Sunday, November 11, 2018

A grandfather in the Great War


[Click for a much larger view. The original photograph might be called wallet-sized.]

That I had a grandfather who served in the Great War seems to me more and more remarkable as time passes. In 1918 and 1919, James Aloysius Leddy served as a private with the 307th Infantry in France. This photograph (of a photograph) is the only material evidence I have of his service. Though it’s impossible to know, I think he must be the figure on the far right — unless he was taking the picture, which I doubt.

I took a fast photograph of the photograph as we were looking through a photo album and some loose photos after my dad died. If you knew the pains I took (alpha tool) to eliminate the green tablecloth underneath the photograph, you’d call me crazy. Or dedicated. Or my father’s son.

The two men on the left and the two in dark clothing in the rear: French civilians?

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