The military has been in Don Teesdale's blood for not two, not four, but seven generations, and he says he has a historic medal to prove it.
Teesdale, a Blackhawk helicopter pilot, who has been at Aberdeen Proving Ground for more than 20 years, has spent about 15 years trying to track down a medal one of his ancestors was awarded for fighting in the pivotal Battle of Waterloo on June 18, 1815.
Nearly 200 years to the day after the major European conflict, he finally acquired what he says is the authentic medal.
On May 20, Teesdale, 49, felt victorious after he bought the silver-and-purple award at an auction in the Netherlands.
Teesdale said the auction house, which he said is reputable, contacted him about two months ago after seeing he reached out online for any leads on the award.
"My thought process along the way was always the inspiration that my family has been dedicated to military service throughout all of our known history," he said.
The medal, bearing the name of Don Teesdale's great-great-great-great-grandfather, Robert Teesdale, of Scotland, arrived last week.
The ancient relative, who fought against Napoleon in the First Royal Scots infantry, is believed to have pensioned out after the Napoleonic Wars and died around 1850, Teesdale said.
The Battle of Waterloo, fought in Belgium on June 18, 1815, was the final triumph of European monarchies against Napoleon Bonaparte, the legendary French military leader who tried to conquer the continent.
Teesdale said every soldier in the battle was issued such a medal, and it was the first time medals featured an individual's name. He found out the medal existed after learning through his family research it had been at auction in London in 1967.
The medal includes Robert Teesdale's name inscribed along the edge, along with the name of Arthur Wellesley, the Duke of Wellington, who led the British forces and the armies of other nations allied against Napoleon, including troops from Belgium, the Netherlands and Prussia.
On that day, the British Army's 68,000 troops waited for Napoleon's roughly 72,000 troops in the village of Waterloo, south of Brussels. Napoleon waited to start the battle until midday to let the ground dry after heavy rains. This delay, however, gave a new contingent of Prussian troops time to join the other armies allied against France.
The Belgian campaign spelled the end of Napoleon's military career, and he died in 1821 after being exiled to the British held island of Saint Helena, roughly halfway between the African and South American continents in the south Atlantic.
Teesdale, who did not reveal how much he paid for the medal, said he was excited to bid on it, and actually procure it online the day of the auction.
"I had to wake up at 3 a.m. [to be on] their time in order to bid on it," he said. "I was just really excited about it, just thrilled to know I had the chance to get it back." The purchase was made through MPO Auctions of the Netherlands, and the medal did not come with any authenticating documents, beyond the ancestor's name being on the medal, Teesdale said, noting he believes it to be authentic.
Because Waterloo was "such a brutal battle," every soldier there was awarded the medal, he said.
"Napoleon was a would-be dictator," Teesdale said. "I see that as inspiration that he was fighting for freedom," he said of his ancestor's role in defeating the self-crowned French emperor.
William Teesdale, one of Robert Teesdale's nine sons, emigrated to the United States to continue his family's hand-looming business in Philadelphia, Don Teesdale said.
That started the family's military involvement in the U.S. armed forces and also launched Don Teesdale's interest in the family's history.
"When I was 5 years old, my father and my uncle took me to Valley Forge and there is a wall for all the Pennsylvanians killed in action from the Civil War," he said. "They lifted me up to show me my name, Teesdale."
Teesdale learned William, his great-great-great-grandfather, died at the 1863 Battle of Gettysburg. Teesdale began researching his family history more about 20 years ago, finding more information on Robert Teesdale in the National Archives and by visiting his grave site during a 2000 trip to Scotland.
He has been proud to learn his family was involved in the military in every generation. Teesdale's father was in the Air Force during the Korean War; his grandfather fought in World War I and was wounded in the 1918 in France.
In a song he wrote called "Blood Purchased Our Liberty," Teesdale recalled: "He fell at the Battle of Gettysburg, three bullets struck William Teesdale / His life they would take but never his cause / For freedom soon would prevail. / He brought o'er from Scotland his family and faith, / In God who's [sic] own word stands true / Though his death was for freedom that he would not see, / His cause I will ever renew."
Teesdale, who has been flying helicopters as a chief warrant officer with the Army National Guard since 1994, hopes his family's the tradition of military service will be sustained into the future.
"That military heritage has been an inspiration throughout my military career," he said.