A gravestone for Joseph Tardiff, a World War I veteran, has been placed at his gravesite in St. Peter’s Cemetery in Lewiston after 104 years of resting in an unmarked grave. Andree Kehn/Sun Journal

LEWISTON — Joseph Tardiff had already served in the U.S. Army when World War I broke out, but the Lewiston native didn’t hesitate to reenlist when the United States entered the fray.

He was 33 years old.

“We don’t know his music, his style of clothing, his favorite food or even his favorite color,” Don Brasier said of his recently discovered ancestor. “But we know that he was a patriot, who loved his country.”

Tardiff, who died in 1920, 10 months after being honorably discharged after being wounded or gassed during the Battle of Chateau-Thierry in France, was buried with full military honors at St. Peter’s Cemetery. Brasier and other family members have no idea why Tardiff never had a marker placed on his grave.

With assistance from the Bureau of Veterans Affairs, the Brasier family fixed that oversight. Approximately a dozen family members gathered Thursday at his gravesite at St. Peter’s Cemetery and held a short ceremony dedicating a new memorial bronze plaque marking Tardiff’s final resting place. Each family member left a rose on his grave.

“It’s the final chapter of the story,” Brasier said. “It’s important that veterans are not forgotten. Joseph was a real patriot. He loved his country. He served it twice.”

Don Brasier gives a short dedication Thursday for Joseph Tardiff, who had been buried in St. Peter’s Cemetery in Lewiston without a gravestone for 104 years. After a lengthy genealogy search, Brasier and other family members located the gravesite and installed a bronze plaque. Andree Kehn/Sun Journal

Joseph was the older brother to Brasier’s grandfather, Adelard Tardiff, who was adopted at a young age and had his name changed to Delo Carl Brasier. He knew he had an older brother named Joseph, but knew nothing else about him or what had happened to him.

Don Brasier said the family could not find evidence of the adoption because records were scarce at the time, he said. They received a break when they found a copy of their great-grandfather’s obituary during a genealogical search that confirmed the grandfather’s adoption and the existence of an older brother.

“He was never part of my grandfather’s life,” Brasier said.

He added that the family did not even know the Tardiff name until recently discovering the obituary.

Kate Pradhaker of Mansfield, Mass., places a rose on the gravesite of Joseph Tardiff, her great-granduncle, who had been buried in St. Peter’s Cemetery in Lewiston without a gravestone for 104 years. After a lengthy genealogy search, Pradhaker and other family members located the gravesite and installed a gravestone. Pradhaker said she took several trips to Lewiston to look at microfiche records at the library and to walk the cemetery. Andree Kehn/Sun Journal

With Brasier’s niece, Kate Prabhakar of Mansfield, Massachusetts, doing the bulk of the research, the family discovered Joseph Tardiff’s military records.

Tardiff was born Dec. 27, 1883, in Lewiston. He joined the Army, serving with the 109th Coast Artillery and was discharged in 1909 with the rank of sergeant.

When the U.S. entered World War I, Tardiff reenlisted with the 23rd Infantry and saw action in Europe at Champagne Marne, Soisson, St. Mihiel and Chateau-Thierry.

After being honorably discharged from the Army in August 1919, he died 10 months later on June 15, 1920, while being transported to the hospital, Brasier said. It is uncertain if the gassing incident during the war contributed to his early death at age 36.

“It’s important that he gets recognized,” Prabhakar said.

Brasier, who lives in Oklahoma, visited Lewiston with other relatives last year to search for Tardiff’s gravesite.

“We came here, and we were walking all around the cemetery trying to find Joseph,” Prabhakar said. “We knew his plot number, but we could not find anything.”

The VA confirmed Tardiff’s military service and recently issued the bronze memorial to finally mark his grave that had been unmarked for 104 years.

During the brief ceremony, Brasier thanked members of his extended family who attended Thursday’s event for his great-uncle.

“As the old saying goes, like branches on a tree, we’ll all grow in different directions, yet our roots remain as one,” he said.