I had 3 "Blood uncles" and another at least 5 by marrage in world war two. Another blood uncle and another by marrage in korea. My dad had some very old older half sisters and I know at least one if not two, were in world war one. While a couple came back wounded all came back alive!
I heard my grandmother lost some siblings on the other side though. Her and my grandfather both were germans that migrated from Volhynia or the now Ukraine. Probley it was similar to Ariks family. Arik, they were from Rozhysche NW of Lustk. (sp?)
My Gr grandfather and family came over here in 1872 for a year or so but lost his wife and oldest daughter here and as he still had a snag of kids to raise he went back, remarried, had more kids, and when he died those kids including my grandpa came back again in the late 1890s. Grandpa was married over there, came here with a kid or two, had some more and his first wife died. Someone introduced him to my grandmother who had just come over from the same area as a widow with a infant son, they got married and dad was the first of 10 more! Grandpa raised 17 kids!
My grandmother told me some real tough storys of when she lived there.
I remember one where she said some men of her village (and maybe family?) were getting arrested for shooting deer. They took the warden or maybe ("Watchman of the woods?") out and nailed his beard to a stump and left him there as wolfbait! She was born there in 1888 and grandpa in 1876. He came over about in 1898 and she came in 1911 or 1912. She came over with a older brother that had just got out of the russian army and she had just lost her first husband so they came and then brought over other family members including their dad. From what I could find out all the german homesteaders in the ukraine either left or were killed.
She had family that she never heard from again.
