This day of remembrance officially began on 30 May 1868 when the head of the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) established Decoration Day as a time for the nation to decorate the graves of the war dead with flowers. It became a federal holiday in 1971.
Parks, Gordon, photographer. Gloucester, Massachusetts. Memorial Day, . A Legionaire sounding taps for the War dead during services. May. Photograph. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/2017855725/>.
The title of the Memorial Day image above (from the Library of Congress) informs us that this bugler was sounding Taps, which dates to 1862.
Harold Delbert "Hal" Currey, Jr. (the only son of the parents who raised me) and my uncle John William "Jack" Slater, both Second Lieutenants in the Army Air Corps, died in action during World War II. You can see their pictures and read more about them here.
Bob is on the right, around the time he served in Vietnam, abt 1966. From left to right: his sister-in-law Pat (Slater) Hartley (my mom), his brother George G. Hartley (my dad), and his mother Margaret (Fister) Hartley (my grandmother). From my personal collection.
The Uncle Bob (far right) I remember, circa 1986. With his aunt Fern Fister, me, his mother Margaret (Fister) Hartley, and brother George G. Hartley. From my personal collection
I think about my Uncle Bob a lot. He was interested in genealogy and I think he would have gotten a kick out all the things I've discovered so far about our ancestors.
His plaque at Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery in Point Loma, CA. Image courtesy of Ancestry user LSHamlin4604.
Originally known as Decoration Day, Memorial Day honors the memory of people who died while serving in the United States military.
[Johnston, F. B., photographer. (1899) Daisies gathered for Decoration Day. Washington D.C, 1899.
Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/2001703674/. ]
Harold Delbert "Hal" Currey, Jr. (the only son of the parents who raised me) and my uncle John William "Jack" Slater, both Second Lieutenants in the Army Air Corps, died in action during World War II. You can see their pictures and read more about them here.
James Chappell Warren, Jr., my paternal grandfather, served in the U.S. Navy during World War I.
We don't have his portrait so this Draft Registration card has our only physical description of hiim.
[Ancestry.com. U.S., World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2005. Original data: United States, Selective Service System. World War I Selective Service System Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration.]
We found out the ships he served on through the headstone application filed by his sister Mary Ann in 1936, two years after their mother's death.
[Ancestry.com. U.S., Headstone Applications for Military Veterans, 1925-1963 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2012. Original data: Applications for Headstones for U.S. Military Veterans, 1925-1941. Microfilm publication M1916, 134 rolls. ARC ID: 596118. Records of the Office of the Quartermaster General, Record Group 92. National Archives at Washington, D.C.]
My original intent for today was to re-post last year's Memorial Day tribute; next I thought I might highlight those individuals (most, but not all of them, my direct ancestors) whom I've posted about under my Gone for Soldiers label.
Then I recalled this photo of the air crew with my maternal uncle Jack Slater's notes written on the back. I don't know where it was taken, but assume that it must have been during his training as a B-17 pilot in the Army Air Corps. Not only does Jack list himself as the pilot here--and he was co-pilot on his three missions in Europe*--but close inspection of the lettering on the object to the left of the group reveals it to be a practice bomb.
[All courtesy of Olive Slater-Kennedy]
Here's my transcription of Jack's notes above:
Here we are, Crew 21 of the Bartholmess** Provisional Group. We are a typical combat crew - typical in that we represent all sections and elements of the country, in that we consider ourselves the best of the lot. We are the All American team of this or any other war year. We shall carry the war to the enemy, and hit him hard. Pardon me, if I sound like the proud parent, telling of his very ordinary children. We are, starting with the front row, reading left to right:
1. Pilot - You know me; I shan't describe myself.
2. Co-Pilot - Lt. Charles M. Guyler is at present newly-married. His wife, also from Pennsylvania, calls him "Chub". He is a level-headed, likeable young man of 25, an excellent pilot. I'd be lost without him.
3. Navigator - Lt. William R. Jones is the senior member at 33. A native Texan, he washed out as a pilot, and is the best Navigator in the group. Also married.
4. Bombardier - Lt. Jack L. Kipnis is at 26 still rather boyish. A Jewish boy from Brooklyn, he is a typical devil-may-care, efficient bombardier. Outwardly he seems to know only bombing and women.
