First Contact

I decided to skip a lecture this afternoon because I really wanted to start doing actual, online research about my grandpa. I figure I'll start from the beginning - with his birth.

I searched the Dubuque Telegraph Herald's website. Their online archives must not go back far enough. I came across genealogy websites with Richard Kanes, Dick Kanes, and James Kanes, though none of these is my grandfather. I perused the University of Iowa College of Dentistry alumni records - there are no Kanes listed, not even my uncle Kevin (class of 1982) or my cousin Nick (class of 2010). These are cursory searches, just first gropes into the darkness, and I mustn't get discouraged. I decide to try the Loras College website; similar results (though a search for "Richard Kane" turns up my mom's name). A search for "Dick Kane" shows my mom, and a Kevin and Terrance Kane who may well be my uncles.

A search for "Loras Academy" turns up classmates.com... that could be an interesting avenue to peruse.

Oh, here's an interesting site! encyclopediadubuque.org is a Wikipedia-style site focused on Dubuque. Sadly, these are the listed Kanes: KANE, Allan J. KANE, Leo F. KANE, Mark R. Interesting to me for this project, even without any information about my grandfather, is its mission statement:
"The basis of Encyclopedia Dubuque is the book, Dubuque: The Encyclopedia. Written in 1991 by Randolph W. LYON and published by First National Bank of Dubuque (now U.S. Bank), Dubuque: The Encyclopedia was designed as a table-top reference to Dubuque's history. Organized in alphabetical order, the entries were quick to locate and easy to read. Sales of the original Dubuque: The Encyclopedia were brisk. Over the years, the encyclopedia was frequently cited in the local newspaper, the Telegraph Herald, as a source of information, and copies at Carnegie-Stout Public Library had to be rebound due to heavy use.

"As Dubuque reached its sesquicentennial, the Dubuque City Council announced that it would fund ten applications from local historical societies or groups with projects involving Dubuque history. The Carnegie-Stout Library Foundation chose to apply for a grant to convert the aging printed edition of Dubuque: The Encyclopedia to an expandable digital format. This grant application was approved in 2008, establishing the threshold for a new and exciting approach to local history."
-- http://www.encyclopediadubuque.org/index.php?title=ABOUT_ENCYCLOPEDIA_DUBUQUE

I figure that even though he doesn't have his own page, maybe my grandfather is mentioned on other pages. No matches for "Dick Kane." For "Richard Kane," none. Same with "James Kane". My grandfather is a phantom.

I try more Google searches, which direct me to this blog. Great. Enough with names for now. I decide to switch to military information.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/69th_Infantry_Division_(United_States)

This also seems to match what my dad told me: http://www.69th-infantry-division.com/combat/combat.html
This is interesting to me because there are discrepancies addressed even on this page.
I peruse this site. I find this narrative of my grandfather's regiment: http://www.69th-infantry-division.com/histories/273.html
I stare into the faces of men, all strangers, all members of the 273rd regiment. Will I recognize him? I squint at the pixels. The photos on the site are organized by company; I don't know which might contain my grandfather. I only have a vague idea of what he looks like, anyway. I scan the photos, not for James Richard Kane, but for his youngest son, my father, Christopher.

I tire of these broad searches. Perhaps there's an Army website with some information?
http://www.historyshots.com/usarmy/Division.cfm?did=69

Now I'm confused, tired, and I need to go to a screening. Whew.

http://www.69th-infantry-division.com/histories/273.html