What Memorial Day means to me.

Chuck Rodekohr

In Memorium
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NorCal, USA
What Memorial Day means to me.

As well as honoring our current and past members of our military, I think of these, my relatives that served and fought for our country:

Captain John Johnson (1588-1659) 10th Great Grandfather: Genealogical Data of the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Co of MA 1638-1774 [Reston, VA 1999] "Captain John Johnson was the first Clerk of the Ancient and Honorable Artillery. His son, Isaac, was its Captain, and leader at one time. It is the oldest military organization in this country, founded March 13, 1638, and which still proudly maintains its existence.

Captain Isaac Johnson (1615-1675) 8th and 9th G Gfather: Whitman, Zachariah G, The history of the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company, from its Formation in 1637 and Charter in 1638, to the Present Time, Second Edition, John. H. Eastburn, Printer, Boston, 1842: p. 151 [1645] Capt. Isaac Johnson, Roxbury; freeman 1635; Captain in Roxbury, and their Representative, 1671; Lieutenant of the Ar. Co. 1666, and Captain in 1667. He was one of the six Captains slain by the Indians in taking Narragansett Fort, Dec. 19th, 1675. A short will of his is dated June 28th, 1675. Inventory, £579 12 6. "Great Swamp Fight" [King Philip’s War]

John Payson, (1643-1719: 7th G Gfather: Ancestry.com. Connecticut Society of Colonial Wars Pedigrees [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: MyFamily.com, Inc., 2003. Original data: The Society of Colonial Wars in the State of Connecticut. Register of Pedigrees and Services of Ancestors. Hartford, CT, USA: n.p., 1941. p. 1213: John Payson, (1643-1719) Roxbury, Mass. Soldier in King Philip's War, 1675-'76. Authorities: Bodge, George Madison, A.B., Soldieers in King Philip's War. Aurin Eliot Payson, 1104

Captain Jonathan Payson (1678-1760), 6th G GfTHER: Ancestry.com. Connecticut Society of Colonial Wars Pedigrees [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: MyFamily.com, Inc., 2003. Original data: The Society of Colonial Wars in the State of Connecticut. Register of Pedigrees and Services of Ancestors. Hartford, CT, USA: n.p., 1941.
p. 1213: Jonathan Payson (1678-1729) Woodstock, Conn. Captain in the Campaign if 1756, French and Indian War, under Lieut.-Colonel Elizer Fitch. Authorities: Connecticut Historical Collections, French and Indian War, Vol. IX, p. 98. Aurin Eliot Payson, 110

Ensign Asa Payson (1724-1757), 5th G Gfather:: The Public Records of the Colony of Connecticut, 1636-1776, Copyright © 2000-2001 University of Connecticut.
http://www.colonialct.uconn.edu/default.cfm Vol 10, p.41, Oct 1751
This Assembly [p. 38 At a General Assembly of the Governor and Company of His Majesty’s, English Colony of Connecticut in New England in America, Holden in [New] Haven in said Colony, on second Thursday of October, (being the 9th day of said month), and continued by several adjournments until the first day of November, Annoque Domini 1751] do establish and confirm Mr. Asa Payson to be Ensign of the 15th company or trainband in the 11th regiment of this Colony, and order that he be commissioned accordingly.

Captain Asa Payson (1756-1824) 4th G Gfather. Direct Data Capture. Revolutionary War Service Records, 1775-83 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: MyFamily.com, Inc., 1999. Name: ASA PAYSON Rank - Induction: CORPL Roll Box: 27 Roll Description: CT. Ancestry.com. Connecticut Men in the Revolutionary War [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: MyFamily.com, Inc., 2003. Original data: Johnston, Henry P., ed.. The Record of Connecticut Men in the Military and Naval Service During the War of the Revolution 1775-1783. Vol. I-III. Hartford, CT, USA: 1889. p. 53 THIRD REGIMENT - GEN. PUTNAM'S - 1775. [Siege of Boston 19 Apr 1775-17 Mar 1776] [Battle of Saratoga 17 October 1777. Captain in the Militia

