gassed die between the wars.



I know of one who should've died when gassed...a little corporal from Austria.  

Cool stuff, Charles. Both my dad and his father were 'tweeners. Nevermade the wars but did serve. I have my Dads stuff from late 50s from the Air Force.

Hope you have those papers preserved somehow.


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## Soundbreaker Welch? (Aug 1, 2007)

This is a great thread.


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## trackend (Aug 2, 2007)

Thats interesting items cc my father died recently and when clearing out his gear we came across loads of stuff both from his WW2 service and my grandfathers WW1 including a couple of post cards sent by my grandmother to him when he was at Pashendale. All the items you have are very important as they are historic documents that give a glimps into the ordinary foot sloggers life which considering that they make up the majority is suprisingly thin on the ground compared to the higher ranks documented exploits.


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## Thorlifter (Aug 2, 2007)

Wow. Thanks for sharing Charles and Flyboy. To me, those are a priceless treasure. I remember asking my grandmother a few WWII stories and I asked, "Do you remember when WWII ended?" She said, "WWII? I remember WWI ending!" 

She was only 3 or 4 when WWI ended, but she remember playing outside the farm house, all the men were out in the fields, (my paternal side all the men have been farmers for 100+ years) and her mother came running out of the house screaming, "It's over, It's over!" All the men came in, listened to what she said and they all shared in some fresh lemonade, then went back to work. She only guesses her mom's screams scared her so bad is the reason she remembers it.


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## Negative Creep (Aug 3, 2007)

I know at least 2 (but probably all) of my great-grandfathers served in World War One. One was a cook on HMS lion, and was at Jutland. The other was with a West Kent infantry regiment, and served on the Western Front, but that's all I know. Great bit of history you have; I'd love to find out about my side. My dad did discover that one of my ancestors was at Waterloo - on the French side. Seems to be quite a long record of my family in the military until my dad


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## Bf109_g (Aug 4, 2007)

Hi guys. 

I know that my great-grandfather Thomas Greig served in World War One as a driver. I have his 1914-1915 Star and a photograph of him taken during his time in France. I think I might try to find information from the Royal Engineer museum.


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## Wildcat (Aug 5, 2007)

Excellent bit of family history there guys. 
My Great Grandmother (still alive) and Grandmother both saw out the war in occupied Holland. My Great Grandmother never talked much about it, but I know her father was in the Dutch underground and at night she would go out and forage for food. Apparently the family was helped by a friendly German soldier who would also help supply food. She also once told us she witnessed a German plane crash into a nearby building after she had been narrowly missed on it's straffing run!


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## Njaco (Aug 6, 2007)

Ummm... I'm related to Robert E. Lee and one relative invented the submarine, Simon Lake. I didn't know them though.


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## renrich (Aug 26, 2007)

I have copies of the documents showing that my Grandfather was enlisted in the Frontier Battalion of the Texas Rangers in 1882. His father served in the Army of the Confederacy and his father's brother fought at the Battle of the San Jacinto where the Texans defeated a larger Mexican army in 18 minutes and won independence from Mexico.


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## Elvis (Nov 24, 2007)

ccheeseman,

That was really great.
Thank you so much for posting that.

I hope the members here don't flog me too much, but while my paternal grandfather was a bit too young for WW1 (born '01), I believe my maternal grandfather was in a few battles in the Phillipines, as a soldier in the Japanese Army, around the time of WWI, or maybe just a bit before.
I know Mom's told me a few times, that he saw Hailey's Comet while enlisted and that would've been around 1910 (as close as I can tell, he was born between 1880-1885).
It's funny, having been born and grown up in America and knowing all that I've learned about WWII, then hearing her rendition of what was thought and how things were during the war, seeing how she was a member of what we would consider an "axis nation".
All I can say is, MAN, WHAT A BUNCH OF PROPAGANDA B.S.! (and I mean BOTH sides, kiddies!)
She still cringes at certain high pitched noises, because they remind her of the sound P-51's made on strafing runs near where she grew up.




Elvis


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## Elvis (Nov 24, 2007)

...btw, does anyone here know if their relative, who served in WWI, was a Dispatch Rider?
I always thought that would make a great premise for a movie or a book or something.



Elvis


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## ccheese (Nov 24, 2007)

Elvis said:


> ccheeseman,
> 
> That was really great.
> Thank you so much for posting that.
> ...



