As mentioned in another thread, my maternal grandfather served onboard the USS Sangamon, an escort carrier. He started as a Lieutenant in August 1942 and served throughout the war as one of the radar operators. Due to the top secret nature of radar at the time, he was required to carry cyanide with him to take his own life in the event that he was captured. He served on the USS Sangamon throughout the remainder of the war in the Pacific, and was present for several major battles. At Okinawa, the carrier was hit by a kamikaze attack, which did severe damage to the ship. Fortunately, the fires were kept under control and the ship was able to make its way back to Pearl Harbor, where it was still located at the end of the war.

One of my maternal grandmother's cousins served in the Wehrmacht on the Eastern Front. I do not know much about what he did or where he served, but I recall being told that he was captured and spent several years in a Soviet POW camp, only returning to Germany several years after the war ended.

I do not know anything else about any other family members, though I think it is a fair assumption that distant relatives on my father's side perished in the Holocaust. His family came from Lodz, Poland around the turn of the century.