Great story indeed! It reminds me how close we actually are to our previous generations. It's mind-boggling to think that you were just 3 handshakes away from someone who fought in the revolutionary war.
I recently did some research into my own family-tree and found that there were records dating back to the early 1500's, which was only around 10 generations (can't remember the exact number).
I am a member of generation 10 born in the US (or what would become the US) which would make my grand children generation 12. Not all that many when you consider the span of better than 350 years.
My Grandfather went round the world on Teddy Rosevelt's Great White Fleet. He was a fireman (shoveled coal) on the Kansas. That had to be miserable duty.