The power of the internet part #2

[Strawboss]

My dad served in Korea, 1951, Infantry, wounded. Anyhow, for years we heard a story of his friend who died and how he's like to find out a bit more about him and where he's buried. For years without the internet it was frustrating even with an unusual name it tough in Cleveland as the city is filled with immigrants and their families. I typed his  name in on yahoo after my dad was adamant about finding him, got a match in a woman who works nearby, sent her a note explaining myself and giving her references so she doesn't think I'm a nut. Today, I got a response from her. WOW. Making a long story short, her husband is named after my dads friend and she has the flag used on his coffin when he returned from Korea. Relatives have since moved back to Croatia but we may get an address soon and who knows what follows. Finally closure for my dad on a mystery that has bothered him for 62 years. I'm not sure how to break this to him. Happiness, but from a time of great sadness and sacrifice as he was seriously wounded a few months later.

[MrPepsi]

Great story.
You can find anything on the Internet, if you know how to look and stay at it.

[Strawboss]

I am NOT an internet person, I'm like the anti-internet user, sometimes totally unable to do things, and that's ok with me. With this though, I decided to just punch in a name and go from there. There are some great veterans sites but most, not all are tied to Gov't records, many perished in a fire back in the 70's, those same records say my dad was KIA. Being private people I'll not record my telling him and showing the letter his niece wrote me, but I will share the rest of the story here in print as it unfolds. Bittersweet is the word I was looking for.

[Strawboss]

I found him! After 4 hours of digging through Cleveland newspaper archives and obituaries, calling churches and funeral homes, I found his mom's obituary from 1966 in a newspaper index, got a funeral home number, called them, they told me to check a few cemeteries archives, nothing. Found a web site from a defunct Cleveland newspaper, entered his name, BINGO. Cemetery owned by the city of Cleveland, found burial indexes page, typed in his name, there he is, Section 3,lot 3, tier 32, grave 15, buried 12/15/51. About 10 miles from my house. I told him the other day what I had found and he was kind of quiet about it all but understood that we would only go to the grave if he wanted to. No pressure, no pictures. Thursday is supposed to be above freezing. Maybe we'll go. Not sure whether or not to wear my dress uniform.

[Son of Pappy]

Good stuff!!  I would go to hell and back for my father and it warms my heart that you have shared this with us.
My take on the dress uni-I would say no, but ONLY because it may draw un wanted attention.  This to me would be a private, non public meeting with a father introducing his son to a dear friend.

[Strawboss]

You are right. The more I thought about it, it made more sense to do exactly what you said. I told him if we go to see him, that afterwards we would go to our favorite pub and order 3 beers, one for each of us and one for Eddie.