Several years ago, I was on a temporary duty assignment with the Army in Mons, Belgium.  Mons is the Headquarters of SHAPE, the Supreme Headquarters Allied Forces Europe. It was a plumb assignment where I had weekends off and was able to travel and see many of the sites of military interest in the area.  Did you know that Belgium is where Napoleon was defeated at Waterloo in 1815? Or that the English, Dutch, French and German armies have all fought each other on Belgian soil? In fact, the Brussels Military Museum has exhibits of battles and conflicts that cover a timeline of 10 centuries. So, it is an area rich in military history.

One of the things I took time to visit on my free weekends were military battle sites and cemeteries.  I often drove along in the countryside roads and saw signs giving directions to British, Allied Forces or American cemeteries.  One day I saw a sign for an American Cemetery near Flanders Fields and stopped to visit it.  I couldn’t help but think of the poem I had often read by Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae titled “In Flanders Fields” about the poppies that blow between the crosses row on row. As I entered the cemetery, I read the inscription on a plaque at the entrance, “In Memory of those American Soldiers who Fought in this Region and who Sleep in Unknown Graves”.

As I walked farther, I saw row upon row of crosses in perfect alignment—left, right or on an angle they were exactly aligned and resembled a battalion of soldiers at attention. It was an awe-inspiring sight. As I read inscriptions on the crosses, I was struck by how many had the words, “Known but to God”.

The thought gives me chills even today as I think about it.  Colonel McCrae’s poem so eloquently reminds us “We are the dead. Short days ago, We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow, Loved, and were loved, and now we lie In Flanders fields.”  These fallen soldiers deserve to be remembered and honored for who they were and what they did.

Among the reasons that I do Family History is that I am curious about my ancestors – who they were, what they were like, what experiences they lived through.  I also want my children’s grandchildren (if God should grant them to me) to know and recognize the individuals who lives helped make them who they are today.

As I think about serving as a Family History Consultant, I hope I don’t forget that these names are real people who also lived and were loved.  I hope to be always willing to help find family members, whether mine or someone else’s who deserve to be known to us, not only to God.

Doing family history has helped me become acquainted with my relatives who went before me. It has given me a sense of who I am and how I got to being who I am today. I’ve discovered soldiers, underground saboteurs, scholars, pioneers, tradesmen and my Grandmother’s own Sacred Grove Experience in Denmark that led to her conversion and baptism and brought the Restored Gospel into our family. These and so many more relatives I’ve met doing Family History. Some I’ve found through clues through FamilySearch or Ancestry. Some I got acquainted with through obituaries or talking to Family History consultants (most importantly my Sister) and I’ve learned a lot about my wife’s Great Great grandmother Amanda Barnes Smith by reading Volumes I and II of the new history Saints, The Story of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

There are so many resources available now. The Granite Family History Center is a great place to begin in this discovery process. Is it time for you to get to know your unknown relatives?  I think we all know the answer to that question.

God bless your discovery quest. –Paul Emmer, Family History Consultant – Granite Family History Center