Benjamin Perry Pace, WWI veteran

Since it is Veterans Day, I wanted to share this photo of my maternal grandfather, Benjamin Perry Pace, taken during his service in World War I.  My memories are of a grandfather who was bald and in his 80s, so it is amazing to see this dashing young man with a very full head of hair!  I grew up hearing that Grandad Pace, as we called him, had spent time in France during WWI.  I was afraid I would never know more than that about his service, because almost all the service records from that era were destroyed in a fire.  So I was very excited when I came across the Texas, World War I Records database on FamilySearch.  To my delight, it contained my grandfather's WWI service card, which detailed his training and service.  I learned that he received about two months of training at Texas Agricultural & Mechanical College (Texas A&M), which had offered its services to the U.S. government. He was then assigned to QMC Repair Shop 304 which was stationed at Fort Sam Houston.  I was a little confused by the note on the back side of the card which said "2/18 Rep Unit 309 to disch".  However, after looking at other cards of men from QMC Repair Shop 304, I believe the date should have been 2 Sep 1918. This was just before Grandad was sent overseas, so it is probably the unit that he was assigned to before they left. Grandad Pace served overseas from 17 Sept 1918 to 26 July 1919, a little over nine months. While overseas he received two promotions, to Private First Class and then to Sergeant. He was honorably discharged on 6 Aug 1919, soon after his return to the U.S.  I am thankful for my grandfather and all who have served our country!

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"Texas, World War I Records, 1917-1920," database with images, FamilySearch(https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QV18-FJJL : 3 April 2015), Benjamin Perry Pace, 13 Apr 1918; citing Military Service, College Station, Brazos, Texas, United States, Texas Military Forces Museum, Austin.