Is there a way to search for servicemen that may have crossed paths with my Grandfather in WWII?
I have a couple pictures that have been passed down to me that were my grandfather's from WWII. One picture is of Sgt Henry Croy (probably from Virginia) and Sgt Bill Gregg (probably from Georgia). Other 2 only have what I'm assuming are last names - Reed and Merkley, and maybe Bise and Cimo but I'm trying to figure out the handwriting on that one.
Would be great to find descendents that might want a copy.
Thanks!
Answers
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if you can clearly identify who these men are - you could ensure that a record for them exists in FamilySearch Family Tree - and upload any items - such as photos to the Memories section of Family Tree
Thus later on if any family goes looking - they will find this material you have posted - even if you dont make contact now.
the descendants will probably come to FS - sooner or later - but dont wait on them to post the photos. - preserve them now.
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. . . but just a name on a photo can be very difficult to nail down - unless there are other clues.
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@RandyKrugman RandyKrugman sometimes info about certain units or regiments are printed in old newspapers, also may be able to contact the service branch and see if they can help or have suggestions. Maybe check the various websites for muster rolls that would list the people in your ancestors group. I’d be happy to help with this research, can you share more details? Maybe post the photos here? List the time period, location, branch of service etc. any info you can provide helps others to help you😊
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We are in the process of creating a new group for Military Records. @Military Records
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Dont underestimate the power of Google.
as an example here is one Sergeant Henry Crow found using google
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Pierson_Crowe
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Based on military records, I was able to maybe match up William Gregg so I'll probably post something there in case a descendant is keeping on eye on it. Thanks.
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Sorry, there was an autocorrect. His name was Croy, not Crow.
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Thank you. Let me pull together a little info and I'll post it.
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There are several Henry Croy's in the World War II Draft Registration Card collection at https://www.familysearch.org/search/record/results?q.givenName=Henry&q.surname=Croy&f.collectionId=1861144&m.defaultFacets=on&m.queryRequireDefault=on&m.facetNestCollectionInCategory=on&count=20&offset=0
But none are from Virginia. Most have a different first name, with Henry as the middle name. Look through those and see if you find any additional clues.
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There are also many Bill (William) Gregg's in that same collection, but I don't see any from Georgia. No Merkely at all, spelled that way. There are several Bise and Cimo too.
I LOVE old pictures like those you are speaking of! I'm sure the descendants of these men would be THRILLED to have your picture! I wish we had a few more clues to go on.
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Couple updates. Based on profiles found here, I was able to narrow my best guess down for Henry Croy. I contacted the latest person to update his profile but they didn't think they would recognize him. She was 6th cousin, twice removed. So I took to searching obituaries online for info and found the name of his grandchildren, found one on Facebook, sent her a copy of the picture and it was him. So 1 down!!!! So SGT Henry Croy has been found.
For Sgt Billy Gregg, I also narrowed a guess down to a profile on here and sent the latest updater a message but no response so far. I have not had any luck with other online searches outside of finding a WW2 registration that I think might be him which I used to search on here. We'll see how that goes.
As for Merkley, my current best guess is that it is Reed Merkley that had passed away in San Mateo. I have contacted what I think is a granddaughter (maybe great) on Facebook and sent her the picture. Waiting to hear back.
I also contacted the Camp Blanding museum and sent them the pictures. I believe these must have been during his training there in 1944. I'm hoping I can find some sort of roster for his RTC 212D company and go from there. Outside of that, I'm not sure I have enough info to even start narrowing down the other 2 names.
Thank you.
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I agree. I love seeing old pictures like that. And I can't imagine how happy I'd be if a random stranger was able to find pictures of my ancestors and pass them along to me. I'll have to post them on here somewhere and link them so that you guys can see what I'm working with.
And I think I mistyped Merkley or autocorrected it in first post. It is Merkley, not Merkely, I think.
Thanks.
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This is the Croy that is believed to be the one in the picture.
https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/details/M1WD-F1P
This is the William Gregg that I'm currently looking into.
https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/details/L1XH-JFB
And this is the Reed Merkley that I'm currently looking into.
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Excellent! I just found Sgt Henry Croy's info on Find-a-Grave, which gives a list of siblings, children, etc. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/113784740
But now that you've closed the loop on that one, let's see what else we can find for the others!
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Congratulatuions!!!
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Wow! Look at you guys go! I hope that Randy gives a report back from some excited family members that have a copy of an unexpected photo.
