Veteran's Day

November 11th, Veterans Day, as most of us know started out as Armistice Day; a day dedicated to the cause of world peace and to honor WWI veterans. It wasn't until May 13, 1938, that it was amended to all veterans and renamed Veterans Day.
My family has a rich history in serving the armed forces of their lands, starting with an uncle in the Napoleonic wars and ending with desert storm. Not all of us served on foreign soil or in war, but a few of us did, and we all served honorably.
I started out writing about all of my relatives who have served in the armed forces, but it became too long to be fair to the veterans. So, I'm breaking it down into groups. The first two in my “Honor Roll” are Great Great Grandpa and Grandpa. Great grandpa, pictured to the left, volunteered and served in the Union Army during the Civil War. He was a private. He was in the 45th Wisconsin Infantry, Company I, which was organized in Camp Randall, Madison on November 8, 1864. As companies of the 45th were organized, they were ordered to Nashville, Tennessee, where, they fought in the Battle of Nashville and served on garrison and guard duty there until July 1865. The regiment mustered out on July 17, 1865. It lost a total of 34 men during service, all from disease. Adam Gleitzmann mustered out in Tennessee and returned to his cooperage in Cedarburg,Wisconsin.
Pictured below is my Grandpa, a private in the US Army, served in World War I. He served from 28 May 1918 to 9 Feb 1919. I wish I knew if this photograph was taken here in the United States before he shipped over seas or if this was taken during his time in France. He didn't talk much about what he did there to any of us. He told two friends of mine that he that he was a general's driver, and told my cousins that his MOS was a truck driver. While serving in the army he severely broke his leg, it wasn't set well and never really healed. Grandpa never complained in front of us if it cause him any pain; because of this injury he drew a small disability pension from the army.