5. Engineer - St Sgt Jackson G. Osborne has a mechanic's tasks. The boys call him "Bulldog", because of his noisy, husky egotism. He'd run the plane (and crew) if we'd let him. West Virginia (20).
6. Assistant Engineer - Sgt. Vito W. DiSabato is a native-born Italian with Latin good looks and personality. Lately from New York, he is also a waist gunner. He is 21.
7. Radio Operator - Sgt. Lowell T. Birdwell at 23 has been in the Army for 3 years. He has served in his native Texas and the Caribean [sic]. He is the "character" of the crew, very droll.8. Asst. Radio Operator - Allan V. Kangas is the baby at 19. Typically Scandinavian and a native born Finn. Very quiet. The Boys call him "Smiley" as he has no front teeth.
9. Cpl. Robert L. Lane is the Armorer - Ball turret gunner. He is 21, typically New England, the best gunner on the crew. Why the boys call him "Rabbit" I can't say. They also call him Jr. because he looks so young.
10. The tail gunner is Sgt. Ralph E. Martinez of Texas. Another quiet boy, well liked by us all. "Rocky" is also 21. Another excellent gunner.
Based on the information Jack has put in his notes, I was able to trace all of his fellow crew members except William R. Jones. Only Jack and Vito DiSabato didn't survive the war.
Charles Miller Guyler (1918-1991)
Jack L. Kipnis (1917-1978)
Jackson G. Osborne (1923-1981)
Vito W. DiSabato (1921-1944)
Lowell T. Birdwell (1919-1995)
Allan V. Kangas (1924-1994)
Robert L. Lane (1922-2111)
Ralph E.Martinez (1922-1981)
Thanks to the internet and YouTube I was able to locate several of the training films that Jack would have seen during his training.
[How to fly the B-17: Ground Operations
1943 US Army Air Forces Training Film World War II]
[How To Fly The B-17: Flight Operations
1943 US Army Air Forces Training Film World War II]
*Missions flown according to database at the American Air Museum in England.
29 Nov 1843 Bremen link here plane name unknown 42-31171
30 Nov 1943 Solengin link here Mayfly 42-3356
5 Dec 1943 Bordeaux/Merignac link here Fighting Cock 42-3397
**I believe this refers to Lt. Col. Karl T. Barthelmess.
So for today's release I would use the following info:
the database number: http://search.ancestry.com/search/db.aspx?dbid=1002
and my tree number: http://trees.ancestry.com/tree/14683958/family?cfpid=145378340
to get this:
http://hints.ancestry.com/tree/14683958/hints?hf=record&hs=last&hdbid=1002
This is a sample of the results. 30 pages?? I'd better get to work!
I often use this to check and see if any given database can be mined effectively. It also helps me a regularly sweep of my entire tree (which is full of collateral relations as well as my direct ancestors), which is often neglected.
Edited to add 11 March 2023: This hack no longer works 😒
Now known collectively as Gold Star Survivors, the loss suffered by the mothers, wives and other family members of our fallen service members has been symbolized by a gold star since World War I.
"The Gold Star Lapel Pin was established by Act of Congress (Pub. L. 80-306) on August 1, 1947 to identify widows, parents and next of kin of service members killed in certain operations defined by the law. While enacted after WW II, the award authority is retroactive to WW I, and includes most subsequent conflicts."
I know Mother received one, though I don't ever remember seeing her wearing it. Her grief was private.
Harold "Hal" Delbert Currey, Jr. (1923-1945) Second Lieutenant, U.S. Army Air Corps. The co-pilot of a B-29 Superfortress based at North Field on Guam that was downed by enemy antiaircraft fire during a firebombing raid over Tokyo, his body remained unidentified for years after the war. He is buried in the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu, Hawaii
I know that Harold and Bernice Currey, the parents who raised me, never visited their only son's grave.* And as far as I know, my maternal grandparents Harry and Anna Slater never went to Belgium to see Jack's grave either.
*When, after those years of uncertainty, the news arrived that Junior's body had been identified, Hawaii was chosen as his final resting place because Dad told Mother, "If you bring him here, you will have to bury me next to him."
