greatest generations

WE SHALL NOT

FORGETVolume Five

CopyrightValley News & Clarinda Herald-JournalJune 2012

we shall not forget10 June 2012 The Valley News/Herald-Journal

By KENT DINNEBIERStaff Writer

Tim Hansen of Clarinda saw the way sol-diers were treated when they returned fromVietnam and is pleased the American pub-lic has taken a different view of the servicetoday’s military is providing.

“I am really happy that the troops arebeing treated well now because that was

not being done atthe end of thatwar. They lookeddown on us eventhough it was notour fault. We justwent to serve ourcountry,” Hansensaid.

A graduate ofCouncil BluffsAbraham LincolnHigh School,Hansen was mar-

ried and had just started a career as ateacher when he was drafted into theUnited States Army in June of 1968.

“I had just got out of college and hadstarted teaching. My education defermentwas up and I was drafted,” Hansen said. “Iwas not protesting. I went and did myduty.”

Once drafted, Hansen was immediatelyinducted into the Army and sent to basictraining and advanced infantry training atFort Lewis, Wash.

Once he finished basic training, Hansen

was selected for Non-CommissionedOfficer School at Fort Benning, Ga.

After completing NCO School, Hansenwas promoted to the rank of sergeant andassigned to Fort Polk, La.

“I was in charge of a platoon of newrecruits entering basic training. It was agood exercise. They sent us there to teachus leadership and to gain experience han-dling troops because that was what wewould be doing in Vietnam,” Hansen said.

Once his platoon completed basic train-ing, Hansen was shipped to Vietnam inApril of 1969 and was assigned to a majorbase camp was located between Saigon andCambodia.

“The area was filled with rubber planta-tions and rice patty dikes. There were a lotof small villages and you could see a lot ofthe French influence,” Hansen said. “It wasreally hot and often it was raining.”

Serving as a squad leader, Hansen over-saw approximately 10 soldiers while onmaneuvers.

“We would make sweeps of the countryand every third night we would go onambush patrol,” Hansen said. “Sleep was ata minimum because you were always onguard duty, ambush patrol or filling sandbags.”

Hansen said his company was oftentransported by helicopter to new landingzones and were responsible for sweepingthe new area.

“We were all in the same boat doing thesame thing. There wasn’t anything trau

Tim Hansen Clarinda

Hansen wounded in VietnamBy KENT DINNEBIER

Staff Writer

The military provided Mitch Hargin ofClarinda his first chance to spread hiswings.

A pilot and flight instructor, Harginreceived his pilot license in 1982 and twoyears later enlisted in the United StatesMarines Corp.

“I was enrolledat Parks Collegefor flight trainingand counselingand realized thequickest way toget flight timewas to go to themilitary,” Harginsaid. “Since I didnot have aB a c h e l o r ’ sDegree at thetime, the only

enlisted flight slot was in the Marines as anavigator on KC-130 transport refuelingplanes.”

Hargin enlisted in January of 1984 andwas sent to the Marine Corp Recruit Depotat San Diego for 12 weeks of boot camp.

After graduating as the Series HonorMan, or top member of the three platoonsin his series, Hargin attended a month ofpre-training at Millington, Tenn., beforeattending Air Crew Candidate School atPensacola, Fla.

“It was a lot of fun because we were likeprofessional athletes. We were getting paidto get in shape,” Hargin said.

During the three months of schoolHargin underwent extensive physical train-ing that included swimming, running andsurvival training led by Navy Seals.

“We were thrown into the ocean andwere pickup by a helicopter. We trained inlife raft recovery. They also dropped a hel-icopter into a pool to simulate the oceanand showed us how to escape from acrashed helicopter. We were shown how toescape from a parachute being drug in theocean and received paratrooper training,”Hargin said.

Following Air Crew Candidate School,Hargin was assigned to Mather Air ForceBase in Sacramento, Calif., in September

of 1984 for six months of navigation train-ing.

The training focused on how to navigateaircraft during the day or at night by usingreference points like the sun, moon andstars to determine the location and direc-tion of travel for the aircraft.

“That was before GPS, so you had to doall the navigation by paper, pencil and sex-tant. In an airplane the sextant was like asmall periscope you pushed through a holein the top of the airplane to do the manualcalculations. You had to shoot a line ofposition in two minutes and then do somemore manual calculations to determineyour location on a navigational chart,”Hargin said.

Hargin graduated at the top of his navi-gational class and was allowed to choosehis duty station. He selected El Toro,Calif., where his wife was stationed.

For the next three years Hargin served asa navigator for KC-130 transport refuelingplanes used for the refueling of Marine jetsand helicopters.

“We were basically a flying gas station,”Hargin said.

Besides performing tactical low levelrefueling in California, Hargin had anopportunity to travel all over the world. Hewas involved in refueling missions for air-craft being moved to Japan. Depending onthe route Hargin would fly over Adak,Alaska; Hawaii; Wake Island; KwajaleinIsland; the Philippines; Guam; and Japan.

During that time, Hargin said there werea few harrowing flights that he wasinvolved in.

One of those incidents was while hiscrew was flying a low level mission overthe San Bernardino Mountains.

“Our right wing almost hit a tree. Then,we crested over the top of the mountainand hit a down draft that almost crashedour plane. I flew out of my seat and hit myhead on the top of the plane and the co-pilot vomited,” Hargin said.

On a flight off the coast of Acapulco,Mexico, Hargin said the engine of theplane went out and the crew was forced toturn around and make an emergency land-ing.

Hargin said he was also caught in a trop-ical storm during a flight to Hawaii.

Mitch Hargin Clarinda

Clarinda’s Hargin refueled Marines

see HANSEN, Page 34

see HARGIN, Page 331206

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9559

201 E Main Street712-542-6541

A Tribute to theMen and Women

in UniformPast and Present

GreenhouseS. 8th St. & Cross St.

712-542-4212

we shall not forget June 2012 11The Valley News/Herald-Journal

By TESS GRUBER NELSONStaff Writer

The time Craig Harris spent in the AirForce might not have helped him specifi-cally with his career in ag lending.

However, he emphatically said the mili-tary helped him with life in general.

“I would do it again,” said Harris of themilitary. “It was a heck of a way to see the

world.”A native of

Atlantic, Harrisgraduated fromAtlantic HighSchool in 1964.He then attendedIowa StateU n i v e r s i t y ,majoring in agri-culture business.

“This was theearly to mid-60swhen Vietnam

was just getting cranked up,” Harrisrecalled.

Wanting to have some sort of a plan ifthe Vietnam War should continue, Harrisjoined the Army ROTC at Iowa State forone year.

“I decided that’s what I didn’t want todo, but the Air Force has a two year ROTCprogram, so my junior and senior year Iwas in the Air Force ROTC program,” saidHarris. “I guess that was my plan for hav-ing some control over my life.”

The summer of 1968, Harris completedbasic training at Gunter Air Force Base inMontgomery, Ala.

In November 1968, when he graduatedfrom Iowa State, he was commissioned aSecond Lieutenant in the Air Force.

A month after graduation, Harris was inBig Spring, Texas for pilot training atWebb Air Force. Later that year, in August,Harris married his wife, Kathy.

The newlyweds remained in Texas forone year before they were reassigned toMcCord Air Force Base in Tacoma, Wash,where he was to fly the C-141.

“Before I got there though, I had to learnhow to fly the 141 so I spent six weeks inAlbis, Oklahoma doing that.”

After learning how to fly the 141, Harrisspent two or three weeks in survival school

at Fairchild Air Force Base, since he’d beflying around Southeast Asia.

“We were getting ready to go toSoutheast Asia, where it was hot andhumid, and it was January and we were upto our waists in snow.”

By April 1970, Harris was at McCord,flying cargo from here to there.

The 141 were a four-engine jet cargoplane, which was relatively new at thattime said Harris. It was also the largestplane the Air Force had in their inventoryuntil the C5 came along.

Harris said they routinely flew toVietnam, Thailand, Philippines, Korea,Hawaii, Guam, Wake Island, and Japan todrop off or pick up cargo. He additionallymade an Embassy run to Australia onceand flew a couple times to Europe.

When it came to the items they deliv-ered, Harris said they often wouldn’t knowuntil they showed up at the plane.

“We’d get on and there may be a big loadof boxes. Some of the more interestingthings were hauling broken helicopters outof Vietnam to get fixed, and more than Ilike to think, we were also designated amedi-vac flight so we were hauling wound-ed guys out of Vietnam,” said Harris. “Ispent one Christmas Eve flying ChristmasTrees around Thailand and Vietnam drop-ping them off.”

While in Washington State, Craig andKathy welcomed their first child, Shannon.

Until December 1973, Harris remainedon active duty in the Air Force, followed byone year of active Reserves. He wanted toobtain a job following the service as a pilot,but at the time, he said, there were aninflux of military pilots looking for flyingjobs.

Therefore, he took a job flying with theReserves and civilian instructing for oneyear before coming back to Ames.

“I went back to school and got myMasters in ag economics at Iowa State.”

Additionally, Harris served as a teacher’sassistant and was a faculty advisor to stu-dents at ISU. The couple also welcomedtheir second child, Chad.

In the spring of 1979, he and Kathymoved to Shenandoah, where they’ve beenthe past 33 years.

Harris began farming as part of Gibson

Craig Harris Shenandoah

Harris flew C-141s in ‘NamBy TESS GRUBER NELSON

Staff Writer

Stephen Harris of Shenandoah joined themilitary because he said it was the rightthing to do. Additionally, what he learnedin the Army as a heavy construction opera-tor helped him with a career once he wasdischarged.

However, the body can only take somuch wear andtear, and despitebeing under theage of 40, Harrishas major backand knee disabili-ties.

“I wanted toserve my countryso I joined theArmy before Ieven graduatedhigh school,”Harris said.

A 1990 Shenandoah High School gradu-ate, Harris had been out of school for a lit-tle less than a month when he went to FortLeonard Wood, Mo., for basic training.

Advanced Individual Training (AIT) as aheavy construction operator followed, alsoat Fort Leonard Wood.

“Construction was something I could doafter the service,” Harris said. “I liked it.”

In November 1990, Harris graduatedfrom AIT and was assigned to a humanitar-ian effort in Panama.

“We rebuilt roads,” Harris explained.“Most of the roads we widened to twolanes so they could travel more safely.”

The southernmost country in CentralAmerica, Harris described Panama as hot,humid, tropical and pretty.

“During the rainy season if it rained at 2p.m. Monday, it’d rain at 2 p.m. Tuesdayand so on,” he said. “There were also 30-foot boa constrictors and anacondas, whichweren’t so great.”

Harris was assigned to Fort Clayton inPanama, located in the former PanamaCanal Zone.

“It’s no longer an Army base.”After a year and a half in Panama, in

which he visited the country of Honduras,Harris returned to the United States andwas discharged. He returned toShenandoah and got a job at The EveningSentinel working at the press.

“I then went to heating and air condition-ing school and worked in heating and airconditioning until I hurt my back.”

Harris has two children, Ty, 15, andWalker, 11.

“The Army was a good experience. Ilearned a trade if nothing else and got tosee parts of the world I otherwise wouldn’thave,” Harris said.

Steve Harris Shenandoah

Harris proud to have served

see HARRIS, 1

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From the jungles of Vietnam to thedeserts of the Middle East, Orville Hayesplayed a key role in getting supplies andequipment to American soldiers.

A crew chief working on C-130 transportplanes, Hayes served with the UnitedStates Air Force during the Vietnam War

and later servedin Desert Stormas a member ofthe Air NationalGuard.

After movingto Clarinda in1964, Hayesenlisted in theUnited States AirForce in 1970 atthe age of 20.

“I had friendswho were coming

back from Vietnam and telling me about it.They told me I did not want to get draftedif I could do something different, so thatwas my deciding factor,” Hayes said.

Hayes completed basic training atLackland Air Force Base in Texas and thenattended tech school at Wichita Falls,Texas, where he was trained as an aircraftmechanic for C-130 transport planes.

“I wanted to find something I could pos-sibly use on the outside after I got out,”Hayes said.

Following tech school, Hayes was sta-

tioned at Forbes Air Force Base in Topeka,Kansas, in 1971 and served as a C-130crew chief.

However, in December of 1972, Hayeswas sent to Da Nang, Vietnam, to work onOV-10 reconnaissance aircraft.

“With Vietnam closing down, they trans-ferred me to Ubon, Thailand, because theyhad C-130 gunships. I spent the rest of mytour there as a crew chief,” Hayes said.

Hayes was still in Ubon, Thailand, inMarch of 1973 when the end of the conflictwas announced.

“That was great. I knew I was going tohave to finish my tour, but then I knew Iwould be going home. Everybody waspretty happy it was finally over,” Hayessaid.

Nine months later Hayes returned to theUnited States and was stationed at LittleRock Air Force Base in Arkansas.

In April of 1974, Hayes was able to takeadvantage of an opportunity for an earlydischarge that shaved five months off hisenlistment and returned to Clarinda.

A decade later, Hayes joined the IowaArmy National Guard unit in Clarinda.Although Hayes elected not to re-enlistafter his initial year of service, he was con-vinced by a friend to meet with an AirNational Guard recruiter from RosecransAir Base in St. Joseph, Mo.

“Another friend and I decided to join in1986. The retirement possibility was reallyattractive to me since I had already accruedso many points for my active duty,” Hayes

Orville Hayes Clarinda

Hayes was crew chief on C-130By TESS GRUBER NELSON

Staff Writer

Shenandoah resident Lee Hays is mostlyknown around here for his breathtakingphotography. However, before he learnedthe ins and outs of lenses, lighting, andlocation, Hays was a skilled helicopterpilot in the Navy.

“You learn a lot of self-confidence, howto deal with dif-ferent personali-ties, how to workunder pressureand stress, anddiscipline in theservice,” saidHays. “It was agood experience.”

Born and raisedin the Rivertonarea, Hays wasone of five gradu-ating seniors in

the Riverton Class of 1963. In fact, he wasa member of the last graduating classRiverton High School ever had, for the fol-lowing year they began consolidating withFarragut.

Following high school, Hays attendedIowa State University and took animal sci-ence courses for one year. However, hethen changed his major to landscape archi-tectural design.

“I graduated in 1968, and knew I’d begoing into the military one way or anoth-er,” Hays recalled. “I also knew that by thetime I graduated, I’d be number one on thedraft list, so I had started checking aroundabout different programs in the service andwanted to fly. I was accepted into the NavalFlight Program and was able to go to theAviation Officers Candidate School imme-diately after I graduated.”

The officer candidate schooling was inPensacola, Fla. for 11 weeks, followed byone year of flight training at various basesaround the Pensacola area.

“Flying was everything I thought itwould be, but they thought I was nutsbecause I wanted to fly helicopters – every-one else was wanting to fly jets,” Hayssaid.

Primary flight training was in a smallprop plane, then a big radial engine air-

craft, then transitioned into helicopters. “I got out of training and checked into a

squadron in Lakers, New Jersey, where theHindenburg had crashed. I was attached toa search and rescue group. We would beattached to aircraft carriers, and any timethey would be launching or recovering air-craft, they would have one of the helicop-ters airborne just in case someone went inthe water. We’d transfer people, mail, orwhatever to other ships – do evacs fromother ships or submarines,” Hays said. “Wewould be detached to an air craft carrierand then go overseas. I was very fortunatethat the two cruises I made were to theMediterranean. I had a cakewalk comparedto the guys that went to Vietnam.”

One cruise was six months and the otherwas 10 months. Hays said they workedhard on the ships, but they also wereallowed to have some fun while in port.Places the ships docked in includedPortugal, France, Spain, Italy, Greece, andCrete.

“I had one occasion where I was attachedto a cruiser, and there were reports of aconvoy of submarines from the SovietUnion coming out of the North Atlanticinto the Mediterranean - so we went andhung out where they were - flying out andaround them taking pictures, that was fun.”

On the second cruise, Hays said therewas seven individuals that needed rescued,with him completing six of them.

“There were three rescues and a total ofsix people that I pulled out.”

Hays was honorably discharged from theNavy after his second cruise in 1973. Heworked for Mobile Oil for one year as amarketing representative, and then was ahelicopter pilot for a business developer inChicago for two years.

“From there I went into packaging, sell-ing packaging machinery and packagingsupplies out of the Chicagoland area. I didthat for about 10 years - then into packag-ing systems, material-handling systems. Ialso helped design some different packag-ing components for individuals.”

Hays then moved to Seattle and got a jobas an industrial engineering consultantdesigning distribution warehouses andmanufacturing facilities, as well as layingout manufacturing plants.

Lee Hays Shenandoah

Shen’s Hays flew helicopters

see HAYES, Page 34

see HAYS, Page 34

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During his 23-year career with the IowaArmy National Guard, Craig Heuer wastwice called to active duty. He served inboth Desert Storm and Operation IraqiFreedom.

Originally from the Blanchard area,Heuer graduated from Ontario High

School inOntario, Ore., in1978. Shortlyafter graduationhe moved back toSouthwest Iowaand enlisted in theIowa ArmyNational Guardon Aug. 15, 1982.

“My unclespent close to 30years with the168th in

Shenandoah and with the options theyoffered it seemed like a good choice tomake into a career,” Heuer said.

Heuer was assigned to the NationalGuard Armory in Red Oak and served withthe 2nd Platoon, 1st Squad as a wheel vehi-cle operator. He said the unit at Red Oakwas a very close knit group with strongleadership.

The unit was called to active duty onDec. 6, 1990, to prepare for overseas dutyas part of Desert Storm. “We had alwaysknown there was a chance to be activated.The platoon and squad were very close andwe relied a lot on each other to get the jobdone. We took care of each other andwatched each other’s back,” he said.

One he was activated, Heuer was sent toFort Leonard Wood. While at the deploy-ment station, Heuer was issued his gearand trained on the use of the newly issued923 drop-side military vehicles that wouldbe used in Desert Storm.

Then, on Jan. 16, 1991, Heuer and hisunit departed for Saudi Arabia. He admit-ted the soldiers were apprehensive aboutwhat awaited them, but they were just asconcerned about what they were leavingbehind.

“We were going someplace we had neverbeen before, but we knew what our job

was. For most of us, we were worried moreabout our families back home. I had left mywife and she was taking care of our twoboys. Three other soldiers in our platoonhad just recently gotten married,” Heuersaid. “For myself, I was worried moreabout how my wife was going to get alongthan what was coming up for me.”

However, within hours of landing atKing Fahd International Airport in SaudiArabia, Heuer and his fellow soldierslearned just what they would be facing dur-ing their deployment.

“That night was a big eye opener for allof us. There was a Scud launch that nightand we watched the Patriots take out theScuds before they landed. That openedeverybody’s eyes and we realized we werenot in a safe zone anymore. This was forreal,” Heuer said. “It was pretty awesome,but if the Patriot missiles did not take themout we worried where they were going toland. The soldiers that manned the Patriotbatteries were good. They deserve a lot ofrespect for the job they did and they had tobe on their toes all the time.”

After arriving in Saudi Arabia, Heuerwas promoted to leader of 2nd Squad andoversaw a group of 10 soldiers. The squadspent approximately two and one-halfweeks at Khobar Towers, an apartmentcomplex that was used as a staging station,until its vehicles and equipment arrived.

Once the equipment and vehicles arrivedand were prepared for service, Heuer andhis squad was assigned to transport a vari-ety of supplies including food, water, uni-forms, tank parts, and used oil that wasused by tanks to create smoke screens. Thesquad also assisted with transporting the4th Infantry Division from Kuwait City toDhahran.

However, the primary duty of the squadwas to transport prisoners of war who werecaptured during the war. On one occasion,Heuer said his squad was part of a convoyof 20 trucks that transported between 1,200and 1,300 prisoners. By the end of hisdeployment, Heuer said his entire companyhad transported more than 10,000 prison-ers.

“I had a lot of confidence in my squadand our company. The 1168thTransportation Company, in my opinion,

Craig Heuer Clarinda

Heuer served 23 years with INGBy TESS GRUBER NELSON

Staff Writer

With a bright, warm smile, Carol Hingerof rural Blanchard believes in hard work,loyalty, and her country.

In fact it is those three things, plus sever-al other attributes, that led her to have along and successful career in the Navy.

“I walked the Great Wall, shopped till Idropped in Korea,and snorkeled theGreat BarrierReef,” saidHinger. “I thor-oughly enjoyedmy time in theNavy.”

It was in highschool whenHinger firstthought aboutjoining the mili-tary. She recalled

feeling the urge when her male friendswere being drafted because of the VietnamWar.

“I wanted to do my duty and serve,” sherecalled. “I was no different than my class-mates that were getting drafted into theservice.”

Additionally, Hinger said joining themilitary would give her the opportunity totravel and see the world.

“I knew there was more out there and Iwanted to see it.”

Hinger attended nursing school in

Knoxville, Tenn., and then obtained a posi-tion in a coronary care unit in NewOrleans.

“It was there a girlfriend and I went tothe Air Force recruiter and Navy recruiterand said we’d go into the branch that couldget us out of New Orleans the quickest,”Hinger said. “The Navy Chief filed thepapers and we signed with the Navy.”

Officer Indoctrination School was heldin Newport, Rhode Island, in February1973.

Her first assignment was at San Diego’sNaval Regional Medical Center, where sheworked in the critical care areas, such assurgical ICU and medical ICU.

“I was there for three years and then Iwas stationed at Naval Hospital, Guam,where I again worked in the ICU,” Hingersaid. “It was there I made my first tripaccompanying an enlisted person back toVirginia to his family after he sustained asevere head injury. It was one of the great-est things I was able to do – return some-one to their family.”

Hinger also recalled the cultural differ-ences in Guam she encountered such aswhen a person is dying they are surround-ed by friends and family.

“We had to honor their cultural differ-ences and it was at times a challenge.”

From Guam, Hinger was sent to NavalHospital, Memphis, where she was theevening charge nurse of the emergencyroom.

“That enabled me to go back to school

Carol Hinger Shenandoah

Hinger served as nurse in Navy

see HEUER, Page 35123 E. Main • Clarinda

712-542-2103 • Telebank 1-866-654-6289 • www.pcfsa.com

Honoring Our Veteransand those who continueto defend our freedom

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see HINGER, Page 35



From a young age, Mel Hurst has had theurge to help others.

Whether it were by obtaining a bachelorand Masters degree in social work, current-ly serving as a pastor at the ShenandoahCongregational Church, or being in equip-ment maintenance in the Air Force for

more than 12years, Hurst willfind a way tohelp.

Born and raisedin the northwest,Hurst movedaround a lot of akid because hisfather, Melvin,was also in theAir Force.

“Several yearsago, I was in a

management team exercise and I stoppedwriting down places that I have lived at35,” chuckled Hurst. “I had one year in ele-mentary school where I went to three dif-ferent schools in three different places.”

Hurst graduated from Sacramento,Calif., and after his first year in college, hewas informed his parents couldn’t affordanother year of college because his motherwas pregnant with his younger brother.

“Instead I went to work for a couple ofyears, we’re talking about ’61, ’62 and wehad the lottery for the draft and I got a low

number,” recalled Hurst. “Rather than go inthe Army or Marines in April 1963, Ienlisted in the Air Force.”

Basic training took place at Lackland AirForce Base in San Antonio, Texas in April1963.

“I wanted to be a chaplain’s assistant, butmy dad told me if I had the opportunity togo into electronics.”

Because Hurst has done extremely wellon his Armed Forces qualifying exam, dur-ing basic he was asked to meet with aboard.

“It was a psychological board becausethey wanted to put me in intercontinentalballistic missiles nuclear warfare,” Hurstsaid. “The basic question was, do you mindblowing up the world? And I said, ‘Yeah, Itake exception to that’ so I went into thenext most difficult and that was weatherequipment and I had a 32-week trainingafter basic at Chanute AFB in Illinois.”

Classes at Chanute were held six hoursper day, five days per week for 32 weekssaid Hurst.

“It was quite a bit of training.”Following training, Hurst was assigned

to Bergstrom Air Force Base in Austin,Texas in January 1964. With that assign-ment, he also had responsibilities atPresident Lyndon B. Johnson’s Ranch.

“He had a runway up there so he hadweather equipment that needed main-tained.”

Hurst was in Austin until August 1966,when he was sent to Andersen Air Force

Mel Hurst Shenandoah

Hurst has always helped othersBy KENT DINNEBIER

Staff Writer

Don Huttig of Clarinda knows Christmasmiracles do happen.

