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J_Bard t1_j3b2ho8 wrote

Reply to comment by royiroyi in The Forgotten Story of the American Troops Who Got Caught Up in the Russian Civil War by Novel_Finger2370

Do you have any stories from your grandpa's time in Russia?

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Mypantsareblue t1_j3b4hsx wrote

I’m not OP, but here is a diary of an engineer from one of the Polar Bears (engineer from UP Michigan).

https://grobbel.org/pbma/rademacher.htm

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royiroyi t1_j3hbajg wrote

That’s funny, that’s him :) Him and Marie (my grandmother who is mentioned in the notes) ended up getting married when he returned and raised 12 kids in Michigan’s UP.

Thanks for the share, I hadn’t read it in quite a while.

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royiroyi t1_j3bvcsp wrote

Unfortunately not, he died when I was really young. I’ve only heard and learned just from what I’ve heard from my dad and the journal.

My Grandpa told my dad he didn’t like how the British officiers in charge kept putting either Americans or Canadians at the front. At one point he said there was a situation of a British commander telling subordinates to shoot at retreating Americans and Canadians who were refusing on of those “death trap” type orders by the Brits. I believe the orders were refused thankfully.

My Dad tried to verify the events but ended up coming empty minus for one historical employee from the Museum in Michigan who heard something similar once, my dad said my Grandpa was never one to lie and never spoke much else about his time served.

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