Draft Registration Cards–John Pakledinaz

Over the past week I have been looking a little more at some information I have for my Great Grandfather, John Pakledinaz. The records of interest are his draft registration cards from World War I and World War II.

The document above is his WWI registration card. This is what it tells us:

1. It gives me his address on Sept 12, 1918. I can add this to my google maps where I track their movements.

2. Confirms his date of birth.

3. It says that he was a citizen of Hungary, which is consistent with my my other information. It also says that he was an alien, non-declarant. This is good information as it narrows down dates for me to look for any declaration paperwork he may have submitted – I know it was not before this date.

4. It gives his occupation and who he worked for and where he worked. The Penobscot building was not very far from where he lived.

5. The card gives a brief description, a tall, slender build male with brown eyes and dark brown hair. It also says that he didn’t have any obvious physical condition that would disqualify him for service.

The documents above and to the left are his WWII registration cards. They tell us the following:

1. It gives his address on April 27, 1942.

2. Another confirmation of his birth date. Also gives his place of birth as Yugoslavia which is consistent with other information –Yugoslavia came into existence after WWI. So, when he was born, it wasn’t called Yugoslavia but was at the time of this registration card.

3. Says that he was unemployed.  Interesting and I would like to find out more.

4. It also gives a description of him; 5ft 10.5in tall, hazel eyes, black hair, and a ruddy complexion. (Which meant he had a healthy, reddish color) It also tells us that he didn’t have any obvious physical characteristics that would aid in his identification.

The last piece of information that these two cards give me intensifies a little mystery I have for John. What was his middle name or initial, if he even had one.

If you will notice in his WWI registration card, he gives no middle initial but in his WWII card, he says it was M. and he even signs his name with the M. initial.

I also have his Death certificate where his middle initial was given as J.

The birth record I have for him makes no mention of a middle name. (a future post will talk about his birth/baptism record).

Only further research may reveal his true middle initial or name, if he truly had one. I’ll be going through all my information again looking for any evidence of a middle initial or name being used.  But for now, in my database, I am listing him without the middle initial or name.

Did I miss anything or if you have something to add, please leave a comment with your information.

If you would like to read more about John, I have written about him many times; Census Sunday, Ships Manifest, Rookie Mistake, Pakledinaz - Irish??, Surname Saturday, and Ancestor Appreciation Day.

Thanks for stopping by and keep diggin’ for that family.

Chris

September Objectives

Happy Labor Day all! It is already 5 September so about time to publish the objectives we want to meet this month in pursuit of the yearly goals I posted in my Goals and Objectives post. Here are September’s objectives.

1. Get a copy of the church register that shows the baptism of William Van Capen.
2. Write to the Massachusetts churches to see if they have a record of birth for Joseph Lucas.
3. Do some initial research into what military records may be available for WWI aviators (William Van Capen).
4. Lay out an initial vacation/genealogy trip centered on Danzig.
5. Store the records in my Lucas files correctly. (I have some old letters and documents laying in files and need to preserved these as best as possible).
6. Solidify a solid backup plan for my genealogy data and all my photos. (I back up now but I’m not happy with my process).

It seems like a lot (to me) but actually is pretty doable as long as I can stick to my plans and nothing major comes up this month.

Thanks for reading and keep diggin’ up that family.

Chris

Technorati Tags: Family History,Genealogy,Ancestry,Goals,Objectives

Military Monday - Memorial Day–Pfc Joseph Lucas, WWII Vet

In honor of Memorial Day, I am posting on my grandfather. A World War II veteran killed in Germany 18 days after Victory in Europe.

Joseph Lucas was born 13 December 1907 in Northbridge, Massachusetts. His parents were Polish immigrants, Roman Luksys and Catherine Paskruba. Joe (as he was called by friends and family) was the second oldest of their six children. They resided in Massachusetts until they moved to Michigan about 1911. Roman and Catherine changed their last name from Luksys to Lucas sometime between 1913 and 1920, more than likely to make it more “American”. Roman died sometime between 1920 and 1924.
Joe, along with his brothers, probably helped out on the family farm so they probably didn’t finish any schooling past the 6th grade.. Joe also worked as a riveter for Ford Motor Company and this is probably where he was working when he met his future wife, Teresa Pakledinaz. They were married on 14 Sept 1935 in Carleton, Michigan. Joe and Teresa had four children throughout their marriage: Elizabeth (1936), Joseph (1937), John (1939), and Nancy (1941).

