My great grandfather was in an army tank destroyer battalion deployed to France and Germany during WWII. This item that came from him is called A Weyersberg Kirschbaum & Cie. WWII German KS98 Dress Bayonet Dagger. Weyersberg Kirschbaum & Cie. was a German steel company during the 1930s and 1940s. The dagger was pulled off a fallen Nazi youth after close combat and he sent it home with some other items. After winning the war, he came home sick and died about a year or so later. The dagger was stored away in my great grandfather’s army footlocker with the rest of his things. All of his things are treasured partly because of the limited time he was alive; he died at the age of 28; the man he was, and fighting in WWII is something my family and I are very proud of him for. The dagger connects to my identity because it is a historical item and my family loves all kinds of history. A lot of family members of mine have fought in various wars as well. I was told about and shown this object by my father, who was very close to my great grandmother. When my great grandfather died, my great grandmother would share many stories about him with my dad which made him feel closer to him. My father has a lot of really cool things from when my great grandfather was fighting in the war and I find everything about them very interesting. Hearing about the items makes me feel closer to my great grandfather as well, so it is nice to hear stories since I never met him. 

– Cadence Letcher

Relationship:  Great-grandchild of im/migrant or more Great-grandchild of im/migrant or more