My (what's yours?) family history vs Nazis and Confederacy

[bobbieinok]

My father's grandfather fought for the Union in the 11th IA Infantry.
Two of my mother's cousins fought in Europe and one in the Pacific,

[WhiskeyGrinder]

1. More important, I think, is what we are doing now.

[VMA131Marine]

2. One grandfather fought at the Battle of the Sommes in WWI

The other was a signalman on a Royal Navy Battleship in WWI

[Weekend Warrior]

3. My German immigrant grandfather fought against the Nazi's in WWII. nt.

[Fresh_Start]

4. both sides of my family were in concentration camps

My husbands family was in the union army

[mcar]

5. My father landed on DDay

Liberated a work camp somewhere in Germany.

[Coventina]

6. I'm a mongrel mess of ethnicities, so I have ancestors all over the place.

Two of my great-great grandfathers fought in the Civil War: One for the Union, one for the Confederacy.

One grandfather fought in the Pacific in WW2, he was stationed in Pearl Harbor.

The other grandfather? I have no idea.....

[bobbieinok]

14. My mother's father was from NC

There's a possibility one of her ancestors was a confed guerilla. My father's grandfather came with his family to IA from the Shenandoah Valley in VA. Some of his relatives died fighting for the south.

[SweetieD]

7. My 2nd great grandfather was an ex slave and union soldier, my grandfather was in WWII on US

side obviously.

[greymattermom]

8. Mostly Confederates

from Tennessee, and Germans, but they came in the late 19th early 20th century. I don't know about the ones who stayed in Germany, but I know that my grandmother was a member of the KKK in the 1920s.

[bobbieinok]

16. My father's mother

As an upstanding member of our OK city's First Baptist Church, my father's mother was invited in the 20s to join the ladies auxiliary of the KKK. She told them she wouldn't join any group her husband couldn't join. (He was from Switzerland, and the KKK didn't accept foreign born.)

She told me this when I was in grade school. Now I think about what this says about the SBC.

[LeftInTX]

9. My dad's family were immigrants.

Paternal uncle US-Army Europe WWII - Part of D-Day

My mom's family is from the South: They were poor, so I assume there was someone who fought on the confederate side. I've never asked. She never supported anything confederate. She was very kind and supported MLK.

[meow2u3]

10. My family fought Nazis during WWII

My dad was stationed at a POW camp which held Nazi POWs; my uncle fought, was taken POW, and was murdered by Nazis.

[moondust]

11. A great uncle

was a Union doctor in Andersonville prison where almost 13,000 (prisoners) died from disease, poor sanitation, malnutrition, overcrowding, or exposure to the elements. Ugh.

Two or three of my father's brothers fought the Nazis in Europe.

[elehhhhna]

12. An ancestor started the Dutch resistance in Gouda

An ancestor started the Dutch resistance in Gouda. He was a Protestant, a successful osteopath, who risked everything to help Egyptian Jews get out of Holland. He was caught near the end of the war and died in the camp at Sachsenhausen in October '44. Prisoner number 100748.

I will maintain the family tradition of resisting

[Coventina]

18. That's so cool! I went to the WW2 museum in Amsterdam

and I learned so much about the heroic struggles of the Dutch in WW2.

I came away with a profound admiration for them.

I will never forget it!!

(disclaimer: I have no Dutch ancestry)

[elehhhhna]

32. It is not widely known that the Dutch resistance really did not ramp up until

It is not widely known that the Dutch resistance really did not ramp up until non- Jewish citizens were conscripted by the Nazis

[Coventina]

35. One of the things I learned was that the Dutch were the first to publicly

demonstrate against the persecution of their Jewish population.

[shraby]

13. I had 23 ancestors in the Revolutionary War

Had ancestors in the Civil War
Had my Grandpa in WWI
Had my Dad and brothers in WWII
Had my uncles in Korea

[d_r]

15. My people are from SE Kentucky and E Tennessee

I had two second great grandfathers who went to camp wildcat; one fought for the Union in the 8th Kentucky infantry and one and for the Union in the 8th Kentucky cavalry. I have a 3rd great-grandfather from Tennessee who went to camp Dick Robinson in Kentucky and fought for the Union in the 1st Tennessee Infantry. Here is the service record for the one in the 8th Kentucky infantry-
-----

