‘The Great War’, now called World War I, ended with an
armistice, or end of hostilities
between the Allied Nations & Germany on the 11th hour of the 11th
day of the 11th month of 1918. In the following years it was known
as Armistice Day.
|Hubert A Brown|
In 1921 the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier was established by Congress with a ceremony on November 11. In 1938 Armistice Day became a legal holiday dedicated to the cause of world peace. The day honored World War I veterans.
Unfortunately, we know that The Great War was not our last world war. World War II and the Korean War followed. In 1954 Congress changed the day to Veterans’ Day and it became a day to honor all veterans.
My family includes these World War I soldiers:
- Peter Brady 1891 Ireland – 1951 NJ
- Thomas Joseph Brady 1896 NJ – 1986 MD
- Hubert Allen Brown 1894 MS – 1971 MS, Private US Army
- Harry Lewis Creasy 1891 OH – 1950
- Ernest S Gruissy b 1893 TX
- Charles Forest Mark 1892 OH – 1967 OH
- Eslie Guy Mark 1890 OH – 1972 OH
- Elmer Ritter b 1887 OH
- Frederick Isaac Ritter 1893 OH – 1975 OH
A great book to help you research your World War I hero is:
Schaeffer, Christina K. The Great War: A Guide to the Service Records of All the World's Fighting Men and Volunteers. Baltimore, Maryland: Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., 1998.
The first part of this book includes research tips; what to expect to find in various records; and a time line of the war. The second part "takes the combatants, country by country, and describes each country's initial involvement in the war, the military records (and naval, if applicable), and, to the greatest extent possible, where they are located." The third part of the book "describes casualties, records for prisoners of war (POWs), and a table showing where to locate a geographic place-name before and after the war." The appendix includes a glossary of abbreviations, Internet addresses and a select bibliography.
Anyone have another resource for World War I research? If you want to share, just leave a comment.
Today a big thank you goes out to all our veterans who have sacrificed much to guarantee our freedoms!