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Deserters


snafu100
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My wife is working on some history for her family and came across a member that those alive, still know nothing about. In her search she found that he may have joined the Military in Ohio (he was from NY) She found his name on a piece of information that said never showed up for duty and listed him as a deserter. She has tried and looked at all the sites that come up but not a whole lot on the US Military deserters from WWI, so I told her I would reach out to help her. Does anyone have any information on the outcome of US deserters or know of places to search. I did put out to her that he may have been killed before his arrival at his duty station and might have been a John Doe if robbed and had no ID on him or if he did desert he could have picked up a new identity and started a new life else ware. Still there is not a lot out there she can find on what became of deserters from the US. She is still looking but has no SSN or service # for him. any help would be great, thanks Pete

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There's barely anything online about active duty WWI soldiers, let alone those who were drafted and never reported. In those days it would have been very easy for someone to use a fake name and get lost in early 20th century society. If he did get arrested as a draft dodger that might show up in a newspaper and if you want to message me his name I can check a couple of subscription newspaper data bases for you.

 

Social Security Numbers were first issued in Nov. 1936.

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Kurt Barickman

My great-uncle deserted the US and went to Winnipeg to escape the WWI draft. He married a Canadian woman and returned to Minnesota after the war and resided in Minneapolis. He went to a Lutheran Church in Minneapolis where many MN politicians also attended. He would get turkeys that my Grandfather(his brother) raised in Watonwan County and gave them to these politicians. Eventually he arranged for a senator and mayor to recommend his son to West Point. His son (my fatherś'cousin)was able to attend and graduate and went on to be a lifer in the US Army retiring out as a colonel; funny how things work out. I agree with Bob, it was much easier to ¨blend into the woodwork¨ during the last century. My two cents.

 

Kurt

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One of my dad's best friends was was sent back to the States for medical treatment during WWII. He didn't want to go back so left the hospital and never reported back in. He lived the rest of his life afraid he was going to get caught and punished. He stayed off the grid until he passed away in the late 1970s. No drivers license, no voting, Never married. Nice guy. Very sad, but this probably happened a lot. Unfortunately, the very nature of his actions makes it difficult to have any handle on the subject.

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