My grandparents arrived in the early 20s in the wake of the Bolshevik Revolution. Their entire area near Indiana PA outside Pittsburgh was populated by Eastern European immigrants who worked in the mines. Ukrainians, Russians, and Polish, primarily. Black Lung was the illness that took most of them including my grandfather. They were deeply patriotic as all my uncles served, including two who were wounded in World War II. I'll always have a soft spot in my heart for that area of Pennsylvania.
My great-great-grandfather arrived from Ireland just before the potato famine really got rolling. His eldest son (my great-grandpa) ran away at age 12 and ended up a yankee soldier, injured but survived. He ended up in Michigan, became a dirt-poor farmer. Then my grandfather wasn't a soldier, but had two sons who served during WWII. My uncle was in the Pacific Theatre, and my dad was in the European. Both were injured but survived. My brother fought in Viet Nam, and was physically injured, but also went a bit crazy.
Seems like every generation has at least one big war, but not sure how my dad's dad didn't end up fighting. 🤷♀️
My grandparents arrived in the early 20s in the wake of the Bolshevik Revolution. Their entire area near Indiana PA outside Pittsburgh was populated by Eastern European immigrants who worked in the mines. Ukrainians, Russians, and Polish, primarily. Black Lung was the illness that took most of them including my grandfather. They were deeply patriotic as all my uncles served, including two who were wounded in World War II. I'll always have a soft spot in my heart for that area of Pennsylvania.
My great-great-grandfather arrived from Ireland just before the potato famine really got rolling. His eldest son (my great-grandpa) ran away at age 12 and ended up a yankee soldier, injured but survived. He ended up in Michigan, became a dirt-poor farmer. Then my grandfather wasn't a soldier, but had two sons who served during WWII. My uncle was in the Pacific Theatre, and my dad was in the European. Both were injured but survived. My brother fought in Viet Nam, and was physically injured, but also went a bit crazy.
Seems like every generation has at least one big war, but not sure how my dad's dad didn't end up fighting. 🤷♀️
edit: typos