Cpl. George A. Blood was born in Sturbridge, Mass., on April 11, 1843. He served three years with the Union Army, from July 21, 1862 to July 31, 1865. He was part of the Co. A, 34th Massachusetts Inf. Veteran Reserve Corp Volunteers. On Sept. 21-22, under the command of Maj. Gen. Philip Sheridan, Union soldiers engaged the Confederate Army at Fisher Hill in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. On the 22nd Blood was wounded while charging the enemy. The wound left him with one arm crippled. He was discharged from Douglas Hospital in Washington, D.C., on July 31, 1865. He returned home to Lynn, Mass., where he lived with his family. He was a member of the Grand Army of the Republic Post 5 in Lynn. He died March 24, 1924 in Lynn and was buried in the local Pine Grove Cemetery. (Plot: G.A.R. - Lot, Row-7, North, Grave 6)
He was my great-grandfather. He raised my father from 1910 until his death in 1924, as my father's dad - Daniel A.C. Condon - had died as a result of an illness he received while fighting in the Spanish-American War. My father knew only Grampa George as he was only 4 when his dad died. My dad often spoke of Grampa George up to his death in 1970. I tried to see if there were any medals or badges that he might have been eligible for from being wounded, but I was told there was nothing going back to the Civil War. I guess it really doesn't matter, because he did serve our country well.
Dan Condon, Sanford, Maine