Huttig served five years in the UnitedStates Army as a cook and on May 8, 1965,was shipped to Vietnam for one year.

Meanwhile, his wife, Darlene, and theirnewborn daughter, Denise, were living

with family inDenver, Colo.

Prior toChristmas of1965, radio sta-tion KYGO inDenver ran a con-test where peoplesubmitted post-cards explainingwhy they shouldbe selected toreceive a freetelephone call to

Vietnam.Darlene Huttig won the promotion for a

postcard she entered on behalf of heryoung daughter.

“Darlene wrote on the postcard, ‘I wasonly 2-months-old when my daddy went toVietnam. I’m 9-months-old now and I cansay hi daddy.’ So that’s the one they select-ed,” Huttig said.

The telephone call was to be made Dec.20 from the radio station to the UnitedStates Embassy in Saigon at a designatedtime and Huttig was to fly to Saigon toreceive the special telephone call.

“I got up that morning all excited andready to go,” Huttig said.

However, when he arrived at the airplanehe was to take to Saigon, the pilot told himthere was something wrong with the planeand they did not have the part needed tomake the necessary repairs.

“I was crushed,” Huttig said. “But itturned out, if I would have gone to Saigonand been in the embassy at that time, that’swhen the Vietcong destroyed our embassy.I would have been dead.”

Meanwhile, at the time the telephone callwas to take place, Darlene Huttig was atthe radio station, but the station could notput the call through.

Eventually, since the time for the call

had passed, Darlene Huttig returned homeand several hours later she learned fromnews reports of the attack on the embassy.

“I didn’t know if he was there or wherehe was. So it wasn’t until I received hisnext letter … I had no idea whether he wasalive or whether he wasn’t,” Darlene Huttigsaid.

Huttig learned of the attack on theembassy soon after it occurred and said thereality of his brush with death didn’t reallysink in for many years. Instead, he said hismain concern was that his wife did notknow he was safe.

“As a young 20-year-old, I thought it wasjust luck. The right place at the right time.Now, as an older person, reflecting on Godmoving me through life was pretty amaz-ing,” Huttig said.

After completing high school, Huttigenlisted in the United States Army Nov. 14,1961, at the age of 17.

“I wasn’t sure what I was going to dowith the rest of my life, to be honest withyou. So it seemed like three years to figurethat out,” Huttig said.

Huttig completed his basic training andAdvanced Individual Training at FortKnox, Ky., Originally, Huttig wanted toserve as a construction engineer, butinstead was trained as a cook and stationedat Fort Riley, Kansas, as a member of the1st Infantry popularly known as the “BigRed One.”

“Being assigned to the 1st Infantry as acook was a pretty good deal. The armytravels on its stomach, so I fit right in,”Huttig said.

During his time at Fort Riley, Huttigreceived a two-month temporary dutyassignment to serve as a cook for theReserve Officer Training Corp SummerProgram at Camp Funston.

It was during that time that he metDarlene and the couple was married June6, 1964, after Huttig returned from a six-month military show of strength inGermany.

Their daughter, Denise, was born inMarch of 1965 while Huttig was stationedat Fort Riley.

Then, one month later, Huttig wasinformed that he was being shipped toVietnam.

Don Huttig Clarinda

Huttig received holiday miracle

see HURST, Page 36

see HUTTIG, Page 37

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Working as a supply clerk at the 150thArmy Hospital in London during WorldWar II wasn’t easy, but that’s exactly whatCharles Ingrim of Shenandoah did for ninemonths.

Despite being chaotic, Ingrim said heloved the job, and added the Army was a

good experience.“I wouldn’t do

it again,” chuck-led Ingrim. “Butit was good forme to be in theArmy.”

A 1941 gradu-ate ofShenandoah HighSchool, Ingrimgot married, andthen went to workfor Boeing in

Seattle, Wash. He worked for Boeing untilhe received his draft papers.

“They said I was to report to Fort Crook,where they signed me in. They then sentme to Fort Dodge, where they gave mesome clothes and then Camp Wheeler,Georgia, which is outside Macon,” Ingrimsaid.

Despite having a bad eye, Ingrim wasaccepted into the Army in 1943 and wasasked if he wanted to be a military police-man or work in a hospital.

“I first took the MPs, but then changedmy mind,” Ingrim said. “First they tried tomake a ward boy out of me, but that didn’t’work so they put me in supply and I lovedthat.”

From there, Ingrim said he was sent tothe Arizona desert, where he was a part ofthe 9th Armored Division, still workingwith the hospital unit.

“I was there for quite a little while andthen they decided to send me to Louisville,Kentucky and from there I went to Camp

Kilmer, New Jersey, over to England.”Once in England, Ingrim was assigned to

the150th Army Hospital in London work-ing in supplies. He said the first letter fromhome he got in England was a ‘Dear John’letter.

“It worked out for the best,” he said. Because he was in supplies, Ingrim was

given access to a company Jeep so he wasable to go all over London picking up unitsupplies, medical supplies and even cloth-ing.

“I liked London,” he said. He was then sent to South Hampton and

then to France. By this time, he said thewar was over.

“Germany had surrendered by that timeand I was in Mourmelon, France. I had acommand car there too and they wantedsomeone to drive the colonel around. Noone else would do it so I did, and he wasthe nicest person.”

Ingrim spent two years in England andwas then sent back to the United States.

“I was glad to see New York City.”Discharged at Fort Lewis, Wash., one of

the first things Ingrim did was getdivorced. He then returned to Shenandoahand in 1948, married the love of his life,Carol Ione. The couple was married for 63years, before Carol’s death in December2011.

Ingrim worked at Mt. Arbor, and then inthe parts department for Siddles, JoyceBrothers, and finally, Beechers before retir-ing.

Charles and Carol have three children,Betty Ann Kamman, Marilyn Willeman,and Ronny Ingrim; as well as grandchil-dren, great-grandchildren and even onegreat-great grandchild.

“I learned how to wish I were home,”laughed Ingrim about his time in the serv-ice. “Actually, I got to see a little bit of theworld and meet a lot of good people. Iwould have never had that chance other-wise.”

Charles Ingrim Shenandoah

Ingrim worked in suppliesBy TESS GRUBER NELSON

Staff Writer

For Hubert “Mooch” Jones, the year hespent in Vietnam aged him beyond hisyears. In fact, he said the goal while he wasin country was to stay alive so he couldeventually go home. However, the formerprison guard not only stayed alive, butended up receiving several medals of honor

for heroism,including aPurple Heart.

“I wouldn’t doit again unlessthere was a goodreason,” saidJones. “InVietnam you did-n’t know whatyou were fightingfor. What I endedup doing wasfighting to stay

alive so I could go home.”Born and raised in Shenandoah, Jones

graduated from Shenandoah High Schoolin 1966. A few months later, in August, heenlisted in the Army.

“There was nothing in Shenandoah butnursery work and I didn’t want to work ina nursery for the rest of my life,” Jonessaid.

When it came time for basic training,Jones took a train from Omaha toLeesville, La., winding up at Fort Polk, La.Advanced Individual Training (AIT) for

being a company clerk was also completedat Fort Polk.

“I was at Fort Polk from August untilDecember,” Jones said.

Assigned to Ansbach, Germany, Joneswas given 30 days furlough and then flewover to Germany, where he was a memberof D Troop, 2nd and 4th Calvary Unit, anaviation Huey helicopter company.

Once in Germany, Jones had studied tobe a company clerk, however, the basealready had one.

“They didn’t know what to do with mebecause I wasn’t trained in aviation, sothey put me in the motor pool.”

After about a month in the motor pool,Jones was sent to mechanics school inGermany. After about a year in Germany,Jones was deployed to Vietnam.

“I arrived on January 31, 1968 during theTet Offensive. I landed in Cam Ranh Bayand from there I was sent to Bearcat andthen to Dong Tam, where I was assigned tothe 9th Infantry Division – Mobile RiverineForce.

The 9th Infantry, Jones said, is referredto as Old Reliable. He was kept in theinfantry as a grunt and found himself in thejungles of Vietnam at the age of 18 as amember of B Company, 3rd Battalion, 60thInfantry.

“That company during Tet had landed ina hot LZ (landing zone). They broughtthem in (helicopters) and they wereambushed – lost 90 percent of the compa-ny, so most of us guys were assigned to this

Mooch Jones Shenandoah

Jones served on front lines

1526 E Washington St � Clarinda � 542-5316

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see JONES, Page 38



Although Phil Jorgensen of Clarindaonly spent a short time in the military, thatservice has had a significant impact on therest of his life.

Besides serving with the United StatesArmy for two years, Jorgensen was a mem-ber of the Iowa Army National Guard for

two years and hasbeen a longtimemember ofAmerican LegionSergy Post 98 inClarinda.

“I came from amilitary back-ground. Myfather was award-ed the PurpleHeart for hisinvolvement withthe Battle of the

Bulge during World War II and my brother-in-law died in service with the Air Force.So my duty to my country has always beenat the forefront,” Jorgensen said.

In addition, Jorgensen said several of hisnieces and nephews have served in the mil-itary including some who recently returnedfrom Afghanistan.

“I am very proud to be part of a familywho views God and country as important,and is so dedicated to the United States ofAmerica,” Jorgensen said.

Originally from Exira, Jorgensen moved

to Clarinda after graduating from highschool and went to work at the ClarindaMental Health Institute in the activity ther-apy department.

However, in June of 1970, he was draft-ed into the United States Army out ofAudubon County at the age of 22.

“I had no second thoughts that I wasgoing. They called me and it was my dutyto go,” Jorgensen said.

Jorgensen completed his Basic Trainingat Fort Lewis Washington and then went toFort Sam Houston Texas for his AdvancedIndividual Training as a medical corpsman.

After completing his AIT, Jorgensen wasstationed at Fort Leonard Wood Missourias a medical corpsman.

“We had over 600 medical corpsmen intraining and nearly all of us were stationedstateside, other than a few that went toGermany. That was kind of a surprisebecause we thought we would be going toVietnam,” Jorgensen said.

Initially, Jorgensen worked in a BasicTraining medical clinic where he helpedcare for soldiers being trained at the baseand administered shots to new arrivals andsoldiers being deployed overseas.

Through the inoculation processJorgensen came in contract with a signifi-cant number of troops that were on theirway to Vietnam.

“Looking back, I sometimes wonderhow many of those troops came back andwhere they are today,” Jorgensen said.

However, after approximately four

Phil Jorgenson Clarinda

Army and ING left lasting impactBy TESS GRUBER NELSON

Staff Writer

Todd Kellison of Shenandoah knows hisway easily around the mainframe of a com-puter as Lloyd Inc.’s security informationmanager.

However, for four years in the Navy,Kellison was more familiar with clippers,detergent and cola, as a ship’s serviceman

aboard U.S.S.Belleau Wood.

“Looking back,I possibly wouldhave made theNavy a career, butit’s not a place toraise a family,”said Kellison.“Regardless, itwas a real goodexperience.”

Not wanting tocontinue his edu-

cation at college, Kellison enlisted in theNavy.

“I signed up for the Navy in January1986 at the Navy Recruiter’s Office inBellevue,” recalled Kellison, a Malvernnative. “I enlisted because I didn’t have anyplans, I just knew I didn’t want to go to col-lege. On top of that, I had a friend thathelped talk me into it – we joined at thesame time.”

Boot camp was completed in San Diego,which Kellison described as a great place.

He was then sent to electronics school atGreat Lakes Naval Training Center outsideChicago, where he learned basic electron-ics. After that, he was sent to radar school,but after four months, didn’t like it and wasgiven the option to try something else.

To help Kellison in his choice, he washanded a book with every possible Navycareer. After narrowing the options down tothree, the Navy made the final decision –ship serviceman.

“Ship serviceman school basically pre-pares you to go out on fleet,” Kellisonrecalled.

School was held in Meridian, Miss.,where Kellison described it as easy, and theweather, hot and muggy.

“It was at three-month school,” he said.“The friend I joined the Navy with, was

stationed in Gulfport, so on weekends we’dhang out together.”

Kellison graduated fourth out of 30 fromserviceman school. Because he had doneso well, he was able to choose the ship hewanted to be assigned to – U.S.S. BelleauWood.

Belleau Wood, Kellison said, is a gener-al-purpose amphibious assault ship. It was820 feet long, 141 feet wide and held 1,000sailors and 2,000 Marines.

“It was like a small city; it was great.”As a ship’s serviceman of Belleau Wood,

Kellison was required to take one month ofbarber school and one month oflaundry/dry cleaning school in San Diego.Once on the ship, Kellison said his first jobwas running the candy store and helpingrefill soda machines.

“It wasn’t too bad.”Aboard Belleau Wood, Kellison recalled

his first stop was Vancouver, B.C. As timewore on, Kellison was additionally servedas security on the ship.

“You secured the deck and hangar bay. Itwas something you had to take very seri-ously.”

In December 1988, Todd married hiswife of 25 years, Kim. A week after thewedding, he left on a six-month overseascruise.

“That probably isn’t the best way to starta marriage,” Kellison chuckled.

Ports-of-call for the six-month cruiseincluded Okinawa, Japan; Pusan, SouthKorea; Hong Kong, China; Sydney,Australia, and Hawaii.

“Australia was my favorite. The peoplethere were very friendly and the meat-pieswere good.”

Kellison also recalled the stop in HongKong, where he took an underground sub-way from Hong Kong to mainland China.On top of that, he said that while they werein Hawaii, they were called out to go helpwith the 1989 Invasion of Panama toremove Manuel Noriega from power.

“Before we got there he was captured, soinstead we headed home.”

Toward the end of 1989, Kellison said hereturned home to Malvern for three to fourmonths before shipping out again.

“Acapulco, Mexico, was another favoriteplace – I got to watch cliff divers,” Kellison

Todd Kellison Shenandoah

Kellison was serviceman in Navy

see KELLISON, Page 35

see JORGENSON, Page 35

1106 S. 16th, Clarinda, 712-542-5068

Nurses On Call, Inc.Your sacrifice is not forgotten.

Serving Southwest Iowafor over 20 years!

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Although Orville Kent of Clarinda spent23 years in the United States Air Force, asingle 90 minute flight was the distinguish-ing moment of his career.

Serving with the law enforcementbranch of the Air Force, Kent was stationedat Homestead, Fla., from 1966 until 1972.

During thattime Kent servedas a perimeterguard for AirForce One whenPresident RichardNixon would visitKey Biscayne,Fla.

Kent said hesaw PresidentNixon boardingand exiting AirForce One on dif-

ferent occasions, but one day his duties puthim in a position to go along on a test flightfor Air Force One.

“The airplane can only sit so long beforethey have to take it up and run tests on theplane. I had to go with them for one ofthose tests and that was alright with me,”Kent said. “It was very impressive. Thatwas certainly the highlight of my Air Forcecareer.”

After graduating from Clarinda HighSchool in 1953, Kent served in the IowaNational Guard for 14 months beforeenlisting in the United States Air ForceSept. 8, 1955.

Kent reported to Parks Air Force Base inCalifornia for three months of basic train-ing. After completing his basic training,Kent was faced with the decision ofwhether to become a cook or a cop. Thatdecision would shape the rest of his life.

“I told them I wanted Air Police. It beatbeing a cook,” Kent said.

Kent spent the rest of his Air Forcecareer as a member of the Air Police and inlaw enforcement. Then, after his retirementfrom the Air Force, Kent served in civilianlaw enforcement for 22 years including 21years with the Clarinda Police Department.

“My career with the Air Force reallyshaped me. I learned quite a bit about mil-

itary law, which helped me when I got outand was on the police department,” Kentsaid. “But serving in the civilian jurisdic-tion was a lot different than the military.”

Kent began his career with the Air Policein January of 1956 at Smokey Hill AirForce Base in Salina, Kansas. He wasresponsible for guarding B47 bombers andKC97 refueling planes housed at the base.

“It was impressive to see those planes upclose,” Kent said.

After getting married in August of 1956,Kent was sent to Upper Heyford Air ForceBase in England in October.

During the 100 days Kent spent inEngland, he had an opportunity to spendtwo days in London. During the visit hehad the opportunity to see BuckinghamPalace, St. James Palace, the LondonBridge, and take a boat ride on the ThamesRiver.

Kent returned to Smokey Hill Air Forcebase in January of 1957 and remained atthe base until June of 1960 when he wasshipped to a small island located on the38th Parallel a mere 7,000 yards fromNorth Korea.

Kent said the only way to reach theisland, which was only seven miles longand four miles wide, was by C47 transportaircraft.

During his 13 months on the island Kentwas charged with guarding a radar sitelocated on a hill overlooking North Korea.

“The island held strategic importancedue to its proximity to North Korea. TheNorth Koreans use to light up the island atnight with their search lights. It was anightly affair and if the South Koreans gotto close they would signal them,” Kentsaid.

Later, in 1968, Kent returned to Koreafor six months after the USS Pueblo wasboarded and captured by North Koreanforces.

After his stay on the island near NorthKorea, Kent returned to the United Statesin June of 1961 and was assigned to LowryAir Force Base in Denver, Colo.

In May of 1963 Kent was transferred toGermany for four months. He returned toLowry Air Force Base in September of1963 and was still stationed at the baseNov. 22, 1963, when President John F.

Orville Kent Clarinda

Kent spent 23 years in Air ForceBy TESS GRUBER NELSON

Staff Writer

When it came to building roads andbridges during the Vietnam War, it as a nec-essary, and often dangerous job, but for JonLehner of Shenandoah, it was a way of lifefor a year.

“I never regret it for a day; whether beingin Vietnam or in the Army,” said Lehner.

A NorthDakota native,Lehner movedaround a lot as akid. His father, aMarine duringWorld War II, wasalso a Methodistminister, whichkept the familygoing from townto town.

In 1960,Lehner graduated

from Watertown, N.D. and then continuedhis education at South Dakota Tech inRapid City, where he received a degree inmathematics.

It was while he was at S.D. Tech –School of the Mines; he joined the ROTC,where he was commissioned a second lieu-tenant when he graduated in 1964.

“It was the start of the Vietnam War backthen, so after graduation I went directlyinto the Army,” Lehner recalled.

Fort Belvoir, Vir., is where Lehnerattended Army Officers School for three

months, followed by Airborne School forthree weeks at Fort Benning, Ga.

“Five jumps and that was it – I neverjumped again,” Lehner chuckled.

Lehner was then assigned to a combatengineer battalion in Germany, near theEast Germany, Czechoslovakia border –both Communist countries at the time.

“Our job was basically to blow upbridges and roads to keep the Russiansfrom coming into Europe if they decided toinvade.”

However, after a year and a half, with theVietnam War escalating, Lehner was sentto Vietnam.

“I knew I was going. Everybody wasgoing,” he said. “It was just a matter ofwhen.”

In May 1966, Lehner landed in Saigonand was flown to the Central HighlandsRegion, Pleiku, where he was a companycommander in a combat engineer battalion.

“We didn’t spend much time in Pleiku,we were mostly out in the jungle doingwhat we were supposed to do, which wasto build roads and airfields, and bridges.”

As company commander of 120 to 150men, Lehner said despite the war, Vietnamis a beautiful country.

“I was grateful that we were deployedout in the jungle as opposed to being in thebase camp because it made the time go bya lot faster,” Lehner said.

In addition to building roads, bridges,and airfields, he said they once spent sixweeks reinforcing a Special Forces camp

Jon Lehner Shenandoah

Lehner helped build roads and bridges

see LEHNER, Page 37

see KENT, Page 34

Shenandoah American Legion Country Club1800 S. Elm Street • Shenandoah, Iowa • 712-246-3308

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For more than 35 years, formerShenandoah resident John Mall worked forthe Department of Agriculture’s SoilConservation Service. However, yearsbefore looking at trenches, he spent time inthe trenches on the front lines of theKorean Conflict.

“Don’t volun-teer for anything;do what you’retold, and you’llget along justfine,” chuckledMall.

A 1949 gradu-ate of North Highin Wichita, Kan.,Mall attendedF r i e n d sUniversity fortwo years and

then transferred to Fort Hays State College,where he majored in agriculture.

In 1952, a few years shy of his degree,Mall received his draft notice to report tothe U.S. Army. He was inducted in KansasCity, and conducted his basic training atFort Sill, Okla. in October.

“It (basic training) can be bad if youwant it to be bad,” Mall said.

Christmas was spent at Fort Sill, and inJanuary, Mall boarded a troop ship in FortLewis, Wash., headed for Korea.

It took about two weeks to cross the

ocean. Fortunately, Mall did not get sea-sick.

“Breakfast was between 6 and 8 and ifyou missed breakfast, you had to wait untillunch,” Mall recalled. “We just kind of sataround, read, walked the deck or playedpoker.”

The ship docked in Inchon, Korea, wherethey disembarked in January 1953.

“I took a train to nowhere – I had no ideawhere we were going or what we weregoing to do. I remember we got on the trainat Inchon and ended up north of Seoul andnorth of the 38th parallel.”

For the first couple months, Mall saidthey built up the regiment they had beenassigned to.

“It was like a basic training type ofthing.”

Around the first of April, 1953 as amember of the 65th Infantry Regiment, 3rdInfantry Division, Mall went on the frontlines until July, when the ceasefire tookplace.

“One day we were told the North and theSouth had come to an agreement of a ceasefire. The ceasefire was to start at 11 o’clockand at 10 o’clock everybody started firingeverything they had and at 11 o’clock theyhad stopped and you could hear breathingacross the line.”

On the front lines, Mall said they justwaited, and hoped it would remain quiet.

“Each side had to pull back one milefrom where we were and that establishedwhat they call the DMZ, which I think is

Jon Mall Shenandoah

Mall was on front lines in KoreaBy KENT DINNEBIER

Staff Writer

Soon after being the first Iowan to crossthe Rhine River at Oppenheim, Germany,longtime Clarinda resident Don Maxwellwitnessed one of the most famous speech-es of World War II delivered by GeneralGeorge S. Patton.

Maxwell served with the 3rd Army 2ndInfantry 5thDivision duringWorld War II. Hisdivision wasscheduled tocross the RhineRiver on March23, 1945, butPatton sent thedivision a dayearly in order togain a key tacticaladvantage.

While helpingestablish a bridgehead on the opposite sideof the Rhine River, Maxwell said an attackby three German airplanes showed theoverwhelming amount of military mightthe Allied forces had gathered at the river.

“Three planes came down that rivershooting, but we never got hit,” Maxwellsaid. “Thank God we shot them downbefore they got away. I couldn’t believe wehad that much artillery up there.”

As the crossing of the Rhine River wascompleted, Maxwell saw Patton in personfor the first time as he addressed the troops.Maxwell estimated he was only 60-feetfrom the famous general.

“He was all decked out with his pearlhandled pistols. I really wanted to see himbecause I had heard so much about him,”Maxwell said. “He gave his big speech andwhen he was done he peed in the river.”

Maxwell, 86, is a 1944 graduate ofBedford High School. He was drafted bythe United States Army in December of1943 when he turned 18, but was allowedto complete his senior year of high schoolbefore reporting to Alabama for basic train-ing.

Immediately after finish basic training,Maxwell boarded the Queen Mary for aneight day trip across the Atlantic Ocean inorder to join the fighting in Europe.

“It was quite an experience. We were outthere all on our own and would changecourse every eight minutes because theysaid the German submarines could not lockonto a target that quickly,” Maxwell said.

After safely arriving at Liverpool,England, Maxwell was sent to Tidworth,England, where he was issued his rifle.From there, Maxwell made his way acrossthe English Channel to France.

“We crossed the English Channel byboat. They dumped us off in the water andwe had to walk in to the shore at La Havre,France,” Maxwell said.

Once ashore, Maxwell and his fellowsoldiers were transported by boxcar toMetz, France, to join Patton and his troopsin late November of 1944. Maxwell wasassigned to a truck that carried a 57 mil-limeter cannon that was used to take outsniper positions such as church steepleswhen the army would enter a city.

“We were in so many towns it’s hard toremember them all, but we tore them topieces,” Maxwell said. “You could hardlydrive through the streets because weshelled ‘em so bad.”

Although he doesn’t recall the name ofthe town, Maxwell said he vividly remem-bers the day he came under direct fire whenhis division line encountered three Germantanks.

