United Stated enlisted men

[allison coowan]

I am new to the site so please forgive any errors. My great-uncle Thomas Banks Wright was an enlisted man in the U.S Army in the year of the sinking.Also at this time he was in Europe and as the family story goes he was brought home at the time on the first ship headed this way, the Titanic. He was, as the story goes , one of the survivors pulled from the water and this resulted in him losing one of his lungs. The proof of scar was seen. He committed suicide after years of depression. This story has been told to me by my grandmother who would never lie unless the lie was told as the truth. I did some research on this site and found that some tickets were bought and traded without name changes or names if I remember correctly. Is there anyone out there that could help? Sorry so long. Allison

 

[Bob Godfrey]

Hallo, Allison. Sorry about the late response - I think you posted just before this website went out of action for a few days.

I can only tell you that the name doesn't appear on the list of survivors or on any passenger list. There were a few high-ranking officers of the US Army on board, but I can't recall any enlisted men. Among those who died there were some travelling under assumed names and quite possibly a few who are unknown to this day, but those who survived were questioned and listed on the Carpathia (the rescue ship) to establish their identities for the US immigration authorities and so that anxious relatives could be informed of their survival. No survivors were picked up by any other ship. Those who were injured were hospitalised in New York, where again their details would be on record. Altogether, not much chance of unidentified survivors, especially if they had no reason to conceal their identity.

I'm sure your grandmother passed on a story that she had no reason to doubt. Perhaps your great-uncle was a survivor of another wreck - like one of the many vessels lost just a few years later during the Great War. I'm sorry I can't offer any other suggestions.
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[allison coowan]

Bob, Thank you for your response. I will find out more info. It was not in good taste and almost like bad luck to talk about such horrific happenings back then. My grandmother will maybe be able to find out more. I do know he was not in the war, he was just in the military. He saw no action there. It could have been another ship. This is what led me to my love of this story, this ship this forever living legend. I will will continue to search and to learn. Thank you once agiain. P.S Was there anyone from South Carolina on board ?

 

[Bob Godfrey]

Good luck with your search, Allison, here's hoping you can can find out what really happened. I'd best leave your other question to the South Carolina contingent here on ET, who would know best about any local connections. Paging Mike Standart!

 

[Michael H. Standart]

Allison, I don't know that I can realy help you on this. You might want to try contacting the Army to see if you can even find out if anybody by that name even served. The story sounds extremely unlikely for a lot of reasons, one of which is that he's not listed as a passenger, another being that he's not listed among the survivors, yet another being that in this time frame, beyond diplomatic representation by way of military attaches and their staff, the United States didn't have much of a presence in Europe.

As to local South Carolina connections, I can't really help. I've only been living here since 1996 and only settled continuously since I retired from the Navy in 1999. If you know the date and location of his death, it might help if you contact a local records office to see if there's a death certificate on file.

 

[allison coowan]

Thank you Michael and It is so very nice to have someone that I have grown to respect on this site be in my area. I was born and have lived in Pickens County S.C. all of my 34 years. I always feel that when you answer a question it is with researched knowledge. I will now leave this discussion until I get anymore info that might actually be important and factual. Thank you all for your answers. Always Reading And Learning
Allison

 

[Michael H. Standart]

>>I was born and have lived in Pickens County S.C. all of my 34 years.<<

I live in Pickens County as well. If you drop by the Lowe's in Easley, I work in the Plumbing department so look me up if you happen to be poking around. I'm the bloke with the beard, the ponytail and the twisted sense of humour.(If you have any kids, don't let them run barefoot through the store. You'd be amazed at the broken junk that get's dribbled around.)

>>Thank you all for your answers. Always Reading And Learning <<

You're welcome and join the club. For all that I've learned over the years, there are a lot of talanted researchers here who remind me that there's a whole lot I *don't* know...but that's what makes it worthwhile.