Two of my 3rd Great Grandfathers were in Vicksburg for the siege with the Mississippi 31st. And were part of the surrender on the 4th of July.
One of my Grandfathers was a longshoreman in Pearl Harbor the day of the attack. In fact he had just moved to Hawaii Dec 2, 1941.
Another one of my Grandfathers was witness to the A-Bomb test in the South Pacific.
Not much really, farmres don’t see all that much except for dirt and plants.
My grandmother years ago (sadly) lost a photo of her father with the Wright brothers at Kitty Hawk. She said they were all good friends growing up.
The grandparents of a girl I knew in high school were on the Titanic and lived to tell about it.
95% of all my friends in Berlin saw the Wall go down.
(The others, like myself, were out of the country at the time.)
My paternal grandfather also served in Patton’s army and supposedly was in the first wave of US troops into Auschwitz. I can’t say for sure which camp it was, as I heard it second hand from my father, so it was probably Dachau. My grandfather doesn’t talk about it often.
My grandfather died about 12 years ago, so I can’t ask him either.
Thanks for the link. I’ve looked through the covers before, but I’m hoping my mother will find it since she’d be more able to pick him out of a crowd. I’d love it if he really was on the cover of Life. That would be a great cover to have.
My great-etc. grandfather (on my father’s side) was a Confederate Infrantryman, then captured, then escaped, then entered the Cavalry under Nathan Bedford Forest. Then captured agan (?) I think.
My great-something grandfather on my father’s side came to Eliis Island from Scotland in 1901.
My grandfather on my mother’s side was a Hitler Youth. Everybody was.
My grandmother on my mother’s side narrowly escaped death when her apartment building was bombed by the Russians (she had only just walked away from it).
Her brother was sent to Russia.
My grandparents immigrated to America in the early 50’s.
I have no details on this one, but in Rossville, GA there is a statue of a Civil War colonel with my family surname - there may be a slight variation in spelling, but it’s been a while since I’ve seen it so I’m not positive. I’m also not sure whether he would have been a Union or Confederate soldier, but I assume the latter, because of the location of the statue.
Next time I’m driving through Rossville, I’ll have to stop and check it out - then I can see if I can learn anything about him.
My grandfather was a member of the pre-IRA revolutionaries in the 1916 uprising. The activities with which he was involved are memorialized in the song “Johnson’s Motor Car.” The lived into his 80’s, but the family house exploded one day as a result of weapons stored in the walls that finally degraded to the danger point. Luckily, no one was home 
I wonder if your relative captured my relative. Capt. Austin Harmon of the 171st Ohio Volunteer Infantry. Called up late in the war for 90-days duty. They were sent into Kentucky after Forrest and were captured. Being only Guardsmen and no fools, they agreed to go home if Forrest would let 'em go. He did, they marched home and the officers were arrested for cutting a deal with the enemy (I found the order in the offiical papers; no mention of a courts-martial, though).
I’m named after a famously corrupt Tammany Hall politician if that counts.
My great-grandfather fought in the Civil War. I don’t know if he was involved in any major battles, but I have his discharge papers. He was discharged on disability after his leg was ran over by a horse and buggy on the battlefield. His son (my grandfather) later made a living selling bullets and creek water as souvineers.
My uncle was one of the National Guardsmen called out to the Kent State Massacre.
An ancestor on my mother’s side was Elizabeth Fones. The book “The Winthrop Woman” by Anya Seton was written about her. That linage goes back to Charlamagne.
I personally witnessed the “Great Sea World of Ohio Accident” where a boat at the Baywatch show flipped over onto the crowd. It was a big local story at the time, and covered on “Real TV.”
Hmmm…let’s see…
My grandfather fought at Iwo Jima, saw the A-bomb in the hangar before it was dropped and walked through Hiroshoma a month after the bombing. Which might explain why I’m so strange.
Also, an ancestor of mine was an American Militiaman during the American Revolution. In December of 1777(? I think), he was taken prisoner by the British and never seen again.
Ah, I neglected to mention that one of my ancestors was a bootlegger for Capone in Chicago, and that when my grandmother was a little girl, Bonnie and Clyde once spent the night in their Texas cornfield.
On my father’s side I have southern ancestors who during the Civil War promptly ran for the hills and joined those whom historian James MacPherson describes thus: “armed bands of draft dodgers and deserters virtually ruled entire counties”.
Daoloth - my great-grandmother made wine for Al Capone. My mom once asked about him, and Gramma said “He was a bad boy, but very polite.”
My husband’s family is more well-documented than mine: My father-in-law was one of the first people to use radar in WWII - he was trained as a navigator and then taught for the army air corps.
My husband is a direct descendant of Abigail Adams. Also, his paternal great-grandfather was a telegraph guy (I think he laid telegraph line), so his family traveled west in covered wagons along what would eventually be a railroad. We have the diaries of the eldest daughter, Ethel, (my husband’s grandmother) and she talks about “Red Indians” coming into their cabins and checking them out. She said they would give the Indians sweets as a sort of friendly overture.
LifeOnWry, are we related? Not too serious, but there are some interesting coincidences. My grandfather was a radar technician in Florida during WWII, and was friends with the controller who was on staff during the infamous disappearence of that squadron in the alleged “Bermuda Triangle.” Furthermore, I seem to remember some relation to the Adams family, although I’m skeptical. It just strikes a chord, nonetheless.
My family has mixed French-English roots. While researching our family history, my father claims to have found a relative who was in the French Revolution. Unfortunately, I don’t think we know his name, relationship to us, or as my dad likes to put it, “whether he was on the inside trying to get out or the outside trying to get in.” If I recall my European history, however, there were only a handful of prisoners inside the Bastille, and I don’t think I’d want to claim relationship with any of them…
Scylla Tweed? Sounds like a porn star.
One of my great-great-granduncles (27th Tennessee) was killed at Shiloh, and assorted other ancestors also fought for the Confederacy, and further back, in the Revolution as well. My father was a medic in the Korean War, and I’m also the only one in my family to see the Pentagon burning on 9/11 .
I don’t know much about my dad’s family, but since they were from a southeastern tribe (Choctaws) who ended up in Oklahoma, I’m sure they were witness to the Trail of Tears.
My mother’s great, or maybe it was great-great, uncle,Hiram Cronk, was the last known US surviving veteran of the War of 1812.
I don’t remember who in my family it was exactly, but there was someone who was a part of the movement that lead to my country’s (India) independence in 1947.
Well, my great(don’t know how many greats)uncle, George Partridge, ALMOST signed the Declaration of Independence…He didn’t sign not because of any political motivation, but because the other delegates were taking too long hammering out the details, and he needed to get back home to attend to his business. That WOULD be like my family. Very practical, if a little short sighted. :smack:
I’m also a Mayflower descendant, if that counts. Via John Alden, as I remember. Which would also make me a distant relative of Marilyn Monroe.
And a Soviet MiG once took a potshot at my grandfather, when he was piloting a B-47 “around” the Baltic. There’s some speculation that he was involved in some recon. overflights. (He won’t give any details)
And a VERY distant ancestor of mine was the first proto-amphibian to deliberately crawl out of the sea. 