John Clark (1740-1818) 4th G Gfather.: Roberts, James Arthur, Frederick Gregory Mather, New York in the Revolution as colony and state. Press of Brandow Print Co., Albany, N.Y., 1898
p 214, Westchester County Militia - Fourth Regiment
Colonel Thaddeus Crane
Capt. Daniel Bouton
Capt. Ebenezer Scofield
Enlisted Men
Clark, John

John Clark (1740-1818) 4th G Gfather.: Roberts, James Arthur, Frederick Gregory Mather, New York in the Revolution as colony and state. Press of Brandow Print Co., Albany, N.Y., 1898
p 214, Westchester County Militia - Fourth Regiment
Colonel Thaddeus Crane
Capt. Daniel Bouton
Capt. Ebenezer Scofield
Enlisted Men
Clark, John

William Payson (1791-1856) 3rd G Gfather: RECORD OF SERVICE OF CONNECTICUT MEN, In The I. - WAR OF THE REVOLUTION. II. - WAR OF 1812. III. - MEXICAN WAR. Compiled by Authority of the General Assembly. Connecticut Men in the Regular Army, War of 1812: p. 161, Payson, William , Priv, Place of Enlistment – Barkhamstead; Date of Enlistment Oct 29,'14, Commander - Riley Sweett, 37th Inf,, Des. Mch 4, '15.

August Brackman 1840-1927 2nd Great Grandfather: Company D Home Guards Militia. He was a 3rd Corporal in Captain Bruns' Co. D under Col. Neal. commanded by Captain Bruins, under Colonel Neal as a 3rd Corporal. He was in active service only 2 months fighting Bushwhackers. The remaining 2 months lying sick with typhoid fever.; Pvt. August Brockman (sp), Union Army, Capt. Becker’s Co., Boonville, Missouri Home Guards Organized by authority of Gen. Lyon, June, 1861. Guard duty at Booneville, Mo., till August, 1861. Mustered out August, 1861. Film No. M30 roll (as well as George, Henry Jr. and Henry Sr. Brockman also Privates Conrad, Fritz and Henry Bruns, no Neal listed. Others listed: Fritz, George and William Dierking; George and Henry Otting,
 
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Marjorie Gertrude (Gert) MORROW (1916-1944), (Aunt), Miss Morrow volunteered for duty in the Army Nurses Corps in 1942 and trained at Fort Francis E. Warren in Wyoming. In April 1943 she was sent overseas with the 95th Evacuation Hospital Unit. Nine days later this unit of 30 nurses, 30 officers and 120 enlisted men landed at Casablanca, North Africa, where they set up their first hospital. Later they moved to Brizerette, North Africa to await the invasion of Italy.

Aboard the Hospital Ship Newfoundland, they crossed the Mediterranean to Salerno, Italy. Unable to land because of air raids and heavy bombing, they were sent 30 miles out to sea, when a plane bombed the ship, sinking it. They manned life boats and eventually the survivors were rescued by the Hospital Ship St. Andrews and taken back to Brizerette, North Africa. The unit was given new supplies and clothing and put on L. C. I.'s to cross again the rough Mediterranean to Paestion, italy. Three days later the unit moved to Naples where they boarded L. C. I's for the invasion of Italy.

Lieutenant Morrow's days at Anzio were filled with continuing air raids and hard work with many casualties, and only occasional times for rest in foxholes. On the morning of February 7, 1944, she and her companions received their first mail in a month. "Hospitalization on Anzio Beachhead

The area selected for the U.S. installations was on low ground near the sea. Drainage was poor and the water table so close to the surface that disposal pits and foxholes could not be dug to proper depth. With all installations under canvas, the prevailing dampness added to the heating problem, making stoves, fresh straw, and extra blankets necessary. By 2 February, when control of the hospitals reverted to Fifth Army, the 56th, 93d, and 95th Evacuation Hospitals and two platoons of the 33d Field Hospital were in the area with an aggregate Table of Organization bed strength of 1,750.

