Skip to main content

Featured

Guarding Lincoln: Private Bruno Albaugh, Co. K, 150th Pennsylvania Infantry

Mary Todd Lincoln, Robert Todd Lincoln, and Tad Lincoln surround Abraham Lincoln. A portrait of Willie, the Lincolns' deceased son, hangs on the wall. 1 I've been noodling about my Aunt Sharon's family tree the past few weeks, extending her family back a couple of generations. This week, I discovered an unknown family story: that of her great-grandfather, Bruno Albaugh , a German immigrant from Meadville, Crawford Co., Pennsylvania.  Bruno, born about 1836, enlisted in the Union Army on 15 August 1862 in Meadville. 2 He may have seen notices like the one shown below pasted around town and like many other men of his age and condition, 26 years old and unattached, he heeded the call to arms. Perhaps it was patriotism that spurred him or a longing for adventure away from his farming life in Meadville. Maybe he wished to join forces with  his friends and neighbors who also enlisted that day from his community or felt passionate about the Union's cause. The bounty offere...

GENEALOGY CHALLENGE 2021 - Military Photo


GENEALOGY CHALLENGE 2021

Military - January 15th entry of a 31-day challenge to post a document, photo or artifact on social media every day in January.  

by Nancy Gilbride Casey

 

My Dad, Joseph John Gilbride, Jr. (1937-2018), was incredibly proud of his time in the Air Force. He had not been successful in high school and decided to drop out after the 10th grade. He joined the military in August 1954, when he was just 17 years old. Eventually he earned his GED while in the military.

From 1955-1957 his specialty was AC&W Operator (aircraft control and warning squadrons), first with the 646th AC&W based at Highlands AFS, New Jersey; with the 913th AC&W, based at Pagwa Air Station in Ontario, Canada, and finally with the 662nd AC&W, based closer to his Ohio home, at Brookfield AFS.

The oldest son of his family, he desperately wanted to make his own way in the world, and joining the military was one way to break with his blue-collar neighborhood in the Collinwood neighborhood of Cleveland's East Side. And it allowed him to see a bit of the world as well, which for a time, satisfied the romantic in him. He was the arms-crossed, confident 18-year-old in the photo above.

In the end, Dad moved between several branches of the military, including the Air Force Reserves and the Air National Guard and served nearly 10 years all together. Though it was not to be his career, it was an important part of his identity throughout his life.


NEXT UP: Newspaper Clipping

 


Comments