Barack Obama's Grandfather Served During WWII. Here's What We Know

Barack Obama spent part of his childhood in Hawaii and formed a close relationship with his maternal grandparents, Stanley Dunham and Madelyn Dunham. A lesser-known fact about Obama and his family is that Stanley was a World War II veteran, and he enlisted on January 18, 1942. Since Stanley and Madelyn got married in 1940, he wasn't required to join the service. In 1942, the Selective Service Act offered deferment of the draft for married men — a policy the government hoped to continue into the following year.

By 1943, Stanley was attached to the 1830th Ordnance Supply and Maintenance Company, Aviation and stationed in England. This unit helped provide crucial services in the lead up to and during the D-Day invasion in June 1944. "Sergeant Dunham's job was to basically look after the Bomb Dump, get the bombs brought in, look after the ammunition, store the ammunition, maintain it and deliver it out to the aircraft," John Levesley, secretary of the Friends of New Forest Airfields group, explained to the BBC.

Ralph Dunham, who was two years older than his brother Stanley, also served in the military during World War II and was a part of D-Day. Obama's great uncle spent four days in the water on a Landing Ship, Tank (LST) before getting into combat. "I have battle stars for Normandy, northern France, Rhineland, and Germany," Ralph later informed the Associated Press.

After the 1944 D-Day invasion was successful, Stanley Dunham's outfit relocated to France. By April 1945, Barack Obama's grandfather was sent back to England for retraining in combat duties. It's possible he might have been eventually sent to the Pacific theater if the conflict had lasted longer. To support the war effort at home, Obama's grandmother, Madelyn Dunham, worked nights at a B-29 bomber factory. Obama's mom, Stanley Ann Dunham, was born in late 1942, and Madelyn balanced working and parenting while Stanley was overseas.

In addition, Charles Payne, Obama's great uncle and Madelyn's brother, was also a World War II vet. Payne was attached to the 89th Infantry division, and, in April 1945, this unit helped free individuals who had been imprisoned in Ohrdruf, a Nazi concentration camp. Ohrdruf was one of 88 sup-camps that were part of Buchenwald. During the 2008 campaign, Obama wanted to recognize his great-uncle's contributions, but he unfortunately got a detail wrong about Payne's service, thinking he was at Auschwitz. His team later set the record straight.

"The people were in terrible shape, dressed in rags, most of them emaciated, the effects of starvation," Payne later recalled (via BBC). It was a traumatizing experience for him to discover the horrors of the camp, and it impacted his mental health for months after WWII ended. "I have no heroic story to tell," Payne commented. "I was just there."