You never know what youll find

[BishopLynch]

Gents,
A few nights ago by chance I happened to be in the church basement little aware of what an awesome experience I was about to have. An old WWII veteran, Nick, who works for the church came down and started chatting with me over the old days. He began telling me of his WWII service in the Pacific and of his brothers in the European theater. I was fascinated by all he had to say, but I kept thinking, "Wow this is great stuff! How awesome would this be if he were a Civil War vet?!" Lo and behold he began to tell me of his boyhood, and wouldnt you know he said his next door neighbor was a Thomas Cunningham, veteran of the Civil War. Thomas peddled goods from his farm after the war and well into the 1920's. Nick laughed a bit as he told me "I used to talk to that old vet when I was young, now here I am telling a young man about my old war stories." I cant explain the feeling that I get when I think that I talked to a man who used to talk with a Civil War veteran. I am equally honored to be talking to a man who survived the horrors of the Pacific theater of WWII.
Moral of the story: Talk to the old vets before they are gone! They can tell you more than the books. Try it, you never know what you might find out.

[DJCasey]

Re: You never know what youll find

I had a similar experience when I first started reenacting about 10 years ago. An older gentleman would often come around to living histories as a civilian. He loved to chat about his past experiences. He was telling me about growing up in the 1920s in Chicago. He had a neighbor in his appartment building who was a Civil War vet. All I remember was that he was from an Illinois regiment. Apparently this old vet used to cook his dinner in a fire pit in the alley behind the building and would often show the neighborhood kids how he used to cook during the war. He specifically remembered how he showed him how to bury potatoes in the ashes to bake them. The older gentleman then showed us how to do this. To this day, almost everytime I am cooking over an open fire I think how I got tips from a man that learned it directly from a vet. 145 years ago is not that long past!

[Becky Morgan]

Re: You never know what youll find

Amen! The time to talk to anyone elderly is NOW. The time to write down what you remember is NOW. We lost many very old houses in our neighborhood to a flood back in 1990. As it turned out, I was the only one who had pictures of a lot of them because everyone took for granted that they'd always be there.

It doesn't hurt to make a note somewhere of when you got what or did what in your own everyday life. Remember, today will be history soon, too. The things we quarrel over are seldom huge national events ("let's see, when was Lincoln shot, exactly?"); those are documented. The little things no one thinks about get us. One of these days, some Vietnam War reenactors will be arguing over whether "Incense, Peppermint" would be correct for 1967.

[Clsinclair]

Re: You never know what youll find

I made a visit to our Battalion Adjutant's house to help on some bookkeeping and he told me that a friend of his had a vast Civil War collection and he would give him a call to see if we could go over and see it. Without hesitation I said yes. Seems that his friends father purchased old uniforms and equipment from the Orangeburg, SC veterans during the early 1900's. Each item was tagged on where it came from. The man had closets of uniforms. I personally saw two Confederate Snake Belts, various other belts and buckles including SC buckles, Star Buckles and many more, Confederate Swords and Sabres, pistols, muskets, rifles, and manuals. All of these items were kept in a bad section of town with his 90 year old mother. We told him that those items belonged in the Confederate Relic Room but he said that he would think about it. When I saw the Snake Buckles and belts I thought of Neill Rose and compared the one that Neill gave me to the original. Nice copy Neill. The person let us touch the items and he wiped each item down as we returned them.

[TeamsterPhil]

Re: You never know what youll find

One of these days, some Vietnam War reenactors will be arguing over whether "Incense, Peppermint" would be correct for 1967.

The definitive answer is "YES". #1 on the Billboard Top 100 Chart on November 25, 1967.

Phil Campbell

[1stMaine]

Re: You never know what youll find

Phil,

I had one of those "aging veteran" moments a few months back.

My son, who is 18, had some of his friends over, and they saw a couple of my old award plaques on the wall. They asked about them and i told them. Then, one of the young gentleman remarked that he liked to go over to his grandfather's house and hear the old fellow talk about his service in Vietnam...... HIS GRANDFATHER.....

I felt so old. My FATHER fought in WWII, and my GRANDFATHER fought in WWI!

Big Sigh.........

Ah well.... I've already archived some stuff from my own service. Wrote down memories and dates as best as I can, and saved them and images to CD's for later use. Also wrote down such things as I remmber about my own ancestors.

Respects,

[Dale Beasley]

Re: You never know what youll find

My Grandfather (WW II) and I talked alot about his Grandfather in the 6th Mississippi Rgt. Great times.

[BenjaminLDavis]

Re: You never know what youll find

Amen! The time to talk to anyone elderly is NOW. The time to write down what you remember is NOW.

I can well attest to the truth of Becky's statement: a number of years ago, I was a pall-
bearer for my Uncle Lyle. After the burial, as we sat eating and talking, I was told that
Lyle had been one of the men who landed the soldiers on the beaches at Normandy! I
had no inkling that my Uncle had been in the landing craft and ferried men ashore on that
longest day! When I asked about his experiences there, I was told he did not like to talk
about it much.
What he went through on the beaches of Normandy is lost to the sands of time. Listen
NOW! History is writ large in these personal stories.

[Becky Morgan]

Re: You never know what youll find

The definitive answer is "YES". #1 on the Billboard Top 100 Chart on November 25, 1967.

Phil Campbell

HA! Made you look...;) But seriously: looking it up is the right approach. Consider what you wish you knew about CW practices, daily life, etc. and document that in your own diary, journal, or what have you. Most of what I research is later than CW, and it's amazing how little remains from the 1960s because it seemed too commonplace for people to bother with.

Working with Civil War needs has taught me to look for forgotten store receipts, old ads in newspapers pasted inside trunks, the backs of clippings stuck in family Bibles and other incidental spots. Those skills not only work for any era, but teach us what to watch for in our own data storage.

[JohnTaylorCW]

Re: You never know what youll find

I'll echo this idea, and expand on it a little:

My Grandfather served in the Canadian Expeditionary Force (CEF) in WW1. He only spoke about his war experiences twice to my knowledge: once to my Dad one Remberance Day (Nov.11) and once to me when I was very young, about 9, and playing with some toy soldiers. They were WW1 Americans, and I'd made some trenches for them by cutting up paper towel tubes. Grandpa said "No, trenches weren't straight, they were zigzagged to avoid damage from shrapnel bursts." He then went on to relate a story about how he'd almost drowned while in an underground listening post, that suddenly flooded after a shell knocked a hole in a water-filled crater nearby. I've checked his military records, he probably served at Vimy Ridge, and several other major battles.

I visited the New York State Military Museum 2 years ago, and they are actively looking to interview and record NY State veterans. This includes up to modern day. I suspect that any state would gladly accept donations of memories from veterans. If you know a veteran, of ANY war, any side, please, ask them to record, either written, or vocally, their thoughts and feelings. Even if they don't want to make them public now, at least they will have them somewhere. It's so easy to lose this information.