“The road we were on came down andmade a curve to go into the town. When wemade the curve our truck stalled and theystarted laying in shells on either side of usabout every three minutes. I tried to get outof the truck and the concussion of one ofthe shells knocked me into the ditch. Ithought for sure I had been hit, but I didn’thave a scratch on me,” Maxwell said.“There were six of us on the truck and welaid in that ditch for half a day or betterwaiting for the air support to arrive to takeout the tanks.”

Soon after joining Patton’s troops,Maxwell found himself in Bastogne,Belgium, providing relief to the 101stAirborne during the Siege of Bastogne,which was a part of the Battle of the Bulge.Maxwell spent Christmas Day at Bastogneand three days later celebrated his 19thbirthday.

Following the Siege of Bastogne,

Don Maxwell Clarinda

Maxwell heard Patton speak

see MALL, Page 36

see MAXWELL, Page 36

OUR THOUGHTS ARE WITH THE BRAVEMEN AND WOMEN SERVING OUR COUNTRY.

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www.edwardjones.com Member CIPFMember SIPC

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Although Clarinda native Dale Millerjoined the United States Army in the finaldays of World War II, his military experi-ence put a stamp on the rest of his life.

Miller, 86, graduated from ClarindaHigh School in 1942 and was drafted intothe Army in April of 1945.

Departing fromS h e n a n d o a h ,Miller traveled bytrain to FortL e a v e n w o r t h ,Kan., for his mili-tary induction.While on the trainto Kansas Millersaid he learned ofthe death ofP r e s i d e n tFranklin D.Roosevelt.

Following his induction, the 20-year-oldMiller was shipped to Texas for 17 weeksof basic training.

Due to the extreme heat in Texas, Millersaid the soldiers often conducted nighthikes carrying rifles that had previouslybeen used in combat.

“It wasn’t too bad, but the worst part waskeeping the bore of your rifle cleanbecause they were pitted so badly in thebarrel. And if you dropped your rifle youhad to walk around the quadrangle and kissyour rifle on every corner,” Miller said.

Miller said he was on night maneuversduring the final two weeks of his trainingwhen he learned of the end of World WarII.

“We were on bivouac when they droppedthe bombs on Japan. You couldn’t get hard-ly any news out there, but somebody hadheard it and when they brought us ourmeals they told us Japan had given up,”Miller said. “We were glad it was over, butwe still had to finish our training,”

Following basic training Miller wasgiven a 10-day leave to return to Clarindabefore undergoing two weeks of advancedtraining in Paris, Texas.

After the advanced training, Miller andhis fellow soldiers traveled by train to FortOrd, Calif.

“They loaded us on boxcars for the fourday trip. There were double bunk bedsinside the boxcars and we had to go toanother car to eat meals,” Miller said.

Miller spent two weeks at Fort Ord andthen another two weeks at Pittsburgh,Calif., before embarking for Japan by ship.

Sailing across the Pacific Ocean, Millersaid the ship encountered a severe stormnear the Aleutian Islands.

“The ship was going up, down and side-ways. We hit such big waves that the shiplurched up in the front end and sometimesthe propeller at the back would come com-pletely out of the water,” Miller said.

Finally, after crossing the InternationalDate Line and spending 14 days at sea,Miller arrived at Yokohama, Japan, on Nov.1, 1945.

After spending four bitterly cold days atCamp Zama, Miller was assigned to the329th Battalion Headquarters located fivemiles from Tokyo Central Station.

Miller was assigned to serve as the mailclerk. He was responsible for sorting themail that was coming and going from thebattalion and delivering mail to the respec-tive companies.

The experience Miller gained as a mailclerk in the Army paid dividends for himwhen he was discharged from the military.

After initially working on the familyfarm when he returned to Clarinda, Millerpassed his postal exam and began servingas a substitute mail carrier in December of1947 for the Clarinda Post Office.

Then, in 1957, Miller was hired as a full-time employee with the Clarinda PostOffice and spent a total of 32 years with theUnited States Postal Service before retiringin January of 1980.

During his career with the Clarinda PostOffice Miller carried all four city routesand proudly said he “knew everyone intown.”

“The Lord was taking care of me. If I hadnot gotten into the military, I wouldn’t havebeen able to work at the post office,” Millersaid.

Although Miller spent a year and threedays in Japan, he said what he remembersmost is the first time he saw the city ofTokyo.

Miller said the city looked far different

Dale Miller Clarinda

Army stamped Miller’s lifeBy KENT DINNEBIER

Staff Writer

As a machinist, John Minard of Clarindaplayed a key part in keeping United Statesbombers airborne during the VietnamConflict.

Minard served with the United States AirForce for more than three years includingsix months stationed on the island of

Guam.“They take dif-

ferent bases toman that overthere,” Minardsaid. “Theywould man thebase there for sixmonths and thenthey would rotateand somebodyelse wouldcome.”

Minard workedon the maintenance of B52 bombers thatwere sent from Guan on bombing missionsto Vietnam.

“They were going all the time. We had toman them day and night,” Minard said.

As evidence of how dangerous the jobcould be, Minard recalled a plane thatreturned with a bomb that broke free fromthe racking mechanism and wound up inthe wheel well.

“That was a little exciting when theybrought that back in because they kept itparked clear on the back runway so it was-

n’t close to anything. They worked aroundand got the bomb back out of it,” Minardsaid. “I had been over on that side where itwas at, but I didn’t get involved in takingthat off.”

Minard said the barracks the airmenlived in were cement buildings with lou-vers for windows that were open to provideventilation.

“The soil is red and that cement floorwas just as red as the soil was. There’salways a nice breeze,” Minard said.

Minard said he enjoyed his time atGuam. Although the island only measuredapproximately 35 miles long and eightmiles wide, he said he was not able to visitthe entire island.

Although Minard was fortunate to knowone of the few people with a vehicle,Minard said military personnel generallywalked to their destinations when off duty.

“One of the things they said was nevergo out into the island Most of it was offlimits because there was still live ammuni-tion and stuff out there from World War II,”Minard said.

Soon after Minard left Guam, he said heheard a report of a Japanese soldier fromWorld War II that had been living in a caveon the island and surrendered.

“I often wondered what that guy thoughtwith all those big jets coming off the islandday and night,” Minard said.

Born in Hepburn, Minard graduatedfrom Clarinda High School in 1963 andintended to enroll in an air conditioning

John Minard Clarinda

Minard kept bombers in air

see MILLER, Page 38

see MINARD, Page 38

Yourr Servicee && Sacrificee willl alwayss bee remembered.Yourr Servicee && Sacrificee willl alwayss bee remembered.

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By BOB ESCHLIMANExecutive Editor

Victor Blume was a hero in every senseof the word. And, at this year’s U.S.S.Terror reunion held in San Antonio, Texas,the Clarinda native’s shipmates honoredhim by placing a commemorative plaque atthe Admiral Nimitz National Museum ofthe Pacific War in nearby Fredericksburg,

Texas.“Vic,” as his

friends and fami-ly called him,enlisted in theU.S. NavalReserve May 31,1944, and spentthe first fourweeks of hisenlistment at bootcamp at GreatLakes NavalTraining Center

near Chicago. He then went to Florida andtrained in underwater demolitions.

Not long thereafter, he was assigned toTerror, the only minelayer built for opera-tions during World War II. By the time hejoined the crew, she had already taken partin Operation Torch and the invasion ofNorth Africa, as well as the defense ofFunafuti in the Ellice Islands and the takingof the Marshall Islands in the PacificTheater.

Blume joined the crew at San Francisco,and immediately departed for Terror’s new

assignment: the defense of Ulithi, an atollin the Caroline Islands. After that, she car-ried cargo to the Mariana, Caroline, andAdmiralty Islands; in late November, shearrived at Pearl Harbor, where she wasrefitted to take on her new role as flagshipfor the Minecraft Pacific Fleet.

By January of 1945, she was once againunderway, returning to the Carolines andUlithi, where she supplied minecraft thatwere preparing for the invasion of IwoJima. She then steamed to Tinian in theMariana Islands, supplying and tending tominecraft in a staging area there.

A few weeks later, she departed for theVolcano Islands, and then provided directsupport for the invation of Iwo Jima.Blume was no doubt heavily involved indeck operations as Terror steamed to with-in two miles of the shoreline and fired herfive quarter-inch guns in attempt to aidother minecraft that were being poundedby enemy bombardment.

There are several accounts of Terror’sheroism during the invasion.

From Richard Newcomb’s account in“Iwo Jima”: Lt. (j.g.) Herring took the 449,worst smashed ship of all, alongside theTerror, flagship of the minefleet. Seventeenof his men lay at the base of the conningtower, nearly unconscious, and the deckswere strewn with dead. All gun positionshad been smashed. The Terror helped threemore gunboats that day, slinging one ofthem in wire cables to keep it from sinking.

Vic Blume Clarinda

Blume honored for WWII naval serviceBy KENT DINNEBIER

Staff Writer

Rather than bullets, Bob Briggs usedfilm to do his shooting during a four yeartour of duty with the United States Navy.

Briggs was responsible for photograph-ing unexploded ordinances found on theisland of Guam and later experimentalflight equipment tested at El Centro Naval

Air Facility.“My Naval

experience gaveme a broader per-spective of lifeand allowed meto set goals that Iotherwise wouldnot have beenaware of. It alsotaught me disci-pline, how to fol-low orders andt i m e l i n e s s , ”

Briggs said.Originally from Nodaway, Iowa, Briggs

was first exposed to the military when hejoined Company F of the 168th Infantry inthe 34th Infantry Division based in Villiscaon his 17th birthday in January of 1954.

Briggs served with the Iowa NationalGuard for four months until he graduatedfrom Nodaway High School. During thattime Briggs enlisted in the United StatesNavy and the day after he graduated fromhigh school, he left for the Great LakesNaval Training Center.

“I had an uncle, Ralph, who servedaboard the battleship U.S.S. Texas duringWorld War II. His involvement with theNavy kind of pointed me in that direction,”Briggs said.

A second platoon leader for Company70, Briggs spent nine weeks in training atGreat Lakes Naval Training Center.

“One of the things I remember was goingthrough teargas training. We had to take offour mask and recite our name and serialnumber. I got the hives from sucking in toomuch gas,” Briggs said.

Since Briggs had an interest in joiningthe air arm of the Navy, he was shipped tothe naval air station at Norman, Okla., aftercompleting his basic training and it wasthere that he chose to get involved in pho-

tography.Then, in December of 1954, Briggs was

transferred to Pensacola, Fla. After servingthree months of required kitchen duty,Briggs enrolled in photography school inFebruary of 1955.

Briggs said there was a practical reasonwhy he decided to enroll in photographyschool.

“I thought photography would be a pro-fession I could follow after leaving theNavy,” Brigg said.

Briggs graduated from photographyschool in June and spent the next 18months in the Mariana Islands in the SouthPacific.

A little more than half of that time wasspent on the island of Guam. AlthoughWorld War II had ended 10 years earlier,Briggs said it was not uncommon to findJapanese soldiers who had been hiding incaves on the island when they came outlooking for food or clothing.

It was also common to find bombs andammunition that were left over from WorldWar II in isolated locations on the island.

“There were a lot of unexploded ordi-nances even 10 years after the war and myjob was to go with the people that foundthem and photograph the unexploded ordi-nance,” Briggs said.

While on Guam, Briggs said he also sawa war dog cemetery.

“There must have been 50 or 60 gravesfor the dogs that assisted the soldiers dur-ing World War II,” Briggs said.

After spending 10 months at Guam,Briggs was sent to Saipan. Just off the costof Saipan is the island of Tinian, the basefrom which the United States launched itsatomic bomb attacks against Japan at theend of World War II.

“All that is left on Tinian is a runway, butyou could see the trenches where theyloaded the bomb on the Enola Gay,” Briggssaid. “Although there was no one there, Iwas really impressed with Tinian becauseof the history of the island.”

Once his tour of duty in the South Pacificwas complete, Briggs was assigned to ElCentro Naval Air Facility located in theMojave Desert in California.

Assigned to a naval parachute

Bob Briggs Clarinda

Cameras brought world of excitement

see BLUME, Page 27

see BRIGGS, Page 28��

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Clarinda Academy1820 N. 16th, Clarinda

We salute our employeeswho have served and

who are serving in ourarmed forces.

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When it comes to the Marine Corps,there may not be a bigger devotee in the lit-tle town of Essex than Alan Mortimore.

A Marine in the late 1960s and early1970s, Mortimore spent more than 20years total in the service, and said being aMarine was one of the better decisions he’s

ever made.Born and raised

in Riverton,Mortimore gradu-ated fromFarragut HighSchool in 1966.He then attendedan Omaha tradeschool for a peri-od of time beforejoining theMarines at theage of 22.

“The Marines offered me aviation, Iwanted to work on fighter planes – elec-tronics, navigation, equipment,” recalledMortimore.

On Aug. 10, 1970, Mortimore beganbasic training in San Diego, followed byinfantry training.

“From there I went to electronics schoolin Memphis Tennessee – Naval Air StationMemphis – for navigation and instrumenta-tion training,” Mortimore said.

School lasted 26 weeks and includedhow to troubleshoot and repair navigation

and instrumentation for weapons aimingcomputers and navigation display comput-ers.

Mortimore was then assigned to MarineCorps Naval Air Station Beaufort, S.C.,where he worked the 4 p.m. to midnightshit prepping planes for the next day.

“I liked it there, we didn’t have any win-ter.”

Following two-and-a-half years in SouthCarolina, Mortimore and the rest of his unitwere scheduled to go serve a tour inVietnam. However, they lacked enoughtrained pilots. Instead, the squadron wassent to Japan.

“I didn’t have to go because by the timewe got through all that training, I only hada little more than a year in the service. Iwas given the option to go to Japan orCherry Point, North Carolina, where theywere starting a new squadron.”

At Cherry Point, Mortimore trained newMarines how to work on a navigation unit.

When his time with the Marines was up,Mortimore signed up for two years inactivereserves. He stayed out of the military foreight years, but went back into the drillingMarines for two years as a combat electri-cian, assigned to the infantry.

“I was a ground-pounder that worked onlighting systems. It wasn’t as good as beingactive duty.

He drilled two days a month, two weeksa year. When that term of service was up,he stayed out of the service for two moreyears and then joined the Naval reserves as

Alan Mortimore Essex

Essex man served in MarinesBy TESS GRUBER NELSON

Staff Writer

As a small boy, Keith Nelson ofBethesda liked to take objects apart andthen put them back together again. Littledid he know that as a young man, that fas-cination with mechanics would help himwhile serving in the Army.

“I served as a mechanic in the motorpool,” saidNelson. “Ienjoyed it.”

A 1949Clarinda HighSchool graduate,Nelson helped hisfather, Glendon,farm followinggraduation. Whenthe KoreanConflict brokeout in 1950,Nelson knew it

was only a matter of time before hereceived his draft papers.

“I was drafted in February 1952. A largegroup of guys from Page County and I goton a bus in Clarinda and went to Omaha tobe inducted into the Army. That same day,we got on a train to Camp Crowder,Missouri. Shortly after getting there wewere issued uniforms, filled out paperworkand got short haircuts. After about twoweeks, we boarded a train for Fort Riley,Kansas for 16 weeks of heavy infantrytraining,” Nelson recalled.

What Nelson recalls most about basictraining were the uncomfortable beds in thebarracks, and how they took turns pullingKP (kitchen patrol) and guard duty.

“After basic training, half of our compa-ny went to Korea and the other half toGermany. I was lucky to be chosen to go toGermany,” Nelson said. “We boarded aship in early September for 16 days acrossthe Atlantic Ocean.”

Testing to go into mechanics, once inGermany Nelson was assigned to the motorpool, Quartermaster’s Company inBaumholder, Germany.

“I did routine maintenance on vehicles. I

was also sent to ordinance school to leanthe basic maintenance of vehicles. Thetown where the school was held, was divid-ed – half in West Germany and half in EastGermany. I finished second in the class.”

When not working, Nelson said he likedto sightsee – visiting Luxembourg andother places.

“I met my cousin, Leland (Nelson) inParis for a week. He was also stationed inGermany, but not in Baumholder. I’d liketo go back and see everything again nowthat I’m older. Back then it was just anoth-er old castle,” Nelson joked.

Nelson said being stationed in Germanywas a good assignment. However, what hemissed most was a good steak.

“Many times I would go through thechow line, thinking we’d have steak today,but it was liver made to look like steak.”

In January 1954, Nelson received orderto return to the States. He had spent twoThanksgivings and two Christmases inGermany.

A larger ship brought Nelson back toNew York City in only eight days.

“Nothing ever looked so good to me,”said Nelson of New York harbor.

Nelson boarded a train for Fort Sheridan,Ill., and spent his final few days in theArmy pulling KP duty. He returned toBethesda, after having been honorably dis-charged as a corporal, on Feb. 10, 1954.

“My mother asked me what I wanted formy first meal home and I wanted bread andgravy – I hadn’t had it for two years,”Nelson recalled.

The first year Nelson was home, hehelped his father farm. He started farmingon his own in 1955.

Also in 1955, he married BarbaraCarlson from Red Oak. The couple hasthree children, Vicki, Terri, and Bryan.Keith and Barbara additionally have fivegrandchildren and four great-grandchil-dren.

“The Army was a very good experience– I learned discipline and responsibility. Igot to travel, meet a lot of nice people, andeven learned a little bit of German,” Nelsonsaid.

Keith Nelson Bethesda

Nelson worked in motor pool

We SaluteThose Who Served

1600 AIRPORT ROAD • SHENANDOAH, IOWAWWW.EATON.COM

We SaluteThose Who Served

see MORTIMORE, Page 38


Being in the thick of things during WorldWar II in the Pacific Theatre, DaleNuckolls of Shenandoah is quick and to-the-point when it comes to his opinionabout war.

Regardless, Nuckolls, 90, served hiscountry proudly in the Army for three

years.“War is no

damn good, I cantell you that,” hesaid.

Born on a farmnear Blanchardand raised on afarm nearW e s t b o r o ,Nuckolls graduat-ed from WestboroHigh School in1939.

Following high school, Nuckolls contin-ued helping his father, WC, on the farmand helped other area farmers.

“In 1939, I got four cents a bushel forshucking corn…by hand,” Nuckollsrecalled.

When war broke out and Nuckollsreceived his draft paper, he could havereceived a farm deferment, but refused.

“It was my duty to serve.”When basic training was completed in

Texas, Nuckolls said they took a train toFlorida, where he was assigned to the227th AAA S/L Battalion, an anti-aircraftunit.

Before he knew it, Nuckolls was aboarda large passenger ship with 10,000 othersoldiers headed for war.

“It was a big passenger liner,” Nuckollsrecalled. “It had a swimming pool that hadbeen drained of water so it could be used as

sleeping quarters.”The ship went unescorted to Australia,

where the men trained for the invasion ofNew Guinea. Once the men had taken theisland of New Guinea, Nuckolls said theirfocus shifted to the island of Leyte.

“It rained for 13 days and 13 nights inLeyte. It was awful to walk around in wetshoes all of the time.”

Following Leyte, the troops invadedLuzon, and then, Zig Zag Pass, located inthe Bataan peninsula, where Nuckolls saidthe fighting was fierce.

“The ground shook so much there, theradar didn’t work,” Nuckolls said. “At ZigZag Pass, the trucks also would haul sup-plies to the front lines and haul the deadbodies back. War is terrible”

Nuckolls also said at Zig Zag Pass theywould shine searchlights as to help the doc-tors see while operating on the wounded.

“They also used them to see where theJapanese were so we could shoot at them.”

After Luzon, Nuckolls said they begantraining for the Invasion of Japan in Luzon.However, the atomic bomb was droppedand Japan surrendered.

Because he had accrued enough points incombat, Nuckolls was sent home and dis-charged from the Army. He returned to theNuckolls farmstead and started back tofarming.

Nuckolls would continue farming untilhe retired. He resides at Fair Oaks CareCenter in Shenandoah. Dale and his wife,Juanita, who has passed away, have fourchildren, Dale Lynn, Danny Diane andDenise. They also have a grandchild, Jared.

After the passing of Juanita, Dale remar-ried Edith Honeycut.

“So many times I have thought tomyself, ‘We don’t know them and theydon’t know us, so why are we killing eachother? I just can’t understand it,’” saidNuckolls.

Dale Nuckolls Shenandoah

Nuckolls fought on LeyteBy TESS GRUBER NELSON

Staff Writer

Today Ed Powers of Shenandoah preach-es the word of the Lord as pastor of theUnited Methodist Church of Shenandoah.

However, for more than four years,Powers worked in high altitude air defensein the Army – a far cry from psalms andscriptures.

“It was a goodexperience,” saidPowers. “I likedwhat I did.”

Born and raisedin Washingtonstate, Powersobtained a posi-tion with theHanford NuclearReservation fol-lowing highschool gradua-tion.

Having a top secret clearance at thereservation, and being told he was 4F (unfitfor military service) because of bad kneesPowers didn’t think he’d be drafted, but hewas wrong.

“My draft number was coming up, so Ienlisted in January 1967,” Powers said.

Basic training was completed at FortLewis, Wash., in which Powers said he hada rather surreal experience.

“During basic there was a spinal menin-gitis scare at Fort Lewis,” Powers recalled.“We were all isolated to our platoon area.”

Following basic, Powers was sent to FortBliss, Texas for advanced training in highaltitude air defense.

When schooling was completed, Powerswas assigned to Ohio Nike Air DefenseSystem.

Nike was an Army project, proposed inMay 1945 by Bell Laboratories, to developa line-of-sight anti-aircraft missile system.

Powers was an operator at the site butafter two or three months on the job, hedecided to go into maintenance, so he reen-listed for four years and changed to main-tenance.

Maintenance schooling for 24Q20 train-ing was 53 weeks long. He was thenassigned to Nato Air Defense, where theydidn’t need at 24Q20, so they sent him to26 more weeks of school to be a 24Q40.

After roughly 80 weeks of schooling,Powers was assigned to doing daily com-puter maintenance on the Nike Air System,more specifically, the Nike Hercules mis-sile at Fort Bliss.

“It was a missile with four booster rock-ets on it,” Powers explained. “It would beshot at squadrons of planes and they wouldfly into the nuclear blasts and it’d knocktheir wings off – rather, the concussionwould.”

Stationed at Fort Bliss, Texas, Powerstook an early out of the service and enlist-ed in the Army Reserves for seven years.While in the Reserves, he was a drill ser-geant.

“I liked being a drill sergeant two weeks

Ed Powers Shenandoah

Powers worked in air defense


see POWERS, Page 38


Robert Preeo was not only a hero in theeyes of his family, but also the country hegallantly served during World War II.

Born in Clarinda in 1925, Preeo graduat-ed from Shenandoah High School in 1942.He then enlisted in the United States Navyon April 1, 1943, and went on to receive a

Purple Heart withone star duringhis three years ofmilitary service.He settled inStockton, Calif.,following his dis-charge from theNavy andremained a resi-dent of the com-munity until hisdeath on May 4 atthe age of 86.

The son of Elmer and Alice Preeo,Robert Preeo spent his youth assisting hisfather at a garage he owned in Clarinda. Hethen put that mechanical expertise to gooduse in the military and eventually reachedthe rank of Motor Machinist’s Mate 1stClass. Although Preeo had never seen anocean growing up in Iowa, his son, GaryPreeo, said there were two reasons why hisfather decided to enlist in the Navy.

“What he told me was that he joined theNavy so he would never have to sleep in afoxhole and he would always have clean

sheets at night,” Gary Preeo said.“However, he actually did sleep in foxholesat both Salerno Beach and Omaha Beach.He also said the closest he came to havingclean sheets was sleeping in a hammock inthe engine room.”

After finishing his time at Farragut NavalTraining Station, Preeo was sent to CampBradford in Norfolk, Va. He then went onto serve on two different landing craft, theUSS LCG 811 and the USS LSM 166.

Serving with the Beach Master SignalCorps, Preeo was responsible for usingflags to direct landing crafts as theystormed Salerno Beach in Sicily and laterOmaha Beach as part of the D-DayInvasion. It was during the D-Day Invasionthat Preeo earned his first Purple Heart.

“He and his crew on the landing craftended up on Omaha Beach along with thesoldiers, so he grabbed a rifle and joinedthe fight. He was severely wounded in thearm by shrapnel from a Nazi sniper rifle,”Gary Preeo said. “When he saw the movie‘Saving Private Ryan’ he said it was prettyaccurate because there were bulletswhizzing everywhere and it was a prettygory situation.”

