A couple years ago, it came to my attention in our family Facebook group that my paternal grandmother (Lillian Christina Gessner 1932-2018) had a half-brother. The only information she had, or could remember, was the name Martin, and that he had served in the army during World War II.

This reminded me of a strange entry in the 1930 census that I hadn’t really dug into further at the time. With my curiosity piqued, I decided to do some digging, uncovering a somewhat bittersweet story.

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