WWII

New Online Databases Reveal WWII Cousin Casualties In Finland

OK, so the online databases I’m writing about aren’t brand new; they were just new to me. Finding them recently reminds me to check online from time to time for records of interest.Here’s the back story: In June of 2018, I visited Finland for the annual gathering of Finnish Americans known as FinnFest. It was

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Goodyear Connections

I was flabbergasted when I read earlier this week in the Cleveland Plain Dealer that our president had tweeted that his followers should boycott the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co. and not buy its products. Apparently a social media posting to the effect that MAGA gear shouldn’t be worn at a Goodyear plant in Topeka,

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Ancestry.com To Remember WWII in 2020

Amcestry.com has announced that it will be commemorating the end of World War II during 2020. This year marks 75 years since the end of World War II. 75 years since the liberation of Auschwitz. 75 years since the first deployed atomic bomb. 75 years since many in the greatest generation made the ultimate sacrifice

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She Rode to Work with Dad during WWII

At a meeting of the Finnish American Heritage Association (FAHA) at its museum in Ashtabula a couple of years ago, a friendly lady remarked to me that she rode to work with my father, Walfrid Herbert Huskonen, during World War II. They drove from my hometown, Andover, Ohio, about 12 miles south on Ohio Rt

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In Memoriam: Frederick L. Holzhauser, 1920-2018

Frederick L. Holzhauser Jr passed away 5 Feb 2018 while residing in Admiral’s Pointe skilled nursing facility in Huron, Ohio. He was 97 years old. Fred was the husband of Meta Scheppelmann, the step-father of Mary Jane Huskonen (born Van Court) and Sidney Van Court, step-grandfather of Karen Frame (born Huskonen) and Kurt Huskonen, and

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Holocaust Survivor Speaks, So We Never Forget

I opened Randy Seaver’s blog, Genea-Musings, this morning and read his post from yesterday about a presentation given by Ruth Goldschiedover Sax and her daughter Sandra Sax Scheller at the Chula Vista Genealogical Society last Saturday (Jul 29, 2017). Sandra has written a book about Ruth’s life story with the title Try to Remember–Never Forget.

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More on Grandma Huskonen’s Alien Registration

As I posted yesterday, my grandmother, Ida Maria Huskonen, was required to register as an alien during WWII. As it turned out, she was one of more than 4.7 million people living in America who registered as aliens. In my grandmother’s case, I’m sure that my father, Walfrid, took Grandma to Jefferson, the Ashtabula County

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Grandma Was An Alien!

The Alien Registration Act of 1940 (aka the Smith Act) was enacted by the 76th U. S. Congress on 29 Jun 1940. It required all non-citizen adult residents to register with the government (It also set criminal penalties for advocating the overthrow of the U.S. government). Registrations began on 27 Aug 1940, and the newly

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Digging for Data on WWII Relatives

Today I presented a talk on “Digging for Data on WWII Relatives” at the March meeting the the Computer-Assisted Genealogy Group <http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~ohcagg/>, Cleveland Area. The meeting was held at the Fairview Park Library <http://www.cuyahogalibrary.org/Branches/Fairview-Park.aspx> in Fairview, Ohio. Here is my handout for the talk: WWII Duration 7 Dec 1941 – 2 Sep 1945 Where Are

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Book about 10th Mountain Div in WWII May Become a Movie

While poking around on the Internet with Google, I learned about a project that Robert Redford apparently is working on: creating a movie based on the book Climb to Conquer, The Untold Story of WWII’s 10th Mountain Division, written by Peter Shelton and published by Simon and Schuster in 2003 (http://books.simonandschuster.com/Climb-to-Conquer/Peter-Shelton/9781451655100) . In late June and early

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