{"id":13609,"date":"2026-06-10T16:32:05","date_gmt":"2026-06-10T16:32:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=13609"},"modified":"2026-06-10T16:32:05","modified_gmt":"2026-06-10T16:32:05","slug":"wwi-soldiers-postcard-from-home-helps-unite-his-family-after-a-century","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=13609","title":{"rendered":"WWI soldier\u2019s postcard from home helps unite his family after a century"},"content":{"rendered":"

By SAM McNEIL<\/strong><\/p>\n

ZONNEBEKE, Belgium (AP) \u2014 A postcard belonging to a World War I soldier whose body was found with five comrades during an excavation has helped reunite distant descendants more than a century after his death on the Western Front.<\/p>

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Dozens of mourners attended a memorial service in western Belgium on Wednesday during which six new white marble headstones were dedicated to the British soldiers whose remains were recently identified through the use of archival research and DNA analysis.<\/p>\n

The six burials at the Tyne Cot Cemetery included that of Pvt. Thomas Whitaker, who died in the trenches carrying a postcard from Bradford, in north east England, where some of his relations still live.<\/p>\n

At the ceremony were three members of the Whitaker family. Under sunshine piercing the gray drizzle, Joe Whitaker, 22, read aloud a poem written in honor of his great-great-uncle: \u201cAt peace in foreign hills, he finally drifts away to sleep, his mind on Bradford mills.\u201d<\/p>\n

The soldier\u2019s postcard proved to be a crucial piece of evidence that helped British government researchers establish his identity and ultimately linked Joe\u2019s family with another, estranged, branch of the Whitaker family.<\/p>\n