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2004.11.14 |
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Is SGT Jack Gell's Family Looking For You? This webpage is is authorized, acknowledged, and made possible, by Jack Gell's wife, Rebecca, and daughter, Carol.
Jack and Rebecca Gell, Jack with Jay, Bonnie, and Carol. One last family picture: The Soldier in the pictures is Jack Gell. SGT Jack Gell, U.S. Army, gave his life for his country on 14 November 1965 in the battle for Landing Zone X-Ray in the Ia Drang Valley in the Republic of Viet Nam. May you rest in peace, Sergeant Gell. You are gone but not forgotten. It is my honor and privilege to be allowed to help those you left behind continue to honor your memory. Please click here to view the Sergeant Jack Earl Gell memorial page on The Virtual Wall and here to learn more about the battle for LZ X-Ray. You may also be interested in some of my previous blog posts here. For reasons that I'm sure mattered at the time but which I pray all those concerned now view as "ancient history", when SGT Gell left for Viet Nam he left a number of younger brothers and sisters in foster homes. I understand he promised his mother that when he returned he'd bring them all together. As a result of his death, some of his brothers and sisters lost contact with each other. On 20 Sept 2004 the Atlanta Journal-Constitution published a guest column, "Kerry smeared a hero: my dad", written by Carol Gell Crowley, Jack Gell's youngest child. I saw a short excerpt from that column at Kerry Haters and created a longer post than theirs, which was published on my blog on 22 Sept. Some other bloggers with blogs more popular than mine linked to my post, with the result that my post was seen by Mark/Urthshu, whose half-brother, SGT Frank Gell III, is SGT Jack Gell's nephew. Mark showed the post to Frank, and as a result Frank was able to contact Carol Crowley, whom he had previously not known how to reach. I understand that a reunion of the Northern and Southern branches of the now-reunited Gell clan is tentatively planned for sometime next spring. I am very gratified and humbled to know that my blog post, which was motivated entirely by my hatred of John Kerry, was instrumental in completing part of a mission that a Viet Cong bullet prevented SGT Jack Gell from completing. I am also saddened by the knowledge that that mission has still not been completed in its entirety. SGT Jack Gell's sister, Elaine, is believed to have passed away in Oregon. SGT Frank Gell believes she had children, but he does not have a starting point for contacting them, which he would very much like to do. If you are one of SGT Jack Gell's missing relatives, please email SGT Frank Gell at [email protected] Attention Viet Nam era veterans: SGT Frank Gell III, U.S. Army, is very interested in learning more about SGT Jack Gell. If you served with SGT Jack Gell and have memories or information about him, please email SGT Frank Gell at [email protected] . Update 2004.11.14.23:14 CST: So far The Mudville Gazette, Blackfive, and LGF are helping publicize the search for Sgt Gell's missing relatives and Instapundit has promised to post a link tomorrow, when more people are likely to see it. Thank you Greyhawk, Matt, Charles, Glenn, and anyone else who linked that I don't know about. If we don't get the job done it isn't because no one cared. -- 2004.11.15.04:20: I just realized Urthshu has also linked to this post. Thank you, Mark. -- As of 2004.11.15.08:21 CST the top item on the page at http://instapundit.com/ was a link to this post. I have also received an email from Michele Catalano promising me a link from http://command-post.org/. If we don't get the job done it isn't because no one cared. Unless someone reading this has an in with someone influential in the left 48% of the blogosphere all I know to do now is wait and pray. Update 2004.11.16.00:49 CST: So far around 2400 people have come to my site to read this post. The number that really counts, though, is much larger than that. Based on SiteMeter stats from sites that linked to my post, I know that well over 360,00 people saw words like "SMALL TOWN VETERAN is trying to reunite the family of Sergeant Jack Gell," or "see if you can help reunite the family of Army Sergeant Jack Gell", accompanied by links to this post. I don't know yet whether any of them have shown or will show the post to any of Elaine Gell's children, but if we weren't successful it isn't because we didn't make a sincere effort. Thank you, Greyhawk, Matt, Charles, Glenn, Urthshu, Cadmus, and anyone else who helped that I'm missing. Update 2004.11.16: I just realized I'm getting traffic from MSNBC's Slate site. Thank you, Will. |
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Posted by Bill Faith on November 14, 2004 at 12:01 AM in Sgt_Gell, The American Warrior | Permalink TrackBack Listed below are links to weblogs that reference :
» Trying to locate a family from Mudville Gazette Tracked on Nov 14, 2004 12:16:34 PM
» Sgt. Jack Gell - Help needed in reuniting his family from Let the Voice be Heard Tracked on Nov 15, 2004 11:09:03 AM
Comments Bill- thank you! I wanted to let you know that I'm getting some good leads already, which I'll be forwarding out to Frank shortly. Posted by: urthshu | Nov 14, 2004 4:39:44 PM In memory of the death of my dear brother, I wish to honor his memory,by telling him and his family how much I miss him and how much his family misses him, You are loved as much as you were 40 years ago. You are alive and in our hearts, our thoughts, our speech, never to be forgotten. Love you forever Jack, your big sister FrankiePosted by: Frances Gell Eigenmann | Nov 14, 2004 6:07:37 PM SlagleRock salutes Bill Faith! Excellent work here Bill. Sorry it's been so long since I visited. As usual you are hard at work. SlagleRock Out!Posted by: SlagleRock | Nov 14, 2004 8:48:38 PM This warms the heart! May your search results bear fruit and everlasting JOY! Family is what it is all about!Posted by: ordi | Nov 15, 2004 1:38:45 AM Thx for all your help bill.I was able to find many of my family members and discover many more that i had no knowledge of before.So from my family to yours thank you and god bless.I have begun the process of switching over to the 401st civil affairs unit and expect to be leaving over seas sometime soon.I will carry all of you with me and uphold my families name in the defense of our country.Posted by: Frank gell | Mar 24, 2005 11:02:01 PM I am a distant relative to Jack Earl Gell and am highly impressed with the websites and all the help that went into making them. Remembering the past is important to me and knowing where I came from. Knowing my family aided, supported and honored America makes me proud to be related. Please contact me if you are a relative, I would love to to meet more of you! Thank you to the Gell family for their love and dedication to their father. Love, Shelly Cheng (my Mother is a Gell)Posted by: Shelly Cheng | Aug 17, 2005 4:11:53 PM The comments to this entry are closed. |
