Ulysses Grant Demond, Jr
Company F, 313th Regiment, 79th Division in WW1
This last weekend the Purple Heart of Ulysses Grant Demond Jr. came home to his grandson Ulysses Grant IV.
Ulysses Jr. sailed to France with Company F, 313 Infantry Regiment, 79th Infantry Division on 18 July 1918.
On 26 September 1918, he was Wounded in Action on the first day of the Meuse Argonne offensive.
The regimental history describes the day in detail, in which the men of the 313th underwent hour after hour of hellish warfare.
“At 230 am the real bombardment commenced. It is believed that this concentration of artillery was the greatest in history. To the men waiting in the trenches, the rush of shells through the air sounded like a succession of freight trains passing overhead. From far in the German lines came dull thuds as the projectiles landed and bashed in the dugouts, trenches, shelters, etc.”
The description of the battle that day alone goes on and on … and on.
Ulysses Jr. sailed home in May of 1919 and settled back into life in Maryland, marrying and having three children. He passed at the age of 59, just a day or two after his grandson Ulysses IV was born. With him went the stories of his war.
Ulysses IV was delighted to learn of the existence of his grandfather’s Purple Heart and the stories surrounding the day his grandfather was wounded. While we visited, we learned about the incredible legacy of service in this family. Multiple men have served the nation, including Ulysses III who served in Normandy and the ETO in WWII.
The name Ulysses Grant originated in the family when an ancestor who served as a Lieutenant in the Civil War so admired General Grant that he chose to bestow the name upon his son.
There are now six generations of Ulysses Grant in this family, and the Purple Heart of one of them has returned home to become a treasured - and tangible - piece of family history.
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Help find my fathers Purple Heart, lost in Williams , AZ in early 70's.
I have searched for decades, and have had no luck.
Look for the name Ernest Day.
HOW DO I GET MY HUSBANDS PURPLE HEART. I HAVE HIS DD214 SHOWING HE WAS AWARDED A PURPLE HEART I VIETNAM. WHEN THEY PRESENTED IT TO HIM ,IT HAD THE WRONG NAME ON IT. HE WAS SUPPOSED TO GET ONE WITH HIS NAME ,BUT NEVER DID. THANK YOU . MARY NUNLEY