Duty at Estill Springs, Ky., until November 28, 1861. March to Lebanon, Ky., November 28-December 3, and duty there until March, 1862. Moved to Nashville, Tennessee, March 10–23; thence to Murfreesboro, Tennessee, April 3–4, and to Wartrace, Tennessee May 3. Duty there until June 11. Dumont's Expedition over Cumberland Mountains June, 11-19. Moved to Elk River Bridge July 4; thence to Tullahoma July 9, and joined Nelson. March to Louisville, Ky., in pursuit of Bragg August 21-September 26. Russellville and Glasgow September 30. Pursuit of Bragg into Kentucky October 1–22. Battle of Perryville October 8. Nelson's Cross Roads October 18. Reconnaissance on Madison Road October 19. March to Nashville, Tenn., October 22-November 12, and duty there until December 26. Murfreesboro Pike November 9. Dobbins' Ferry, near Lavergne, December 9. Advance on Murfreesboro December 26–30. Battle of Stones River December 30–31, 1862 and January 1–3, 1863. At Murfreesboro until June. Tullahoma Campaign June 23-July 7. Liberty Gap June 25–26. At McMinnville until August 16. Passage of Cumberland Mountains and Tennessee River and Chickamauga Campaign August 16-September 22. Ringgold, Ga., September 11. Battle of Chickamauga September 19–20. Siege of Chattanooga September 24-November 23. Reopening Tennessee River October 26–29. Chattanooga-Ringgold Campaign November 23–27. Lookout Mountain November 23–24. Missionary Ridge November 25. Taylor's Ridge, Ringgold Gap, November 27. At Shellmound, Tenn., until March 1864. Demonstration on Dalton, Ga., February 22–27. Buzzard's Roost Gap and Rocky Faced Ridge February 23–25. Moved to Chattanooga, Tenn., March 1, and garrison duty there until September 26, 1864. Moved to Elk River Bridge September 26 and duty there until October 20. At Chattanooga until November 28 and at Bridgeport, Ala., until January 1865.
--------------

I have a grandfather who had a heart attack and died in a car accident at Camp Dick in the 1980s; years before that he was in Europe fighting nazis, along with my grandfather-in-law who was at the Battle of the Bulge. My great-uncle was in the Pacific.

[bobbieinok]

19. I learned recently that

An ancestor of my mother's mother fought with Daniel Boone in Boonesboro. Another fought in the War of 1812 from KY.

[d_r]

22. If your people are from that area

chances are good they were there since after the revolutionary war; most families came there with land grants from the war.

[bobbieinok]

26. Some went from KY fo MO

Apparently with the group that moved with the Boone family from KY to MO.

[rusty fender]

17. My father fought

in Italy, North Africa, and helped liberate Dachau concentration camp. He also helped with setting the explosives to destroy one of those huge concrete swastikas.

My uncle fought in Germany and was a POW in a German prison for four years.

My dad brought home some dementos from the war, one of which was one of those long red swastika vertical banners. The swastika was sewn on top of the red material. My dad kept the banner in a box in the basement, but my mom couldn't stand that such a hateful reminder of the nazis resided in her home so she removed the swatika from the banner and got rid of it My dad was mad at her for doing so, not because he revered what the banner stood for, but to him, it was a trophy for having defeated that monstrous regime.

[Hekate]

20. My dad had glasses like Mr Magoo & had to memorize the eye chart when he voluntarily showed up...

...after Pearl Harbor. I think they knew just how blind he was -- he ended up serving at Gila Bend teaching men how to assemble and disassemble their weapons, iirc. At some point he learned to assemble and disassemble airplanes and supervise others, because after the War he went to work for Lockheed Aircraft.

His father was in the US Navy in the Pacific during the WWI era. Did some submarine work. Barely missed sinking in one with all hands aboard because he was off on leave to visit a sick relative.

My father in law served in the Belgian Underground after his wife and 4 children were seized by the Nazis and sent to Auschwitz. He blew things up, rescued Jewish children and took them to be raised by Catholic nuns, made sure they had food, rescued some American pilots.

That's all I know first-hand, because while men in my lineage do indeed serve, they don't sit and talk about it. I know that bit about my FIL based on one (1) conversation we had when he was an old, old man. Something triggered his memory and it just poured out, right up to where he held my then-infant husband in his arms in 1947 and wept to hold a living child. In support of that, my own father was fine-tuning aircraft for others with better eyesight to fly.

I'd have to read my mom's 4 books of family genealogy to find out who served where and when earlier than that. There's bound to be something, given that the first one in her line to land on this continent came to Massachussetts about 1630 as an English Dissenter out of Leyden, Holland.

I grew up around a lot of proud military families on O'ahu. That wasn't us -- our men serve when called and/or volunteer at need, but aside from one uncle, don't seem to make a whole career of military service.

The men I grew up around -- often very conservative -- would never, ever have betrayed their oaths and their country.