Despite being wounded in the arm, Preeosurvived the invasion and was eventuallysent to Boston for medical care. Initially,doctors wanted to amputate his arm, butGary Preeo said his father refused.

As Preeo continued his recovery fromthe wound, he was sent to San Diego andultimately began teaching new recruits

Robert Preeo Clarinda

Preeo received Purple HeartBy TESS GRUBER NELSON

Staff Writer

Dale Preston of Shenandoah refers to histhree years as a gunnery instructor in theArmy as uneventful. However, what hetaught those soldiers on the range morethan likely saved a life or two, as well asassisted the United States in defeatingGermany and Japan during World War II.

“As far as I’mconcerned, Godwas with me allthe way through,”said Preston ofhis time in theservice. “I wasfortunate enoughto have anuneventful expe-rience. I spentthree year in thestates.”

Born and raisedon a farm near Coin, Preston graduatedfrom Coin High School in 1941. Followinghigh school, he attended Tarkio Collegewith aspirations of becoming a pilot, how-ever, other plans were in store for him.

“At that time the only way to get to flywas in the Air Force. I was going to collegeto get in the Air Force,” Preston recalled.

In December 1941, the Japanese bombedPearl Harbor and the United States wasthrust into World War II. By October 1942,Preston decided to enlist and do his civicduty.

“There were four of five guys fromShenandoah that went in the same time Idid,” Preston said. “We left from Omahaand went to Jefferson Barracks at Lemay,Missouri, south of St. Louis. It was the endof February and we lived in little four-manhuts.”

Following basic training, Preston wassent to aircraft mechanic school inGulfport, Miss., where he made PrivateFirst Class.

“I guess mechanics came naturally forme.”

He was then sent to advanced mechanicschool, at a Douglas C-54 factory, in SantaMonica, where he was promoted to

Corporal. “When I graduated from mechanic

school, they always held back one or two tobe an instructor, and I was one of them.”

Preston made Sergeant at aerial gunneryschool in Kingman Ariz., and then attend-ed Gunnery Instructors School at FortMeyers, Fla. He returned to Kingman as aGunnery Ground School instructor follow-ing school.

“I don’t know why they picked me out tobe an instructor, but it was one of thosethings.”

While instructing at gunnery groundschool, Preston said he taught soldiersabout the caliber 50 machine gun.

“You had to be able to completely detailstrip that weapon blindfolded and put itback together. A gunner in a B-17 or anybomber, is up there where it is miserablycold. If you’re weapon jams up there, youneed to be able to unjam it.”

Aircraft recognition was also a topic ofinstruction at ground school.

“You’d flash a picture for a tenth of asecond of a plane and they’d have to beable to identify both foreign and localplanes.”

Gunnery firing range instructor and gun-nery flying instructor were also positionsPreston held. He was range instructor atYuma, Ariz., and flying instructor for theB-17 Flying Fortress in Las Vegas.

“I taught people to be gunners onbombers.”

Preston was two weeks away from ship-ping overseas to England to serve as aninstructor when Germany surrendered. Hewas then given orders to serve overseas inJapan, however one week before he was toleave, Japan surrendered.

On Dec. 3, 1945, Preston was dischargedat Scott Field in St. Louis. He had been inthe service for a little more than threeyears.

Following the service, Preston farmed,sold barber and beauty supplies, workedconstruction, drove a bus for Shenandoahschools, and worked for the post office.

A few years ago, his wife of 41 years,Jane, passed away. Preston has three step-daughters, Lynette Flynn, Linda Hommer,and Janet Spencer.

Dale Preston Shenandoah

Preston taught others to shoot


see PREEO, Page 39

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During his two years of service with theUnited States Army, Walt Pritchard ofClarinda had a direct impact on the futureof countless American soldiers.

Pritchard served in the Adjutant GeneralClassification and AssignmentHeadquarters Company of the Sixth

A r m o r e dDivision at FortLeonard Wood,Mo.

“My work wasvery interesting.The duty requiredtesting and inter-viewing traineesof companies intheir third andseventh week dur-ing basic training.Through these

interviews we made our needed selectionsfor their further training and education,”Pritchard said.

Based on those interviews and test scoresPritchard said soldiers were assigned toOfficer Training School, received special-ized schooling, or were sent to overseasduty assignments.

“Some were front line battle areas andothers were pace assignments. Their IQresults were instrumental in determiningthe assignments, as was the duty time lefton their enlistments,” Prichard said.

Beyond determining duty and schoolassignments, Pritchard said the office heserved in was responsible for maintainingtrainee records and documenting the com-pletion of each phase of a soldier’s combattraining.

Pritchard said he found his duties veryinteresting because he followed new sol-diers through their basic training andlearned about their skills and interests inorder to determine their next destination atthe end of their training.

In addition, Pritchard said as the UnitedStates entered combat in Korea PresidentHarry S. Truman integrated Fort LeonardWood.

As a result, Pritchard said he workedwith all nationalities and races as the camp

trained as many as 45,000 troops continu-ally. Those soldiers were turned over atleast every 16 weeks.

“You meet all different types of peoplefrom all areas of life. You really try todetermine where they would fit best toserve their country,” Pritchard said.

After graduating from high school,Pritchard was living in Redding and work-ing at an auto and farm machinery dealer-ship in Mount Ayr when he was drafted bythe United States Army at the age of 20.

Pritchard was inducted into the Army inJuly of 1952 in Des Moines and sent oCamp Crowder, Mo., for further assign-ment. From there he was sent to FortLeonard Wood for basic training.

Pritchard admitted he was apprehensiveabout joining the military since the KoreanWar was still very volatile at the time hewas drafted.

“Korea was still in the shooting stages,but by the time I finished training they hadstared truce talks,” Pritchard said. “A class-mate of mine had been sent to Korea in theearly stages of the battle. He was draftedright out of high school and was killed inaction three weeks after arriving.”

Pritchard said his basic training consist-ed of eight weeks of infantry training fol-lowed by eight weeks of combat engineer-ing school.

During combat engineering schoolPritchard learned about structural engi-neering and how to work with explosives.That training included learning how to setand deactivate mines.

However, following his basic training,Pritchard was assigned to HeadquartersCompany Sixth Armored Division at FortLeonard Wood.

The reason Pritchard was posted toAdjutant General Classification andAssignment was because he had taken ayear of business at a commercial extensionschool and had performed some bookkeep-ing duties while working at the auto andfarm machinery dealership in Mount Ayr.

“I served with people that were olderthan I was and had more education, so Ipicked up a lot from the people I workedwith,” Pritchard said.

After completing his two years of activeduty in June of 1954, Pritchard was held in

Walt Pritchard Clarinda

Pritchard tested traineesBy TESS GRUBER NELSON

Staff Writer

Rick Roberts of Shenandoah spentroughly 20 years in the service, the major-ity in the Army National Guard.

However, for a brief stint, he was amechanic in the Army stationed in FortHood, Texas.

The Army, Roberts said, was a greatexperience thattaught him disci-pline, respect, andself-confidence.

“I recommendthe service toeveryone,” hereiterated. “Theservice wouldteach kids disci-pline, whichmany of themtoday don’t have.”

Having grownup in the Essex area, Roberts enlisted in theArmy in 1975. He said he chose the Armybecause of the recruiting station located inClarinda.

“If I remember right, it was on the eastside of the square,” said Roberts.

Roberts completed basic training at FortLeonard Wood, Mo.

“The drill sergeants were rough,”recalled Roberts. “Back then I felt theywere picking on me, but they weren’t.”

After basic training, Roberts attendedmechanics school, also at Fort Leonard

Wood. “I learned quite a bit about fixing Jeeps

and trucks,” he said. When mechanics schooling was fin-

ished, Roberts was assigned to the motorpool at Fort Hood, Texas. He was a mem-ber of Company A, 5th Battalion, 7thCalvary.

“When I got there, they were just startingit back up,” said Roberts of the company.

Fort Hood was a good base, despite theheat, he recalled. Although he enjoyedworking on trucks, Roberts was transferredto being a track mechanic, and working ontanks and personnel carriers with tracksinstead of tires.

“Tracks are a lot of work, but it was coolto be able to work on them.”

After more than a year at Fort Hood,Roberts was discharged from the Army inFebruary 1977. He returned to PageCounty and married wife, Paula, in 1980.

He then joined Company C of the IowaArmy National Guard, based inShenandoah, in 1981, where he also servedas a mechanic.

He transferred to the Glenwood GuardUnit in 1983, and then to Council Bluffs in1985. By 1987, he was with the Lenexa,Kan. National Guard unit, still serving as amechanic. During this time he was alsosent overseas to Germany.

“The people were nice over there.”In 1988, he became a member of the

Belton, Mo. National Guard, where he wassent to Corlu, Turkey for a short time.

Rick Roberts Shenandoah

Roberts proud to serve in Army


see PRITCHARD, Page 39

Johnson’s Locker510 Iowa Avenue • Essex, Iowa • 712-379-3314 12

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see ROBERTS, Page 35


Tim Saner of Shenandoah enlisted in theservice in order to see the world, and seethe world he did as a diesel mechanic in theNavy.

Not only was Saner in the Navy, he wasalso in the Naval Reserves for 12 years andArmy National Guard for six years.

“I have noregrets,” saidSaner about theNavy, NavalReserves andNational Guard.“It was a greatexperience.”

A 1987 gradu-ate ofShenandoah HighSchool, Sanerattended bootcamp at Great

Lakes Naval Academy in Illinois. He thencompleted “A” School, also at Great Lakes,for diesel mechanics.

Once “A” School was finished, Sanerwas flown to Guam, where he met hisassigned ship, the USS Peleliu, anamphibious assault ship named after theWorld War II Battle of Peleliu.

“There were about 3,000 Marines and1,500 sailors on board,” recalled Saner.

A member of the Pacific Fleet, thePeleliu sailed to such places as thePhilippines, Japan, Guam, Hawaii, and

Thailand.“I joined the Navy in order to travel, and

that’s exactly what I did.”A couple of Saner’s favorite ports were

Hong Kong, China and Dubai, locatedsouth of the Persian Gulf on the ArabianPeninsula.

“There were a lot of neat places I’vebeen to, but those two were probably myfavorites.”

When not seeing the sights, Saner keptbusy aboard ship. As a diesel mechanic hewas responsible for the maintanence of thediesel engines.

“I liked it,” he said of being a dieselmechanic. “Later I was also become asmall boat operator.”

As for more memorable events on theship, Saner recalled the earthquake thatrocked San Francisco in 1989, in which thePeleliu provided potable water for resi-dents, as well as provided very temporaryhousing for approximately 300 displacedcitizens.

On top of that, while returning from thePersian Gulf after support operations inOperation Desert Storm, Saner said theship participated in the evacuation of theSubic Bay Naval Base.

“Mount Pinatubo erupted in thePhilippines and it covered everything inash. We evacuated the entire base – cats,dogs, cars, luggage, people…I rememberthere were quite a few pregnant womenwho ended up giving birth on the ship.”

Tim Saner Shenandoah

Saner served to see the worldBy TESS GRUBER NELSON

Staff Writer

When it comes to National GuardCompany E war heroes, Max Schneidershould most likely be at the top of the list.

Max, a Shenandoah native, was one ofColonel William O. Darby’s original FirstRangers. After being wounded on theSorrento Peninsula in Italy, Max was

ordered back toEngland to helpthe newly formedSecond and FifthRanger Battalionsprepare for theimpending inva-sion of the Frenchcoast.

His actions asthe commandingofficer of theFifth Rangers aresaid to have saved

countless lives on D-Day during WorldWar II.

“He was older than me, but I rememberhim. He was quite the soldier,” said HarryPontious, who also was a member ofCompany E, although after WWII.

Born in 1912 in Shenandoah to Fred andAbbie (Ferguson) Schneider, Max grew upon Elm Street and graduated fromShenandoah High School in 1931.

Following high school, Max attendedIowa State University for one quarter, butthen went to St. Louis, Mo., to learn to bea pilot.

“After a near fatal crash in 1933, hereturned to Shenandoah and eventuallyfound a job with the State HighwayCommission, a job he held until theNational Guard was mobilized,” saidMax’s son, Jim Schneider.

Max married Jacqueline Jones, also fromShenandoah, in 1937. In 1939, Max wascommissioned Second Lieutenant withCompany E.

Vincent “Pete” Conners, 91, of Dallas,was also a member of Company E, andserved with Max. When Company E wasmobilized in 1941, Conners said they spentthe first month training at the MemorialArmory in Shenandoah.

“We left there and went to Camp

Claiborne., La,” said Conners.Conners said they left by train from the

old Burlington Train Depot in Shenandoah.There were 115 men activated from thisarea.

“When we got to Camp Claiborne, thecamp was only three-quarters finished, sowe took up training and completed thebuildings in the camp,” Conners said.

Company E was in Louisiana fromMarch 1941 until January 1942.

“War broke out in December 1941 andwe were transferred to Fort Dix, N.J. inorder to prepare to be shipped out toEurope,” recalled Conners.

Conners recalled Schneider was withthem when in Northern Ireland in thespring of 1942.

“He was an original Company E boy atthe beginning of WWII. Some of us stayedtogether and some of us were transferred toother units,” Conners said.

While Conners was training for the inva-sion of North Africa in Scotland, Max wasin

Carrickfergus, north of Belfast, wherethe Ranger Battalion was being formed,composed of volunteers.

“It was in June 1942, he volunteered totrain as a Ranger, one of Colonel WilliamO. Darby’s original First Rangers,”remarked Max’s nephew, Dick Schneider.

As one of Darby’s Rangers, Max servedas Commander of the 5th Ranger Battalionat Omaha Beach on D-Day.

“On D-Day, he led his battalion in break-ing out allied forces trapped on OmahaBeach. The entire Omaha Beach invasionforce was pined down with murderouscrossfire. When General Norman Cota, thehighest ranking officer on Omaha Beachduring the initial assault, learned thatMax’s unit were Rangers, he gave Max thenow famous order to lead them off thebeach, “Rangers, Lead the Way.” This hasbeen the motto of the Rangers ever since.The Rangers got those men off the beach,”Dick said.

In fact, Max was awarded theDistinguished Service Cross for extraordi-nary heroism for his actions on June 6,1944 in Normandy, France. This is the sec-ond highest honor after the Medal ofHonor, added Jim.

Max Schneider Shenandoah

Shen’s Schneider was a hero


see SCHNEIDER, Page 401206

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see SANER, Page 39


In the months leading up to OperationEnduring Freedom, Aaron Sharr ofClarinda was charged with guarding a crit-ical United States military base.

Serving with Bravo Company of theIowa Army National Guard 1-168thInfantry Battalion, Sharr was stationed at

Ali Al Salam AirBase in Kuwait.He spent sixmonths at thebase in early 2001providing sitesecurity.

Prior to depart-ing for Kuwait,Sharr and hiscompany under-went training atCamp Dodge inDes Moines as

well as Fort McCoy in Wisconsin. He saidthe temperatures were frequently below 30degrees with snow.

However, the evening he arrived inKuwait, Sharr said it was 80 degrees.Although the weather conditions were veryhot during his time in Kuwait, he said thesoldiers were quickly able to adapt.

“It was not as bad as you would think.It’s a drier heat and our force level was a lotdifferent. We had much the same types ofequipment, like Kevlar vests, but we didnot have to wear as much of our gear. Westood duty in towers and could wear t-shirts and our uniform bottoms,” Sharrsaid.

In addition, he said the soldiers slept intents that were equipped with air condi-tioning.

During his deployment, Sharr also hadthe opportunity to enter Kuwait City. Hesaid the trip provided showed him firsthandhow the country had combined its tradi-tional culture with Western culture.

“It was certainly a culture shock. Wewere traveling on the main road and thereis a speed limit, but no one follows it. Sowe might drive by a pickup full of goats orother animals and a couple of people, andthen get passed by a Ferrari. Those car dif-ferences really stuck out to me,” Sharr said.

“Still, I had a very good experience withthe Kuwaiti people. They were happy tosee us and were very friendly.”

A 1997 graduate of Clarinda HighSchool, Sharr enlisted in the Iowa ArmyNational Guard Aug. 31, 1999. He wasworking at the Clarinda CorrectionalFacility and said some of his friends at thefacility convinced him to join.

“I had been interested in the militarywhen I was younger and they painted apretty good picture of it,” Sharr said. “Iwanted to serve my country, so I wentdown to the recruiter and singed up.”

Serving as an infantryman, Sharr com-pleted his basic training at Fort Benning.He then returned to Southwest Iowa as amember of Bravo Company and out of thearmories in Clarinda, Glenwood andShenandoah.

In June of 2004, Sharr was again calledto active duty and spent one year inAfghanistan. A sergeant, Sharr served as ateam leader and oversaw four other sol-diers. They provided site security as well assecurity for Civilian Affairs.

“Civilian Affairs is the military branchthat meets with tribal and community lead-ers. They oversee projects like buildingschools, providing infrastructure like waterand sewer, and establishing governmentbuildings,” Sharr said. “We also provided alot of security for their first election.”

During the year he spent in Afghanistan,Sharr said there were some obvious differ-ences from the time he spent in Kuwait.

“The weather was much closer to whatwe have in Iowa except hotter. They had awinter and we had three feet of snow at onetime. It was not quite as hot as in Kuwait,but the temperatures were regularly over100 degrees in the summer,” Sharr said.

Meanwhile, Sharr said he rarely sawwomen in public and the attitude of thepeople he encountered in Afghanistan wasdifferent from the people he had met inKuwait.

“We went to a lot of outlying villagesand the people were friendly, but in gener-al the Afghans are not as friendly and out-going as the Kuwaiti people,” Sharr said.

Sharr returned to the United States inJune of 2005 and resumed his drill status.Taking advantage of his military education

Aaron Sharr Clarinda

Sharr served during Enduring FreedomBy TESS GRUBER NELSON

Staff Writer

Despite not having a career in the mili-tary, Gary Shepard of Farragut recom-mends it to others. In fact Shepard recom-mends the service to everyone, although hehimself spent three years in the Army.

“I wouldn’t take it back for a second,”Shepard said. “The service is a rewarding

experience andteaches you aboutlife. By all meansI recommend theservice to any-body.”

Raised near theThurman, Sidneyarea, Shepardjoined the Armywith a friend. Hesaid the two ofthem chose theArmy because the

recruiter painted such a pretty picture.Shepard began basic training at Fort

Leonard Wood, Mo., in late February 1963.“They worked you hard, but they were

there to turn you into a soldier,” Shepardrecalled of his drill instructors. “Basicallywhat you did was keep your head down anddo what you’re told.”

Additionally, Shepard said he learned tonever volunteer for anything, although onetime it backfired.

“One day they asked if anyone wanted tovolunteer to be a truck driver, which Ithought sounded okay, but the guy next tome told me that meant washing trucks, butwhat do you know, those that volunteered

really became truck drivers,” Shepardchuckled.

Following basic training, he was sent toMOS training in Hawk Missile mechanicsin Birmingham, Ala.

At that time, the Hawk Missile was high-ly classified Shepard said. He added heworked mainly on the launch pad, whichwas an electronic, hydraulic system.

When Shepard was done with school, hewas assigned to Dachau, Germany. Herecalled arriving in September, beforeOktoberfest.

“It is a beautiful country,” he said. Not only did he travel around Germany,

but also Austria and London.Six months before returning to the states,

Shepard was transferred to Nurembergbase because the Dachau au camp was dis-assembled and sent to New Mexico.

“It was boring in Nuremberg. All we didwas pull guard duty or KP.”

Shepard spent two-and-a half-years inGermany.

By February 1966 Shepard was back inthe United States. He thought briefly aboutre-enlisting, but in the end decided to getout of the service.

In 1966 he also married his wife ofroughly 45 years, Dee.

For more than 20 years Shepard drove atruck. for Crouse Cartage Company(CCC). He also worked at Farmaster forfive years and owned Gary’ StandardStation for five years.

Gary and Dee have two children, Mikeand Sandy, and six grandchildren.

“Everything I learned in the service Iused later on in life,” Shepard said. “It wasa good experience.”`

Gary Shepard Farragut

Service was rewarding for Shepard


see SHARR, Page 40


You could say Dave Shull’s naval careerbegan in a rather unconventional way – atthe Naval Hospital in Annapolis, Marylandwhen he was born.

Earl Shull, his father, was stationed inAnnapolis when he was in the Navy, com-pleting his service during World War II.

“I always want-ed to go into theNavy,” Shull said.

A FarragutHigh Schoolgraduate of 1964,Shull then appliedfor the NavalAcademy, butwas first alter-nate. Instead, hecontinued hiseducation at IowaState University,

where he started out to obtain a degree inengineering, but ended up with a degree inbusiness.

After two years at ISU, he decided it wastime to join the ROTC. With Vietnambrewing, he knew it was a good decision.

When he graduated with his bachelor’sdegree in 1969, he was commissioned as anEnsign.

Engineering school followed in LittleCreek, Vir., and after that, Shull joined hisship, the U.S.S. Raleigh LPD-1. The mainduty of the large ship, which Shull said was522-feet long and 100-feet wide, was totransport Marines recalled Shull.

Aboard the ship, Shull was an E DivisionOfficer, working with electronics, tele-phone communications and electricity.

The first cruise Shull went on was toCuba, Puerto Rico and Jamaica. Heremarked seeing these counties, althoughbeautiful in their own right, made himappreciate being an American.

“It made me appreciate the country Ilived in. I saw some areas of the world thatweren’t very nice.”

After that cruise, the ship returned toNorfolk and mainly patrolled up and downthe east coast, from Maine, back down toVirginia.

However in 1970, the ship took off for a

six month Mediterranean Cruise.“We embarked Marines and equipment

from Morehead City, North Carolina,about 1,000 of them,” Shull recalled.

What was to be a somewhat leisurelycruise to Naples, Athens, Barcelona,Toulon, Rota turned out to be more seriousbecause of a skirmish in Jordyn.

“We were sent over there to watch andmake sure things didn’t get out of hand.”

Regardless, Shull said while on thecruise he will still able to get a little sight-seeing done, which he said was fantastic.

In early December 1970, he and the shipreturned to Norfolk, where the ship dockedfor repairs.

Once the ship was repaired, Shull saidthey went on another cruise to Portugal,England, and Denmark, where they tookthe Naval Academy Midshipmen to aNATO exercise.

“We spent the summer doing that,” hesaid.

When the ship docked again in Norfolk,Shull was moved from the EngineeringDepartment to being in charge of the DeckDepartment.

“The deck department is responsible forthe entire exterior of the ship, including theguns,” he explained.

In December 1971, Shull was honorablydischarged as a Lieutenant from the Navy.He was to originally set to get out in May1972, but because the Vietnam War waswinding down, soldiers and sailors in everybranch were getting released early.

He and his high school sweetheart, Edyreturned to the Shenandoah area, where heworked a couple sales jobs, and atFarmmaster Gate Company, before gettinga job in the nursery business.

From 1975 to 1997 Shull worked foreither Henry Field or Earl May.

However, at the age of 51, Shull went towork at Pella, where he remained until2008. He now works part-time at MillerBuilding Supply and Fareway.

Dave and Edy have two children, Neiland Emily; as well as two grandsons,Andrei and Zachary.

Shull said he recommends the militaryfor anyone not sure of what they want to dofollowing high school. He added the serv-ice taught him responsibility, leadership,

Dave Shull Shenandoah

Shull’s career started earlyBy TESS GRUBER NELSON

Staff Writer

In 1953, John F. Kennedy married JackieBouvier, TV Guide debuted, and JackieCochran became the first woman to breakthe sound barrier. It was also the yearMerrill Swanson was drafted into theArmy, where he would serve as a personnelclerk with Rhine Engineer Depot

Headquarters for7742 EngineerCompany inGermany.

“My time in theservice was anexperience and Idon’t regret it,”Swanson said.

Swanson wasborn and raised inrural Essex andgraduated fromEssex High

School in 1950. He farmed on the familyfarm until he received his draft notice inApril 1953.

“I was sent to Fort Omaha for a physical.Having passed the physical we were takenby bus to Camp Crowder, Missouri andwere sent from there to Fort Riley, Kansasfor basic training,” Swanson recalled.

At Fort Riley, Swanson was assigned toCompany B, 87th Regiment, 10th InfantryDivision for 16 weeks of infantry basics.

