Thankful Thursday: Coming Home from Over There

Just yesterday, we were talking about my wounded World War I grandpa and his friend.  As an update, I am still trying to confirm if the other guy in the 1919 photo taken at US Hospital at Parkview is who I think it is.  I did hear from one of his distant kin who shared the picture from his obituary.  It's still hard to confirm or deny since the picture used in the obituary is one of later life.  Although, looking at the ears and eye slant still have me leaning towards the identity.

In reading the military information I found on both men, I became curious as to why they had different return dates from Europe in early 1919.  More sleuthing was needed to uncover if memories were failing or if there was more to the story.

Search, search, search.  Bingo!  The answer was in the US Army Transport Service, 1910-1939, which can be accessed through Ancestry.com.   The two buddies came home on separate ships!

John D KERFOOT left Brest, France on Jan 11, 1919, and arrived in Hoboken, NJ on Jan 21, 1919, on the USS George Washington.  He is also listed as a "walking patient requiring dressing."

Grandpa, on the other hand, left Brest, France on Jan 26, 1919, and arrived in Hoboken, NJ on Feb. 3, 1919, on the USS Agamemnon.  He is also listed as a "sick and wounded, litter class."

Another note of interest is both of these troop transport ships began their lives as German liners and were taken over by the Americans in April 1917 when America entered the war.

USS George Washington on the left with the USS Agamemnon on the right
Photo found on www.nav.source.com

Ahh, genealogy.  Thankful these two wounded World War I veterans from southwest Pennsylvania made it home from "over there".


Sources:
Ancestry.com. U.S., Army Transport Service, Passenger Lists, 1910-1939 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2016.
http://www.navsource.org/archives/12/173004.htm

©2019  AS Eldredge

Wordless Wednesday: World War I Peas in a Pod

World War I left its mark on so many of our brave men.  No matter whether our brave veterans of the war were killed in action, wounded, or wounded and discharged with a disability, it affected the family.  What atrocities these military men saw and lived with until their deaths.

 In my possession is a  photograph taken in 1919 of my grandfather, his bride-to-be and another couple at US Hospital 24 at Parkview just outside of Pittsburgh.  Who are these other people (the ones on the right)?

Scratching my head is one way to think about this and not get anywhere in a hurry.  But, wait!  Last night,  I think, I think I know!!!!

Last night, I stumbled across the September 23, 1920, Uniontown Morning Herald newspaper article announcing the wedding of my grandparents.  So what....

The info contained in the article was eye opening as it detailed that "Mr. and Mrs. J D. KERFOOT were the only attendants at the wedding.  The groom and Mr. KERFOOT were members of the same regiment of the Fifth Division in France, both being wounded in the Argonne fighting and remaining together in the different hospitals for nine months.  There were not separated during their entire stay in the hospitals and their friendship has continued since being discharged from the Army."

Well, alrighty.

Investigation in to KERFOOT has uncovered that he was John Davis KERFOOT of Uniontown, Fayette, PA.  KERFOOT was inducted May 28, 1918, and went overseas July 1918 and was wounded by gunshot in the chest in early October 1918.  He returned back to the U.S., most likely on the USS Mercy in late January 1919 and was sent to US Hospital 24 at Parkview, where he remained until his discharge in the summer of 1919.

You can almost substitute my grandpa's information in the above paragraph by changing the dates by a couple of weeks here and there.  My grandpa went overseas April 24, 1918, was wounded by gunshot to the thigh Sept 29, 1918, in the Argonne Forest, returned back to the US in late January 1919, and was sent to US Hospital 24 at Parkview, where he remained until his discharge in the summer of 1919.

I found a headshot of John Davis Kerfoot.  It is a straight on head shot and the picture in my possession is not.  But, I think it could be the same guy on the right!  Look at the ears and shape of the eye!

I have reached out on Ancestry to one of his kin to see if they will try to confirm or deny the identity of the man in the photo.  Can't wait to hear back!

Did I mention they lived not too far from each other after the war?  Did I mention they had the same occupation?  It's almost as if they were peas in a pod.  Unfortunately, my grandfather died in 1929, while KERFOOT lived a long successful life.  If only there are any stories that have survived that his kin can share.  Is it too much to hope?

Ahh, genealogy.    Thank you John KERFOOT for being an awesome friend to my grandpa.  Who knew that the past can just jump in to the present.....



Sources:
The Uniontown Morning Herald, September 23, 1920, pg 5
Ancestry.com. Pennsylvania, WWI Veterans Service and Compensation Files, 1917-1919, 1934-1948[database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2015.
http://www.minerd.com/bio-mcknight,_pearlkerfoot.htm

©2019  AS Eldredge