an emotional day today

[GAnthony]

my late grand dad, came over from Italy when he was young. he was not even an American citizen, yet he went to the draft board and signed up.

He got the "greetings letter" from Uncle Sam...i have that original letter.....

he went into the Army, in 1918, he got out alive, all his digits and limbs still intact.

my late uncle had his gravestone engraved, but he never had WWI put onto the stone. maybe there wasn't enough space for the stone mason to put a simple WWI on there.

i have so many questions, but everyone is dead.

grand dad died 40 years ago.

when my dad died back in 2016, i took it upon myself to "take care of" his father's/mother's grave.

my dad used to go to the cemetery and trim away some of the grass that would cover the grave stone.

now i go there about 2 times a month, and check it myself, and take care of it.

grand dad never had an American flag on his grave either..i took care of that, the cemetery gives you a flat plate, with hole in it, to stick a flag into it. i also put a plastic vase with silk flowers for grandma.....she never had any flowers.

i went to a stone mason and inquired about a new stone, with a WWI engraving..the owner said he can engrave a WWI rather than to buy a new stone, i was ecstatic to hear that. i didn't think it could be done, since it was deleted way back when.

so i paid him a $50 fee, it would have been $100, but he cut me a break, when i told him my story.

they called me Friday to say the job was done, but i could not get there until today (Sunday) to see it.

i took pics and i'd post them here, but then too much information (like my last name) would be known.

i kinda like some privacy, on the web, please understand that.

i was viewing the engraving here at home, all settled down from all my stuff that i had to do.

i cannot believe the emotional eruptions i am feeling right now....blowing my nose frequently as i type this.

this morning when i was taking the pics, i was in a hurry, as i had so many errands to run and get done, before the heat and humidity kicked in, as it is now...i just did not take the time to soak in the newly engraved stone.

by the way, for grand dad's service, he AND grandma, became instant U.S. Citizens....

my late aunt, had received the American flag at his funeral, i think one of her daughters has it now.

i couldn't be any happier than i am right now, that grandad's gravestone, has a WWI on it after all these years......41 of them.......

thanks for reading,

GAnthony...keeper of a WWI veteran's grave.

 

[r3gulator3]

my late grand dad, came over from Italy when he was young. he was not even an American citizen, yet he went to the draft board and signed up.

He got the "greetings letter" from Uncle Sam...i have that original letter.....

he went into the Army, in 1918, he got out alive, all his digits and limbs still intact.

my late uncle had his gravestone engraved, but he never had WWI put onto the stone. maybe there wasn't enough space for the stone mason to put a simple WWI on there.

i have so many questions, but everyone is dead.

grand dad died 40 years ago.

when my dad died back in 2016, i took it upon myself to "take care of" his father's/mother's grave.

my dad used to go to the cemetery and trim away some of the grass that would cover the grave stone.

now i go there about 2 times a month, and check it myself, and take care of it.

grand dad never had an American flag on his grave either..i took care of that, the cemetery gives you a flat plate, with hole in it, to stick a flag into it. i also put a plastic vase with silk flowers for grandma.....she never had any flowers.

i went to a stone mason and inquired about a new stone, with a WWI engraving..the owner said he can engrave a WWI rather than to buy a new stone, i was ecstatic to hear that. i didn't think it could be done, since it was deleted way back when.

so i paid him a $50 fee, it would have been $100, but he cut me a break, when i told him my story.

they called me Friday to say the job was done, but i could not get there until today (Sunday) to see it.

i took pics and i'd post them here, but then too much information (like my last name) would be known.

i kinda like some privacy, on the web, please understand that.

i was viewing the engraving here at home, all settled down from all my stuff that i had to do.

i cannot believe the emotional eruptions i am feeling right now....blowing my nose frequently as i type this.

this morning when i was taking the pics, i was in a hurry, as i had so many errands to run and get done, before the heat and humidity kicked in, as it is now...i just did not take the time to soak in the newly engraved stone.

by the way, for grand dad's service, he AND grandma, became instant U.S. Citizens....

my late aunt, had received the American flag at his funeral, i think one of her daughters has it now.

i couldn't be any happier than i am right now, that grandad's gravestone, has a WWI on it after all these years......41 of them.......

thanks for reading,

GAnthony...keeper of a WWI veteran's grave.