Elvis:

I work with a man (Akisano Ito) whose father was a Japanese soldier on Iwo
Jima, when we invaded. And, was one of the few taken prisoner and survived
the war. He died some years later of natural causes. Akisano came to the
states in the 50's and served honorably in the USMC. He doesn't talk much
but has said he is researching his father' service in the Japanese Army.
We call him Aki....

Charles


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## Elvis (Nov 24, 2007)

Charles,

Your friend, Aki. He doesn't happen to have any relatives that live in Hawaii, does he?
My parents have some friends they've known for years over there and their name is Ito.


...hmmm... 



Elvis


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## lesofprimus (Nov 24, 2007)

Common Japanese name....


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## ccheese (Nov 24, 2007)

Elvis said:


> Charles,
> 
> Your friend, Aki. He doesn't happen to have any relatives that live in Hawaii, does he?
> My parents have some friends they've known for years over there and their name is Ito.
> ...



I donno, Elvis, but I will ask him, on Monday. As an aside, the trial judge
At O.J. Simpson's murder trial was named Ito.

Charles


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## ccheese (Nov 24, 2007)

lesofprimus said:


> Common Japanese name....



Probably so, Dan.

BTW, I like your new siggy.....

Best to the Mrs...

Charles


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## Elvis (Nov 27, 2007)

Les, or rather, Dan, knows this because he's Japanese?

Charles, What did you find out?



Elvis


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## Njaco (Nov 27, 2007)

> Les, or rather, Dan, knows this because he's Japanese?



( getting the popcorn, favorite chair and watching the fireworks)


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## ccheese (Nov 27, 2007)

Elvis said:


> Les, or rather, Dan, knows this because he's Japanese?



No..... I think he's from Texas (all bow, please)





Elvis said:


> Charles, What did you find out?
> Elvis



I spoke to him this morning (I forgot, yesterday). His reply was
"Not that I am aware of"

Charles


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## AL Schlageter (Nov 28, 2007)

Interesting thread guys. Thanks for starting it ccheese.

Had 8 grand-uncles who served overseas in WW1. Three were killed (brothers), 2 within 12 days and the other 6 months later. Only one has a known grave. One was a boy-soldier.


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## Elvis (Nov 28, 2007)

ccheese said:


> No..... I think he's from Texas (all bow, please)


That figures.  







ccheese said:


> I spoke to him this morning (I forgot, yesterday). His reply was
> "Not that I am aware of"
> 
> Charles


Ok. Thanks for the update.






Elvis


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## ccheese (Nov 28, 2007)

Al: I think if some of the forum members would dig into it a bit, they come
up with a lot of WW-I veterans. Several have already posted things about
grand-fathers and uncles, but I'll bet there's more out there. If I ever get
the time (guess that's like a round toit) I'll scan my father's letters to his
mother from 1918 and put them up.

Charles


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## Freebird (Dec 5, 2007)

Negative Creep said:


> I know at least 2 (but probably all) of my great-grandfathers served in World War One. One was a cook on HMS lion, and was at Jutland. The other was with a West Kent infantry regiment, and served on the Western Front, but that's all I know. Great bit of history you have; I'd love to find out about my side. My dad did discover that one of my ancestors was at Waterloo - on the French side. Seems to be quite a long record of my family in the military until my dad



My Dad's Grandfather was born too early to serve in WWII too late to serve in WWI. But 2 of grandmothers brothers were in the British army WWI, and the third brother was also at Jutland. Bad luck, on the HMS Indefatigable. 

On Mother's side her father his 2 brothers served, one Army, one RN, one Merchant marine. 

Does anybody know the best way to find British Army records for WWII? Only one twist though, he fought in the Levant N. Africa and was wounded, but he was in the Indian Army, not the British. (although he was born in the UK)


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## DerAdlerIstGelandet (Dec 6, 2007)

Well my German Grandfather was a Major in the Wehrmacht. He was actually a Medical Officer (before the war he was a Lung Doctor specializing in Tuberculoses). He served on the Western Front (My mother has pictures of him standing in front of the Eifel Tower in his uniform after Paris fell. 

He later was transferred to the Eastern Front and took part in the Battle of Stalingrad where he was later captured. What saved him was that he was later transferred from a Russian POW camp to an American POW camp and he was released shortly after the war returning in 1947 (I believe it was 1947 but it might have been 1946, I will have to ask my mother).

Several of my Grandmothers brothers fought in the war as well. I am not sure what there exact job was however. One survived the war but has since past away and the other is still MIA today. He was last seen somewhere in France. My Grandmother has very little information on what happened.