[Brother Buzz]

21. My great-great-grandfather served under Farragut

He was a navy man for, like, an unbelievable fifty years, yet his headstone has GAR (Grand Army of the Republic) carved into it. What's up with that?

[sarisataka]

23. My family wasn't here

At the time of the Civil War.

One Uncle thought across Europe, including the Battle of the Bulge. Another was a gunner on a B-24. Four others fought in the Pacific.

[Spider Jerusalem]

24. Ancestors on both sides in the Civil War

one in a Union cavalry regiment in Kentucky, one from Georgia who joined the militia in 1864 at the age of 46 because he was right in the path of Sherman's march. Both grandfathers in the US Army in WWII, one who was with the Allied army that crossed the Rhine in March of '45.

[Hassin Bin Sober]

25. My dad joined the army as soon as he was old enough right at the end of WW2

His older brother dropped bombs on Nazis from a B17. He was shot down but evaded capture (maybe trump would have liked him).

Their dad, my grandfather, fought in WW1 and was wounded by mustard gas. He had lifelong injury from the gas.

My grandfather also had PTSD but we didn't know to call it that. As kids, we thought it was funny when he would wake us all up in the middle of the night yelling AIR RAID!!

[Lotusflower70]

27. Interesting topic

My great-uncle Ezequiel served in WW2. He was in the 101st Airborne, part of the Texas/Oklahoma division. Their nickname was Tough Hombres. He received a Purple Heart and a Silver Star.

I come from a huge military family so this is definitely something that has had an impact.

[JoDog]

28. My third great-grandfather

was in the Illinois 26th Infantry and marched with Sherman. Paternal grandfather was in the Army Air Corps and flew over Europe. Maternal grandfather was a mechanic's mate in the US navy and sailed the Atlantic and Mediterranean.

[sakabatou]

29. As far as I know

no one in my family went to war. My father's father did go into a plant during WWII (not sure what was made).

[dembotoz]

30. father fought in the pacific early ww2, mothers brothers all served

family story that during ww1 my grandfather was recent enough german that there were parts of milwaukee he was not allow to go to

[skylucy]

31. All four of my grandparents emigrated from Spain (early 1900's). They worked in Hawaii

for a while and then came to California to work in the orchards. My uncles fought in WWII and my father (the youngest) fought in the Korean War. My dad (aged 90) is so proud to be a veteran. He wears his "Korean War Vet" hat everywhere.
I really enjoyed reading about all the different family histories! Thank you for posting this question,bobbieinok!

[hunter]

33. The Civil War passed my ancestors by.

Some of them were pacifists, which is one of the reasons they were living in the Wild West. I guess that's why they'd left Europe too. I don't have any family stories about the Civil War even though my ancestors were all here then.

One of my grandfathers was crazy about airplanes and was an officer in the Army Air Forces during World War II. I'm sure he'd pictured himself as the handsome and courageous flier who made the ladies swoon but the Army in its wisdom decided to keep him mostly on the ground. He had other skills and probably would have been a liability in the air anyways. (I saw him ride a bicycle once and it was terrifying... He was clearly a danger to himself and others, and blissfully unaware of it.) But he got to wear a fancy uniform, and sometimes he'd be chauffeured around in a big car with a driver, fixing whatever it was he fixed. Occasionally he was the guy carrying a "get out of jail free" card whenever people deemed essential to the war effort found themselves in trouble for drunk and disorderlies and that sort of thing. By the end of the war he'd acquired an expertise with exotic metals in some mysterious way, and was later an engineer for the Apollo Project.

My other grandfather was a pacifist. He was also a welder. Refusing arms in World War II and threatened with prison (largely because he was not an overtly religious man), he agreed to build and repair ships for the Merchant Marine. He once got beaten up by the cops protesting the internment of his Japanese neighbors.

My wife's uncle was killed by the Nazis in the last days of the war and he's buried at Arlington. My wife's grandparents were still celebrating Victory Europe and expecting he'd be home soon when they got the news.

[TeapotInATempest]

34. My grandfather's grandfather, from TN, fought - and died - for the Union

My great-uncle immigrated from Poland, and turned right around and went to France to fight when the U.S. entered WW1.

My father and his brother fought in the Pacific in WWII; my mother's brother fought in France.

Several of my ancestors fought for independence in the American Revolution.

The least I can do is stand up to fascists.

[HockeyMom]

36. My Great-Grandfather was a Substitute Soldier in Civil War

meaning that a Rich Man's Son paid a sum of money so he could avoid fighting in the war. Hello, Donald. My ancestor was 15 years old, lied about his age, enlisted in order to get money to support his widowed Mom and younger siblings. He was wounded at Antietam. Rich man's son got off scot free.

