Here are some materials that Cousin Ray Brennan (Great Uncle Bill's youngest son) sent me last week. Very, very interesting.
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Great Uncle Jim's Unit, World War I
(Jim is front row, furthest right)
Great Uncle Jim (close-up)
Great Uncle Jim
(photo with handwritten inscription)
.jpg)
Gold Star Pilgrimage ID
for Great Grandma
Great Grandma (passport photo, 1930) 
Newspaper clipping with passport:
IN ARGONNE FIELDS
Dedicated to the heroic dead of the Thirty-fifth Division
In Argonne fields the crosses stand
Uplifted by our comrades' hands,
To mark the places where we died,
The soil our blood has sanctified.
Around us now peaceful breezes blow,
We rest serenely---now we know
That peace has come and all our pain
And suffering have not been in vain.
And we who blazed the conqueror's trail
That Right and Liberty prevail
Shall sleep untroubled till the call
Of Him---Commander of us all.
---Denis O'Rourke, ex-A.E.F.
[American Expeditionary Force]
Granny's Family:
Bert, Sr. Anna Cecilia (Nellie), Great Grandma, Uncle Bill,
Granny (Margaret), Marie
(photo taken at Bert's house; mantel photo is Bert Jr. from the Navy)
This was in Time Magazine for Jan. 6, 1930 -
ReplyDelete"Last week the War Department announced detailed plans for the pilgrimage of 6,730 gold star widows and mothers to the European graves of their War dead. By act of Congress last spring, the pilgrims will be given not only free transportation but also allowances for food, tips, taxi fares, incidentals. They may stay two days in New York, two weeks in Europe. Guides and interpreters will accompany them to U. S. cemeteries, six in France, one in Belgium, one in England. Most of the women will go next summer, the rest within three years."
Thank you Larry for the great pictures and information.