# I just saw my great-great-uncle's name on TV

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-saw-my-great-great-uncles-name-on-tv/265075>\
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\
**Created:** [September 20, 2004, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-saw-my-great-great-uncles-name-on-tv/265075 "2004-09-20T02:01:11Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\
**Post date:** [September 20, 2004, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-saw-my-great-great-uncles-name-on-tv/265075/1 "2004-09-20T02:01:11Z")

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Really mundane and pointless, but I was just watching a documentary on the Pearl Harbor attack. There is was, engraved on the marble wall that lists those killed on that day: “T.L. KIRKPATRICK, CAPT.”

Captain Chaplain Kirkpatrick was my great-great-uncle.

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**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\
**Post date:** [September 20, 2004, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-saw-my-great-great-uncles-name-on-tv/265075/2 "2004-09-20T02:24:09Z")

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That’s not mundane or pointless at all. Fascinating actually. Did you happen to record the program?

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**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\
**Post date:** [September 20, 2004, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-saw-my-great-great-uncles-name-on-tv/265075/3 "2004-09-20T02:28:09Z")

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No, I didn’t record it. Anyway, I know where the name is. 😉

I found a [webpage](http://www.gonebutnotforgotten.homestead.com/Kirkpatrick.html) on him a while ago.

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**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\
**Post date:** [September 20, 2004, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-saw-my-great-great-uncles-name-on-tv/265075/4 "2004-09-20T03:14:42Z")

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It _is_ amazing what one can find on the 'net, isn’t it? When my uncle died recently, I Googled the name of his tank unit(WWII) and found, amongst other things, a picture of a small, pyramid shaped monument to the exploits of his group in Europe. They were ashore less than 24 hours after the Normandy invasion began, and I think they were in Amsterdam later.