When my father and his wife visited us in Germany in 2011 to attend my retirement ceremony, we had no idea we would discover where my Uncle Oscar's final resting place was.
In 1917, my grandfather decided to enlist to help the war cause in Europe. His brother Oscar, 3 years younger, enlisted several days later after having lied about his age (16). Not to be outdone by his older brother, He literally snuck off from home. That was the last time any family would see Oscar. He would die fighting for General Pershing in the Meuse Argonne offensive.
I took my dad on some European excursions to include several places in Italy, Germany, and France. We scheduled the trip to Normandy and Paris, which took us through Verdun. While stopped there, my father mentioned he believe Uncle Oscar's unit was engaged near there, so I searched for American Military Cemeteries. There are more than a few there, with several big ABMC (
http://www.abmc.gov/cemeteries/cemeteries/ma.php) American Battlefield Memorial/Cemeteries in France.
We visited the Meuse Argonne battlefield memorial. While there, my father asked the curator if Oscar was buried there (14,296 American Soldiers, Marines, and Airmen are buried there) and sure enough - he was! We were the first Wells' to visit his grave. The next year, I flew dad back over to attend the Memorial day service. It was an amazing experience.
Honor those that have fallen in battle!
