Military Monday ~ Stanley Goldstein

My husband's Uncle Stanley served in World War II. Several websites are offering free access to military records this Memorial Day weekend. On Ancestry.com, Fold3.com, and MyHeritage.com, I found Uncle Stanley's U.S. World War II Army Enlistment record. (Original data from The National Archives.)

The information it provides is as follows:

Name: Stanley Goldstein
Birth: 1924, New York
Residence: Cape May [County], New Jersey
Enlistment: February 13, 1943 in Camden, New Jersey
Serial #: 32750962
Grade alpha: Pvt
Grade code: Private
Branch alpha: Bi
Branch code: Branch Immaterial - Warrant Officers, USA
Term of enlistment: Enlistment For The Duration of The War or Other Emergency, Plus Six Months, Subject To The Discretion of The President or Otherwise According To Law
Army component: Selectees (Enlisted Men)
Race and citizenship: White, Citizen
Education: 4 Years of High School
Civil Occupation: Semiskilled Occupations In Fabrication of Textile Products, n.e.c.
Marital status: Single, Without Dependents
Source: Civil Life
Height: 67
Weight: 169
Box #: 0559
Reel #: 2.222

On Ancestry.com, I found a bit more information in the U.S., Department of Veterans Affairs BIRLS Death File, 1850-2010. This record included his birth date of April 13, 1924, death date of December 28, 1993, as well as:
Branch 1: A
Enlistment Date 1: February 20, 1943
Release Date 1: April 4, 1946

I don't have any photos of Uncle Stanley in his military uniform.

As I noted in an earlier blog post, I noted that Stanley Goldstein fought in World War II and when recovering from injuries suffered in battle, he met his wife, Betty Coleman, an English nurse and married her in England before returning home to New Jersey.

He is buried in the Woodbine Brotherhood Cemetery in Woodbine, New Jersey.

Wordless Wednesday ~ Dr. Matthew S. Levitas

Dr. Matthew Samuel Levitas was first cousin to my husband's grandmother, Rose (Levitt) Goldstein. As part of his distinguished medical career,  he was recognized for his work with the V.F.W.:

Brooklyn Newsstand, Brooklyn Daily Eagle, 10 September 1948, page 7

Military Monday ~ Dr. Matthew S. Levitas of Brooklyn

Matthew Samuel Levitas was a first cousin of my husband's grandmother, Rose (Levitt) Goldstein. According to his WWI and WWII Draft Cards, he was born in Newark, New Jersey, on April 14, 1892.

I shared his family in census records here (1895-1915) and here (1920-1940).

I'm not sure where he attended medical school, but by June 1917, according to his WWI Draft Card, he was working as a Physician at Beth Israel Hospital in Newark, N.J.

Ancestry.com, U.S. World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918.
Registration location: Kings County, N.Y.; Roll: 175449; Draft Board: 60; Record for Mathew Levitas

He did serve in the medical corps in World War I, initially serving at Base Hospital Camp Upton on Long Island, then as a surgeon in Hoboken, N.J. He was given an honorable discharge on September 4, 1919.

The Brooklyn Daily Eagle can be found online at Brooklyn Newsstand. (Any issues not found there might be found at Fulton History.) I found several articles that mentioned Dr. Matthew S. Levitas in the 1940s and early 1950s. A select few follow.

Wordless Wednesday ~ Two Dear Mothers

My husband's grandmothers:

And the back is labeled:

At left is Rose (Levitt) Goldstein (1902-1995) and at right is Lena (Hollander) Handler (1891-1983). The photo was taken on Rhodes Avenue in Akron, Ohio, in June 1952, a few months after Rose's daughter married Lena's youngest son.

Levitt in Pennsylvania Death Certificates at Ancestry.com

I previously blogged about obtaining Pennsylvania Death Certificates via the Pennsylvania Department of Health website. Ancestry.com has been working on digitizing Pennsylvania Death Certificates and have just made death certificates from 1906-1924 available.

I had previously ordered and received quite a few PA death certificates, including for my husband's great-grandmother, Goldie Levitt. Today, I filtered the names in Family Tree Maker to show those who could possibly have a Pennsylvania death certificate in this time period. This way, I could more easily search Ancestry's indexed records if I didn't know a death date.

Also, although I have over 4,700 individuals in Family Tree Maker (mostly for my family, but a couple hundred for my husband's family), I had no record that anyone had died during the 1918 Influenza Epidemic...until now.