strange question for this forum????

[weinsoldner]

Today I got a loose bunch of photos in the mail that I bought from someone in Berlin. In it was also this photo of a GI. On the back it says in german
"my american sweetheart" dated november 12th 1945. It also gives the man's name, registrationnumber and what I believe his home address.

John Spendick
13108883T42 43a
817 Orchard Ave
Bellevue PA

Is there a way to find out if this man is still alive, or maybe find a relative and see if they would have this picture back???

regards,

Peter

[Hank C.]

You could do a search on the internet using all that information. Check online telephone books for that area, or the last name. There's a very good chance of finding somebody who is at least related to him.

It's just like doing any other genealogy investigation. Find people with matching family name, then start asking, 'Hey, is (was) XXXX related to you?'

[Bill Murray]

Evening Peter:

I did a very quick search and came up with three John Spendicks in Bellevue, Pennsylvania. No phone numbers or address as they may be unlisted. I did get the ages which are 46 years, 34 years and 22 years. As your John Spendick should now be between 80 and 85 years old I suspect he is no longer with us.

I can investigate further, but may I warn you that some of those wartime romances do not want to be remembered by the present generation. It may well be that he married this German lady but it may also be true that his US sweetheart was the one he came home to in the end. It might not sit well with the family if my theory is correct.

I could, on the other hand, be very sneaky and if successful in contacting them to just offer to email your photo from this site which does not, of course have the message on the backside. If I find out he did marry the German girl I could tell the rest of the story, or you could if you wished.

Please let me know how you wish to proceed if you have not already done this research yourself.
Cheers
Bill Murray

[weinsoldner]

Hello Bill,

Thanks for your fast reply and the work you allready did.
I just got the photo yesterday and my first reaction was what I mailed on this forum, but I agree that it could be akward to confont him or his relatives with this writing on the back of this photo. Since I'm in the netherlands I can only use the internet to "track" him or his relatives down. I did send an email to the american embassy here, but haven't had a reply yet.
I would appreciate it if you dig a bit deeper in it and will follow your advice.

regards,

Peter

Evening Peter:

I did a very quick search and came up with three John Spendicks in Bellevue, Pennsylvania. No phone numbers or address as they may be unlisted. I did get the ages which are 46 years, 34 years and 22 years. As your John Spendick should now be between 80 and 85 years old I suspect he is no longer with us.

I can investigate further, but may I warn you that some of those wartime romances do not want to be remembered by the present generation. It may well be that he married this German lady but it may also be true that his US sweetheart was the one he came home to in the end. It might not sit well with the family if my theory is correct.

I could, on the other hand, be very sneaky and if successful in contacting them to just offer to email your photo from this site which does not, of course have the message on the backside. If I find out he did marry the German girl I could tell the rest of the story, or you could if you wished.

Please let me know how you wish to proceed if you have not already done this research yourself.
Cheers
Bill Murray