The 75th upcoming anniversary of the D-Day invasion could spark memories for some family members.
It’s a good time to discuss what your family was doing at that time, as well as who was in the service and where. Have you recorded these memories for future generations? For those who lost family members, you can find information on servicemen buried in Europe via the American Battle Monuments Commission website, www.abmc.gov. Those who have visited the battlefield cemeteries in Europe have reported that they were well received by the staff, with an escort to the grave sites.
World War II military enlistment records can be found on Ancestry.com and other sites. One with more military records is Fold3.com. A fire at the Military Personnel Records Center in St. Louis in July 1973 has caused many WWII Army and Air Corps records to be unavailable. So, if you have copies of your ancestor's records, you should treasure them all the more. For information on access, see the National Archives (archives.gov), then "Veterans' Service Records," and the link to "National Personnel Records Center."
In my family, my father had been in R.O.T.C. at Auburn. He trained at UCLA and other posts as a meteorologist in 1943, then went to Italy after the fall of Rome on June 5, 1944. While his own letters and other papers were lost due to a tornado at our house, materials he sent home were put in a scrapbook by my mother and help record his service in Italy. Regretfully, my father has been deceased for decades, so we can only reassemble his WWII story from memories and the scrapbook.
From Slavery to Public Service Documentary is Lunch and Learn topic
Laurel Wilson will speak at the Georgia Archives Lunch and Learn program on June 14 about her award-winning documentary, "5 Generations: From Enslavement to Public Service in Atlanta." The noon event is free. Bring your own lunch. For further information, see GeorgiaArchives.org or call 678-364-3710. Wilson is a public historian and is also working on a project on the lives of those buried in the segregated part of the Decatur City Cemetery.
Federation of Genealogical Societies meets in Washington, D.C.
The Federation of Genealogical Societies will hold its annual meeting August 21-24 in Washington, D.C. It's always a great conference to attend. To see the lectures and registration information, go to fgs.org.
Contact Kenneth H. Thomas Jr., P. O. Box 901, Decatur, GA 30031 or gagensociety.org.
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