Honoring My Ancestral Veterans

As today is Veterans Day, it is only appropriate to pay honor to those of my family who served in the military.

Let's start with ROLL CALL!

Howard Johnson          World War II       Father
Harold Johnson            World War II       Uncle
Marvin Johnson            World War II       Grand Uncle
Loren Thompson          World War II       Grand Uncle
Henry Coonrod            Civil War             2nd Great Grandfather
John Thompson            Civil War             2nd Great Grandfather
John Yelliott                 Civil War              2nd Great Grandfather

John Burlend                Mexican War       Great Grand Uncle
Daniel Burbank            Revolutionary        5th Great Grandfather
Woollery Coonrod       Revolutionary        5th Great Grandfather


These are the veterans I have determined so far in my family history research.  I want to thank each one of them and those that I have not yet identified for serving our country.  They fought to keep this country free and to protect the rights of all people. 

They had many new experiences.  Some experienced new forms of transportation.  My father was transported to Iceland via airplane.  It was his first flight.  My uncle had experiences with boats on the river but he had never experienced a troop ship.  Both my uncle and father took their first train trips being transported to camps in the United States.

Some experiences were not always good.  Several of my Civil War veterans suffered with dysentery and other ailments.  The details described in their pension files are sickening to say the least.

Probably the hardest of experiences was leaving behind family and friends especially when they did not know what their future held.  Of all the men listed above, only one did not return, John Burlend.  His death was listed as "Kill, affray on m'ch".

There is only one thing left to say... THANK YOU... to all my ancestral veterans and THANK YOU for all the veterans out there who read this blog.