“That year was very hot and dry duringJuly and August and while we were in thefield training, we would have drank waterof any of the streams, but they were alldry,” he said.

As training was coming to an end, thecease-fire for the Korean Conflict wassigned and the fighting ended. Before thecease-fire, all companies were being sentfrom Fort Riley to Korea said Swanson.However, due to the treaty, he and others inhis company were sent to Germany instead,in which he said he felt lucky.

“After a leave at home, I went to Omahaand boarded a train for Camp Kilmer, NewJersey. We were at Camp Kilmer a fewdays and then taken to New York Harbor toboard a ship to take us overseas.”

During the trip overseas, Swanson saidsome soldiers were assigned guard duty

and others kitchen patrol duty. He wasassigned guard duty.

“You were on duty so many hours andoff so many. I walked back and forth on theone side of the ship during the crossing. Wehad a beautiful crossing. The weather waswarm and clear and the ocean was gentlyrolling. As we entered the EnglishChannel, I was surprised because I hadalways heard how rough the channel couldbe, but as we passed through it, it was assmooth looking as a mirror.”

Passing through the channel, Swansonalso recalled seeing the White Cliffs ofDover and remnants of ships that weresunk during World War II sticking upabove the water.

“We ended our trip at Bremerhaven,Germany, where we docked. We wereloaded onto a train and headed intoGermany. Eventually I ended up at theRhine Engineer Depot located inKaiserslautern, Germany. Western AreaCommand Headquarters was also locatedin Kaiserlautern, so there was quite a mili-tary presence there.”

When Swanson arrived at Kaiserlautern,he said an indoctrination meeting tookplace. During the meeting, they asked ifthere were any volunteers for a typing test.

“You always heard to never volunteer foranything in the Army, but I was already inthe infantry, so what did I have to lose?”

Swanson passed the typing test and wasassigned as a personnel clerk at RhineEngineer Depot Headquarters for 7442Engineer Company.

“Living conditions at RED were great.Our living quarters were four-story stonebuildings with tile floors and steam heat.There were four of us to a room. It was saidthe buildings had been used for some of(Adolph) Hitler’s elite troops.”

While stationed in Germany, Swansonwas able to go to Paris and the Rhine Riverwine country. He also toured the ItalianRiviera, stopping at San Remo for a coupledays, the French Riviera, Nice, France andMonaco.

“At the end of my tour overseas I wasable to sign up to fly home if I were to staythree weeks longer. When the time came, Itook a plane out of Frankfurt, Germany. Westopped in the Azores for fuel and then

Merrill Swanson Shenandoah

Swanson served in Germany


see SHULL, Page 40 see SWANSON, Page 27

BLUMEContinued from Page 2

As a skilled diver, there’slittle doubt Blume wasinvolved in the operationsto save those gunboats andthe men onboard them. Forthe next few days, Terrorserved as the casualty evac-uation vessel forminesweepers and smallcraft acting in support ofdemolition teams. Soon hermedical facilities wereseverely taxed.

From Iwo Jima, shereturned to the Marianasand an army hospital atSaipan, where she trans-ferred her battle casualties.She then steamed to Ulithi,where she serviced and sup-plied minecraft staging forthe assault on Okinawa.

Terror arrived offKerama-retto, a small islandchain about 20 miles westof Okinawa, March 24,1945, where she served asboth a flagship and a tenderfor her supportingminecraft. Despite RadioTokyo propaganda thatreported the invasion wouldbe a complete failure,Blume and the Americans

pressed on, with EasterSunday, April 1, set as “LDay.”

There was little rest forthe Clarinda native or hisshipmates aboard Terrorfrom that point forward.

The morning after “LoveDay,” a group of Japaneseplanes penetrated the harborat Kerama-retto; two ofthem went after the flag-ship. One splashed downjust 600 yards off, strickenby Terror’s anti-aircraftguns. Anticipating moreplanes, swimmers, and sui-cide boats, round-the-clocksentries and picket boatswere positioned to protectTerror.

A few days later, on April6, Japanese planes onceagain pounded the harbor atKerama-retto for fourhours. They came at Terrorfrom every angle. She suc-cessfully downed two air-craft, then provided assis-tance and rescue boats forships that weren’t as lucky.

The rest of April wasspent at Kerama-retto, pro-viding logistic support andreceiving casualties fromships hit by kamikazeattacks. Her crew went togeneral quarters 93 times

for periods ranging fromjust seven minutes to morethan six hours. Combat airpatrols protected the harborfor the most part, but theyweren’t always successful.

April 28, a suicide planestruck U.S.S. Pinckney,which had been anchorednearby. Terror attempted torepel the attack, then sentrescue boats to her strickensister. Her medical facilitieswere once again taxedwhile treating the manycasualties that came in.

Two days later, it wouldbe Terror that needed help.

At approximately 3:55a.m. May 1, 1945, whilestill anchored in the harborat Kerama-retto, Terrorbecame the target of anoth-er kamikaze attack. Asmoke screen had been laiddown to protect the ships,but the attack dove througha hole in the screen, aimingfor her port beam.

The suicide plane bankedsharply around the stern,then came in from the star-board corner. The attackcame so rapidly, that onlyone of Terror’s stern gunscould get in a shot. Theplane struck the ship’s com-munication platform, one of

its bombs explodinginstantly.

Another penetrated themain deck and landed in theofficers’ wardroom.Although the ensuing fireswere quickly put out, thekamikaze attack had exact-ed its toll. More than 170casualties were reported,including 41 dead and sevenmissing.

Among the presumeddead was Blume.

“I was pretty badlywounded,” he later wrote tohis wife, Joan, who he mar-ried after his discharge. “Iwas eventually flown toGreat Lakes Hospital,where I stayed for a year.”

Blume’s injuries were sohorrific, one of his friends— assuming he was dead— carried him to the pile ofbodies that had accumulat-ed on the main deck. Theywouldn’t see each other for27 years, when his shipmateread of a Terror crew

reunion Blume was helpingto organize.

“He said he had carriedme to the dead pile,” hewrote. “Then, 27 yearslater, I received a call thathe had lost all of hisfriends’ addresses, but hehad read in a veterans’ mag-azine that I was hosting areunion in Branson. Hecalled some others, and theycame, too.”

Although that was theend of Blume’s militaryservice, it wasn’t the end ofTerror’s. She eventuallyreturned to San Franciscofor repairs, then got backinto the fight just in time forthe Japanese surrender.Having earned four battlestars, she was decommis-sioned in November of1947.

Terror returned to reserveduty status during theKorean War, and wasdecommissioned for the lasttime in 1956. She was sold

for scrap in 1971 and strick-en from the naval register.

Blume returned toClarinda after his dischargeFeb. 19, 1946, working thefarm his parents, Edwardand Minnie, had workedprior to his birth. In Augustof 1948, he married Joan,and together they raised ahappy family with four chil-dren and eight grandchil-dren.

He was ultimately award-ed both the Purple Heartand the Bronze Star for hisservice.

Despite the severeinjuries he sustained,Blume was able to enjoybowling for 40 years, andwas a member of bothAmerican Legion SergyPost 98 and VFW GlennMiller Post 9230. And, forthe last 21 years of his life,he attended the annualTerror reunions held inTexas.


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BRISTERContinued from Page 3

about it and wish I was stilldoing it,” Brister said.

With her husband nowdeceased, Brister said shemoved to Clarinda three yearsago to be closer to her sisterBeverly Adamson of Coin.

SWANSONContinued from Page 26

continued on to the United States.”Discharged from the Army, Swanson

returned home and took up farming in thespring of 1955. He married Etta Swift inJanuary 1956. The couple had two children,Nancy Wilson, who resides in Quincy, Ill.,with her husband, Darrell, and two children;

and Kevin, who passed away four yearsago.

Swanson retired from farming severalyears ago and moved to Shenandoah withEtta.

“I’d definitely do it again, just not at myage,” Swanson said of the Army. “Besidesbasic training, everything else was a strollin the park.”


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BRIGGSContinued from Page 2

unit, Briggs was responsiblefor taking high speed photo-graphs of jumps made byparatroopers using experi-mental parachutes to deter-mine if the parachutes weredeploying properly and thepins were functioning cor-rectly.

“We stayed in the air-plane and hung out the sidedoor shooting the camera,”Briggs said.

He also photographedejection seat tests from achase plane that flew besidethe jets.

In 1957, Briggs said oneof the first C-130 cargoplanes was brought to thebase to test platform drops.

“The floor was just a setof rollers and they wouldput artillery vehicles on theplatform. Then the planwould fly over the drop areaand a drag chute wasdeployed to pull the plat-form out of the plane. Onceout of the plane, other para-chutes would deploy and

the platform would float tothe ground,” Briggs said.

However, Briggs recalledone test involving aCaterpillar D8 that did notgo according to plan.

“The C-130 flew over thedrop zone at an altitude of3,000 to 4,000 feet and thedrag chute deployed startingthe load moving toward therear of the aircraft. But thedrag chute broke and theweight of the caterpillarcaused the nose of the planeto come up and nearly stall.The caterpillar finally rolledout the back, turned overabout three times in the air,hit the floor of the desertand exploded,” Briggs said.

A fellow photographerhad been in the rear of theplane for the drop, Briggssaid, and had to hold on tokeep from falling from theplane.

Briggs was dischargedfrom the Navy in 1958 andreturned home to Nodawayat the age of 21. Using hisGI Bill, Briggs enrolled atNorthwest Missouri StateUniversity in Maryville,Mo., and received a bache-

lor’s degree in secondaryeducation.

“That was probably oneof the best things I everdid,” Briggs said.

Briggs served as a highschool teacher for 15 yearsincluding two years in SanJuan, Puerto Rico, for theDepartment of the Armyand three years inLexington, Mo., beforejoining the staff at ClarindaHigh School for 10 years.

After leaving teaching,Briggs worked for the FarmCredit System in MountPleasant for seven yearsbefore returning to Clarindato work at Citizen’s StateBank for 19 years.

Briggs said he still looksback favorably on theopportunities his servicewith the Navy providedhim.

“I would encourage anyyoung person to considerthe military, especially inthis day and age where it ishard to find a job. The mili-tary helps you mature anddevelop goals you might notordinarily think about,”Briggs said.

BURKHALTERContinued from Page 3

gious position until 2000 andoversaw three troop medical clin-ics located in Jefferson City,Neosho and Cape Girardeau, Mo.

In August of 1999, Burkhalterreceived the highest honor of hismilitary career when he wasawarded the Meritorious Mast bythe United States Navy.Burkhalter received the award forhis efforts to integrate himselfwith Naval Medical assets atCamp Crowder in Neosho, Mo.,and also assisting the NavyMedical Staff’s support of aUnited State Marine CorpsDetachment at the camp.

“I was absolutely flabbergast-ed,” Burkhalter said. “Not manypeople in the Army get somethingfrom the Navy, especially the

Meritorious Mast. That’s evenhard for Marines.”

Receiving the Meritorious Mastfrom the United States Navy wasalso especially meaningful forBurkhalter because he had initial-ly started his military career withthe Navy.

A 1967 graduate of South PageHigh School, Burkhalter turneddown a scholarship to theUniversity of Nebraska to playfootball to enlist in the Navy.

“I felt a sense of duty to enlist. Icome from a military family andmy father was a POW in WorldWar II. He was captured at theBattle of the Bulge,” Burkhaltersaid. “My son, Heath, also servedin Desert Storm with the 101stAirborne as a medic.”

Burkhalter joined the Navy inOctober of 1967 and reported toSan Diego for basic training.During basic training, Burkhalter

was selected for the Blue JacketChoir, which performed variousconcerts for the Navy.

“I thought it was great. That’ssomething most people don’t getto do,” Burkhalter said. “We evenhad a chance to go on the RedSkelton Show near Christmas, butthe group backed out.”

After finishing basic training,Burkhalter was sent to Yokosuka,Japan, and served as aBoatswain’s Mate aboard the USSClarion River for approximatelysix months.

In late January of 1968, theUSS Clarion River was creditedwith defeating Viet Cong attackson two Vietnamese cities.Operating from Qui Nihon to TuyHoa during her fifth trip to theVietnamese gun line, the ship wasresponsible for 38 confirmed killsin a 10-day period.

However, Burkhalter sustained

a severe ankle injury during thattime and was hospitalized inJapan for 30 days. He was thentransferred to Oakland, Calif., foranother two months of recovery.Soon after being released from thehospital, Burkhalter received anhonorable discharge from theNavy in August of 1968.

“When I got out, you nevercould have told me at that timethat I would ever want to get backinto the military,” Burkhalter said.

However, in 1974 Burkhalterenrolled in college at Peru StateTeachers College. Since theNebraska National Guard wasoffering to pay 50 percent of a stu-dent’s tuition for the first year ofcollege and 75 percent the secondyear, Burkhalter made the deci-sion to return to the military.

After graduating in 1978,Burkhalter served as a teacher andcoach at West Point, Iowa, and

later at Auburn, Neb. Then, in1984, he and his wife moved toTarkio, Mo. The couple eventuallysettled in Clarinda in 1984.

Burkhalter retired from hisposition as Chief Medical NCOfor Missouri in 2000, butremained in the Army RetiredReserve until 2008. When hefinally ended his military career,Burkhalter had 34 years of totalservice.

Still, Burkhalter remains amember of both Glenn MillerVFA Post 9230 and AmericanLegion Sergy Post 98 in Clarinda,as well as the Disabled AmericanVeterans.

“The military has been verygood to us. It bought groceries,paid for school, paid for the edu-cation of our kids and kept a roofover our heads,” Burkhalter said.

CHRISTENSENContinued from Page 4

Morocco should war haveerupted during the ColdWar.

“The B-52s had longerlegs and could fly from hereover there and missilesstarted to be used, so the B-47 was phased out as amidrange bomber,”Christensen said.

As a result, Christensenleft Lockbourne Air ForceBase in May of 1965 andwas selected for a positionwith SAC at Bellevue, Neb.,as a computer programmer.

Christensen assisted withsetting up a visual displaysystem for the SingleIntegrated Operation Planthat tracked targets andresources available to allbranches of the military fora possible war with theSoviet Union.

After six months in thatrole, Christensen wasnamed Director of theIntelligence TargetProgram. Utilizing comput-er programs, Christensenwas able to track whatweapons would bedeployed against each tar-get in case of an attack.

“It was very interestingwork for guys who hadbeen flying airplanes. Wealways wondered whoselected the targets anddecided what weapons toput against those targets,”Christensen said. “Our hopewas that we would do sowell with the computer sim-ulations that neither sidewould do anything and itturned out that way.”

After approximately twoand one-half years of serv-ice with SAC, Christensenwas sent to Vietnam inOctober of 1967 to serve ina similar role with theMilitary AssistanceCommand – Vietnam,which was headquarterednear Tonsunute Air Base inSaigon.

Overseeing the MilitaryAssistance Command –Vietnam when Christensenarrived was GeneralWilliam C. Westmoreland.

“I saw him quite regular-ly,” Christensen said. “Itwas a two story buildingbuilt like figure eights puttogether and his office wasin the next wing from ourson the second floor.”

Four months afterChristensen arrived inSaigon the Vietcong and

North Vietnamese forceslaunched a series of surpriseattacks throughout SouthVietnam known as the TetOffensive.

Christensen was living ina hotel in Cholon, theChinese section of Saigon,located approximately 10miles from headquarterswhen the attacks began.

“For the first three days Iwas stuck in my hotel. I satup on the top floor andwatched the fighting goingon. No unites attacked ourbuilding. Luckily our hotelwas about a block awayfrom a hotel used by themilitary police, so we hadlots of friends around us,”Christensen said.

Still, after the TetOffensive, Christensen saidhe and other soldiers wereinstructed to move closer toheadquarters and everyonewas to carry a weapon.

Although there were nocasualties to his groupwhile he was in Vietnam,Christensen said he wasaware of the threat of dan-ger.

“There was always achance of getting killed in aplace like that, but theywere pretty slim. I remem-ber we had moved our

office across the hall and wehad a couple of rockets hitsabout a block away. I wasjust gazing out the windowand bam, bam,” Christensensaid.

Christensen concludedhis one-year tour inVietnam in October of 1968and then was sent to Ent AirForce Base in ColoradoSprings, Colo. He spent twoyears at base installing acomputer at nearbyCheyenne Mountain andlinking it to the air forcebase.

Then, in June of 1970,Christensen left to attendCommand and StaffCollege at Maxwell AirForce Base in Montgomery,Ala.

After completing the oneyear program, Christensenwas assigned to Bitburg AirBase in Bitburg, Germany,where he spent six monthsassigned to a B-66 electron-ic countermeasure aircraft.

“I needed to get moreflight hours. I spent twoyears there until they deac-tivated the B-66,”Christensen said. “I waspart of a single squadronattached to a fighter wing.We spent time in Greece,Italy and Spain flyingagainst their radar sitesusing electronic counter-measures.”

From there, Christensenspent approximately twoyears in Wiesbaden,Germany, serving in a rolesimilar to the one he heldwith SAC. Then, in June of1975, he returned to theUnited States and assumedan intelligence position atBlytheville Air Force Basein Blytheville, Ark.

Finally, after more than21 years of service in theUnited States Air Force,Christensen retired in Julyof 1977 at the rank ofLieutenant Colonel. He andhis wife, Elaine, returned to

Page County to live on afarm two miles west ofCollege Springs thatChristensen had purchasedduring his time in the mili-tary.

The couple was marriedthe day Christensen gradu-ated from Iowa StateUniversity and had fourchildren.

“After she finishedschool, my wife wenteverywhere with me exceptVietnam,” Christensen said.

Looking back at hiscareer, Christensen said thething he misses most is theaccess to information isduties with the intelligencecommunity provided.

“Every morning I read allthe top secret documentsthat came in the nightbefore. I found out whatwent on in the world andgot the unvarnished truth ofwhat was going on,”Christensen said.


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DAVISONContinued from Page 6

However, after five years, Davisondecided to get out of the military. He washonorably discharged in August 2003. Hereturned to Clarinda and moved toShenandoah in 2004.

Married to Jennifer, Ty was employed atEaton Corporation for five years, and alsoworked at Security Lock and Key, as wellas Hy-Vee, before obtaining a positionwith MSW, a contractor out of Indiana,performing inspections as a quality techni-cian at Eaton Corporation in Shenandoah.

“Through the Navy I got to see theworld,” Davison said. “I also learned coop-eration and about diversity. I got to seehow other cultures live and most of all,appreciate how great it is to be anAmerican.”

we shall not forget June 2012 3 The Valley News/Herald-Journal


Raised in a military family, Janet Bristerof Clarinda has always held a strong senseof patriotism and is proud of the opportuni-ty she had to serve her country.

Brister was the third of four generationsin her family to serve in the United StatesArmed Forces.

Her grandfatherserved in WorldWar I, while herfather served inthe United StatesAir Force duringWorld War II.Like her father,Brister alsoserved in the AirForce.

In addition,Brister said herhusband served

nine years with the Air Force and another11 years with the United States Armyincluding three tours of duty as a helicop-ter pilot during Vietnam. The couple hadtwo sons and Brister said their youngestboy served with the United States Navy.

“The military broadens your horizonsand makes you a better person because yousee how other people live,” Brister said.

Born in Pennsylvania, Brister said sheregularly moved from city to city as a childsince her father was a member of theUnited States Air Force.

Following in her father’s footsteps,Brister enlisted in the Air Force as soon asshe graduated from high school in 1962.

“He used to be a recruiter for the AirForce. He said he couldn’t afford to giveme money for college after basic training,but in the Air Force, if you stay in longenough, you have the GI Bill. That is exact-ly why I went in – to get the GI Bill fornursing,” Brister said.

Following basic training, Brister was sta-tioned at Charleston Air Force Base, S.C.,and worked in the personnel department.

Originally, Brister worked with militaryretirees to train and educate them for newcareer opportunities.

However, her primary duty during hermilitary career was to compile the nomina-

tions officers filed for medals and similarhonors to be awarded to members of themilitary.

Brister said many of the military honorsshe processed were awarded posthumous-ly, so she took great satisfaction in know-ing their sacrifices were recognized.

“It was very rewarding. I loved doing itbecause if we hadn’t done it that way, thefamily would never know what their lovedone did the whole time and how special itwas that they have those awards,” Bristersaid.

One of Brister’s other main duties was towork with military families to review thedeath benefits they were eligible for.

A major in her office, accompanied by achaplain, was responsible for notifying thefamilies of military personnel of the deathof their loved one. On occasion, Bristersaid she would also assist with those notifi-cations.

“You would try not to cry. It was very,very difficult,” Brister said.

While serving in the Air Force Bristerand her husband were married. Then in1965, when she learned she was pregnantwith her first son, Brister was issued anhonorable discharge after three years ofmilitary service.

“I would have been in as long as I couldhave been in, but we got married and at thattime, when you had your children, you hadto get out,” Brister said.

Following her discharge, Brister said herhusband was transferred to Anchorage,Alaska, where the family lived for 35years.

Once her two sons were in school,Brister followed through with her originalplan to use the GI Bill she received fromthe Air Force to enroll in nursing school.

“I had been interested in nursing since Iwas a little girl,” Brister said. “I enjoyedworking with people and helping heal theiremotional and physical problems.”

Brister went on to become an LPN andworked at a hospital in Alaska for 28 years.

Working on a rehabilitation unit, Bristerwas forced to retire after suffering a backinjury that required two surgeries.

“Doctors told me I couldn’t do that any-more, so that’s what ended it. But there’shardly a month that goes by I don’t think

Janet Brister Clarinda

Brister holds a strong sense of patriotismBy KENT DINNEBIER

Staff Writer

After serving with the United StatesNavy during the Vietnam War, TerryBurkhalter of rural Clarinda had no inten-tion of returning to the military. However,when the Missouri National Guard provid-ed Burkhalter the chance to finally pursuehis love of medicine, he could not refuse.

Raised inLenox and Coinarea, Burkhalterworked for a vet-erinarian while inhigh school atSouth Page andwas later accept-ed to medicalschool on threedifferent occa-sions. Therefore,in 1983, he finallyjoined the

Missouri National Guard as a medic.His wife, Jana, was attending Tarkio

College at the time and Burkhalter workedat the college.

After joining the Missouri NationalGuard, Burkhalter was sent to Fort SamHouston in San Antonio, Texas, to betrained as a combat medic. The next yearhe completed the Super B Medical NonCommissioned Officer course.

Also in 1984, while serving in theinfantry, Burkhalter earned an ArmyCommendation Medal for his efforts to

save a fellow soldier. The injured soldierrequired mouth to mouth resuscitation andtwice needed CPR on his way to receivingmedical care.

“I was with a field artillery unit, butdecided it was time to move up the ladder.So I went to the 135th Surgical MASH unitin Kansas City,” Burkhalter said. “I was thesenior medical NCO for the field artillerybattalion and worked in the hospital.”

In 1987, Burkhalter received a secondArmy Commendation Medal for his lead-ership efforts while attending annual train-ing at Fort McCoy, Wis.

During his time with the 135th SurgicalMASH unit, Burkhalter was twice called toactive duty. The first was in 1990 when hewas sent to Panama on four separate occa-sions in an eight month span to relievemedical crews that were sent to DesertStorm.

“Panama was hot and muggy. We alsohad to contend with pot shots that werebeing taken by some of the locals at theMPs that were with us,” Burkhalter said.

Then, after having previously complet-ing nursing school in Maryville, Mo., tobecome an LPN, Burkhalter was sent to theFifth General Hospital in Stuttgart,Germany, late in 1991. During his time atthe hospital Burkhalter worked in theorthopedic and psychiatric units.

After completing a special operationsmedical NCO course, Burkhalter wasnamed the named the Chief Medical NCOfor Missouri in 1996. He held the presti

Terry Burkhalter Clarinda

Chance to pursue love of medicine

see BRISTER, Page 27

see BURKHALTER, Page 28

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CLINEContinued from Page 5

Cline said he enjoyedbeing so close to LosAngeles, especially the jazzclubs.

“This was the heyday ofthe Sunset Strip and MoulinRouge. I remember JerryLewis and Dean Martinplayed the Moulin Rougeand tickets were $13, andthis got you a real goodmeal and their show.”

Near the end of his Navycareer, Cline was trans-ferred to Vandenberg AirForce Base and later toPoint Arguello, which was anew naval facility locatedon a coastal mountain. Hespent his last seven monthsat Point Arguello.

