Ansel Greenley, WW I Veteran

Ansel Ray Greenley was 25 years old in 1917.  On April 6, 1917, America declared war on Germany, starting our involvement in the war.  After the declaration of war, the Selective Service Act was passed, and every male between the age of 18 and 45 was required to register for the draft.  As a genealogist, these cards are treasure trove of information. Ansel filled his out June 5. It shows he lived in Shoemaker, Mora County, New Mexico.  He was single and working as a farmer.  He gives the name of an employer, but I can’t read the writing. It tells that he is “tall and stout” and has "light blue eyes" with "light brown hair."

World War I Registration for Ansel Greenley

State Historical Service, Page One

State Historical Service, Page Two

Ansel Greenley - World War I

Then after the war, the State Historical Service had each soldier fill out a questionnaire about their service during WWI.  (See images below). In this questionnaire we learn Ansel completed 8th grade, his church affiliation was “Prodison”(Protestant).  He reported for duty in El Paso, Texas on June 12, 1917. He was discharged on Jan 8, 1919 in Philadelphia, PA.  His rank at discharge was fireman second class, USN.


He is then asked to give details as to all subsequent movements during the war.  Well, he is not a prolific writer. He writes one paragraph,

“I was at the following stations:
NJS San Francisco, Calif., NJC Mare Island, Calif., R.S. at Cavite P.I.
There I went aboard the USS Tjisondari which came back to San Francisco, Calif. From there we went to New York from there made three trips to France.  Grandfather Wm. Greenley was in Civil War.

So he started out in San Francisco, then went to the Phillipine Islands (What the heck?), then traveled back to San Franscico to the East Coast (so he went through the Panama Canal?), then took three trips from the east coast to France.

Here is information about the USS Tjisondari and its service during the war.
http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/OnlineLibrary/photos/sh-usn/usnsh-t/id2783.htm


From the trunk, are his neck scarves from is naval uniform (You can see them in his photo) My grandmother wrote the note attached to the scarves.

Ansel Greenley's neck scarves from his WWI uniform

Ansel keep letters from three different girls during the war.  One was clearly his girl friend.  More about this in the next blog entry! Oh and unfortunately, he didn't keep any letters from his family!

The easiest way to get notification when a I post a new blog entry is to sign up for emails on the right side of this page.  I hope you will follow me on this journey.