Comments on: For Those “Always Ready, Always There”

By: colincarman

colincarman — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 17:20:55 +0000

Fascinating site. Both my grandfathers were in WWII, in the Sea Bees and Army Medical.

By: Jeff Blei

Jeff Blei — Thu, 24 Feb 2011 21:05:04 +0000

Hi Rich,
My grandfather (Nicholaus Blei) was with the 103rd like Sam. He was in Co. G. Interestingly, like me he was from Chicago. I think he was in Illinois’ Nat’l. Guard. I have pictures of him in Texas along the Mexican border with other soldiers. I don’t know the timeline however. He wound up in Westfield and Ayer with the 26th months later. How? I recently retired and I’m hustling to put a family history together. Your site has helped immensely…Thanks. Ironically, my older brother married a New England girl and lives a stone’s throw from the old Yankee camps. Gramps didn’t talk much about the war, though he did receive a purple heart in 1933 for wounds in the Meuse Argonne. He also left nice artifacts, though most disappeared after his death. I’ll be visiting my brother this summer and would love to meet you. In the meantime I’ll keep searching for more information. Are there any sites you have found most useful? Genealogical or War Dept.? By the way, My grandfather spent a lot of time in the V.A. called Hines (outside of Chicago). Ironically, they have a wonderful statue of George Dilboy there!! Who would have thought and in Illinois another member of the 103rd lives on.
Thanks again for the website. You have amazing talent and devotion !!
Jeff

By: Patti Brown

Patti Brown — Wed, 12 Jan 2011 20:08:49 +0000

My great uncle, Corporal Joseph Maus, was in the 27th Division, 105th Infantry who was killed in action in France on 9/29/18. I have a number of questions. As next of kin, can I apply for his Purple Heart? I have a letter from the Red Cross at the time regretting that they were not able to locate a gravesite for him. Could this have changed. Also, I have all of his letters to his sister, my grandmother, from May through September, 1918. They are numerous and long (and very interesting, especially the ones written from the trenches). Is is worth transcribing them and what is the best way to preserve the originals. Thanks!

By: allaboutwarmovies

allaboutwarmovies — Mon, 13 Dec 2010 17:55:25 +0000

I actually wanted to thank you for visiting my blog and thought I’ll come and visit too. This is a wonderful site, I have a particular interest in letters from soldiers since I read one of my grandmother’s books as a child, WWII but still great, letters from Stalingrad. WWI is of particular interest to me. I am going to review one of the best WWI movies on the weekend “Joyeux Noël”. I will return when I have more time, it is really a fascinating site.

By: LAWRENCE O'ROURKE

LAWRENCE O'ROURKE — Sun, 23 May 2010 18:35:38 +0000

AFTER WWII SERVICE, I LIVED WITH MY UNCLE. ALBERT TRACY IN PROVIDENCE, RI. HE SERVED IN THE WW1 103RD BATTERY C 26TH DIV AND EARNED THE SILVER STAR AND PURPLE HEART.I HAVE BEEN SEARCHING FOR YEARS FOR DETAILS, THE RECORDS BURNED IN ST. LOUIS FIRE.I AM GOING TO TRY TOMORROW TO FIND THE SAMSOH/HULL BOOK IN HOPES IT MENTIONS HIM.
DO YOU HAVE ANY OTHER ADVICE/
LARRY

By: Jan Calichman

Jan Calichman — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 18:47:19 +0000

Dom, Are you looking for information on Omer Mather of New Bedford, MA. I saw a posting of yours on Rootsweb. Omer is half-brother to my grandfather. Please contact me.

By: Steve Roberts

Steve Roberts — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 19:33:38 +0000

This is the most wonderful website I’ve ever visited for the history and quality of layout and ease of use. Fabulous work!

By: John Poulton

John Poulton — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 15:40:35 +0000

This is great! My grandfather was a Master Sgt 102nd FA Edwin H Poulton, joined 1916, went to Mexico, then France. 102nd was from CT: Battery E was from Branford. My dad has a box full of letters from the front to my grandmother, who he married after the war. I have a couple of photo post cards and one photo of the whole unit at Camp Curtis,Boxford Mass, if anyone would like to see it.
Wonder if anyone has any photos from France or Mexico of the Battery?
We also have a menu from 1916 XMass from Fort Bliss Tx.

John 203 288-4862

By: Jenny

Jenny — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 00:37:04 +0000

This site is wonderful. I have always found the letters of soldiers to be fascinating, and you have done a lot to organize, present, and explain the material. It’s going to take me a while to explore all the offerings here—I’ve been doing a little dipping in here and there, sort of randomly. There are a lot of angles on WWI that interest me. I plan to continue studying the subject after I finish writing my series on Deneys Reitz in the war.

By: Soldier's Mail

Soldier's Mail — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 16:07:03 +0000

Hi Ann:
Thanks so much for the contribution! Do you have any further information regarding which unit your father was in or the dates of his service? The experiments you refer to sound a bit shocking but actually make sense in that they were trying to figure out how to manage Trench Fever by learning more about its virulence and transmission. Here is a link that describes some of this experimentation which was performed by both British and American medical programs and led to the conclusion that Trench Fever “can be conveyed by the bites of the louse alone, as well as by other means…”: http://jrsm.rsmjournals.com/cgi/reprint/99/11/564.pdf

Best Regards,
Rich