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@RandyKrugman RandyKrugman MyHeritage is offering free military records until May 26! I dont see the post with the info and photo? Id like to help but i need something to work with
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Here is the info for one of the pictures.
https://www.familysearch.org/photos/artifacts/106968704?cid=mem_copy
Here is what else I know. My grandfather, Cammarn, was at Camp Blanding in Florida. I have a picture of his group and am trying to see if I can match any of these other pictures with people in that. It was RTC 212 D at Camp Blanding. He was then sent to Europe via Scotland late Feb / early March 1945, sent back December 31, 1945, and discharged from the CO H 393rd INF REG 99th DIV on January 13, 1946.
One other picture has 3 people in it and is labelled Cammarn, Bise + Cimo (?) - and honestly, that's just a best guess from the handwriting.
Last picture has 2 people in it but I swear one of them is Cammarn but it looks like label says Reed + Merkley. I did find a Reed Merkley that matches up to the time frame but have not been able to verify. My current best guess is Reed Merkley that was born in 1916 and died in San Mateo, CA 1984. There's a couple duplicates of him on the family tree, I think. I contacted his granddaughter through Facebook but have not received a yes/no if it is him.
That's pretty much all I know. I would love to find some sort of list or roster of RTC 212 D but have not been able to. Outside of that, I'm not sure what else to do. i did contact the Camp Blanding museum and sent them the pics to see if they could verify that they were taken there. I'm waiting to hear back from them. Hopefully I can mine some info through that.
Thanks.
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Memorial Day update....found an “EINE MARK” with some add’l info and a couple more names.
i believe the Reed & Merkley is actually Reed Merkley - KW83-5TV. I’m messaging a granddaughter to verify. Unable to confirm yet.
Sgt Henry Croy has been identified as Henry Franklin Croy - M1WD-F1P
Sgt Billy Gregg. I believe he is L1XH-JFB. I’ve tried contacting relatives but no luck yet.
Bise and Cimo. New information from the eine mark. 4 names written on it.
Charles M Bise, Pa. I believe this is LVMX-R4L. Trying to find/contact relatives now. I believe I found 2 of his children (3rd was a son that died in his 20’s), have names but haven’t found them or descendants yet.
John Cimo, Ill. I believe this is John Cimo born 7/11/1922 but no tree profile. searching for relatives, believe I found some but haven’t found a way to contact yet.
James D Cordry, Ind. Haven’t found much yet but am looking into a death record on here for James D Cordry b. 12/22/1925 d. 6/24/1978
Roy H. Carlson, Ill. Just starting to look into this one.
Thank you for all the help!
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Wow! You are really a great sleuth! I'm curious what you mean by you found "eine mark" with more names on it. Do you mean a piece of paper currency? Congratulations on your success thus far!
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Yes, found an envelope of paper currency in my grandmother’s things. That Eine Mark, couple Korun bills, German occupancy Kronen, and another German bill.
Thanks.
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That's awesome! Who woulda thunk a piece of currency would have names written on it? Cool find!
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This is only related because you are talking about money!
That reminds me of a lesson that I did years ago. I don't remember what the original lesson was, but I had written numbers on pennies with permanent marker or something. I had numbered the pennies from 1-10. I spent the pennies at the store later. My husband found one of the pennies at his work a week or so later, so I brought the penny back to share this with the original group. Someone from the group commented that they had received two of the pennies back in change! How could it be that we had regained three of the pennies after a week or two. The odds of finding the pennies again just seemed unreal.
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And the search gets bigger. Found a couple more pictures with new names. Now looking for Greek, Donahue the Medic, Rice, Wahl, and Irrauisi (but this one is hard to read and every time I look at it, I see something different).
and Bise was confirmed by his daughter!!!!!
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Congratulations on finding Bise's daughter! That is AWESOME!!! Google doesn't find anything with the spelling of Irrauisi. Irau isi means "one more" in Malay. Isi means Doctor in Japanese. (This all according to Google Translate!) That's gonna be a tough one!
The other names you mention above are pretty common last names. We'd need a little more to go on.
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Here’s the name, maybe you’ll come up with something different? I’ve google searched for all kinds of variations starting with I and J.
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Sorry, having a hard time getting picture on here.0 -
Randy, I wonder if this is Irsauisi? This name could also be spelled incorrectly. You might want to do some Wildcard searches by putting an * after the first few letters, or insert it in the middle of the name.
I did find reference to Irsauisi:
Does this give anyone any new clues?
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how many people n the actual photo?
I only saw the image of the back label?
notice after "Croy" there is no comma - which almost makes one wonder if Irrausi is not a name at all.
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No, there’s 5 people in it and I can identify Cammarn and Croy. And Croy is the second to last so there would be a bane after him.
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