Thomas Nelson Sr Does anyone know whether or not Mr Thomas Nelson Sr age 111 currently residing in Texas formerly of Louisiana served in the military before during or after World War I Can anyone provide any further biographical information on Mr Nelson where he was born where he lives now etc Finally can anyone post links to any articles about Mr Nelson Any information would be appreciated Well let s look at what Ancestry says There are 13 Draft Cards for WWI for a Thomas Nelson of Louisiana 6 of which fit into the age category There are other bits pieces of information that can then be found from there providing that is the correct info Have you got any more details middle name initial date of birth etc to help us so we can help you Why speculate It was never mentioned anywhere that he is a WWI veteran He runs a candy store However Silas Simmons is a closer candidate based on what he said about loading ammunition during WWI at the shipyards Why speculate Because he s in the right age range and if there s a chance he served we sould check it out What s this about him running a candy store Thomas Nelson spent most of his life running a candy store He doesn t strike me as someone who would have served He is African American yak talk Doesn t strike you Keep in mind the draft was in full force at the time it didn t matter what you did I agree that kind of speculation is bizarre If you had the opportunity to meet and talk with him Robert why didn t you just ask him if he d served What is it about running a candy store that makes someone unlikely to be called up for the draft Does he have a draft card on file One would think that if he served the news article would have mentioned it But I find your statements hypocritical vis a vis the Silas Simmons comment Silas Simmons Who is Silas Simmons Silas Simmons was born Oct 14 1895 according to his WWI draft card Name Silas Joseph Simmons City Philadelphia County Philadelphia State Pennsylvania BirthPlace Delaware Birth Date 14 Oct 1895 Race African Roll 1907647 DraftBoard 27 yak talk Note During both World War I and World War II he loaded live ammunition for U S troops onto ships bound for Europe He is not on the GRG list because the 1900 census lists him as born in 1897 which would make him only 108 instead of 110 as claimed However it s possible the census in this case is incorrect In any case he was still alive a month ago has a WWI draft card and participated in an activity which was directly related to the war effort Whether he is a veteran or not I don t know if he was drafted But considering some veterans on the current list were little more than telephone operators and ROTC students Silas s efforts were a tangible contribution to the war He was also a Negro league ballplayer yak talk This is not a discussion of the relative merits of peoples service It s merely a question of service A veteran is someone who served in the armed forces it s irrelevant where he or she served and what exactly they did Do we know whether Mr Simmons loaded ships as a civ