I Have WWII to Thank...
My maternal grandfather, pictured here as a handsome young lad, was a member of the US Army Air Corps during WWII--From Northern France: The U.S. Army Campaigns of World War II
It was following the liberation of Melun that my grandfather met and got to know a lovely young French girl named Gisele. It was a heady and whirlwind courtship, most likely enhanced by the war and its impact on life in France. It wasn't long before the couple was married and my grandmother was on her way to the United States to begin a new life with her American husband. She arrived in New York on the S.S. Vulcania, along with hundreds of other war brides, on March 21, 1945, the first day of Spring. Fitting, perhaps, for the first day of a new life. Ironically, many years down the road, my grandmother would also have two great-granddaughters born on the anniversary of that auspicious day - one in 2001 and another in 2002. Sadly, however, my grandfather wasn't here for those births. Or for the births of his many other grandchildren and great grandchildren. He only got the chance to meet one grandchild - me - before he died of pancreatic cancer at the young age of 46.
My grandparents' story isn't really all that unique. There were many such war romances and marriages - there's even an entire Web site dedicated to GI War Brides of World War II. It's mind boggling to think just how many family trees were likely impacted by that one war alone. I know if it wasn't for World War II, a city girl from France and a country boy from North Carolina would have probably never found one another...
Do you have a WWII story in your family? Please click on "comments" below and share it with us!
Comments
You tell our family story beautifully
Daddy would be so proud to be remembered by his first grandchild in this way!
My father (born in Okahumpka, Florida, was in the Navy, met my mother on a blind date in Sydney, Australia. They were married and my brother was born nine months to the day after their wedding. My brother was 18 months old when he and my mother eventually came to the USA and settled in Florida. Both of my parents are now deceased, but made yearly trips back to Australia after my father retired. My sister & I traveled with Dad on his last trip in November 2005. It was the second trip for the two of us & we are planning another one. It was wonderful to be able to go and see the church my parents were married in and the old home where she grew up. We also visited my grandmother and uncle’s graves and then in a different part of Australia, we visited the graves of some of my grandmother’s family. If it weren’t for my mother being a war bride, I most likely would have never ever had a desire to visit Australia.
My Father went in the day he graduated from High School. June of 1940. He tried the Navy but was to thin. So he went across the street and joined the Army, he was one of the Big Red Ones. He is cited for having fought in four campaigns: Algerian-French Moroccan, Tunisian, Normandy and Norther France Campains. His was the second unit to land on Omaha Beach, Day 2 Normandy. He was discharged honorbly in the fall of 1945. The Purple Heart with 3 oak leaf clusters, the Bronze Star, Silver Star and the Exceptionally Meritorious Conduct in Action (Good Conduct) Medals. I am proud to be his youngest daughter and very proud he’s still amoung the living. My Dad: Sergeant George R. Buys, Infantry, United States Army, He turned 85 April 22, 2007.
Nice article Kimberly. I too have a war bride on my family tree. The story is very similar to yours. My uncle was in the Normandy invasion. He met a fiesty and beautiful young gal while in France and made her his bride. She joined him here after the war was over and the two of them made a life together. She was the first non-Pole in our family. Quite honestly, the family didn’t know what to make of her. She’s very outspoken. But over the years she worked her way into everyone’s hearts and became one of our best loved aunts. I’m sure my uncle would never have met her if not for the war.