On my Step mothers side of the family she has an Uncle who was in the Waffen SS and fought in Yugoslavia. I have spoken to him once but only very briefly.

My American Grandfather was an engineer and he landed on Omaha Beach on D-Day. He fought out the war in Europe and remained in the Army. He also served in Korea.


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## ccheese (Dec 6, 2007)

As I said, if some of the members would dig, or ask questions, we'd have lots
of members with grandparents who served in the military during some of the
conflicts. My second step-father, Frank Waski, was killed on D-day. I believe
he is still interred at or near St. Lo. My brother-in-law, Anthony J. Dardozzi
was on Iwo Jima with the marines.

Charles


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## Panzerfaust (Dec 6, 2007)

great thread Charles...



umh..maybe I can found something about my relatives during the WW1....umh...let me search...


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## Freebird (Jan 1, 2008)

DerAdlerIstGelandet said:


> Well my German Grandfather was a Major in the Wehrmacht. He was actually a Medical Officer (before the war he was a Lung Doctor specializing in Tuberculoses). He served on the Western Front (My mother has pictures of him standing in front of the Eifel Tower in his uniform after Paris fell.
> 
> He later was transferred to the Eastern Front and took part in the Battle of Stalingrad where he was later captured. What saved him was that he was later transferred from a Russian POW camp to an American POW camp and he was released shortly after the war returning in 1947 (I believe it was 1947 but it might have been 1946, I will have to ask my mother).
> 
> ...



Was your American grandfather in "Torch" as well Chris?


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## chuckn49 (Feb 25, 2008)

Awesome thread! My father was in WWI as an airplane mechanic. He was a sergeant. I have a pass he got to go to Paris and I also have his book on how to repair a LeRhone rotary aircraft engine. He used to talk about Spads and Nieuports and Sopwith Pups and Camels a lot. 

His book is actually a little notebook with a hard cover. I remember him telling me about how much of the mechanic training he received was sort of apprenticeship learning where you studied under a more experienced mechanic and were expected to make your own manuals, etc. He got to be a mechanic because he worked for Packard Motors after graduating High School in 1912.

He talked a lot about repairing the Irish linen and doping it to make the aircraft skin, etc. I used to have his helmet but, I believe my sister-in-law has that now. Somehow, he was gassed when he went up to the front with some buddies just to see what it was like. I believe it was mustard gas. He always laughed about how that happened. I think he went into a shell hole out of ignorance and was gassed there. He was born in September 1, 1895 and died Sept. 7, 1967.


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## Njaco (Feb 25, 2008)

Chuck, that would be a great addition here if you could scan the book or post some stories!


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## ccheese (Feb 25, 2008)

chuckn49 said:


> Awesome thread! My father was in WWI as an airplane mechanic. He was a sergeant. I have a pass he got to go to Paris and I also have his book on how to repair a LeRhone rotary aircraft engine. He used to talk about Spads and Nieuports and Sopwith Pups and Camels a lot.



Chuck: Just for grins, how old are you ? My father was born in Cinnaminson
Township (now Cinnaminson), NJ on March 4, 1891 and died in Baltimore, Md
on Sept 13, 1935. If you saw the first posts, you saw the info I have on 
him. I still have letters he wrote to his mother in 1918-19, which I hope
to scan and put up one of these days. BTW, I'm 74...

Charles


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## chuckn49 (Feb 25, 2008)

Charles, I am just a young whipper-snapper at 59 having been born in 1949. I was, to say the least, a very late in life child. I had an older brother born in 1922 to give you an idea of the spread between us. He was a WWII P-38 P-51 pilot with the 8th. He is since deceased.

My father was born in Worcester, MA in 1895 but grew up mostly in Oxford, MA on a dairy farm. His father was a skilled cabinet maker and wheelwright. 

I used to listen to my brother and my father talk airplanes all I could. Eventually, I became an Army helicopter pilot. Aviation seems to run in the family. I still fly starch wings occasionally but, not choppers (way too expensive). None of my sons, sadly, are aviation enthusiasts. One just got out of the Army, though, as a Captain.

I grew up learning about Spads, Nieuports, etc. My father also knew Eddy Rickenbacker, Billy Mitchell and Quentin Roosevelt. My sister-in-law has a couple letters from Rickenbacher to him. 

