Researching Family History Leads to the Location of World War I Gravesite

This past Memorial Day I was inspired to research the history of my family members who had served our country. My Great-Uncle, Joseph Brady Collins II lost his life during active duty, in World War I. I spent the day researching him, and after several hours I had an idea of which cemetery in France he might be buried in. To see how I arrived at this conclusion review my previous post.

The St. Mihiel American Cemetery and Memorial is the closest American cemetery to the town where my great uncle passed away. However, I was not certain that this was where he remained. During World War I, the American government had announced, that the bodies of the men who fell in France would be carried back to America after the war. At the end of the war families were given a choice to have the bodies returned home or to have them left resting in France. My Great-Grandmother decided to leave her son resting in France. I wondered if he was still buried near Toul, or if there was a possibility that he had been moved to one of the other American cemeteries. 

When I had a moment to resume the quest I sent an email to the St. Mihiel Cemetery and received a prompt reply. Bobby O. Bell, the superintendent at the St. Mihiel provided me with a link to the American Battle Monuments Commission website with instructions to click on WWI burials, and type in the name of my Great-Uncle. The link was very simple to use, and I found that my Great-Uncle is indeed buried at Saint Mihiel.

I sent Bobby another email to share my discovery and express gratitude for the kind assistance. Bobby was then gracious enough to visit the gravesite, take a few photographs, and forward them to me. It was great to discover that my cousin’s daughter, Sammi is also researching our family history. Whether blogging, or pursuing your family genealogy you never know where the path may lead and who you may meet along the way. I’m glad to have Sammi as a collaborator in family research and, it was a pleasure to cross paths with Bobby O. Bell while uncovering a piece of family history.