“At that time they had theTitan Missile and theVanguard was the satellite.

The Navy’s responsibility atthis time, at this base, wasthe take these communica-tion jeeps to the top of themountain when they weregoing to launch to keep thesea lanes of the coastal areaclear.”

In August 1959, Clinewas honorably dischargedfrom the Navy. He marriedhis wife, Carol, in 1960 andbegan attending College atthe University of Nebraska– Omaha.

He received his laborato-ry technologist degree andworked in that departmentfor eight years. Cline thenattended the University ofMinnesota, where heobtained a degree in hospi-tal administration.

After working in hospitaladministration for GrapeCommunity Hospital inHamburg and ShenandoahMemorial Hospital for

about eight years, Cline anda friend started a profes-sional pulmonary service inthe mid to late 1970s, whenrespiratory therapy was newin healthcare.

After selling the compa-ny, Cline sold insurance andthen returned to SMC,where he ran the businessoffice for nine years.

Cline then went to workfor Great Plains PhysiciansGroup, based out ofClarkson Hospital, wherehe ran the clinics inShenandoah, Auburn, Neb.,Denison, and Bellevue.

“It was really fun.”Not long after retiring,

Cline grew bored and decid-ed to go work at Walmart inthe sporting goods depart-ment.

Fred and Carol have twochildren, Curtis and Cindy,and one grandchild, Isaac.

FULKContinued from Page 7

Fulk received his ownorders to depart Korea Oct.3, 1946, after approximately14 months overseas andsailed back to California.

The night before Fulk dis-embarked, his ship arrivedin San Francisco Bay.

“I was glad to see theGolden Gate Bridge. I hadnever seen it before, but Iknew I was home,” Fulksaid.

After docking, Fulkplanned to join his fellowsoldiers for a celebrationdinner. However, thoseplans abruptly changedwhen he suffered an appen-dix attack.

Fulk underwent surgeryand was placed on a 30-daysick leave. He spent thetime visiting relatives inCalifornia and had anopportunity to attend col-lege football game betweenStanford and the Universityof Southern California.

The game was especiallymemorable for Fulkbecause fellow ClarindaHigh School graduate andfuture Washington Redskinsoffensive tackle BobHendren was playing forUSC.

“I was happy to get to seethe game. He was a coupleof years older than me, but Iknew he was a good playerin high school. Since wewere patients at the hospitalwe were able to get into thegame for free if we wore ourpajamas and robes,” Fulksaid.

Finally recovered fromhis surgery, Fulk departedOakland Army Base Dec.12, 1946, and arrived bytrain in Sheridan, Ill., thenext day. From there, hetook a train to Davenportand then took a bus toClarinda.

“I was glad to be homeand see my parents. That’swhat I was waiting a longtime for,” Fulk said.

With his 30-day sick

leave, Fulk spent two yearsin the service. That quali-fied him for college assis-tance and he enrolled atIowa State University tostudy animal husbandry.

“I was glad I got thehelp,” Fulk said. “I wasready to get back to farm-ing.”

CLAIRBORNEContinued from Page 4

“From Biak we flew sup-plies to Leyte (Philippines).We flew from Biak toPelleau Island and remainedovernight, then flew toLeyte, unloaded, and backto Peleliu of Palau Islandsin the Caroline Islands,remained overnight, thenreturned to Biak. We wereover water 99 percent of thetime.”

Flying over the ocean forhours and hours, saidClaiborne, was at timesscary.

“In February 1945, the55th Squadron rung up themost impressive recordevery compiled by a troopcarrier squadron by han-dling 10,319,000 pounds ofpersonnel and cargo.”

He said a lot of that cargowas 100 octane gas andfragmentation bombs thatwere used against theJapanese on Formosa andalong the China coast.Claiborne added the opera-tions required taking offwith very heavy 10,000pound loads with directcross winds and landing ona very short 4,000 foot stripat Clark Field.

“This operation requiredflying 18 hours a day andmaking a total of 214 take-offs and landings in themonth of February. In addi-tion, the 55th received let-ters of commendation forspraying the Manila andLingayen areas with DDT.”

Claiborne said he and therest of the 55th left San

Marceline on May 1945 andwent to Porac Air Field notfair from Clark Field, wherethey flew supplied to I.E.Shima and Okinawa. Theyalso liberated internees,who had been held in pris-oner of war camps at theSanta Tomas University inManila, to the Island ofSamar, where they were putaboard a ship for home.

“I also flew ammunitionand supplies to Zamboanga,located on the southwest tipof Mindanao. These werefor the Philippine guerillas,who were fighting theJapanese in that area.”

By the end of June,Claiborne said they wereflying daily to Okinawa,where they were exposed tobombing raids and an occa-sional Japanese kamikazeplane.

“In late July we startingflying the 11th AirborneDivision to Okinawa. Thismission was completed inthe record time of fourdays.”

The 55th moved onceagain to Okinawa in Augustand began flying Americanoccupation troops to AtsugiAir Strip, located about 30miles southwest of Japan.Then, about a month later,the 55th Advanced Echelonmoved from Okinawa toTachekawa Air Base, whichwould be their permanentbase for the remainder oftheir time in Japan.

“We were loaded andready to fly to Japan when atyphoon hit the field inOkinawa. We spent 24hours in our C46, anchoredto the coral with heavycables.”

In late September, flyinga C47 instead of a C46, thesquadron was named theImperial Courier Squadron.

“We were set up to fly ascheduled airline to carryJapanese officers for thepurpose of demobilizingtheir armed forces.”

By December, Claibornesaid he had flown to nearlyevery airfield in Japan andwas promoted to FirstLieutenant on Dec. 20,1945.

On Jan. 8, 1946,Claiborne flew seven warcorrespondents to Saseboand dropped 11 Red Crossnurses off along the way atOsaka. Once in Sasebo, hewas able to tour with thecorrespondents, which hefound interesting.

“We visited a POW campwhere Koreans were beingprocessed for their returntrip to Korea.”

By February 1946, the55th Troop Carrier

Squadron was changed tothe 39th Squadron of the317th Group, and the onlytroop carrier group left inthe Air Force.

A few months later, inApril, he received his ordersto return to the States. OnJune 23, he was relived ofactive duty, but signed upfor the reserved.

Although no longer inactive duty, Claiborne con-tinued to fly on the week-end in the reserves with theTroop Carrier Unit out ofOffutt Air Force Base. Headditionally obtained hiscommercial pilots license inJuly 1946 and became apilot with Trans MississippiAirways until August 1947.

“They had two C47 air-craft and we flew returningmilitary personnel from thewest coast to New YorkCity, dropping them off atvarious cities along theway.”

On March 10, 1951,

Claiborne was called backto active duty because of theKorean Conflict. He wassent to Florida and assignedto the Light Bomb TestSquadron of the Air ProvingGround Command at EglinAir Force Base.

“We performed opera-tional suitability tests on allof the equipment the AirForce was planning to pur-chase.”

Claiborne was then reas-signed to the 78th FighterInterceptor Squadron inShepherd’s Grove, Englandin June 1953, and was laterassigned temporary duty atWheelus Air Force Base,Libya, Tripoli, from July12, 1953 to Aug. 11, 1953.

“While at Wheelus, I flewa B26 towing a target forthe gunnery practice of oursquadron’s F86 jet pilots.”

In October 1953, he wassent back to the states anddischarged from the service.

After he was discharged

from the service, he workedfor Ken Hudson at SidneyTruck and Tractor.

In July 1959, he begancarrying mail for the postalservice, but continuedworking for Hudson in theafternoons. In 1962, he car-ried mail and worked forVern’s Five and Dime in theafternoons.

He delivered mail for 32years and retired in 1992. Inaddition to working, he wasa Sidney Low Rent HousingBoard member from 1968to 2000; has been a morethan 50-year member of theWilliam Jobe GibsonAmerican Legion Post No.128 of Sidney; and was theFremont County VeteransAffairs Officer from 1997 to2011.

He and his wife of 61years, Pat, have two chil-dren, Alan and Kent; twograndchildren, and fivegreat-grandchildren.


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CLAIRBORNE

HARRISContinued from Page 11

Farms, Inc., however in 1985, he decided toget out of farming and into the real estateand appraisal business with Farm CreditServices. For the past 11 years, he’s been a

staff appraiser with Farm Credit.“It got me out of southwest Iowa where I

realized there are other people in the world,other ideas, and other cultures. It was a realgrowing experience for the standpoint thatnot all people are the same,” said Harris.“The military was a good experience forme.”


COPPContinued from Page 5

“It was gruesome. Youwouldn’t believe it and a lotof people still don’t believeit. There were thousandsand thousands of peopleburied in big gullies,” Coppsaid. “It was hid back in theforest. The Germans hadfled and they killed a bunchof people who were not ableto travel. The camp had fourbig gas chambers, a guillo-tine and four crematoriumsthat could hold a truckloadof bodies at a time. But theywere so choked full of bod-ies they couldn’t burn anymore.”

Only one man, who hadbeen hiding in one of thebarracks, was found alive atthe camp. However, asearch of the camp didreveal the true level ofhatred Adolf Hitler and theGermans had for the Jewish

people.“A woman was in charge

of the camp. When we wentin her office, she had a lampon her desk with a lamp-shade made out of tattooedhuman skin,” Copp said.“He wanted to exterminatethem and that was thewhole thing behind it.”

Despite the many horrify-ing sites he saw, Copp saidhe could not allow himselfto consider the emotionalreality of the situation.

“It was war. They weredead people and we werehardened to it,” Copp said.“That sort of thing was hap-pening all over. You just hadto keep moving on down theroad.”

Although Copp was onlyat Ohrdruf concentrationcamp for one day, at onepoint he found himselfstanding only a few feetfrom four of the most sig-nificant Allied commanders

of World War II – GeneralOmar Bradley; GeneralDwight D. Eisenhower,Supreme Commander of theAllied Forces in Germany;General BernardMontgomery, commanderof the British 8th Army; andPatton.

“They were at the gate ofthe concentration camp andI was standing off to theside of them. A news personwas taking photos. I thoughtI might be in the photos, butthey cut me out,” Copp said.“To us they were just anoth-er man and another com-mander. We did not bowdown to them. We were inwar.”

After leaving Ohrdrufconcentration camp, Coppsaid the troops continuedtheir push towardCzechoslovakia. Along theway, they found somecopies of the military news-paper Stars and Stripes that

had been dropped from air-planes for the soldiers. Thelead article in the newspa-per told of the death ofPresident Franklin D.Roosevelt.

Copp was inCzechoslovakia when vic-tory in Europe was declaredMay 8, 1945. Despite work-ing in the motor pool, Coppsaid there were two memo-rable instances during thepush to Czechoslovakia thathe was directly confrontedby German soldiers.

The first occurred in theforests of Germany when a16-man German patrol hadCopp and a driver pinneddown with machine gunfire.

“There were bullets fly-ing over our head and wecouldn’t see anything in thedark forest. We rolled downan embankment and wereable to get help. But whenwe got back everything was

quiet,” Copp said. “The nextday we learned a U.S. tankhad come up behind themand captured the patrol.”

The other incidentoccurred when Copp and adriver were left behind tomake repairs to a tractorthat had broken down.

“I had just gotten outfrom under the tractor whena MesserMite airplane camedown on us. For whateverreason he didn’t fire on us,but it was kind of weird tobe looking the pilot right inthe eye as he came downover the hill,” Copp said.

Once victory wasdeclared in Europe, Coppand his division made itsway back to France with theaid of the German auto-bahn.

“They sent the highpointers to camps and westopped in Rouen, France.While there, I met anAmerican walking on a

canal that had served inWorld War I and had stayedthere,” Copp said.

Copp was eventually sentback to the SeparationCenter at JeffersonBarracks, Mo. He was dis-charged from the Army Jan.26, 1946, with the rank ofsergeant. He was awardedtwo Combat Battle Starsand two Bronze Stars dur-ing his service.

After leaving the Army,Copp started working con-struction. In 1956, he wasworking for a company thatinstalled water lines, sewerlines and tile lines. Thecompany was awarded thecontract to install the citywater lines in New Market.While working on the proj-ect, Copp met his wife,Laurine, and the couple set-tled in Clarinda.

“I am proud of my serv-ice,” Copp said.

DAMMANNContinued from Page 6

and encountered ImprovisedExplosive Devices on numerousoccasions.

“Everything is such a fog. Youdon’t evenr e a l i z eyou’re hurtuntil wayl a t e r , ”Dammannsaid. “I didnot comeback thesame per-son. I amnow 60p e r c e n tdisabled.”

Due toher injuries Dammann returned toFort Carson Colorado after 12-months in Iraq and was then sent to aWarrior Transition Unit where shereceived care that included surgery onher ankle.

Even though Dammann received a

medical discharge from the Army in2009, she said she was pleased tohave had the opportunity to serve hercountry.

“I would do it over again, but at thesame time I probably would take adifferent job,” Dammann said.

Since her medical discharge,Dammann has spent the last twoyears in Buffalo, N.Y.

“I have a lot of friends from theArmy that live in that area and I amgoing to school for civil engineeringat Empire State University inBuffalo,” Dammann said.

While visiting the Buffalo VeteransAffairs Office in June of 2011,Dammann also learned about a pro-gram that would allow her to joinwith and assist her fellow veterans.

The National Veterans TEETournament began as a local golftournament with 36 participants, buthas grown into an event with morethan 200 participants from across theUnited States.

“The golf tournament is open toveterans who have a certain level ofdisability. It is not a real competitivething. Most of the guys have not

golfed before, but it is still an oppor-tunity for them to get together andtalk with other veterans,” Dammannsaid.

Dammann played in the 18thAnnual National Veterans TEETournament held Sept. 12-15 atRiverside.

Since the tournament was short-handed on volunteers, Dammann alsoassister her fellow veterans during thetournament.

“Most of the veterans are legallyblind, so I would help them tee uptheir balls and stuff like that,”Dammann said.

Dammann said she greatly enjoyedthe opportunity to meet and speakwith the other veterans participatingin the tournament and she plans to beinvolved in the tournament again nextyear.

“I loved it. As a younger veteran ofIraqi Freedom, having the opportuni-ty to meet Vietnam veterans and onewoman who was a veteran of WorldWar II was just incredible. For me itwas a life changing event,” Dammannsaid.

GILLHAMContinued from Page 7

had about six, large guardsaround him at all times, sono one got real close.”

Soon, Gillham was pro-moted to the ice department,where he served as supervi-sor.

“I had a driver and twodelivery boys. All I had todo was sit back and relax.”

After about 20 months,Gillham received orders toreturn to the States, wherehe was discharged. He did,however, sign up for threeyears inactive reserves.

“I went and got a job withthe Burlington NorthernRailroad, where I worked asan agent and operator.”

A year short of his threeyear inactive reserve obliga-tion, Gillham receivedorders for Japan, this time itwas during the Korean

Conflict. “We landed in Yokohama

again, but this time I was inSapporo, on the northernisland.”

This time he worked as adispatcher in the motor poolfor about a year-and-a-half.

“I got home right beforemy three years were up,” herecalled. “Once they wereup, I got out.”

Gillham returned to hisposition at the railroad,where he remained until hisretirement, after 34 years.He married, and became thefather of three children,Robert, Ronald, and Cheryl.He also has numerousgrandchildren and a fewgreat-grandchildren.

“The Army helps a youngperson with their outlook onlife. It’s also very education-al,” Gillham said. “It alsogave me the chance to seethe world.”


GRAYContinued from Page 8

hands one night on guardduty.”

As company clerk, Grayhas top NATO securityclearance. He said he car-ried papers to a colonel andto a general in a briefcasehandcuffed to his wrist.

“I was issued two 45s andI had to carry them on a belt,fully loaded, and no one wasallowed to come within six-foot of me or I had orders toshoot.”

Gray handled drug testingand physical training paper-work as well for everyone,regardless of rank, while acompany clerk inSchwabisch Gmund.

“I had to make sure theycould run two-miles under12 minutes and they had tobe able to do 50 sit-ups and50 push-ups – everybody,”said Gray. “If they suspect-

ed someone of being ondrugs, I had to administerthe test and sign off on it.”

After almost two years,Gray returned to the Statesand was discharged.

“I look back and think Ishould have made it (Army)a career.”

However, instead of stay-ing in the Army, Gray got ajob at Pepsi. He started in1983 until 1989. He thengot a position with EatonCorporation, where heremained until 2000 whenhe retired.

“I never missed one dayof work when I was at Pepsiand I only missed four daysof work when I was atEaton,” said Gray. “I had agood job record, which Ilearned in the Army.”

Joe has been married for32 years to his wife,Rhonda. The couple has twochildren, Lucas and Jeanna,as well as three grandchil-dren.

GREBERTContinued from Page 8

Grebert was dischargedfrom the U.S. Air Force inSeptember of 1970. Hereturned to Clarinda andworked at NSK Corporationfor 33 years before retiringDec. 31, 2008.

Soon after returning toClarinda, Grebert alsojoined American LegionSergy Post 98. Since hisretirement, Grebert said hehas been more active in theorganization. He currentlyserves as a member of thecolor guard, which providesmilitary rites during thefuneral of local veterans.

“To me, it’s an honor to

go to the funerals. The vet-eran’s families seem to behappy we’re there and wefeel it is an honor they let usdo it for them,” Grebertsaid.

Looking back on his mili-tary career, Grebert said heis honored to have servedhis country and is pleasedhe was able to spend a yearin Vietnam.

“I’m glad I was able tosee what life was like inVietnam. The way peoplefelt about our servicemenmade it hard for them tocome home and it has takenme a long time to get overthat,” Grebert said. “But I’mglad I was able to help outas much as I could.”

GRIDERContinued from Page 9

a repair locker.“Our job was to keep the ship

afloat if we took a hit during battle orto put out fires if they occurred,”Grider said. “As an investigator, if wetook a hit, my job was to inspect thedamage and call for whatever supportwas needed to shore up the ship ordeal with a fire if I discovered one.”

Just over one year after the CubanMissile Crisis, Grider was in theengine room operating the throttleswhen it was announced that PresidentKennedy had been assassinated.

“There was just a hush. It was hardto even strike up a conversation withmy shipmates because we were in astate of apprehension and mourningfor our President,” Grider said. “Mostof us believed he was a goodPresident and we hated to see his wifeand children suffer like that. We wereheartbroken.”

During his time aboard the USSHenderson, Grider also made twowestern Pacific cruises. During thesix month missions Grider visitedsuch ports as Japan, the Philippines,Honk Kong and Hawaii, which hadjust joined the United States.

“I loved Hawaii. I could certainlysee why we wanted Hawaii to be oneof our states,” Grider said.

Grider said he was also involved ina rescue mission in the waters near

Japan. The USS Henderson encoun-tered a large fishing boat that was onfire.

“We moved in next to the boat andwere able to rescue the crew from thefishing boat, but we were unable toget the fire under control and the boatsank,” Grider said.

Later, in 1964, the USS Hendersonand her sister ships relieved the USSTurner Joy and her sister ships fol-lowing the Gulf of Tonkin Incident.

“Tensions between Vietnam andthe United States were high and theycame to a head when Vietnamese PTboats attacked the Turner Joy,” Gridersaid. “That attack led to the VietnamWar.”

In an effort to protect Americaninterests in the region, Grider said theUSS Henderson spent 31 dayspatrolling the Gulf of Tonkin beforereturning to the United States forrepairs to its sonar dome.

While the USS Henderson wasbeing put in dry dock, Grider wassent to Long Beach, Calif., for histime of separation and officially com-pleted his Navy career in 1965.

“I have always felt guilty about get-ting out of the military at the time thewar was developing,” Grider said. “Ihave always had a great appreciationfor our veterans, especially Vietnamveterans. My heart was with themthroughout the whole thing. It wasvery discouraging to think of the cir-cumstances they came back to. Theydidn’t come back to the hero’s wel-

come they deserved.”While serving in the Navy, Grider

studied with the United States ArmedForces Institute and received his GEDshortly after leaving the military.

Following his discharge Griderreturned to Houston, Texas, where hisfather then lived. He and his wife,Jamie, lived in the Houston area for42 years. The couple had a daughter,Melissa and a son, Kelly.

Grider worked in facilities manage-ment until his retirement in 2004.That same year he was diagnosedwith cancer. In 2009, the cancerreturned and Grider was diagnosedwith stage-four bone cancer.

Since his daughter, Melissa, hadjust married Ryan Potts, the owner ofGutter Tech in Braddyville, Gridermade the decision to move toBraddyville to be closer to his family.

A benefit to assist Grider with hismedical expenses has been scheduledfor Friday, March 30, at HarvestFellowship Church. The event willstart at 6 p.m.

Although Grider has only lived inthe Braddyville area for a little morethan two years, he said he has beenamazed at the outpouring of supporthe and his family have received.

“I couldn’t appreciate their effortsany more than I do. I have only beenaround here for two years, so it hasbeen surprising to see people youhardly know bring forth that kind ofsupport,” Grider said.

HARGINContinued from Page 10

“We had to shoot five approachesbefore we could actually landbecause the weather was getting sobad. I didn’t know if we were goingto run out of fuel before we made thelanding,” Hargin said.

However, Hargin said there werealso several enjoyable experiencesduring his career as a military naviga-tor.

Hargin said his flight crew, whichused the call sign Raiders and wore a

patch like the logo of the OaklandRaiders, once received a visit from agroup of Oakland Raiders playersand cheerleaders.

The flight crew also transportedseveral Dallas Cowboy planers,including Ed “Too Tall” Jones, toHawaii for a children’s program.

Finally, Hargin said the plane hewas assigned to, was used in the clos-ing scenes of the movie HeartbreakRidge starring Clint Eastwood.Hargin said their squadron hangarwas also used in the movie andMarines from his squadron served asextras in the movie.

Although Hargin was not involvedin the filming of the movie and didnot get a chance to meet Eastwood,he said the movie star did sign thecockpit of the airplane.

Hargin was discharged from theMarines Jan. 8, 1988, and soon afterenrolled in chiropractic school. Hemoved to Clarinda in 1994.

“The Marines have a do or die typeattitude where you never give up andfind a way to persevere. I have carriedthat forward and always strive to domy best. That is why I think all youngmen should serve their country in oneform or another,” Hargin said.

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HANSENContinued from Page 10

matic about it. We just hadlong, hard days that neverended,” Hansen said.

Hansen recalled one daywhere that routine wasinterrupted when he andhis fellow shoulders had torun approximately twomiles in full gear to pro-vide assistance to adowned helicopter.

“We loved the chopperpilots because they werethe ones that came to getyou if you were injured orbrought you ammunition.So we would do everythingwe could to save a pilot,”Hansen said.

However, the tables wereturned June 27, 1969,when Hansen had to relyon a helicopter pilot to helpsave his life after he wasinjured while on patrol.

Hansen said his squadwas establishing a perime-ter in an area known to befilled with booby traps.

Hansen said he initiallystepped in Punji Pit – ahole filled with sharppointed bamboo sticks –but was not seriouslyinjured in the incident.

However, a short timelater, Hansen stepped oneither a trip wire or a landmine and sustained exten-sive shrapnel wounds toboth legs.

“I was taken by chopperto the hospital. I was ableto give them my social

security number, my mili-tary number and my wife’sname and then I passedout,” Hansen said.

After spending approxi-mately six weeks at a hos-pital in Saigon, Hansenwas transferred to a hospi-tal in Okinawa for twomonth and final transferredto Fitzsimons ArmyHospital in Aurora, Colo.

In all, Hansen was inand out of the hospital fornearly a year-and-a-halfand underwent multiplesurgeries before finallybeing discharged from theArmy in November of1970.

“They actually kept mein longer than my twoyears because I was hospi-talized,” Hansen said.

While on medical leavejust before his discharge,Hansen was able to resumehis teaching career.

However, after spendinga year in the classroom,Hansen left education totake up farming. He andhis family moved to theClarinda area in the late1970s.

More than 40 years afterHansen was wounded inthe line of duty, he remainshumble about his servicewith the United StatesArmy.

“We were called on to doa duty for our country. Istepped forward and didthe job I was called to do atthat time,” Hansen said.

HAYESContinued from Page 12

said.In 1991, Hayes and his unit from

Rosecrans Air Base were activated aspart of Desert Storm and deployed tothe United Arab Emirates for a shorttime before being moved to Al Kharjair base.

