I was so intrigued to see the project that my 4x cousin Joel’s wife, Peggy Davis Reeves of Williamsburg, Virginia, undertook. Joel, who is descended from Boudewijn DeKorne (1816-1875) as I am, wrote, “Peggy decided to do a research project on family members that served in the military. She called this ‘My Family Heroes’ and collected information on 100 individuals that represent the period from 1746 (Virginia Militia) to 2020 (West Point graduate). This represents only a small sample of the number of our relatives that have served in the military.”
Peggy first spent six months doing the research through Ancestry and Fold3. Joel sums it up this way: “She learned a lot about these brave individuals. Some families were divided during the Civil War – 2 brothers on the Union side and 3 brothers on the Confederate side. A set of twin brothers enlisted together. Other were prisoners of war, wounded or lost their lives. Some died of disease, such as bronchitis or rubella. Some won medals of honor, such as the Purple Heart, Bronze Star, and Oak Leaf Cluster. Other received land grants for their service. All these individuals took a stand to join the military to serve their country in war time and peace. We are proud of these service men and women that protect this country and our freedom. This is our way of saying thanks to all of them on this Veterans Day.”
When she was ready to create the ornaments, Peggy used Dollar Store plexiglass magnetic refrigerator frames and removed the magnets from the back. Then she set up a template in Photoshop with a red-white-blue border and added an image of the individual or tomb stone or flag on one side and military information on the person on the other side.
Charles is the husband of my first cousin three times removed
After getting the pictures printed, she added a ribbon bow which varies by when the individual served or the branch of service. I particularly love that special touch. Peggy also created a Shutterfly book so that the family would have access to this wonderful work throughout the year.
I love the anchors on the ribbon for those that served in the Navy.
Isn’t this inspirational? What a great way to honor the military members of our genealogy family trees! Thinking of making a tree like this? If you have done a lot of research on your ancestors who were in the military you might be able to pull together at least a small tree by Christmas. If not, you can do what Peggy did and take a year to do the research and create the tree.
Peggy, thank you for letting me share your inventiveness and hard work.
The Family Kalamazoo 