Memorial Day - Remembering Our Family Members Who Served

This is a day for quiet reflection of the people in our family who have given military service for our country. They are one of the important reasons for creating a family history and not just a genealogy for our families. Their stories are told through pictures, text and sometimes videos. One large notebook for an honored man, Ben Homer Davis, sits in my office waiting for me to finish scanning the pages documenting his military service in the Marines and later the Navy, including World War II. His story waits to be compiled and written.

The Uno Family's Son Albert - World War I Casualty

As I sorted through my friend's family paper work to organize their family history I separated the documents by surnames, creating a collection for each. When it came to the Uno family it was obvious that I needed to create a file just for Albert, the second son by that name, who gave his life while serving in the U.S. Army in France during World War I. The collection represents a son and brother that the family did not want to be forgotten and now fills a one-inch notebook. The first item is a medal of a cross with a band above with the word SHARPSHOOTER and the second is a ribbon connecting the bar above with the name Mrs. B Uno and below the medallion 1932, Portland, Oregon, American Legion Auxiliary with a blue star. This was an emotional moment for me as my own grandfather who was just five years younger, trained in the U.S. Army at Oregon State University towards the end of the war and never had to leave this country. War certainly changes the course of people's lives and for mothers the heartache can last forever.

The Uno Family at Milwaukie Pioneer Cemetery

The night before last I could hardly sleep as I pondered the family of Andrew and Brita (Larsen) Uno and the difficulties that they faced as immigrants from Sweden in 1884 and 1886. The record of their marriage, dated 17 June 1886, is on microfilm at the Clackamas County Records Office. They had three children, Emma born in 1887, Albert W. born in 1891 and died in 1893, and Albert born in June of 1893. I was very curious as to the actual dates of birth and death for the first Albert, so I looked at findagrave.com for the family burial information. Noting that they were buried in Milwaukie Pioneer Cemetery, in Milwaukie, Oregon near my home, I felt impressed to visit the cemetery the next day when there would likely be volunteers there for the Memorial Day weekend.