Beachhead hospitals had been functioning at their new locations for no more than a week when the first of a long series of bombings and shellings occurred. It was impossible to put the medical installations out of range, and equally impossible in that overcrowded wedge of purgatory to site them a safe distance from legitimate military targets. Even when the beachhead was blotted out by a protective screen of smoke, the German gunners managed to find their marks. So good, indeed, was their observation, and so accurate their marksmanship, that it was impossible to attribute all the damage in the hospital area to accident.

On 7 February an enemy plane, closely pursued by Allied fighters, jettisoned its load over the hospital area. Five antipersonnel bombs landed on the tents of the 95th Evacuation Hospital, where 400 patients were being cared for. Newly wounded men were being carried in from the ambulances, the X-ray tent was crowded, and the operating rooms were working to capacity. Twenty-six persons were killed and 64 wounded.” [32]

“Shortly after 1500 hours on this day a raid was made by enemy fighter bombers. One plane, separated from the rest and under attack by a British Spitfire, jettisoned its load of anti-personnel bombs in an effort to gain altitude and elude his pursuer. This bomb load fell in a characteristic pattern from one side to the center of the area occupied by the 95th Evacuation Hospital. Bomb fragments riddled the administrative, receiving and operating tents, killing or seriously wounding the occupants and destroying equipment. Two other nurses and Second Lieutenant Morrow, Army Nurse Corps, were killed while completing the administration of blood plasma to a patient.”

"Among the 26 persons killed on the Anzio beachhead on the 7th of February, 1944, were three nurses: First Lieutenants Blanche Sigman, the chief nurse of the 95th Evacuation Hospital, Carrie Sheetz, the assistant chief nurse, and Marjorie Morrow. An enemy plane, engaged by a Spitfire in a dogfight over the beachhead "in an apparent effort to gain altitude, jettisoned his load of A.P. bombs over the area occupied by the 95th Evac.”

Gert was buried at the United States Military Cemetery, VI Corps, plot F, row 32, grave 808, Nettuno, Italy. Her medals, awarded posthumously to her family, were: World War II Victory Medal, European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal, Purple Heart.

Charles Merrill Morrow, (1921-1975) Uncle, served in the U. S. Army from 1942-45, and was an infantry captain. He won a Silver Star, Bronze Star, Purple Heart, European Theater of Operations ribbon with three clusters, and the victory medal.
He was wounded while serving in Germany. He once related to a reporter that he was leading a patrol and told his men to wait while he scouted ahead in an area between two hedge rows. He said he turned a corner and found himself face-to-face with a German machine gun emplacement, which opened fire on him.

"I remember emptying my revolver and then throwing it at them," he said. He was hit a number of times by enemy bullets, and apparently was left for dead.

When he did not return, members of his squad searched for and found him where he had been gunned down. He spent a time in England, where he was treated for his wounds, before he was returned to the Untied States.”

He was awarded The Silver Star, The Purple Heart, The European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal, The World War II Victory Medal
 
Dave, no I am not, but I googled Mr. Eckerts and see that he is a prolific writer and historian. Would the books you are talking about be his The Winning of America (Narratives of America) Series?
 
You would probly want to look into the major books, Fronterman, The great bloody Ground, Wilderness Empire, These are the ones I may recall that I read one of more of the names you mentioned.
 
Joseph,

Memorial Day is a day to honor those that served and those that served and died. It gives me pause to reflect on members of my family that served as well as others. I don’t make a moral judgment on what their circumstances were at the time that caused them to fight.

I am a veteran
 
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Joseph,

Memorial Day is a day to honor those that served and those that served and died. It gives me pause to reflect on members of my family that served as well as others. I don’t make a moral judgment on what their circumstances were at the time that caused them to fight.

Perhaps I'm just a mope, but every year I wonder if, perhaps, there's some way we could have solved the problems of the past that would let your family members still be standing here today.

Maybe there is no other way. But if there is, I hope to find it.
 
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