I’ve been recently turned on to the magic of ancestry.com, one of the best tools for researching WWI images I’ve yet to discover. I decided to start a search for one of the names written on the back of one of my better WWI images. Alex Lindell poses in his WWI French portrait photo showing off his missing finger – likely a battle wound received on October 18th, 1918 while he was with the 309th Infantry Regiment (78th Division) during the Meuse-Argonne Offensive. After a search of draft cards through the National Archives, I came across a pair of WWI and WWII draft cards with the presumed identity of Alex Lindell. After comparing the signatures on both my photo and the draft cards, I realized I had a match! Success! His ASN was 2451963.
Alex served in Company H, 309th Infantry Regiment, 78th Division and was originally born in Oeland, Finland but eventually ended up in Brooklyn, NY. He was born on May 5th, 1889 and passed away just shy of the age of 61 on April 11th. 1950 where he was buried in Long Island National Cemetery. He was listed as being severely wounded in action on October 18th, 1918 where he presumably lost his finger as seen in the below photo.
Photo Colorized by the Photo Alchemist
Signature on Obverse
WWI Draft Card
WWII Draft Card
Signatures Compared
Portraits of War 
Hi. I am researching a WWI veteran named John Cendali (born 22 May 1897). He enlisted in the NYS 23rd National Guard and was part of the 106th Infantry, Company H. My understanding is he was an infantry mechanic, and I am interested in what that specialty was exactly. I’d also like information about the medal he received – the Purple Heart, WWI Victory Medal and the Bronze Star. It seems that his military file was destroyed in the St. Louis fire. I know he was wounded twice and would like to learn more about that. He was transferred to Motor Company 10 after the Second Somme Offensive. Any information is appreciated. Thank you.
Happy to help. I will do a little digging. The bronze star referenced is likely a campaign star on his victory medal ribbon bar. Looks like he was promoted during the occupation period to Cpl. Might be tough to find what his specialty was without the St. Louis records but I will look around for you.
Thank you! He was a mechanic and electrician in civilian life.