The Branches and Roots of the Tree.

over the past few years, i have discovered people in my family tree. being the military history buff that i am, i was quite pleased with the outcome. ill start from the bottom, actually, right above my picture.

my grandfather, winford strickland, i have never met. he was in the air force doing radar, and received several medals including the bronze star.

my great great uncle?..walter strickland fought in the normandy and rhineland campaigns in world war 2. he received the purple heart for wounds received in action at normandy. he also was captured and spent time in a german p.o.w. camp before returning to the states.

i am also related to johnny mercer, a famous songwriter and singer during the world war 2 era.

through his family, i am related to general george patton, one of the most famous american generals in world war 2.

also through johnny mercer, i am related to general hugh weedon mercer, who was a general in the civil war on the confederate side.

next down the mercer line is general hugh mercer, a revolutionary war general who was close friends with george washington. "While leading a vanguard of 350 soldiers, Mercer's brigade encountered two british regiments and a mounted unit. A fight broke out at an orchard grove and Mercer’s horse was shot from under him. Getting to his feet, he was quickly surrounded by British troops who mistook him for George Washington and ordered him to surrender. Outnumbered, he drew his saber and began an unequal contest. He was finally beaten to the ground, then bayoneted repeatedly - seven times - and left for dead. When he was discovered, Mercer was carried to the field hospital in the Thomas Clarke House at the eastern end of the battlefield. In spite of medical efforts by Benjamin Rush, Mercer was mortally wounded and died nine agonizing days later on January 12, 1777. Because of Mercer’s courage and sacrifice, Washington was able to proceed into Princeton and defeat the British forces there. He then moved and quartered his forces to Morristown in victory. Because of those victories, Washington's army reenlisted, the French finally approved arms and supplies to the Americans and a stunned Cornwallis pulled his forces back to New York to reassess the surprising American successes."

sir francis drake also fits into my family tree through my father's side. a renowned english sea captain, pirate, and politician who was knighted by elizabeth I.

and the last recognized person i am related to is the howland family who were some of the pilgrims that came over and helped found plymouth colony.

seeing these pictures made me proud of my ancestors, and also kind of makes me wish i could go back and talk to them. that would be the coolest thing, to talk to ancestors and find out what they were like.
i also wish with such a successful line of military leaders and servicemen, that i could carry on the tradition. maybe at some point in the future i can complete that...