Joe and Teresa had a falling out sometime at the end of 1942 that led to a divorce on 5 May 1943. The reason for the divorce was probably Joe’s second wife, Thelma Sabol. They were married a little over a month later on 21 June 1943. It was later this year, October 15 to be exact, that Joe entered the US Army. It is not known whether Joe enlisted voluntarily or he was drafted. Most men of his age and his number of children were not drafted, but he may have been. There are many indications that Joe regretted his divorce from Teresa and his marriage to Thelma. First was that in Aug of 1944, Joe removed Thelma as his Beneficiary; he put just his kids names. In addition, in a letter to Teresa, dated 8 Jan 1945 Joe stated that he did not have much use for Thelma anymore. The army may have been Joe’s answer to get away from his problems.

Joe’s indoctrination to the army took place at Camp Grant, Illinois. After that, he was transferred to his permanent unit, the 70th Infantry Division, The Trailblazers. They were located at Camp Adair, Oregon. He was first with L Company, 275th Infantry Regiment but was later assigned to Battery B, 882nd Field Artillery Battalion. It is not known why he was transferred between units of the 70th. With the 882nd is where Joe would spend his combat time through Europe.

Joe’s unit sailed from Boston on 8 Jan 1945 aboard the USS Mariposa and arrived in Marseilles, France on 18 Jan. From there Joe traveled with his unit through France until they were reunited with the infantry regiments of the 70th ID, 7th US Army. Their first taste of combat was at Diebling, France. The 882nd Field Artillery mainly fired in support of the 274th Infantry Regiment. The 70th ID major battles were fought through Spicheren Heights, Forbach, Stiring-Wendel, and finally crossing the Saar River and taking Saarbruecken thus cracking the Siegfried line and entering Germany. After the battle for Saarbruecken was over, the 70th was put in reserve and their basic duties consisted of mopping up and policing duties. The 882nd Field Artillery was located near Neuhoff, Germany when they celebrated Victory in Europe day on 8 May 1945. The battalion was still on the move and by 11 May, they were moved to Hanau. Battery B, Joe’s unit, was assigned to the village Bischofsheim and then on the 25th moved to the village of Bruchkoebel. Their job was to evacuate that portion of the Hanau Kreis as it was declared a part of the SHAEF (Supreme HQ Allied Expeditionary Forces) security area.
On 26 May, Joe was assigned to guard a food warehouse near Hanau. At approximately 1400hrs, German civilians raided the warehouse compound. Joe’s partner, Pfc John Morris, (according to a predetermined plan) went to the third floor of the warehouse, thinking Joe was right behind him, and started shooting towards the civilians. After most of the civilians had left the area, PFC Morris headed back to the ground floor to round up what civilians were left. He found PFC Lucas laying in a train boxcar, dead. The investigation of the incident found that PFC Lucas was shot through the neck by a round fired by PFC Morris, who was firing in the line of duty. The investigating officer found that there was no fault and the incident was just a misfortunate accident. This all took place 18 days after the war in Europe was over.

Joe’s body was first buried at Margraten on 31 May 1945 at 1640hrs; he was buried in grave 260, row 11, plot DD. His brother, Edward, made the decision that Joe’s final resting place should be overseas. Joe’s final burial would take place on 25 April 1949, where he was laid to rest in plot O, row 6, grave 12 of the Netherlands American Cemetery in Margraten.

Joe was neither the perfect soldier nor the perfect husband, who is? However, one thing is for certain, Joe loved his children. Elizabeth is the only one that has faint memories of her dad; she was 9 yrs old when he died. Nancy, who was only 3 yrs old when Joe died, has no memory of her dad at all. Back in 1999, when the family finally learned of Joe’s final resting place and the circumstances of his death, a letter was found written by Joe back in January 1945. This was probably the last letter Joe wrote to Teresa and his kids before he died. After Nancy read the letter, she said that at least now she knows her dad loved her. The first line in that letter read “...here’s a big kiss and hug for the children with their daddy’s love.” Moreover, the last line of that letter read, “...with all my love to the kids from their daddy.” Joe loved his kids.
My deepest appreciate goes out to all those that gave the ultimate sacrifice and to their families who must now go through life without them.

