Our Heroes of World War I Remembered Every Day

Veterans Day is upon us.  As we stop and take time to reflect on those wonderful heroes of the past that we call grandpa, cousin, brother, or uncle, be sure to thank the wonderful men and women who place their lives on the line for our freedoms today and everyday.

The Pittsburgh area newspaper project that I have been involved with for almost two years now is still growing.  Just this week, more than 4300 names were added to the death index.  As it has been from the beginning, this is a tremendous resource for those who are searching for our past.  The value to genealogy buffs for Pittsburgh area is priceless.  Of course, some of us want to find even more names on the index.  It's interesting to think about how many people have lived and died in our little area of the world. 

An added feature to this project has been the transcribing of old newspaper articles about the World War I military personnel from the Pittsburgh area.  There are a series of articles describing everyday life in France with our doughboys as one reporter lived and traveled with them over a period of months in the fall of 1918 and through the winter of 1919.

These articles, which appeared in the Pittsburgh Gazette can be read at http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~paallent/ .  For those who are interested in their Pittsburgh area roots, one of our awesome volunteers also took the time to index the names of the military personnel that were mentioned in the newspapers.  There are over 73000 names on the list.  Perhaps, you too will be find your loved one's name and the description of the battle in which they were wounded.  Perhaps, you will find tears running down your face as you realize what they went through for you and me.

So, say a prayer today for our military personnel and say a prayer for those brave warriors who believed in our country enough to fight for it and for us.

Ahh, genealogy.  A snapshot of the past has me on my knees praying for our military today.

©2011 AS Eldredge