I don't know what Grandpa did... looking for history buffs with suggestions.

Recently, I'm working on compiling information on the family's military members, and I knew this one was going to be rough. We have absolutely no details at all.

My grandfather was born in 1902, and his mother died in May of 1918. I believe I was told that the day of his mother's funeral, he ran away from home. It was my understanding that he then joined the Army by lying about his age (said he was large for his age) but recently, I talked to a relative who said that he did "some traveling" before he joined... He was born and raised in Virginia, but ended up after the war in northern California.

I have a distinct memory of Grandpa telling a story about being on guard duty in Siberia. He died about 31 years ago, I think I heard his story maybe 15 years before that, so it has been awhile! However, I remember him talking about guarding some kind of large storage area, and it being nighttime... large stacks of something in a large field, and the moon shining on the snow, and he was all alone, freezing cold, and then heard something go "wooo-ooo-ooo" Remembering him tell the story raises the hair on the back of my neck... he told how scared he was, but he never did figure out what the sound was... That's all of the story that I have, but then another relative said she'd heard him talk about being at Hickem Field in Hawaii, too... I'm not sure when he got out of the Army, but I suspect he was discharged in San Francisco, which might explain why that southern boy found his way up to Humboldt County, and met my grandmother, who was a Native American lady from that area... They married in 1924.

I have not put in a request for service records for him yet... but I'm betting that his records are among those that were lost in the fire in the St. Louis NPRC. I've scoured Ancestry.Com for any record of his service, and have found nothing. He was a bit too young to have filled out a draft card prior to enlistment.

I did a bit of research trying to find out what units might have been in Siberia, so far, I've found mention of the 27th and 31st Infantry regiments. I intend to follow up on both of those, and perhaps I'll find somewhere that might be able to provide information regarding personnel who served in those regiments. Hopefully, the fact that he was also in Hawaii, will help to nail down more precisely his unit. I have a couple more aunts to interview, but I seriously doubt there will be any more information from them, since they were the youngest, and now the only living of 7 children.

My question is for those among you who are history buffs... Do you have any more leads I might follow up on? Know of any more regiments/units that might have served in Siberia? Know of any resources that might be able to provide information if, in fact, his records were lost in the St. Louis fire?

Any suggestions are welcome. Thanks.

 

Redwood

Welcome too the Forum

Have you seen these ?

American Expeditionary Force Siberia - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

31st Infantry Regiment in Siberia

http://31stinfantry.org/Documents/Chapter%202.pdf

27th Infantry Regiment in Siberia

27th Regimental History -American Expeditionary Force Siberia

An interesting book on the subject

Amazon.com: When Hell Froze Over (9780743407267): E.M. Halliday: Books

Good hunting

Regards

Richie

 

Thank you both for your suggestions and encouragement. I need to do one correction... I mentioned Hickam Field, when I meant Schofield Barracks, where my grandfather was stationed in Hawaii. I've been doing so much research about various family members in WWII, and some that DID involve Hickam, that I mis-spoke.

I'm really rather excited about this. I had never heard of this operation in Siberia, and I'm becoming more and more certain that my grandfather was part of the 27th Infantry Regiment... the Wolfhounds, as they became known, partially, because of their stint in Siberia, and a russian wolfhound becoming the regiment mascot.

I've tried talking with some of my relatives... none of my cousins have any memory of the Siberia story... but I'm one of the oldest grandchildren, so perhaps that explains it. The timeline sure seems to fit with what little we know of my grandfather's early life... As usual, I just wish I would have questioned him more, rather than just sitting and listening to his casual mention of it... but I was young and had no sense of opportunities passing me by... I've tried to pass that on to my own children, and younger relatives, how regretful we become when we no longer have the person in front of us to ask any longer.

But as I said, this is very exciting to me... to be able to begin to fill in this missing chapter of our family history, and learn something about our American history that I'd never even heard mention of before! Thanks to both of you (excellent sites that you recommended, Richie B) and I will continue to research this.

I still welcome any other comments and recommendations. If you never heard of the American Expeditionary Forces in Siberia, I suggest you all take at least a quick look at it. It is fascinating!

I'm including a picture... 1st time posting a picture, and am providing it from photobucket, so not sure how it will display... but it may or may not have anything to do with his military service. After leaving the military, as I mentioned, he somehow found his way to Humboldt County, and began working in the lumber industry. A relative told me that Hammond Lumber Company used to go down to San Francisco, and hire men and take them by ship up to Humboldt Bay. He did have a long career with Hammond Lumber Company/Georgia Pacific/Louisiana Pacific, and ended up retiring in 1966 from there.

I'm posting the picture, to see if it rings any bells with anyone, as possibly a picture from the Philippines, or from Hawaii? The picture was among some effects of my grandfather's, so thought it was worth a try.

View attachment 13374

 

One more link for you - perhaps your grandfather is here

File:American troops in Vladivostok 1918 HD-SN-99-02013.JPEG - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Regards

Richie

 

Thank you for the picture link! I am more and more convinced that he was indeed part of the 27th Infantry Regiment, and a part of the AEF-Siberia forces. I called an aunt this morning, and although she cannot remember any stories of Siberia, she does remember him speaking of Vladivostok. She also remembered that while at Schofield Barracks, he was injured by a horse, and his facial scars were from it. He also gave another aunt the middle name of "Maloa" derived from his time in Hawaii, and thought it was a name that was pretty. Adding up the anecdotal information of Siberia/Vladivostok/Schofield Barracks, I'm positive that I'm on the right track.

I've sent an e-mail to a 27th Inf. Regimental Historical Society, and it didn't bounce back, so presumably it is still a good address. I'm hoping that I receive further help there. Thank you all for the leads you've provided.