Grandfather's Journal

[tink_lover]

So, we just got back home after spending Turkey day with family. I know how difficult it was for my dad to give it to me, but I have my grandfather's WWI journal in my possession. I'm going to scan it and eventually get some photos with it to make books for my family. It is an amazing document. He was artillery and we are now trying to trace which battles he was involved in. I'm also going to get my dad's Korean War journal to do the same.

 

[branv]

What a wonderful thing for your dad to do, and what a great gift you would give the rest of your family if you pass along copies One of the BEST gifts I ever received came to me on my birthday. My sister had a copy made of 2 photos in her possession: one of my grandfather in his WWII uniform, and one of my grandmother the year they were married. She then placed them in a matted three-photo picture frame, with his picture to the left, her picture on the right, and in the center a copy of a touching V-mail letter my grandmother had written to him not too long after he shipped out. I actually cried when opened the gift I'm sure your family will be just as grateful.

 

[Jsme]

How cool. I know your Grandfather's journal has to be amazing.

 

[Aryn]

Thats awesome! Journals are like time capsules.. they take you to a time long ago. Treasure it always, and make copies, just in case.

 

[brandylouwho]

That is very, very special.

My grandfather was a WWII vet, but we do not have a journal among his possessions. He passed away in the early 80s, when I was quite young. While I do not have his thoughts or recollections in his own words I did obtain military records through the FOIA. That paperwork along with his and his father's naturalization papers are so near and dear to me.

So, if you find yourself wanting more specific info (if the journal isn't clear about exactly which battles he fought in or which honors he may have received) you can request his records from the National Personnel Records Center in St. Louis.

 

[belle's mom]

way cool! please share with the rest of your family when you are done. I've been trying to get my grandmothers photo album from my cousin for years( just to make copies, I'd give it back)

 

[DawnM]

What an incredible gift!

 

[akcire]

Your timing of your post is ironic. My husband just decided last night that he is going to digitize his grandfathers, WWI letters. We have about 200 letters that he sent to his grandmother and another 100 that she sent to him (he was mostly stationed in N. Africa). Once he has digitized them, he plans to donate the documents.

Eventually we plan to do the same with the photos..

Does anyone have a recommendation for a program to use for the photos, my husband's family were the first settlers of Eaton county MI in the 1700's---so we have some really old images..

Thanks in advance.

 

[smokeyblue]

Two years ago for Christmas I scanned hundreds upon hundereds of my dad's family photos ranging from the late 1800's to 1970. There were so many extras in the box including cofirmation records, baptism records and naturilzation certificates. It took forever, but in the long run it is so worth it.

 

[akcire]

smokeyblue--what did you use to scan the photos? Did you bring them into a software program? Also how did the really old photos turn out?

 

[beansmom]

what a wonderful gift! They don't have THAT at Black Friday, do they???

 

[tink_lover]

akcire - what timing! I hope to learn more about what it was like for my Grandfather as I go thru the journal. When I was a little girl, he would show me an old key and tell the story that when he came upon this village, the only thing left standing was an old door, and the key was in the lock. I am going to try to take digital pictures of the pages and see if that will work. If not, I will bring it to someone I know who has scanning equipment and pay to let him do it. Last year, for my parent's 50th wedding anniversay, I took all their old family pictures and slides and digitized them. I used my digital camera and a light box. For the family pictures, I had bought a scanner off of QVC that worked well. Good luck with your project.

 

[3boymthr]

Hi, It's so cool that you have that journal. We have one that was my Great Uncles (He died w/out children so it passed to my dad's family) along with some other memorabilia from his tour of duty which spanned from WWI to the Great Depression.

Just a note of caution before you take it and leave it with someone to have it scanned. Make sure you know the person to whom you are taking it is trustworthy. We had ours appraised by the experts at Antiques road show because well, it was an interesting thing to take and see what they thought. They told us some of these journals are extremely valuable depending upon the battles, people, etc that are documented in them.

 

[smokeyblue]

smokeyblue--what did you use to scan the photos? Did you bring them into a software program? Also how did the really old photos turn out?

I have a HP OfficeJet Pro multifunction that I just used the flatbed scanner. Many of the photos were curled up and/or cracking and crumbling. I just stuck them in there and most of them pressed out flat without causing any more damage to the photos. I actually would put mutiple photos on the scanner at the same time, they were many different sizes from small snapshots to 8x10's. The scanning software allowed me to just crop each photo from the full scan. It saved a lot of time doing it this way as opposed to putting in one photo at a time.

For an unprofessional at-home job they turned out so well. Little to no editing was required. Anything was better then them left crumbling in a box! One of the neatest photos was one of my grandfather from WWII. There was a letter with the photo that said it was of a large aircraft he had repaired and he said he was standing under it. It was a small snapshot and you couldn't see anyone under that plane! I magnified it and sure enough, there he was standing beneath the plane.

btw I like your kitty. We have a British blue shorthair

 

[akcire]

btw I like your kitty. We have a British blue shorthair

Thanks. Everyone that sees him thinks he is a Russian Blue (his tail has a bit of subtle striping which you can only see in direct sunlight) but I saw the rest of his litter and he is as mixed as they come. The people at my vet's office are always offering to "re-adopt" him. He is in fact---domestic short hair shelter extraordinaire.

His name is Mini Cooper Karr, we feel it is important for him to overcome the stigma of his humble beginnings and have a name worthy of a show cat (and the Mini-Cooper came to USA when he was adopted). We just call him Cooper or Coos for short.

Thanks for the photos, answer. My husband and I just spent the last 5 hours turning a file drawer of tax returns into PDF's so we can stop being a paper repository.

 

[Luv Bunnies]

Finding those kinds of treasures is so amazing! A few years ago, I was looking in a drawer in my grandma's house. She passed away 10 years ago but my mom inherited her house and we all stay there when we go to visit my uncle. I found some letters that were written to my uncle during the Korean War. My uncle had been discharged from the Army but a buddy of his wrote to him for several months afterward and told him all about what was going on in his unit. I found the letters to be fascinating! I showed them to my uncle and he didn't even know my grandma had kept them. He wasn't really interested in reading them again but he said he didn't mind if I did. I almost wish I could meet the guy who wrote them. He had a very colorful way with words and descriptions but my uncle said he lost track of him many years ago.

 

[smokeyblue]

Thanks. Everyone that sees him thinks he is a Russian Blue (his tail has a bit of subtle striping which you can only see in direct sunlight) but I saw the rest of his litter and he is as mixed as they come. The people at my vet's office are always offering to "re-adopt" him. He is in fact---domestic short hair shelter extraordinaire.

His name is Mini Cooper Karr, we feel it is important for him to overcome the stigma of his humble beginnings and have a name worthy of a show cat (and the Mini-Cooper came to USA when he was adopted). We just call him Cooper or Coos for short.

Thanks for the photos, answer. My husband and I just spent the last 5 hours turning a file drawer of tax returns into PDF's so we can stop being a paper repository.

LOL thats funny. Smokey was a stray my parents found at their house in the middle of the woods. He was at the shelter for three weeks and nobody had got him so we took him in! Our vet thinks he's a British Blue, but I'm sure he's kind of a "mutt". We joke that he's a British spy whose plane crashed in the forest.

That's a excellent idea doing the PDF's for your records. My HP multifunction does about a zillion different things including pdf's and I think about the only thing Ive ever used it for was printing out coupons and scanning photos.