What a touching story sir, so glad to hear that could be done.

And you mean to tell me your last name ain’t Anthony? Holy cow I though you were a G. Anthony this whole time!

 

[tommyh]

good job dude

have you checked on one of these?
here is a example

around here they are free i think

 

[GAnthony]

What a touching story sir, so glad to hear that could be done.

And you mean to tell me your last name ain’t Anthony? Holy cow I though you were a G. Anthony this whole time!

no, G is the letter of the first name, Anthony is the middle name

good job dude

have you checked on one of these?
here is a example
View attachment 46165
around here they are free i think

thanks, and no, where grandad and grandmom are buried, there is a limit as to the stone size.


i had actually called the veterans affairs in D.C. to see if i could get a WWI "stick on" grave emblem, and was told no, grand dad did not qualify since they did away with those.. only WWII and up were available. that emblem, had one been available for a WWI vet would have been about $40.....so actually i lucked out on that, the possibility of it being removed by vandals is a real possibility, even though, that cemetery actually never had any such problems.


had the gravestone been a stand up one, rather than on that lays flat into the ground, that one you show, would be ideal. and where they are buried, only flat in the ground stones are allowed.

in the beginning, grand dad got a "free marker", provided by Uncle Sam.. my family chipped in much later after his death, and bought the one he has now. wasn't until years after that, that the government actually pays for a better stone, over a marker....and pays for a burial at a private cemetery over a vet's cemetery...

as i recall going through the calls to the Vets affairs in D.C.

 

[GAnthony]

i think that if anything at all, while all your relatives are living, ask them questions, jot that down in a note book. sorta like keep a diary of what the family went through, to either get here as immigrants, or how they built up the family, the home, etc. way too much information will be lost when only ONE dies, let alone dozens.

maybe make a video diary. it's too late for me, i have to "go on" so little information, from at least the few pictures i have, a wooden box that grand dad built when he lived in Italy, and fill it up with some personal belongings, and took that here to the states.

i was supposed to "refinish" that wooden box, all i ever did was clean it up, and put some stain on it.

it's actually quite funny, the locking hasps are not matching pairs, and it has an old skeleton key padlock.

someday, when i retire, i want to finish it, and line it with sorta a green felt, maybe make racks for wine bottles....thing is, i don;t drink wine....lol

but for gosh sakes people, get as much of a "family tree" going as soon as you can.

too late for me.

 

[tommyh]

I hear you
thats a good idea,get as much info as you can while they are still living.Put yours down too
I had a great uncle who did the family tree back to England and then Europe in the 1500`s
I did my wifes back hundreds of years
my grandmother,fathers side, is done back 200 hundred years
we never did find my great great grandmothers grave,it still remains a mystery
those Family trees turn up some mighty interesting stuff

 

[GAnthony]

I hear you
thats a good idea,get as much info as you can while they are still living.Put yours down too
I had a great uncle who did the family tree back to England and then Europe in the 1500`s
I did my wifes back hundreds of years
my grandmother,fathers side, is done back 200 hundred years
we never did find my great great grandmothers grave,it still remains a mystery
those Family trees turn up some mighty interesting stuff

many times, people are buried in the family plot, at the house.

then thru time, the weather wears away the grave stone(s), or if one was only made of wood (and so many were) they will rot away, and who knows, a tree or two grows over the grave.

 

[ironpony]

My first cousin Marcus did the digging, and shared the results from the family tree with the three branches of my paternal grand and great grandfather's family. Fortunately, the VA put my father in the ground at a national cemetery, so his rank and "WWI" are on the headstone.

 

[dave350]

That was a good thing you did @GAnthony.

We’ve started our family tree and we usually try to work on it over the winters. I was able to get back to the 1600’s on my maternal fathers side. The wife has also gotten a good ways back on her side. She has a lot of ancestors that were in agriculture and as we researched county records it was cool reading some of the names of the farms.

