My mother's father and his five DeMasters brothers all served our country in World War I or World War II. Our family is very proud of them. I had the fortune of meeting all of them but one. As a child I always wondered what my Great Uncle Warren was like. Warren was a twin, his brother was named Ward and they were the youngest of the six boys.Warren was serving on the USS Selfridge during World War II when their ship was attacked and he and many other men lost their lives. At the time he was stationed out of Manila and had a fiance waiting for him in Australia. He never had the opportunity to fulfill his dream of marrying his "Aussie" bride and bringing her home to meet the family.
According to my mother, Warren was the handsomest of the six DeMasters brothers. And of course, the most charming, too! And truly, looking at his pictures he really was very handsome and had an ornery boyish grin. I always felt I had missed out on meeting this special man.
One day I'm hoping, if I make it to heaven, to sit down with my Great Uncle Warren, my Grandfather Orville, their four brothers, their parents William and Lillian and our extended families for a huge reunion. I sure hope that there's a recreation hall or banquet room up in heaven big enough for all of us. There'd better be 'cuz I'm looking for answers to my family tree and I'm going to start my asking all the distinguished veterans in my family where we came from!
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