There are very few people alive today who can claim a direct link to the Civil War, but Grand Rapids found one:

“He’s only one of 20 men alive today who can claim their father fought for the Union,” says Butgereit, quoting from extensive research compiled by the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War.

Becker’s father, Charles Conrad Becker, who was born in 1846, lied and said he was 19 (in truth, he was 17) when he enlisted with the North. He fought in the Battle Above the Clouds on Lookout Mountain in 1863 and a year later the Battle of Franklin — both in Tennessee. The bloody clashes totalled nearly 10,000 casualties.