My older brother started in the Army Air Corps as a crew chief for Gen. Carl Spatz when Spatz flew to England to look for airbases there before Pearl Harbor, I believe. It was Gen. Spatz who got him into flight school despite fact he did not have any college or even a high school diploma before he enlisted. The Army sent him to the Illinois Institute of Technology or its predecessor school (I can't remember which) so he could qualify to get into flight school which he did. He eventually retired as a colonel from Air Force.


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## Elvis (Feb 26, 2008)

Chuckn49,

Those are some pretty cool stories you related.
Thanks for allowing us to share in some of your memories.
About your father's mechanic training. It mimicks my father's, to a small degree.
Dad was USAF '45-'65 (5 years younger than your older brother).
He started off working with the teletype operators, as a sort of "runner" (as he called it), so he was like a dispatch rider.
A couple of years into it, he made friends with a sergeant who ran the motorpool and was able to get himself transferred over there permanently, thus starting a career that lasted about 50 years, as a mechanic.
When he started out, his only real experience was doing some time at the local gas station back on Long Island.
He told me, in his day, it was learn as you go. Fortunately for him, the manuals had already been written (still have some over at Mom's house).
He'd diagnois the problem as best he could, go in and examine, and try to fix it. 
Fortunately, Dad had a pretty fair amount of "mechanical aptitude" (super judge of distance, too).
No schooling, no nuthin'. Just "here ya' go kid. It's broke. Fix it".
Still have a picture of him in his office, when he was in charge of the heavy equipment pool at Itami in Japan.
Mom says it taken around '46, so he would've been 19 (  ).
Would love to hear more stories about your father's time in the service and see some scans of those manuals he wrote.
That must really be something to sit down and read through.

You say your father was born in Worchester, Ma. in '95.
I presume he grew up there as well, so I'm wondering if he ever mentioned anything about the Harrington Richardson Arms, co.?
I believe they were in Worchester around that time, later (much!) moving to their present location of Gardner, Ma.
H&R, btw, are Firearms makers, known mostly for their break action single-shot shotguns, which they market under the "Topper" model name.



Elvis


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## ccheese (Feb 26, 2008)

chuckn49 said:


> Charles, I am just a young whipper-snapper at 59 having been born in 1949. I was, to say the least, a very late in life child. I had an older brother born in 1922 to give you an idea of the spread between us. He was a WWII P-38 P-51 pilot with the 8th. He is since deceased.



Chuck:

Thanks for the info. I really thought you were older, but what do I know ?

You've given me the inspiration to dig out those letters from my father
to his mother in 1918. Try to get them up ASAP.

Thanks, again....

Charles


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## DBII (Feb 26, 2008)

Charles, who did you ended up with a princess? So that makes you Duke or Earl Cheese.  Thanks for sharing everone. I enjoy family history.

My family's military history is a little thin. My mother always said her favorite uncle was in the Great War but the family never talked much about him. I had one grandfather in the Navy sometimes after WWI. He always had shore duty. My other grandfather was a bus driver and was never drafted during WWII. 

I have a great uncle that flew B-25s with the 13th AF. My father has a couple of photos and a newspaper clipping where he received a couple of DFCs. The article talked about a straffing run against an island fortification with a 75mm cannon so he was in either a G or H model. In his military picture, he has a glass eye. I thought that was so cool when I was little. After the war he remained in the Air Force. He died in a thunderstorm when the DC3 he was riding in crashed into a moutain. He is at Arlington. I was able to visit him with my father back in 2001. 

My father number came up a couple of times during the draft but he was able to get out of it. I am not sure how that happened. My uncle was in the Air Force and was stationed in Turkey during the 60s. He also missed Nam. My oldest uncle was an army engr. He went through the Korean war. They would build a bridge and the North Koreans would blow it up a few days later. He would then have to rebuild the bridge so the North Koreans could destroy it again. He spent the war rebuilding the same bridges over and over again. He thinks that the veterans that visits their battlefields are crazy. 

I went on way to long. Back to Charles.

DBII


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## ccheese (Feb 26, 2008)

DBII said:


> Charles, who did you ended up with a princess? So that makes you Duke or Earl Cheese.  Thanks for sharing everone. I enjoy family history.DBII



DBII: Would you mind repeating this ? I'm confused...

Charles


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## Konigstiger205 (Feb 26, 2008)

My great-grandfather did get a hold of WW1 but he was only 9 when it started.I do know however that he fought in WW2 and he received a medal but he passed away 6 or 7 years ago so I don't know much.


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