Chris – Proud grandson of Pfc Joseph Lucas!

Technorati Tags: Memorial Day,Veteran,World War II,WWII,Family History,Genealogy

Follow Friday–American Battle Monuments Commission

I began my family history journey back in 1999 when I was assigned to Germany with the US Air Force. I always heard that my grandfather was killed in WWII and buried in Germany but no one knew where, not even my mother – his daughter. So, the search began. One of the first resources that I came across was the American Battle Monuments Commission. I never heard of it before but what a great organization established by our government. You can read all about them on their website but they are charged with caring for and maintaining our overseas cemetery’s and memorials.

On their website is a search page in which you can search all their records and find the exact location of any of our American heroes who are buried in one of their cemeteries. That is exactly what I did and found my grandfather buried in the Netherlands American Cemetery, plot O Row 6 Grave 12. I also found out that he was a Private First Class, his service number, and the unit he belonged to when he was killed, plus his date of death. One resource and I uncovered all this information that proved vital in my continued success in locating my grandfathers story. I can thank the American Battle Monuments Commission for that.

I visited the cemetery many times while I’ve been in Germany and was able to take my mother to see her dad’s final resting place two separate times. The last time was last May for Memorial Day. My mom passed away this past January and I am very thankful that we were able to get her to see her father’s resting place and give her some closure on his death. The staff at the Netherlands American Cemetery is very professional and have always been a great help during my visits. But, more importantly to me, they are very proud to be serving the heroes laid to rest in their cemetery. The staff of this cemetery are not Americans but citizens of the Netherlands.

From the information I got from the American Battle Monuments Commission I have been able to locate records on my grandfathers unit and visit sites in France and Germany where he fought. However, the greatest find coming from this information was the investigation report that describes how my grandfather was killed. That brought total closure and eliminated rumors that my mother had heard about his death.

The American Battle Monuments Commission is not only a great government agency but also a great resource for those that may have family buried in one of our overseas cemetery’s.

Thanks for reading and keep diggin’ up your family.

Chris

P.S. My post for this Monday will be a short bio on my grandfather, so check back.

Technorati Tags: American Battle Monuments Commission,ABMC,Cemetery,Family History,American Overseas Cemetery,WWII,World War II,Genealogy

A WWI Aviator Vet

Ok, for my first search I am going to cover looking for my Wife’s Great Uncle, 2nd Lt William V. Capen. I’m not really looking for him because I do know where he is. He is buried at St. Mihiel American cemetery in France, which is a U.S. military cemetery cared for by the American Battle Monuments Commission. He is buried there because he was killed in an aviation accident on 3 November 1918 while serving in the 3rd Aviation Instructor Center at Issuodun, France. That is about all I have to go on.
We have found him in the New Jersey census for 1900 and 1910 and this tells us that he was born in Aug 1895 but, of course, no exact date. My first quest was to try and find his exact date of birth. Wrote to the New Jersey vital records and they found no record of a birth for him. Hmm! But, I can expect maybe it wasn’t registered or something else, the search will go on.
With all of the information on Ancestry.com now, I’ve done a search for him there as well. Found that his mother is listed as being part of the WWI Mother’s Pilgrimage, which was a program to offer travel of the mother’s and/or widows to the graves of their loved ones in Europe. Not sure if she made the trip though.
Second task is to fight out any information on the accident that killed him. This really interests me since I am a want-to-be military historian. A quick google search brought me to www.accident-report.com and they had him listed on their site. Emailed them to see what they had and waited in great anticipation for a detailed account of the accident. A couple days later I got an email with a one-page cover letter which looks to have included the accident report at one time. uggh!  However, that is more than we had to go on before so I will try and analyze that letter and try and read all the handwriting throughout the margins to find any clues.
That is where I stand now and will update as I run into more walls or make any breakthroughs on our WWI hero, 2nd Lt. William V. Capen.
Any suggestions would be much appreciated in the comments.

Technorati Tags: WWI,World War I,Aviation,3rd Aviation Instructor Center,Military Records,Genealogy,Family History

Until next time and keep diggin’ for your family,
Chris
Photo by: Tony Hisgett
P.S. I figured out how to get the photo for this blog by following the advice of Kerry over at the Clue Wagon.