An Old Newspaper Clipping Revealed That My Grandpa Served in WWI

I joined MyHeritage because of my grandparents, Pete and Katie. I knew so little about them, and with my surviving aunt now 88 years old, she often asks me questions about them. But the truth is, I had more questions than answers.

Grandpa Pete came to the U.S. through Ellis Island from Croatia, but I never knew how he ended up in Minnesota, where he met my grandmother. She was a maid in the boarding house where he lived, and though they were from the same area, they hadn’t known each other back home. He had a twin sister, but I didn’t even know her name — just that she married someone named Papa and lived in Pennsylvania.

I was only 13 when Grandpa passed away in 1966, and I have very few memories of him. I loved his heavy accent, and I wish I had spent more time with him. The only details I had came from scattered family stories, but there were so many gaps.

Then, I made an incredible discovery in MyHeritage’s newspaper collection: an article about Grandpa Pete from The Duluth Herald, published on June 21, 1918. The headline read: “Stevenson Serbian Who Will Battle for Allies.”

The article described how Grandpa, along with other Serbian immigrants from the Iron Range in Minnesota, had enlisted to fight alongside the Allies in World War I. It even mentioned him by name: “Among the range Serbians who left here this week to go to Europe and aid the Allies in the fight to put down autocracy was Peter Sporich, leader of the Serbian recruits who enlisted from Stevenson near Hibbing.”

I never knew about him serving in any way, in any country. He was so young to have this responsibility! No one in my family ever spoke about it. This discovery changed everything for me. It gave me a deeper understanding of the man he was — a leader, a fighter, and someone who believed in something bigger than himself.

This find means the world to me. I still wish I knew more, but this discovery brought me closer to the grandfather I barely knew.

Many thanks to Loretta for sharing this discovery with us! Have you also made an amazing discovery with MyHeritage or on OldNews.com? We’d love to hear about it. Please share it with us via this form or email us at stories@myheritage.com.