My father’s grandparents arrived from Ireland in 1849 and 1852 aboard famine ships. They settled in the coal mining regions of Northeastern Pennsylvania. My father, at age 27, was a third-generation coal miner when he entered the U.S. Army in July 1918. He was sent to Camp Lee in Virginia for basic training. In the fall of 1918, he sailed to Europe aboard a troop ship. This was … [Read more...]