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Please help me to find my Father RICHARD GRAY |
I am french.
My father is Richard Gray and this is what I know about him:
This story might be common place, but some troubling, complicating events
intervened in this love story.
I have already sent more than 4,500 emails to Gray families and others
The surname Gray is a very common one in the US.
I only want to know if he is alive,
any details of my American family, and if he has been informed of my search.
PERHAPS IN ONE OF THESE Ordnance Motor Vehicule Assembly Companies
I have recently learned that I am Franco-American.
My name is Claude Richard and I live in the southern part of France.
The circumstances surrounding my birth were concealed from me until recently.
He was in Oran, Algeria, until November, 1943.
He may well have been in the US Army. His garisson
was not near the harbor or the airport.
His military camp was situated IN Oran, between the
Choupot area and the Cuvelier area (near Cite Petit).
'Nob Hill' was the name given to the camp by
the men,
but not necessairily what the Army called it.
A road separated the camp
from a big Algerian market hall named LES HALLES.
This building is nammed "Les Halles" and in 1943 it was referred to as Ordnance Depot 150-0. I have known rolling stock (jeep, truck, motor-driven, etc.. except tank or plane) were unloaded in Oran then conveyed to the camp where was my
father. This rolling stock were conveyed from US in separate pieces. In this Depot, american soldiers and french men reassembled rolling stock. My father Richard Gray had
access to both a mototcycle and a jeep at various times. He also left Oran from time to time for duty that was associated with either accompanying or locating munitions.
His dress uniform was a khaki jacket made of silky cloth. He had
a cap.
His friends called him Dick and he had a friend called Mike.
He was almost 6 feet, with light brown hair, and blue eyes.
He apparently came back to the States, it seems before the end
of the war.
I have tried to find my father without success. The results of my research
are condensed below.
In the fall of 1943, an American soldier named Richard Gray, between
20 and 23, was based at Oran in Algeria.
There he met a young woman, my mother : Lucienne Martin,
17 years old.
They became very fond of each other and planned to be married. Richard received wedding dress photos from his sister who lived
in the U.S.
At the end of 1943 (end november, beginning december), Richard Gray was transfered
to another, unknown to me, place to continue the war.
He should have been informed by mail of my birth, probably in September, 1944.
I have heard that my father was came back to Oran, between September 1944 - February 1945,
without leave and quickly he was been caught by MP. He hasn't have
time to see us.
Richard wrote often to my mother during the war and after he returned to the US. He said that he wanted to marry her;
he expressed it in his letters.
Unfortunately, my grandmother intercepted and destroyed all of his letters. She did not want this marriage to take place - it would
mean that her daughter and grandson would move to the USA.
I recently learned in March, 1998, from my mother the circumstances
surrounding my birth.
During this 54 year period, my mother thought she had been
deserted, in a cowardly manner, by her fiance .
To be deserted pregnant at a tender age was very difficult.
I made several inquiries in my family in 1998 and I began to learn
several things from an aunt.
Before her death in 1977, my grandmother confided
to my aunt that she had destroyed all correspondence between them as well as a
few papers belonging to my mother.
While she never knew Richard Gray, the
account of my aunt was a good one and all of her explanations were later verified.
In September, 1998 I finally learned the truth to my
mother (the destroying of letters).
The burdening facts that she was a deserted woman and an unmarried
mother were out and, at that time, she told me my father's name.
The passing years
and the efforts to forget have resulted in fading memories.
I have created this site, attempting to look for my father. Here I have placed
a photo of my mother at that time.
I continue to use all the opportunities of the internet in my search.
Is there a veteran who was in Oran during the WWW II and would answer me ?
It's possible my father was associated at Ordnance Motor Vehicle
Assembly Company. :
-- 101st - in Oran Algeria
-- 105th - in Algiers Algeria (not in Oran)
-- 112th - in Oran Algeria
-- 149th Mtr Vehicule Assembly (Portable) - In Oran Algeria
-- 156th Tire Repair - In Oran Algeria
I would like very much to find him still living .
Yours sincerely,
Mr. Paez Claude Richard
12 bis, Rue de la Touche
78610 - LE PERRAY France
phone: +33 1 34 84 92 20 (France)
Email : Claude Richard
Phone : +33 4 94 58 75 09 (france)
Author : Claude Richard
State : 78 - LE PERRAY (France)
Last modif : April, 06 , 2004
Created web site : 1/10/1998
Nb visits
LINKS
| Recherchons RICHARD GRAY |
|---|
Vous trouverez, à juste titre, ma requête très impertinente et je vous prie
de bien vouloir m'en excuser.
Tel. : 01-34-84-92-20
Il se trouve que je me heurte à un problème
insoluble et, peut-être, avec votre aide, je pourrais enfin obtenir une
réponse pour poursuivre mes recherches.
J'ai appris, il y a quelques mois et à 54 ans, que mon père biologique
était un soldat américain. Il était basé, en 1943, à Oran (en Algérie).
Son camps militaire était situé, dans le sud est d'Oran, entre les quartiers de
Choupot et cuvelier (proche de la Cité Petit) et faisait face à un grand
marché couvert appelé "Les Halles".
Son nom est Richard Gray, il avait une vingtaine d'années, grand, chatain clair et yeux bleus.
Il portait quelque fois un brassard "MP" (police militaire) et il lui arrivait d'utiliser
une grosse moto militaire pour se déplacer.
Je passe très
rapidement sur cette triste histoire d'amour détruite par une grand-mère
qui se refusait à voir partir sa fille aux Etats Unis. En deux mots, ma
grand-mère, à l'insu de ma mère, a réceptionné, lu et détruit toute la
correspondance de mon père. Celui-ci voulait ardemment ce mariage et aurait
continué à présenter sa demande après son retour aux USA.
Ma mère et moi avons appris cette triste vérité, il y a quatre mois,
par une tante à qui ma grand-mère s'était confiée avant sa mort.
Depuis j'ai ouvert un site internet et je corresponds avec des centaines de
familles Gray aux USA qui m'ont offert spontanément et avec une délicatesse
extrême, de m'aider dans cette recherche. Ils n'hésitent pas à contacter
tous les médias de tous les états.
Nous N'ARRIVONS PAS A TROUVER le nom de ce campement, de cette unité d'armée.
Si nous pouvions obtenir ces renseignements nous aurions fait un grand pas
dans notre recherche.
Pourriez-vous me venir en aide à travers vos relations ? Je vous en serais
éternellement reconnaissant et mes nouveaux amis américains seraient ravis
d'apprendre qu'en France les français se tiennent les coudes.
LE NOM DE CETTE UNITE MILITAIRE EST IMPORTANT POUR NOUS.
SI QUELQU'UN SE RAPPELLE DU NOM DU CAMPS ET DE L'UNITE MILITAIRE, POURRAIT-IL
NOUS LES COMMUNIQUER ?
Merci de nous aider à le retrouver .
Claude Richard
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QUELQUES BONNES ADRESSES SOME GOOD ADDRESSES |
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