My dad would talk about our family a lot. Still does sometimes although now he gets a lot of people mixed up.

 

[GAnthony]

That was a good thing you did @GAnthony.

We’ve started our family tree and we usually try to work on it over the winters. I was able to get back to the 1600’s on my maternal fathers side. The wife has also gotten a good ways back on her side. She has a lot of ancestors that were in agriculture and as we researched county records it was cool reading some of the names of the farms.

My dad would talk about our family a lot. Still does sometimes although now he gets a lot of people mixed up.

i only have the names of the towns, all my grand parents came from, in Italy.....(mother's family, and dad's), but there is a dead end with that.......i have no ships manifest of passengers either.

my cousin tried that Ellis Island search, (that's on tv) but only came up with generic information......

this is why you younger ones need to do this, if not for YOUR information, but your kids or grand kids.....

seems more and more people are wondering about their genealogy then ever before.

 

[ironpony]

At least we can get back that far. Many people have had their family heritage stolen from them by the evils of the past.

 

[dave350]

seems more and more people are wondering about their genealogy then ever before.

It's easier than ever before to research it and there's a lot of advertising about it. We both did the DNA thing, I gave it to Sandy for Christmas one year. Hers was interesting and it has coincided with the information we've dug up on the website we use for that research.

My DNA came back 50% asshole, 50% Budweiser.
pretty much spot on.

 

[dave350]

At least we can get back that far. Many people have had their family heritage stolen from them by the evils of the past.

I'm going to take a stab that you are referencing Indians here? Sandy's mother was Indian and she is the only one that the research doesn't go far back on. It actually disappears pretty quickly. Total dead end. She's not alive to help fill in any blanks.

 

[ironpony]

I'm going to take a stab that you are referencing Indians here? Sandy's mother was Indian and she is the only one that the research doesn't go far back on. It actually disappears pretty quickly. Total dead end. She's not alive to help fill in any blanks.

Native Americans have this pretty much nailed. I was thinking more victims of WWII German concentration camps, and African Americans.

 

[tommyh]

It's easier than ever before to research it and there's a lot of advertising about it. We both did the DNA thing, I gave it to Sandy for Christmas one year. Hers was interesting and it has coincided with the information we've dug up on the website we use for that research.

My DNA came back 50% asshole, 50% Budweiser.
pretty much spot on.

drunken asshole

they are everywhere

none of my folks came from africa according to my dna
so the liberials guess of monkeyism is way off

 

[Electric Chicken]

It's easier than ever before to research it and there's a lot of advertising about it. We both did the DNA thing, I gave it to Sandy for Christmas one year. Hers was interesting and it has coincided with the information we've dug up on the website we use for that research.

My DNA came back 50% asshole, 50% Budweiser.
pretty much spot on.

Mine came back 100% some chick named Anheuser's bush. It was a little fuzzy though.

 

[ironpony]

Mine came back 100% some chick named Anheuser's bush. It was a little fuzzy though.

Yer one 'o *THEM* huh?

 

[Injun]

My GranPoppa passed at the age of 101 in 1994. He was a WWI and WWII vet. We could not get his marker noted appropriately because his records were lost in a fire at the KC military ....library? many years ago. My mother found his citation for the Silver Star he was awarded for his actions in WWI. With that citation, she was able to get his grave marked correctly.

 

[Hillbilly Canuck]

The story goes that my grandfather was given the choice of a year in jail or two in the army for running a still at about the end of WWI. They say he chose the army but his grave says nothing about that. I never met him because he died in the early 70's.

 

[GAnthony]

it took me some time to somewhat "learn" paint 3D....but here it is....the flag holder plate is just above..

they are buried in a catholic cemetery and their rules are, at least ONE religious symbol MUST be on the stone.......i guess my uncle wanted to "even off" the stone, with 2 crosses, rather than to add the WWI..???

i was not around at the time the decision was made/voted on by my grand dad's....sons/daughters.