Reconnecting on Veteran's Day

In honor of the countless ancestors who have served our country, I’ve invited my cousin, Mel Ferrer (1st maternal cousin, once removed), to pen a guest column today. Thank you, thank you, thank you, Mel! For this great column and the countless other things you’ve done to help me with this “little” hobby of mine!  Here’s Mel’s stoy: This June, I drove to my late mother-in-law Elizabeth Haas's home in southern Iowa to help the family with the big cleanup-and-organization project that had been underway since her passing last year. In addition to the standard stuff everyone amasses during their lifetime, Elizabeth also had an impressive collection of antiques and historical artifacts. She acted as the unofficial genealogist for her home town and enjoyed finding unique or significant items, whether they pertained to her own family or not. While digging through boxes, I found two WWII dog tags that did not belong to the family. With her children's permission I sought to find and return the tags to their owners or families. I found Lisa Davolt, daughter of John William Davolt (US Navy) on a WWII website.  Her father died when she was young and she was searching for information about his service that she could share with her son.  She was shocked and grateful to have an actual artifact that was with him during the war that could be passed down to future generations! I found Gary Shreve, son of Howard R. Shreve, through searches of Shereves in Ohio (see address of St.Clairsville, Ohio on tag). Although Gary had one of the two tags issued, his brother, who misses his dad greatly, was without. Gary was very grateful for the tag, which he plans to surprise his brother with this Christmas. As an interesting aside, Gary is an Elvis "tribute artist." Veteran Howard Shreve's son, Gary Shreve I encourage buying tags (frequently found at antique sales or flea markets) and trying to return them to the families of these service people who have served our country. It’s the least we can do to say thank you!

John William Davolt, US Navy (note rounded shape)

Howard R. Shreve, US Army