Hayes and his fellow guardsmenwere charged with supporting themovement of the 82nd and 101stAirborne Divisions into Iraq duringthe liberation of Kuwait in lateFebruary of 1991.

“We were tasked with moving thoseguys. They gave us two weeks to do itin and we did it in eight days workingaround the clock. Each C-130 wasdesigned to load one Sheridan tankand its equipment. We moved 55 ofthem in eight days,” Hayes said.

Following the liberation of Kuwait,Hayes remained at Al Kharj air baseuntil May when his unit returned to theUnited States.

Having seen the conditions inVietnam, Hayes said the Middle East

was a much harsher environment forsoldiers.

“It was totally different. Eventhough you were in the jungle and hadthe rain and all that, I would say it wasworse. That part of the world is justnot a good place. If a sand storm cameup, you could look directly at the sunand not bother your eyes. There wassand everywhere,” Hayes said.

While the landscapes soldiers facedin Vietnam and Desert Storm werenearly polar opposites, Hayes said sowas the reaction of the American peo-ple to the wars.

“The high level of patriotism peoplehave has not really changed since1991. When I came back fromSoutheast Asia, there was none of that.We just had our families. MostVietnam veterans will agree with that.But when I came back in 1991 therewas an outpouring of support and peo-ple greeted you at the airport whenyou landed. It was just amazing andour veterans really needed that,”Hayes said.

Hayes served with the Air NationalGuard at Rosecrans Air Base for near-

ly 12 more years before retiring inJanuary of 2003.

“Being with the Guard was proba-bly the best thing I ever did,” Hayessaid.

A year before Hayes enlisted in theUnited States Air Force, he and hiswife, Marilyn, were married. Hayessaid her support throughout his mili-tary career was the key reason he wasable to overcome the various chal-lenges he encountered.

“You have to have an understandingwife to be gone as much as I was,doing things she didn’t know about orI couldn’t tell her about,” Hayes said.

Finally, Hayes said his militaryservice gave him a sense of apprecia-tion for the freedoms he enjoys as aUnited States citizen.

“I saw a lot of different countries Inever would have been in otherwise,”Hayes said. “I learned about thoseother cultures, their people and theway they live. I saw the differencesbetween what we have and what theyhave, and there is no comparison. Itmakes you appreciate what we havehere a lot more.”

HAYSContinued from Page 12

He then was offered a job asDirector of Engineering at Starbucks,where he remained for two-and-a-halfyears.

“That was stressful. I kind of gotburnt out. That’s when I started doingconsulting work in the coffee industry.Did that for a couple years, where Iconsulted for Seattle Best Coffee, whooffered me a position as head of theirengineering department, where I was

for two years.”Hays then worked for AT&T

Wireless as director of asset manage-ment group, keeping track of the vari-ous components they had, for morethan a year.

“After that I went back into the cof-fee world, and one of the primarygroups I’ve worked with the past 10years has been Caribou Coffee out ofMinneapolis.”

Designing coffee factories, improv-ing equipment, product layout, anddesigning equipment is what Haysdoes now in his consulting position.

Wanting to slow down, where thecost of living is significantly less,Hays moved to Shenandoah in 2005after living in Seattle for roughly 20years.

In addition to his consulting work,Hays is a photographer, where he spe-cializes in mountains, waterfalls, andhot air balloons.

“I recommend the service,” Hayssaid. “I think it is great.”

Hays has a daughter, Aimee Gilbert,and two grandchildren, Cole and Cory.

KENTContinued from Page 17

Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas. “I was at home and got called in because

the base went on full alert. People wereshocked by what had happened,” Kent said.

Then, in January of 1964, Kent returned

to Germany where he was assigned to theCanadian Forces Base Baden-Soellingenfor three years.

“There were Canadian guards andAmerican guards. The Canadians wereresponsible for guarding the planes and theAmericans were responsible for guardingthe bombs for the CF104s,” Kent said.

Following his tour of duty in Germany,

Kent was sent to Homestead, Fla. Otherthan for the six months he was in Korea in1968, Kent spent six years in Florida.

In 1972 Kent was transferred to San Vitodei Normanni Air Station in Italy for 18months. Then, in 1974, he was assigned tobase patrol at Offutt Air Force Base inOmaha and served as a flight chief.

For his final overseas assignment, Kent

was sent to Incirlik Air Base near Adana,Turkey, after having completed GroundDefense School at Lackland Air ForceBase.

Finally, in January of 1977, Kent was sta-tioned at Cannon Air Force Base in Clovis,N.M., where he served until Aug. 31, 1978,when he retired from the Air Force.

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HEUERContinued from Page 13

was the best of the best,”Heuer said. “We had greatleadership. They were con-fident and that inspired con-fidence in us.”

Still, during a mission toKuwait Military City, Heuerrealized just how close dan-ger looms. His squaddeparted Log Base Mulliganduring and made its way towhat was believed to be asecure area to spend the restof the night. The next morn-ing Heuer learned two of thetrucks in his squad hadparked next to coveredbombs.

“We had to wait for theordinance team to take careof the bombs before wecould move the trucks andcheck them out,” Heuersaid. “That one kind ofmade you think a little bit.”

However, when the squadsafely arrived in KuwaitCity, Heuer said they werewarmly welcomed by thelocal residents. Heuer saidhe was especially amazed atthe way the young childrenwould come up to the sol-diers.

“The little kids were just ablast. They had no fear of usand had such a warm feel-ing. They would come upand sit on our laps. Wealways tried to give themwhatever we had to eatbecause we knew they werehungry. But if you gavethem something, they wouldcome back with somethingfor you. I have high regardsfor the Kuwaiti people,”Heuer said.

After 180 days of deploy-ment, Heuer returned to theUnited States near the endof May in 1991.

Then, nearly 12 yearslater, in February of 2003,Heuer was again activatedfor Operation Iraqi Freedomas part of the 1168th

Transportation Company inAudubon. He served as asenior vehicle operator withthe 1st Squad.

Heuer arrived in Kuwaitjust before Easter and wasdeployed for approximately15 months. Initially, Heuerran missions driving tractortrailers hauling parts andequipment to different ports.

However, for the final fivemonths of his deployment,Heuer was assigned to asecurity force that guardedCamp Arifjan.

“During all my time in theservice that was something Ihad never done on that typeof scale,” Heuer said.“Luckily the group we hadwas dedicated to what wewere doing. It was a greatyoung troop that took on thechallenge and helped fortifythe area. I was blessed withthe troops I had.”

After finishing hisdeployment Heuer returnedto his civilian job, but late in2004 he was asked to returnto active duty as part of therecruit sustainment pro-gram. He served in the posi-tion until January of 2008and finally retired from theIowa Army National Guardon May 30, 2009.

However, Heuer is stillinvolved with the recruitsustainment program as acivilian contractor. Heassists with developing thefiles for the individual sol-diers and then helps themmake the transition to theirunit once they have com-pleted basic training andadvanced individual train-ing.

“You meet a lot of inter-esting young soldiers in thisrole, and you see themprogress and form a sense ofdedication to the military,”Heuer said. “It gives me achance to still feel like Ibelong to the military and Ihave seen a lot of soldiersgo down range. It’s fun towatch them grow up.”

HINGERContinued from Page 13

and obtain my Bachelor’s Degree innursing during the daytime. Since Istarted taking classes on my own, theNavy picked me up for Duty UnderInstruction, and from Memphis, theysent me to East Tennessee StateUniversity, in Johnson City, where Ihad 18-months to finish my bachelorsdegree in nursing.”

Once she completed her degree,she was assigned to Naval Hospital,Oakland, Calif., where she was thecharge nurse of the recovery room for18-months.

“Then I was transferred to NavalHospital Corps School, that’s where Itaught people that had just gotten outof basic training how to be hospital

corpsmen for the next three years.”Japan was Hinger’s next assign-

ment. Her first 18-months there, sheworked through a USC ExtensionProgram to receive her Master’sDegree in education.

“While I was there, for three yearsI was the administrator of the branchclinic on Camp Futenma, and thatwas where I was responsible for thehealthcare of 5,000 Marines.”

Also during that time, Hingeraccompanied a young Marine back toSan Antonio for an emergency livertransplant.

Hinger then was assigned to NavalHospital Great Lakes and spent herlast three years in the Navy as head ofstaff education and training.

She retired from the military in1996 and worked in home health

nursing for a year and a half. She thenworked in the pharmaceutical indus-try for 10 years.

“I then moved to Iowa.” A 28-year member of the American

Legion, and also a member of theAmerican Legion Auxiliary, Hinger isinterested in helping other female vet-erans in this area.

“I know what it’s like, I’ve beenthere,” she said.

In fact, Hinger was appointed asthe National Women’s AdvisoryBoard for the American Legion,addressing the ability of care womenreceive from the VA.

“I have first-hand knowledge of thecare we receive following a seriousillness this summer,” Hinger added.

Female veterans may contactHinger at [email protected].

JORGENSENContinued from Page 16

months, Jorgensen was assigned byhis medical company to work at thebase gymnasium in the recreationaldepartment.

“Every company had to have some-one assigned and I was the only onein our company that had any experi-ence in recreational activities. I wasresponsible for supervising the gym-nasium, which included providing theequipment for the troops to use or set-ting up for various events held at thegymnasium,” Jorgensen said.

Since Jorgensen was married at the

time he was drafted, his wife, Pat,lived with him at Fort Leonard Woodand their first son, Troy, was born atthe base in 1971.

After Jorgensen was dischargedfrom the Army in January of 1972,the family returned to Clarinda andhe resumed his duties at the ClarindaMHI.

Then, in 1980, Jorgensen joined theIowa Army National Guard andserved until 1982 when changes inhis job responsibilities at the MHIforced him to discontinue his service.

“They were giving some incentivesto get prior service guys back into theNational Guard. The military wasalways important to me, so it was a

great opportunity to get back in anddo a little more,” Jorgensen said.

Over the years, Jorgensen has alsobeen an active supporter of the UnitedStates military as a member ofAmerican Legion Sergy Post 98.

The role the American Legionplays in honoring fallen soldiers andsupporting the youth of the UnitedStates is very important to Jorgensen.

“Everybody that has served, Ithink, should try to stay active insome veterans’ organization, whetherthat is the American Legion, VFW orother projects because it’s importantthat we continue to give back to ourfellow soldiers and veterans,”Jorgensen said.

KELLISONContinued from Page 16

remembered.“I also gotsunburned realbad and wasreprimandedfor destructionof governmentproperty – me.Had to stay onboard for five

days.”The last three months of

Kellison’s service was spent inPearl Harbor, Hawaii, where hewas staff barber for the Admiralof the 7th Fleet and his staff.

“I did maybe one or two hair-cuts a day – it was great.”

Discharged in 1990, Kellisonreturned to the area and workedfour years as Baltzel AgriProducts. He then worked atEaton Corporation for a littlemore than a year. Fifteen yearsago, he obtained a position atLloyd Inc., where he has beensince.

The father of two sons, Derekand Alex, Kellison recommendsthe Navy to everyone. ”I learned a lot about myself,”said Kellison. “I also learned to beon time, about stick-with-it-ness,and that there are a lot of greatplaces out there, but none as goodas here (United States).”

ROBERTSContinued from Page 23

“That was during Desert Storm, wherewe were assigned as somewhat of a sup-port unit.”

When he returned from Turkey, Robertstransferred to a medical unit based inColumbia, Mo. and later, back to theCouncil Bluffs unit.

In 1993, he injured his back and retiredfrom the National Guard.

A member of the Shenandoah AmericanLegion Post No. 88, Roberts earned sever-al medals while in the service, includingthe Army Achievement Medal, ArmyGood Conduct Medal, and NationalDefense Service Medal.


HURSTContinued from Page 14

Base, Guam. “It was the base we were

bombing North Vietnamwith the B-52s.”

Hurst said Guam was anice place to reside for awhile, although somewhatprimitive.

“I was able to bring mywife and two children overand we lived in the boonieswith the natives because Iwasn’t high enough rank.We lived in a hut, no glassin the windows.”

In radar maintenance,Hurst maintained windequipment, cloud heightequipment, satellite-track-ing equipment, balloontracking equipment, weath-er radar,t empera tu re /humid i ty,barometer, and horizontal

visibility.“I enjoyed it, a lot. I was

very exciting,” he said.“You do a lot of preventa-tive maintenance becauseyou don’t want your radarto go down when it’s need-ed.”

After two years in Guam,Hurst was sent to 36-weeksof additional training atChanute, where he graduat-ed with honors.

“In my 12 ½ years in theAir Force, I had over 100weeks of tech school.”

Hurst was then assignedto the Grissom Air ForceBase in Indiana for a littlemore than one year, beforebeing reassigned toChanute, where he was aninstructor in weather equip-ment.

“I had Vietnamese stu-dents, Iranian students, andAmerican students – a vari-ety. I enjoyed teaching as

well.”Following three years of

teaching, Hurst wasassigned to Udon Thani,Thailand, located near theLaotian border, for oneyear.

“I was a tech sergeant bythen, and I was the barrackschief. I was also theNCO/IC of maintenance, soI was in charge of all main-tenance on the weatherequipment.”

In recognition of servingin Thailand, Hurst receivedan Air Force commendationmedal.

Reassigned to Kelly AirForce Base in San Antonio,Hurst worked in a fieldmaintenance detachmentfor a year-and-a-half beforedeciding to leave the mili-tary in October 1975.

Working as an electronictechnician at a computercompany for a year, Hurst

decided to obtain a collegeeducation, where hereceived a Bachelor’sDegree and Masters Degreein social work

“I graduated in August1979 with my Masters.”

Hurst got a job at TexasA&M University develop-ing and starting a two-yearelectronics technician pro-gram.

“I developed the curricu-lum and I had six studentsthat I started with inSeptember 1979. When Ileft in January 1983, wehave 50 students going toschool in the morning forfour hours for the first year,50 students going to class inthe afternoon for the secondyear and it was really agood course.”

In December 1983, Hurstmarried his wife, Nancy,and in early 1984, the cou-ple moved to Clearwater,

Fla. “That’s where my wife’s

family was.”It was in Clearwater

where Hurst started usinghis social work.

He ran a program at agroup home for emotionallydisturbed boys running for18-months.

“It was an opportunity tomake a difference.”

In January 1986, theHursts moved to California,where he was in foster fam-ily social work for 18 years.

It was during the summerof 1998 when Hurst finallydecided to listen to God andgo into the ministry. He hadbeen ignoring signs, dreamsand immense feelings sincehe was 13.

Hurst graduated from theseminary at University ofCalifornia-Berkeley in May2003.

It was in January 2004;

Hurst received a job offerfrom United Church ofChrist to pastor a church atthe United Trinity Churchin Hamburg.

Although he retired fromthere in May 2010, heagreed to be the interimpastor the CongregationalChurch in Shenandoah inJuly 2011.

Hurst has five children,Stephen, Lisa, Paul, Sarah,and Melvin, as well as twograndchildren.

“I would recommend theservice to others. I alsowould support two years ofservice to the county for allof our youth. They need togrow up, get some lifeexperience,” said Hurst.“The service was a goodexperience for me. I lovedthe educational aspects of it,and I loved the travel.”

MALLContinued from Page 18

still there.”It was after the ceasefire

Mall said they figured outexactly where they were at, aplace called Cherwon.

“They was a sign layingdown on the ground and it waswritten in Korean, but underthat it was in English.”

Mall remained in Korea ayear following the ceasefire,where things were a little morerelaxed.

“We still had observers andwere still on the line, but wecould go back and take a show-er, change of clothes everythree days. We still didn’t walkon the ridgeline, but it wasn’tas bad as before.”

In August 1954, Mallreturned to the States, where hewas separated from the Armyat Fort Carson, Colo. He thenspent six years in inactive dutyand was discharged from theArmy.

In 1954, Mall returned tocollege and obtained his degree

in May 1956. A month later, hemarried his wife, Lorraine, andstarted his first job with theDepartment of Ag.

“It was quite a year,” he saidof 1956.

The Malls lived for Slayton,Minn., Benson, Minn., andMorris, Minn., before beingtransferred to Shenandoah in1979. They lived inShenandoah for 23 yearsbefore moving to Florida in2002.

They have three children,Linda, LuAnne, Jerry, and adeceased son, Jeff, who passedaway in a car accident in 1980.John and Lorraine also havefive grandchildren and twogreat-grandchildren.

John has been a long-timemember of the AmericanLegion, including being elect-ed role of Commander inSlayton, Morris, andShenandoah. He was also amember of the ShenandoahAmerican Legion Color Guardfor 18 years.

“I’m glad I did, but I would-n’t want to do it again,” saidMall.

MAXWELLContinued from Page 18

Maxwell made his way to RhineRiver and was within 75 miles ofreaching Berlin, Germany, beforebeing redirected to Czechoslovakia.

Along the way Maxwell said hisdivision helped liberate severalPrisoner of War camps. “We’d drivethe truck right through the damngate,” he said.

Maxwell had finally arrived inCzechoslovakia when he learnedfrom his commanding officer thatvictory in Europe had been declaredMay 8, 1945. “We were all verytickled. It felt really good,” he said.

Once learning of the victory,Maxwell’s division turned over itsprisoners over to the Russiansbefore embarking on its journeyback across Europe to La Havre,France.

One of the prisoners Maxwellmet during the war as a Germanartist who requested permission to

draw of portrait of Maxwell.Maxwell’s daughter, Linda Rowanof Clarinda, still has that drawing ofher father.

Maxwell successfully returned toLa Havre, France, in July of 1945and then sailed back to New Yorkaboard the USS Grant.

“We arrived in New York on July18 and they said we could eat any-thing we wanted. I ordered a steakand chocolate milk, but then I gotsick because we were not used toeating such good food,” Maxwellsaid.

After arriving in New York,Maxwell had 33 days to report to St.Louis, Mo., to prepare for an inva-sion of Japan. He used the leave toreturn to Iowa and was at homewhen he learned that the UnitedStates had dropped two atomicbombs on Japan to bring World WarII to a close.

“I was tickled to death to hear thatbecause I figured we would nothave to go to Japan and we didn’t,”Maxwell said.

Instead, he was ordered to reportto Camp Campbell, Ky., and wasofficially discharged from the ArmyApril 30, 1946. During his militarycareer Maxwell had earned severalhonors including three Bronze Starsand service stars for Rhineland,Ardennes-Alsace and CentralEurope campaigns.

Following his discharge,Maxwell returned to Bedford andwent to work for Iowa Power andLight. In 1950, the company movedhim to Clarinda. Maxwell spent 38years with the company and retiredin 1985.

Besides working for Iowa Powerand Light, later known asMidAmerican Energy, Maxwellalso served on the ClarindaVolunteer Fire Department for 16years and has been a member ofAmerican Legion Sergy Post 98 inClarinda for 65 years.

In 2008, Maxwell moved toChandler, Az., and still resides theretoday.

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HUTTIGContinued from Page 14

“Out of the thousands andthousands at Fort Riley,there were two soldiers thathad orders come down fromthe Pentagon,” DarleneHuttig said. “We had twoweeks to clear post andhave him in San Francisco.”

Huttig said he receivedthe first indication of thereality of his situation dur-ing his flight to Vietnam.

“This was a plane full ofservicemen, so everythingis loud and rowdy. If youstepped on the plane youwouldn’t have known wewere going to Vietnam. Assoon as that pilot came overthe loudspeaker and said‘Please fasten your seat-belts. We’re approachingTan Son Nhut Air Base inSaigon, Vietnam,’ you couldhave heard a pin drop oncarpet. This was the realdeal,” Huttig said.

After spending two andone-half weeks at Tan SonNhut Air Base, referred toas Tent City by the soldierswaiting be shipped out totheir duty assignments,Huttig was sent to CampHolloway at Pleiku.

Upon arriving at CampHolloway, Huttig said hereceived his second realitycheck when he was issuedan M14 rifle and a box ofammunition.

“I opened the box ofammunition and there were

heads on the bullets insteadof the blanks,” Huttig said.“Other than at the firingrang in basic (training), thatwas the only time I’d seenlive ammunition. That kindof let me know this waswar.”

As a cook at CampHolloway, Huttig workedfrom noon until noon andwas responsible for feeding450 to 500 men and womenat every meal.

The nights he was off,Huttig either served onguard duty or night patrol.Vietnam is known for hav-ing hundreds of miles ofunderground tunnels. Whena tunnel was discoveredduring his night patrols,Huttig was assigned to dothe exploring since he wassmall enough to fit throughthe narrow openings.

“That was the scariesttime of my life when Iwould have to go into oneof those tunnels,” Huttigsaid. “You crawl on yourback to go in and youscooch and scooch andscooch, and then all of asudden you find this roomthat’s as big as this house.”

Although he never hadany encounters upon enter-ing one of the hiddenrooms, Huttig said theuncertainty of not knowingwhat was waiting for at theend of the tunnel made theduty very terrifying.

While Huttig was adjust-ing to life in Vietnam,Darlene Huttig and her

young daughter was livingin Denver, Colo., with fam-ily adjusting to being awayfrom her husband.

Through her church,Darlene Huttig was intro-duced to Chris Swager.Amazingly Swager’s hus-band, Bob, was also servingin Pleiku at Camp Hollowayand the two women quicklybecame close friends.

Soon after they metSwager asked DarleneHuttig how Don Huttig wasdealing with his duties inVietnam and said she wouldhave her husband get intouch with him.

Huttig said he was work-ing in the dining room whenone of his friends found himand said a major was in thekitchen wanting to see him.

“I thought ‘oh shoot’what did I do now. Backthen majors didn’t talk to(lower ranking men),”Huttig said.

The major waiting to seeHuttig was Bob Swager.After explaining how theirwives knew each other,Swager informed Huttigthat he was working toassist local orphans andasked Huttig to assist himwith the project.

Darlene Huttig and ChrisSwager collected toys,clothes, toiletries and otheritems for the orphans andshipped them to CampHolloway where Huttig andSwager would distributethem to the children.

“We were doing that and

things were going prettygood. I was outside themess hall fixing a shutterwhen I heard a voice behindme say ‘Hey Cookie, I’llgive you $20 for a baloneysandwich.’ I turned aroundand it was one of the guys Iserved with at Fort Riley,”Huttig said.

Huttig learned that inOctober of 1965 the 1stInfantry had been shippedto Vietnam and sufferedapproximately 90 percentcasualties when they landedin country.

The soldiers that had sur-vived had been forced tolive on k-rations for approx-imately five months beforearriving at Camp Holloway.

Although he did not haveany baloney, Huttig told thesoldier he would makearrangements for the mem-bers of the 1st Infantry tohave a special meal thatnight.

“In Vietnam, when theyissued food for the soldiers,they issued one and one-half rations per man. So ifyou had 100 men in yourcompany, you got 150steaks,” Huttig said.

Working with some of theother cooks, Huttig puttogether an all they couldeat meal of ribeye steaks,baked potatoes and all thetrimmings for the men fromthe surplus rations that wereon hand.

“When we were all donethat night, one of the guyscame up to me and he hands

me this helmet. They hadtaken the liner out and thisthing was just stuffed with$10 and $20 bills,” Huttigsaid.

Huttig reluctantly accept-ed the money they had col-lected. After returning to hishooch, Huttig counted themoney and discovered therewas $2,000 in the helmet.

Unsure what to do withthe money, Huttig went toSwager’s hooch and askedhim how the project toassist the local orphans wasprogressing.

While Swager wasimpressed with the amountof clothes and supplies theyhad been able to provide tothe children, he was con-cerned about what wouldhappen to the children if aprivately owned orphanagewas not in place to care forthe children once he andHuttig left Vietnam.

Swager said he hadinquired about purchasingthe existing building beingused by the orphans, butinformed Huttig the salesprice was nearly $2,000.

“I asked if it was worth itand he said sure. So I start-ed reaching in my pocketsand was pulling this moneyout and putting it on hisdesk,” Huttig said. “So webought the building andwhen I left there, theorphanage was still in thatbuilding.”

Looking back on theexperience, Huttig said thatwas one of the most amaz-

ing experiences of his life.“It turned into something

much bigger than I everimagined. It was probablythe biggest thing I ever didin my life,” Huttig said.

Huttig returned to theUnited States after his yearof duty in Vietnam in Mayof 1966 and soon after wasassigned as a cook for theOfficer Candidate School atFort Lee, Va.

Initially, Huttig said heconsidered becoming acareer soldier. However,when he learned he wouldhave to return to Vietnam,Huttig declined to reenlistand was discharged fromthe Army Dec. 23, 1966.