My Dad (White) fought in Africa during WW2. Oh, no. My FIL's (German/American) unit liberated Buchenwald. He told me that as soon as they entered the camp, the men all started vomiting from the horrific sights and stench. Dad H had nightmares for the rest of his life. He suffered extreme guilt over the fact that he was of German heritage. He said to me, "The blood of these Monsters runs through my veins." Poor man. Hopefully, he is still resting in peace with all of this going on now.

[pansypoo53219]

37. i did not hear about any WW1 or civil war in the family.

my grandma lost 1 cousin in WW2. 2 great-uncles faught. my grandfather's cousin's, of 4 boys, i think 3 or 2 old enough. 1 uncle in nam. that is it. grandpa was essential serviced cause of ATT. other was in air training when the end came.

[B2G]

38. Your family history in the Civil War was largely based on where they lived.

I'm not sure what the point of the question is. If they lived in the South, chances are they fought for the Confederacy. If they lived in the North, they most likely served for the Union. I'm not sure what the relevance of the question is.

As for the Nazis, I think it's safe to assume most fought against them. But if people's ancestors immigrated from Germany after WWII, they may have fought for the Nazi party. Quite possibly to save their lives and those of their family's.

So what?

[Hekate]

41. And if you were Irish, it depended in where your ship docked. North or South, the Irish fought.

I'm of Irish descent, mostly. It felt strange to learn that.

[madokie]

39. My grand father fought for the Union

In the civil war. Being a Georgia boy it was a decision he made to do what was right. His dad, my great grantfather was a slave owner up to about the time my grandfather joined the union army. Great grandfather released his slaves but most of them stayed on with him as he treated them right. My dad was born in 1897 the youngest of his family so all the papers from that era were passed down to him. they are all in a safe deposit box now.

Grand father was born in 1840, Dad was born in 1897, I was born in 1948

My oldest brother served in the Army in WW2. Myself I spent 15 months in Vietnam

[MuseRider]

40. Free State

My GGG Grandfather and my GG Grandfather were both written about in John Brown's letters. They rode with him in the early days here in Kansas before the killing started and maybe a little after but I do not know for sure. They fought the sacking of Lawrence. My GGGG Grandfather settled close to where I live on my farm. He later became the first Justice of the Peace when they got the government back. I am a Jayhawker!

My father fought the Nazi's by making bombs stateside. My Uncles went over. I do not know their stories.

[RealityChik]

42. My dad was an Army infantryman that marched into Dachau concentration camp...

wth orders to liberate the prisoners. Only the Germans knew they had lost the war so they bolted like cowards leaving the remaining prisoners to fend for themselves.

You'd have thought it would have impacted my father's whole New York Irish racist family in a good way. It did not. Each one of them even today makes Archie Bunker look like an angel of God. Unfortunately, that racism was passed on to the next and the next generations to follow. My parents didn't want any part of that so I grew up in Hawaii. Luckily the family bigots remained 5000 miles away except for a few vacation visits and a couple of honeymooning cousins.

My mother's Chicago Italian family was only slightly better. Only the ones that escaped Chicago and moved west left their raging racism behind.

And speaking of Hawaii, where white people are at the bottom of the racial pecking order...if every white person would spend 2 years living there, they could experience first hand the racist acts we subject brown people to here on the mainland US. it's the ultimate test of humility and tolerance and would change the attitudes of the most hardened racist when "the shoe is on the other foot". We'd be a kinder, gentler nation, that's for sure.

[workinclasszero]

43. I had ancestors that fought for the Union

One died in the Battle of the Wilderness. Another was taken prisoner.

My Dad fought the Nazis in North Africa invasion, Anzio beach invasion, Italy and Germany. My uncles all fought the Japanese. One was a gunner on a B-29 another was a soldier that fought in New Guinea I believe.

The experience was so horrible he would never speak about for the rest of his life.

My Mother's dad caught the flu in an WW 1 army camp and died from it when she was a little girl.

[Generic Other]

44. My father fought in the Battle of the Bulge

My Father was part of the 100th Division. These men liberated concentration camps, then marched to Berlin.

This is what they have to say about the battles they fought: In the six months of its combat tour, the Century Division advanced 186 miles, liberated dozens of towns and cities, captured 13,351 enemy soldiers, and decisively beat elements of five German divisions. In the process, the Division lost 916 dead, and sustained 3,656 wounded and 180 missing in action. @100thww2.org

My cousin was a prisoner of war after he was shot down over Germany. He took his own life after the war.