The Challenge of Military Service

Millions of people have accepted the challenge of military service. The challenge takes many forms. Most have been challenged physically as training often calls them to go beyond anything they’ve tried before. Sometimes it’s loneliness. They’re separated from family and friends and must form new social connections. Sometimes it’s humiliation. In the beginning they’re humbled and brought low so that they can be formed into something new that will fit in with military service. Perhaps they feel they know how to do or accomplish a task but must bow to a higher authority. And then there is loss. It may be physical, mental or even the ultimate sacrifice of life. Most families have those who answered the call of military service including mine.

Some of those ancestors who served are known to me only in name. I don’t know what they thought or achieved. Captain John Mason served in the Pequot Indian War, 1636-7. Abel Bristol served with the NY Militia with his brother Aaron during the Revolutionary War.

My great grandfather Charles McMechen served in the 1^st Maryland Infantry (Union) during the Civil War. I don’t know all that he went through, but it changed his life. He injured his hand at Five Forks and suffered a rupture at Weldon Railroad. After the war he left family and friends and moved to Philadelphia. After a letter to tell them where he went, he never contacted them again. He received a pension in his later years.

My great grandfather Charles S. Moore served in the 4^th New Jersey Infantry (Kearny’s 1^st Brigade) during the Civil War. His brother John served with him. He had bad feet only made worse with marching and eventually was made wagoner because it was difficult for him to keep up. He was the oldest son and when his father died, he had the dilemma of staying with his unit or going home to help his mother save the family home. He decided to go home and help. Then on his trip back to his unit he was arrested for be AWOL. A court martial was convened, and he was docked $10 of his monthly $13 pay for several months. Imagine his distress this caused as he was helping support his mother and six siblings. The war took its toll and he died in 1874 at the age of 34. John later received a pension for his injuries suffered at Cold Harbor.

Charles’ younger brother Andrew enlisted in the 7^th Cavalry. I’ve read letters he wrote to his mother that are in the National Archives. In the first written while the 7^th was posted in the South for the Reconstruction and KKK threat, he asked if she can get him out of the military. Doesn’t everyone have thoughts like that during those first days of military service. A later letter written again from the South telling that he had been court marshalled for letting a KKK prisoner escape. Like his brother he was docked pay for several months. His family was again financially punished as Andrew was supporting his mother. Medical records show he suffered a bout of malaria and like most cavalry men degenerated spinal disks due to the type of saddles they had. In 1876 Andrew faced the ultimate challenge. At Little Big Horn he was part of a charge down the valley that ended badly when faced with superior number of warriors. He hid in the woods and I can imagine his fear. Finally, he made his way to Reno Hill only to be shot in the kidneys. He showed his bravery when he told the doctor to help the others as he knew he was mortally wounded. He died on that second day or the battle.

My grandmother’s brother Harry F. McMechen served in the Spanish American War. My grandfather, Edward Wiedrich joined the Merchant Marine during WWI and again later during WWII.

During WWII my father was a 1^st Sergeant in a Combat Engineers Regiment. He had applied and was accepted for a Navy commission but had be drafted by the Army who would not release him. He suffered severe headaches but refused to be discharged.

My father-in-law, William Baker served in the Army Air Corp in the Pacific during WWII and returned home stressed and his health affected.

Aunt Bonnie Wiedrich Selb served in the Navy during WWII. I think she genuinely enjoyed her service, but it was not without some difficulties. She spoke of walking down the street in Washington DC in her uniform when some would spit at them. There were people who thought the women in the military were those of ill repute or were responsible of replacing a male relative who was then sent into combat. Here other difficulty was due to her top-secret work on Project Ultra. They could not tell what they did until the top secret was declassified under threat of being shot. It was not declassified until 1980. That meant her husband and family didn’t learn of her job until 1980 and her father died never knowing of her service record.

Service continues to be a part of my family. My cousins Don Wiedrich and Leo Selb served in the Army. My cousins John and Ed Rupp, my husband Bill Baker and myself have all served in the National Guard.

Lives have been interrupted, ambitions put on hold, but we have been a part of our country’s history.

#Challenges

#52 Ancestors 2019

#Military Service

#Charles McMechen

#Charles S. Moore

#Andrew Moore

#Earl Moore

#Bonnie Selb

First

First, 52 Ancestors 2019

I was the first in my father’s family to graduate from high school. I was also the first to graduate from college. The only reason for this was my amazing, supportive family. My dad, Earl Moore lost both his parents at the age of 5 and 6 years of age. He had older siblings, but they were hardly able to support themselves let alone take on him and his 8-year-old sister. My grandfather was a Mason in Fernwood Lodge in Philadelphia and so they were sent to the Pennsylvania Masonic Children’s Home in Elizabethtown, PA. Orphanages were usually bleak places in the 1920s, but this home was a good place to be. The facilities were beautiful with nutritious food. There were music lessons, sports, and education in Elizabethtown’s public schools. He would have been educated through high school and even some possibility of college. But even a wonderful orphanage is still an orphanage, so he could leave at 16-yrs-old. He went to live with his sister and work took the place of school. His parents didn’t go to high school. His father, my grandfather lost his father at 5-yrs-old and went to a children’s home until his mother remarried several years later.

I was blessed with terrific parents. They valued education. They were interactive with me, teaching me all kinds of things. They encouraged, told me I was smart, and I could achieve. While many teens in my town had afterschool jobs, they forbid me to work. Instead they wanted me to take academic courses, play sports and be a Girl Scout. All these things enabled me to graduate from high school and go to college. They also instilled a sense of volunteerism. Something I’ve done all my life. So, while I may have been the first in my father’s line its is totally due to their support and nurture.

#First

#52 Ancestors 2019

#Earl Moore

#Arlene Baker