I recently got handed down to me various family artifacts. Among them was my great grandfather's Great War stuff. He enlisted with the 38th INF Div in Indiana in December 1916. He was a medic and arrived in France one week before the war ended. So while he saw no action, he did endure struggles of the times and the occupation after. I know as soldier how we complain while traveling during a deployment, but back then, they would go 2-3 days without food rations. They would live off what they carried which was often not much. My great grandfather Vance, kept a diary during his time. I also got all the letters and postcards he traded with his fiance/wife. They married while he was training at Camp Shelby, Miss during a time she visited. The letters were never hot and steamy, they were very formal and talked about everyday stuff. They wrote at least three times a week.
The documents of Vance's I got were awesome. It included a letter from Gen Pershing, who was Commander of the American forces, a letter from King George, and original morning reports. The letters were copies of the day, but are still awesome, as I have never seen them before. I also got his complete uniform except for the "drill sgt" style hat they wore of the day. I did get his helmet, jacket , real leather leggings, and his dog tags. I put alot of the stuff in a shadow box for display in my home. I have a military wall of all in my family who has served in the military of past. I am the only one of my generation of family (both sides) in the military. How sad is that?
Anyways, here is a linktr>
 | | SGT Vance Lewis WW1 |
"> to a bunch of photos of what I got and the shadow box.I know most of us currently in the military keep our stuff, but what happens to it over the years? I am lucky I have a great aunt who took care of family treasures and kept them safe for future generations. Now I will keep them in good shape so future generations of my family will know of him. With two WW1 Vets left alive in the USA, it is important we keep their memory alive of what they did foe us.
