[pancho400cid]

Hoping to catch this documentary starting tonight:

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexpe...lms/great-war/

[geeteeohguy]

Originally Posted by Doug

About 3 years ago I was rummaging thru some junk stuff in a dirty tray of bits and pieces at a flea market looking at a shiny little lapel pin in the shape of an old bi-plane. I picked it out and looked over the tray some more when I noticed a dirty faded scrap of crumpled paper which turned out to be the discharge certificate for a WW1 soldier named Clarence Bierbaum. I bought the pin and the paper for a dollar each.

At first I thought I would frame the certificate and hang it on my wall but then I figured that maybe somewhere there was some relative of Bierbaum's that might like to have the discharge certificate. Enlisting the help of my sister who is into genealogy, after a few weeks she led me to a distant relative of his in Colorado whom I contacted by E-mail. He was deeply interested in it so I shipped it to him. He was extremely glad to receive it. He sent me a thank-you letter and gave me more insights as to Clarence's background and experiences and also included an old picture of Bierbaum in uniform .

Attached are copies of the front and back of the discharge, Bierbaum's photo, a copy of the thank-you letter and a picture of the little bi-plane lapel pin.

I hope you can read the listing of Bierbaum's battlefield engagements, he was in the thick of it.

When I sent the certificate to the man in Colorado I included a picture of the little bi-plane lapel pin, commenting that just as a similar bi-plane had protected Bierbaum during the war, a little bi-plane had again protected his papers for posterity.

This made my day. Thanks so much for sharing it with us!!

[hurryinhoosier62]

My paternal grandfather was a WW1 vet. He never made it "over there" due to Spanish flu(nearly killed him...left him with a damaged heart and a full pension) and the war ending. Our next door neighbor, Fred Pfister, was a WW1 combat vet that had been gassed. My youngest sister and I were terrified of this sweet old man because of the sounds he made when he breathed.