My Trails into the Past

This is the continuing story of George J. Gorrell's service during World War II in the Army Air Force, stationed in England, and later in Germany. George J. Gorrell wrote many letters to his family while in the service in England and Germany during World War II. Some of his letters have been saved and I am in the process of scanning them. [1] Most of the saved letters were written to his sister, Ada May. These were written on all different kinds of paper from newsprint to tissue-like paper.  Letter to his sister, Ada Other saved letters written to his parents, Mr. and Mrs. J. N. Gorrell, and to his sisters, were written as V-Mail. These are small photographs of the letter he wrote. V-Mail sent to his father This style of mail service was inaugurated by the Post Office Department on June 15, 1942. Letters of service men were microfilmed, shipped, and then printed out for the recipient. It saved a lot of weight and space, so other things could be shipped. [2...

I am working on this year-long prompt, hosted by Amy Johnson Crow . I will write each week in one of my two blogs, either Mam-ma’s Southern Family or at My Trails Into the Past . I’m looking forward to writing about my children’s ancestors in new and exciting ways. I have written previously about my paternal aunt, Lorene Hork, who went to Japan to work for the U.S. Army. She left me a collection of the letters she wrote home from Japan and from her trip across Asia and Europe on her return home. See this post and this post . Because she worked for the federal government, I sent for her official personnel file from the National Personnel Records Center in St. Louis. It was simple; just send a letter with the request. I received an envelope full of photocopies—a total of 110 pages! And at no charge. A surprise was in the packet. Lorene had also worked for the U.S. Navy at the Mare Island Naval Yard during World War II. The naval base was located in Vallejo, only about twen...

This is republished from 2015. Today is November 11, a day we honor veterans who served in the Armed Forces. I do not have many direct ancestors who were veterans, but I still want to honor those who were. This list includes those ancestors of my husband (in blue) and mine (in red). World War II Tom J. Johnston Jr. Tom J. Johnston Jr ., U.S. Navy. He served just a short time and was discharged due to a medical disability. He had been stationed in Idaho. George J Gorrell George Joseph Gorrell , U.S. Army. He was a staff sergeant with the 913th Air Engineering Squadron. He served in England and Germany. World War I William Cyril Hork William Cyril Hork , U.S. Navy. He served in submarine service and was last stationed in Long Beach aboard the submarine tender,  USS Alert . Civil War Amos Gorrell Jr. Amos Gorrell , Jr.,  Union Army. Co A, 18th Ohio. G...