I had an uncle who was in the Army during WWII. He was in Germany and saw one of his buddies step on a mine. I have copies of some letters that he sent home to his mother (my grandmother). When my Dad died in 1996 and I moved here into his and my Mom's house I was sorting through all their stuff. In the back of the basement I found a small box that was mailed by my Uncle Homer to his mother. Inside was a smaller box that was a ration box and inside that was a Nazi flag that he'd taken and sent home.

I had another uncle who was in the Navy during WWII. He was one of 4 brothers who were all in the Armed Services at that time.

My Grandfather on my Dad's side was in the Austrian Army. No details but I have a photo of him in his uniform. He brought his family to the US in 1911 so it was sometime before that.

My other Grandfather was in the Spanish American War in Cuba. I found his name and service dates on the web. He was never quite right after he returned, spending much of his time at veteran's homes in Wisconsin, but did get "leave" to come home from time to time. I have photos of him taken outside the home and at family picnics when he was allowed to leave. He and one of his brothers are buried in the Veterans cemetery in Milwaukee. I have the flag from my Grandfather's casket.

Remember the famous photo taken at Times Square celebrating the end of WWII? People are celebrating and some folks are standing up on a statue? Well my sister-in-law's brother-in-law was one of the guys on the statue. I can't find an image of it right now. It's not "The Kiss" but another one. Anyway he just happened to be there at the time. Later he was a Marine in the Korean War.