My Heritage
What did you do in the war dad? Part 6_Giessen
Dad spent most of his tour of duty in Cologne, Germany in 1946. For a time his unit, or at least a portion of it, was transferred to Giessen, Hesse, Germany. Giessen is smaller than Cologne and is located about 50-60 miles SE of Cologne and about 15 miles north of Frankfurt. Frankfurt would host […]
What did you do in the war dad? part 5 Liberty Ships
I remember my father telling me that he made the trip to Europe and then back to the USA on Liberty Ships. He said the trip back was faster than the trip to Europe. The Liberty Ship or the later Victory Ships are among the unsung workhorses of America’s war effort during the Second World […]
Addendum #1 to What did you do in the war dad?
For those of you who have been following my series on my dad’s time spent in Cologne, Germany right after the war as a military policeman I’d like to call your attention to an excellent website. It’s called Dierk’s Page and features a photographic record of prewar Cologne, war-time Cologne as well as post-war. This […]
What did you do in the war dad? part 4
Within the packet of pictures my dad sent to his father in 1946 from Cologne, Germany are about 20 that appear to have been purchased. The 20 pictures show scenes of what appear to be prewar Cologne. The packet contained about 40 other pictures that appear to have been taken by my dad with the […]
What did you do in the war dad? part 3
Among the pictures my dad sent home to his father from Cologne, Germany in 1946 are significant number of pictures of bombed out Cologne. Wiki notes this: Cologne was one of the most heavily bombed cities in Germany during World War II. The bombing reduced the population by 95% and destroyed almost the entire city. […]
What did you do in the war dad? part 2
In the packet of pictures my dad sent home to his father from Germany (1946) were two of unusual size compared to the smaller pictures that were taken with whatever small cameras they had back then. Both pictures are of his military police unit and are interesting in their own right. The first one is […]
What did you do in the war dad? part 1
What did you do in the war dad? It was a question every boy my age asked his dad in the 1950′s and 1960′s when the baby boom kids were old enough to ask their fathers about WW2. So, I asked my dad, “what did you do in the war?” He said, “well son, I […]
The “2nd German” 26th Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry
The 2000 census shows that 53% of Wisconsin’s population claims some German ancestry. During the Civil War a number of regiments consisted primarily of soldiers of one nationality. The best example is probably the Irish Brigade consisting of New England Regiments. Because of the huge number of immigrants from German areas of Europe whole regiments […]
A Christmas Gift from Grandpa 1961
My grandfather died when I was only nine. He was fifty-nine. My memories of him are all pleasant. He was a kind man and I remember fondly sitting on his lap with my younger sister. We’d ask him for ice cream because our step-grandmother was a bit mean in our eyes and grandpa was the […]
My Viking Ancestors
Light-side Stuff One of my great grandmothers was of German-Danish extraction (Flensburg, Schleswig-Holstein was Danish until 1864.) which means some of my ancestors looked like this fine fellow. Handsome don’t you think?