Following his discharge,Huttig and his family livedin Denver until 2004 whenthey retired to Clarinda.

After moving to Clarinda,Huttig became friends withTerry Bond and PhilJorgensen, and with theirencouragement joinedAmerican Legion SergyPost 98 in 2008.

Huttig serves on theHonor Guard for the postand said it is a small way hecan pay respect to the ser-vicemen who went beforehim.

“It’s humbling and veryrewarding,” Huttig said. “Iwas always very proud ofmy military service. I wentinto the military as a boyand came out a husband, afather and a man.”

LEHNERContinued from Page 17

along the Cambodian bor-der.

After a year Lehner flewout of Cam Ranh Bay andsaid the day he left Vietnamwas, “one of the happiestdays of my life.”

However, his happinesswas short-lived, as not longafter he returned home andgot to meet his three-month

old daughter, Nancy, hiswife passed away.

“My daughter was bornwhile I was over there andmy wife died right after Igot home, and I think it wasbecause of the separation,”Lehner said. “Judy and Iwere then married inDecember 1968.”

It was actually Lehner’smother-in-law that intro-duced Jon to Judy, who hadalso lost her husband.

Lehner spent one year at

Fort Hood, Texas followinghis stint in Vietnam and waswithin weeks of returning,when President LyndonBaines Johnson started toscale back operations.

In May 1968 Lehner wasdischarged from the Army.He then returned to Schoolof the Mines and obtainedhis Masters degree in math-ematics.

For 36 years, Lehnerworked for NothwesternBell; 14 years in technical

division and the rest of thetime in regulatory andfinance as an executive,residing in different areasaround South Dakota.

“We moved a lot, espe-cially in the early years. Wemoved seven times in thefirst 11 years of marriage.”

Six years ago, theLehners moved toShenandoah to be closer toNancy and her family inKansas City, as well asdaughter, Kari and her fam-

ily. However, at the end ofMay, the couple is returningto the Black Hills, an areathey adore.

“It’s a special place. It’s aplace unlike the RockyMountains to where youhave access to virtuallyeverything.”

In addition to theirdaughters, Nancy and Kari,Jon and Judy have a son,Steve, who resides inWatertown, N.D.

“When you are a compa-

ny commander in a combatoperation at the age of 23years, with 120 to 150 peo-ple you’re responsible for;you grow up pretty quick-ly,” said Lehner. “I wouldsay that whole experiencein the Army, especiallybeing in Vietnam, was justreally helpful for me in mybusiness career. I’ve neverregretted it.”


JONESContinued from Page 15

infantry company.”One of the first things Jones

had to learn in Vietnam was howto use a M16 rifle. He had beentaught on a M14 in basic train-ing.

“They gave me a M16 – that’sthe first time I’d seen one. I hadto ask them how to use it. Thirtydays later, I’m a squad leader.After two weeks as squadleader, they made me point.”

Point, Jones explained, is thepoint man. Four members werein a point squad, which walkedabout 50 -ards in front of therest of the squad. That way thepoint comes under fire insteadof the main force.

“I walked point fromFebruary to September.”

While on point, Jones almostlost his life on several occa-sions. One of these occasionshappened in April when hestepped on a mine, was wound-ed, and ended up receiving aPurple Heart.

“We were out on a search anddestroy mission and I steppedon a booby trap,” Jones recalled.“They sent four of us out on arecon to find booby traps andstuff before the company wentout. We found two. The first onewe just looked at like a bunch ofdummies. It was fizzling like afirework and then it goes off, butit doesn’t hurt anybody. We getto our stuff together and we goon down the trail and there’s justpunjypit - I should have knownsomething was up because youaren’t supposed to see them.”

Jones continued to say that hewalks to the left of the pit andhis good friend, Barry Cobb,who died in Vietnam, to theright.

“I take one more step andwe’re both thrown about 20-feet. I couldn’t hear anythingand I didn’t know I was hit for awhile. Cobb took the shrapnelon his legs and back. I radioedin and told them we had causal-ities. They wanted to knowwhere we were. I took outBarry’s map that was in his

pocket but I couldn’t read itbecause there was too muchblood on it, so I popped smokeand tried to crawl out, but mylegs wouldn’t work. They even-tually got us out on a chopper.”

Once rescued, Jones wastaken to Dong Tam, where hestayed for a couple weeksbefore being sent out into thefield again.

“I still had stitches in my legwhen they put me back in thefield. I was only held up for twoweeks.”

In addition to the PurpleHeart, Jones received a BronzeStar for Heroism from an eventthat occurred on Sept. 4, 1968.The medal paperwork reads thatJones as on recon in Kien HoaProvince when he exposed him-self repeatedly to intense enemyfire. He then led a sweeparound the area routing theremainder of Viet Cong. On topof that, Jones received an AirCommendation Medal forHeroism for an event that tookplace on Sept. 21. That paper-work reads that on a recon mis-sion in Dinh Tuong Province,after platoon’s point man wasseriously wounded, Jones led amachine gun crew across openground to a position near thehostile emplacement. He thendirected suppressive fire that theenemy was soon overcome sothe casualty could be evacuated.

“All I was trying to do wasstaying alive so I could comehome,” he said.

During search and destroymissions, or recon, squadswould be in the field for 30 to 40days looking for, and fightingViet Cong.

At the end of September,Jones was taken off point andspent his next few months inVietnam loading supplies fromboats onto choppers, where thechopper then took those sup-plies to soldiers in the field.

For his actions in Vietnam,Jones also received an AirMedal for having flown 25 mis-sions over hostel territory inchoppers, National DefenseService Medal, Vietnam ServiceMedal, and an ArmyCommendation Medal and

Citation for MeritoriousService.

At the end of January 1969, itwas time for Jones to head backto the States, which almost did-n’t happen.

As they sat on the runway atTon Sun Nhut, waiting for take-off on a TWA plane, VC startedmortaring the plane.

“We thought we’d die tryingto leave - sitting on a plane.”

Once the plane took off andwas safely in the air, Jonesrecalled that all the soldiers onthe plane we asleep within 10minutes.

“We were absolutely exhaust-ed.”

When the plane landed inOakland, Calif. Jones said theygot off the plane and saw col-lege kids picketing - holdingsigns that read, baby killer, anddeserter.

“We were a bunch of garbagewhen we got back from Vietnam– that’s how we were looked at.”

However, Jones wasn’t donewith the Army quite yet. He hadsix months left on his enlist-ment, which he spent at FortRucker, Ala., at an aviation unit.While there he was in charge ofthe motor pool.

Discharged from the Army,Jones returned to Shenandoah,where his wife, Diana, waswaiting for him. The couple hadmarried eight days before he leftfor Vietnam.

Mooch and Diana have a son,Curtis, and four grandchildren,Justin, Jordan, Jacob, andJessie.

Jones worked a couple placesin Shenandoah, including asupervisor role at Farm Master,but was hired at the ClarindaCorrectional Facility in 1980when it opened. He remainedthere until 2004, when heretired. Today, you can find himfishing and spending time withhis grandkids.

“Sometimes it’s hard to talkabout,” Jones said of Vietnam.“You leave on a Friday out ofVietnam, and by Monday you’reexpected to be like you werewhen you left, but you aren’t thesame person.”

MILLERContinued from Page 19

than the busy metropolis peoplethink of today.

“The metal was showing andsticking out of the buildings frombeing bombed. About everythingwas burned up,” Miller said.

During his stay in Japan Milleralso once saw General DouglasMacArthur leaving his office inTokyo.

“I saw him come out with his capand corncob pipe. His office wasright across from the ImperialPalace in Tokyo,” Miller said.

Following his tour of duty in

Japan, Miller returned to Seattle,Wash., in November of 1946. Hethen took a train to Chicago and wasofficially discharged from the Armyat the end of the month after 19months of military service.

In June of 1947, Miller marriedhis wife, Geraldine, and the couplehad four daughters.

Besides working for the ClarindaPost Office, Miller also served onthe local draft board for 10 years.

In 2007, Miller moved toMinneapolis, Minn., to live with thefamily of one of his daughters.Miller and his daughter’s familymoved to Indianapolis, Ind., inJanuary of 2011.

MORTIMOREContinued from Page 20

an electricians mate.“I balanced and rebuilt electric

motors for ships in San Diego,”Mortimore said. “I then transferredto DESRON 22, a destroyersquadron at Quantico, Virginia, andwe supported five destroyer ships,one being the USS Cole.”

He held that contract for 16 years

and finally retired from the militaryafter more than 22 years of totalservice.

“If I graduated from high schooltomorrow, the day after tomorrowI’d be on my way to boot camp,”Mortimore said. “It’s a good experi-ence.”

Alan is married to his wife,Kathleen. The couple resides inEssex. Alan has nine children, fourgrandchildren, and two great-grand-children.

POWERSContinued from Page 21

out of the year, but I wouldn’t haveliked it full-time,” Powers remarked.

Powers returned to the HanfordNuclear Reservation following theservice, where he worked on con-tract for Boeing Computer Sciences.

He began the ministry in 1991with a part-time church inWashington state.

Before moving to Shenandoah inJune, he was with the Asbury UnitedMethodist Church in Cedar Rapidsfor 10 years.

With an Associates of Science

degree in computer science and anAssociates of Arts degree in generalstudies from Columbia BasinCollege in Pasco, Wash., Powersreceived a Bachelor of Sciencedegree in business administrationfrom Central WashingtonUniversity. He also holds a Courseof Study from the St. School ofTheology in Kansas City, Mo.

Ed and his wife of 44 years,Jacqueline, have two children,daughter, Leah, who resides inAlbuquerque with her husband andfive children; and son, Neil, who isstationed at Fort Mead with is wifeand two children.


101 East Main Street 421 West Broadway (Primary Office)Clarinda, IA 51632 Suite 200, Council Bluffs, IA 51503

712-542-1070 712-322-6000www.willsonpechacek.com

We shall not forget.

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PREEOContinued from Page 22

about working in themachine room. He wasthen assigned to the USSChetco and sent toOkinawa, Japan.

A fleet tug, the USSChetco was targeted in aKamikaze attack by aJapanese Zero. “He andanother guy were thrownout of the engine room andagainst a bulkhead. Thesame arm that he had beenwounded in was severelyburned. Although the otherguy was unconscious, myfather was able to get himoff the ship into a life raftand they were rescued.That is how he got his sec-ond Purple Heart,” GaryPreeo said.

Preeo was officially dis-charged from the NavyJune 19, 1946, and settledin Stockton, Calif., with hiswife, Eunice (Ayres), andparents. After holding afew different jobs, Preeoserved as a Stockton fire-fighter for approximatelythree years before being

hired in 1953 by SanJoaquin County SheriffCarlos A. Souza to serve asa deputy sheriff with thedepartment.

During his 20 yearcareer in law enforcement,Preeo demonstrated thesame courage that distin-guished him in the military.He was shot at on two sep-arate occasions while serv-ing with the sheriff’sdepartment.

In the first incident, asuspect fired a shotgun atthe windshield of Preeo’svehicle. The bullet pene-trated the glass andknocked the hat off hishead. On the second occa-sion, an individual with agun was attempting tocommit suicide on a set ofrailroad tracks. As Preeofought to subdue the per-son, he was shot throughhis lapel.

“The thing I remembermost about my dad was hejust seemed to be fearless,”Gary Preeo said. “He wasalways the one that wouldjump into the fray.”

That remained the caseeven after he finished his

career in law enforcement.Following his retirement,Preeo worked for manyyears at two local liquorstores. He trained his dog,Pepe, to carry the bankdeposit bag in his mouthand would walk with Preeoto the bank to make thedaily deposit for the busi-nesses.

One day when Preeo andPepe, as well as GaryPreeo, approached thebank they discovered arobbery was in progress.

“There was a get-awaycar parked outside the bankand the bank robber cameout and jumped in thecamper shell of the ElComino. Our dog chasedthe car and between thedog, my dad, myself and aStockton police officer, wewere able to take the threeindividuals into custodyand they were later con-victed,” Gary Preeo said.

Preeo is survived by hiswife, three children, sixgrandchildren, seven great-grandchildren and manynieces and nephews.

PRITCHARDContinued from Page 23the inactive reserve for sixmore years.

“That enabled a fast actionreturn possibility to active dutyin case of another war timecall-up. I then received an hon-orable discharge at the end ofthe eight year period,”Pritchard said.

Although Pritchard said helikely would not have served inthe military if he was not draft-

ed, he said he gained a lot fromhis two years of active service.

“My army experience pro-vided great opportunities forcharacter development, work-ing with large groups of peopleand understanding out militarysystem at the time,” Pritchardsaid.

That experience also gavePritchard a sense of respect forthose soldiers who defendedthe United States in the pastand are still serving their coun-try today.

With the educational bene-fits that are currently available,Pritchard said he wouldencourage young people tostrongly consider serving in themilitary.

“I would have probably goneto college if I had the sameopportunities that are availabletoday. If a person is undeter-mined about what they want todo, the military can be anawfully good directional periodin your life,” Pritchard said.

SANERContinued from Page 24

Saner added during that timethey served 15,000 meals intwo days and had more than2,000 evacuees on board.

“We took them to thePhilippines and I think fromthere they were airlifted out.”

After four years, Saner wasdischarged from the Navy in1991, but joined the Naval

Reserves until 1997. In 1997,he joined the Iowa ArmyNational Guard and served as acombat medic for six years.

In 2003, he returned to theNavy Reserves as a NavyCorpsman. However, in 2009he retired from the militaryafter more than 20 years.

“I really enjoyed being acombat medic the most,” saidSaner, who obtained hisLicensed Practical Nursing

degree through the GI Bill. In 2004, Saner was no

longer in the service, butobtained a position with the VAHospital in Omaha as a nurse.

When the VA ShenandoahCommunity Based OutpatientClinic opened, Saner accepteda position there, where he isstill employed.

“The Navy is a good branchto go into,” said Saner. “I’d def-initely do it again.”

U.S. Air ForceHarold Hawes Jesse McIntyre

Jim Howard

U.S. ArmyWm OverbeyJoe Dinville

Johnny BlackburnMerrill Basaker

U.S. NavyAndy Andersen Doris Naughton

Doris Perry

120621-46564

1203 South Elm StreetShenandoah, Iowa

712-246-4627

Thank you for your brave contribution

to protecting the freedom of our great country.

Withh Gratitudee too ourr Veterans

Withh Gratitudee too ourr Veterans

Care Center and Assisted Living



Over the course of his career with theUnited States Air Force, John Christensenof College Springs was on alert during theCuban Missile Crisis and later had a frontrow seat to the Tet Offensive in Vietnam.

A 1951 graduate of Amity High Schoolin College Springs, Christensen earned his

degree in agricul-tural education atIowa StateUniversity. Whileat Iowa State, hewas also involvedin the ReserveOfficers’ TrainingCorp and when hegraduated in 1956he received therank of secondlieutenant.

C h r i s t e n s e npromptly enlisted in the Air Force in Mayof 1956 and served for slightly more than21 years before retiring in July of 1977.

“I am very proud of my career and thepeople I met were very dedicated and hardworking. I’m happy I did it and I feel likewhat we did was important,” Christensensaid.

After completing his navigation trainingat Ellington Air Force Base near Houston,Texas, and advanced bomber school atMather Air Force Base near Sacramento,Calif., Christensen was assigned to

Pinecastle Air Force Base south ofOrlando, Fla.

Christensen was assigned to the StrategicAir Command Bomb Wing and served onthe crew of a B-47 bomber. He served atPinecastle Air Force Base until May of1961 when he was transferred toLockbourne Air Force Base in Columbus,Ohio.

It was during his four year stay atLockbourne Air Force Base thatChristensen found himself in the midst ofthe Cuban Missile Crisis.

In October of 1962, the United Statesdiscovered the Soviet Union was buildingnuclear missile sites in Cuba. PresidentJohn K. Kennedy established a navalblockade around Cuba, demanded theremoval of the missiles and the destructionof the missile sites.

Christensen said his crew was amongthose put on alert during the 13 day crisisand they spent three or four days atPhiladelphia International Airport awaitinga possible invasion of Cuba.

“That was probably the closest we evercame to war. I think we were pretty close todoing something. If the Soviets hadn’tcaved, I think Kennedy would have goneahead and taken out those sites,”Christensen said.

The B-47s Christensen served as a navi-gator for at Pinecastle Air Force Base andLockbourne Air Force Base each carried anh-bomb and were designed to reach theSoviet Union from England, Spain or

John Christiansen Clarinda

Christiansen served for more than 21 yearsBy TESS GRUBER NELSON

Staff Writer

Simply put, Art Claiborne of Sidney is aperson who works hard and likes to keepbusy.

While a pilot in the Army Air Corps, thatreliable work ethic and dedication helpedhim become one of the busiest and morerespected men of the 55th Troop Carrier

Squadron duringWorld War II.

A graduate ofTabor HighSchool in 1940,Claiborne workedon the familyfarm for one yearand then attendedG r a c e l a n dUniversity for oneyear.

It was then hedecided to enlist

into the Army Air Corps because he want-ed to fly.

Claiborne enlisted in the Army Air Corpson Sept. 29, 1942, but because of an influxof this enlisting, he wasn’t called to activeduty at Fort Cook until Jan. 30, 1943.

He recalled they traveled by train toJefferson Barracks near St. Louis.

“We lived in tents constructed over awood frame, with wood floors. A cokestove in the center was the only heat,”Claiborne said.

Following basic training, he said he wassent to the University of Missouri –Columbia, on March 2, where he attendedclasses and lived in a fraternity house Hetook math, physics, geography andreceived 10 hours of flying instruction in aPiper Cub before he moved on to pre-flightschool.

He then moved by train to AviationCadet Center in San Antonio, Texas, onJune 12, 1943. Here he said he receivedthree hours of classes, two hours of physi-cal training, and three hours of drill. Thedrill included handgun, lectures, chemicalidentification, and Morse Code. In Augustof 1943, he moved across the road andbegan pre-flight training.

“On November 4, 1943, we traveled bybus to Harman Training Center at Bruce

Field, Ballenger, Texas and this was thebeginning of primary flight training, in aFairchild PT 19 aircraft; a two-place opencockpit, low-wing mono plane.”

After pre-flight, Claiborne moved on tobasic training at Goodfellow Field near SanAngelo, where he flew a BT13 radialengine plane. Claiborne said basic flighttraining was demanding with long periodsof flying.

Advanced flight training took place atLubbock Army Flying School in Lubbockand started for Claiborne on March 13,1944. He said it consisted of four and a halfweeks of ground school and flying and fourand a half weeks of flight training.

“We flew twin engine AT17s (CessnaBobcats) at this advanced base.”

He graduated from cadet training,received his wings, and was commissionedas a Second Lieutenant on May 23, 1944.

After 15 days furlough, Claibornereported to Alliance Neb, where he recalledgoing on three-mile marches with a fullpack.

“Alliance was a troop carrier pilot train-ing base. We found the base overstockedwith pilots and we were offered a chance totransfer to a new base that was opening inMalden, Mo., which Jack Hammer and Iquickly did.”

At Malden, he flew a C-47 twin-engineplane as part of his training, as well asinstrument flying, navigation and jumpedparatroopers. He concluded his training onNov. 19.

After another short furlough, Claibornewas assigned to Bear Field at Fort Wayne,Ind., for overseas staging. From Bear Field,he went to Hamilton Field in SanFrancisco, for his overseas flight.

“After spending some time in SanFrancisco, we were flown from there toHawaii to Christmas Island and on toNadzab Air Force Base, up the valley fromLae, New Guinea, arriving on December24, 1944.”

On Jan. 9, Claiborne was assigned to the5th Air Force, 54th Troop Carrier Wing,375th TC Group TC Squadron, located atBiak. Biak, explained Claiborne, is onSchouten Island, Netherlands East Indies,off the north east coast of Dutch NewGuinea.

Art Claiborne Sidney

Sidney man flew C-47s in Air Corps

see CHRISTIANSEN, Page 29

104 S. Fremont, Shenandoah(next to Pizza Hut)

Phone: 712-246-2077

REMEMBERINGOUR VETERANS

REMEMBERINGOUR VETERANS

see CLAIBORNE, Page 31

SCHNEIDERContinued from Page 24

For remarks on hisDistinguished ServiceCross award, it read Maxreceived the medal forextraordinary heroism inconnection with militaryoperations as Commandingofficer of the 5th RangerBattalion on June 6, 1944 atNormandy, France.

“In the initial landings inthe invasion of France,Lieutenant ColonelSchneider led the 5th

Ranger Infantry Battalionashore at “H” Hour on D-Day in the face of extreme-ly heavy enemy rifle,machine gun, mortar,artillery, and rocket fire.Upon reaching the beach,lieutenant colonelSchneider reorganized hisunit. During this reorgani-zation, he repeatedlyexposed himself to enemyfire. He then led his battal-ion in the assault on theenemy beach positions, andhaving accomplished thismission, led them up a steep

incline to assault the enemygun emplacents on the topof the hill. The destructionof these enemy positionsopened one of the vitalbeach exits, thereby permit-ting the troops and equip-ment, which had beenpinned down to moveinland from the beach withthe result that reinforce-ments could be landed fromthe sea,” read theShenandoah EveningSentinel on July 3, 1944.

The awarded continued toread Max was cited for his

“quick and decisive judg-ment to alter landing plansfor his battalion atNormandy and safely gethis Rangers on shore.”

Dick added his uncle’sefforts on D-Day were onlyeclipsed by the actions ofColonel James Rudder,commander of the 2ndRangers, who took the gunsat Pointe Du Hoc.

Prior to D-Day, Dick saidMax distinguished himselfin the invasion of NorthAfrica as a RangerCompany commander andas a Major in the 4th RangerBattalion in Sicily, andItaly.

Max also received theSilver Star for actions onFeb. 12, 1943, aPresidential Citation as amember of the FifthRangers, a Purple Heart,and the Bronze Star.

Following the war, Maxremained in the Army, mak-ing a career out of it. Hewas Post Commander of Ft.Benning, Ga., just prior to

his final assignment inKorea.

Additionally, he wasinducted into the RangerHall of Fame in its firstclass of inductees.

“After the war, he stayedin the Army, as I did,” saidConners. “However, wewent our different ways andI never saw him after thewar.”

Pontious saw Max in1957, while he himself wasstationed at Ft. Benning.

“We spoke from time totime, but that was it,”Pontious said

Jim said Max served inthe Far East and Germanyafter World War II. He alsoparticipated in the Inchonlanding during the KoreanConflict, which was hisfifth amphibious assault.

“He spent almost twoyears in the Korean Theatrealthough not as a combatcommander,” Jim said.

Max and his heroics arementioned in several books,including Cornelius Ryan’s

The Longest Day, DavidAmbrose’s D-Day, J.D.Locks Rangers in Combat,and Balkoski’s OmahaBeach.

Dick added Max was alsomentioned in the May 1987issue of WWII, which read,

“As for ColonelSchneider’s role, well…itwas his flexibility, self-con-fidence and experience, hisshift in direction at the lastmoment, that brought theFifth Ranger Battalionacross to Omaha Beachintact and turned a possibletragic defeat into a historicvictory.”

Max passed away inSeoul, South Korea in 1959.However, he continues tolive on through his heroicsand selflessness. In additionto son Jim, Max andJacqueline had another son,Jon.

In my opinion, Schneiderwas an outstanding militaryman, and a great guy,” saidConners.

In honor of those who answered the call toserve their country, we are eternally grateful

for their dedication and service.

Honoring our veterans each and every day.

Hackett-Livingston Funeral Home & Monument Company

Family Owned & Community Committed208 West Clarinda Ave • Shenandoah, Iowa712-246-2912 • www.hackettlivingston.com 12

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SHARRContinued from Page 25

benefits, Sharr earned a Bachelorof Science degree in public admin-istration with a minor in psycholo-gy from Upper Iowa University.

Then, in March of 2010, Sharrentered Officer Candidate School.

He graduated in August of 2011 asa second lieutenant and is currentlyassigned to Charlie Company ofthe Iowa Army National Guard 1-168th Infantry Battalion in DesMoines.

“I decided to stay in the infantryand wanted an opportunity to leadmore men,” Sharr said. “If we get

sent on deployment again, that’swhere I want to be.”

Sharr said he is proud to havehad the opportunity to twice servehis country in active duty. He saidhe been blessed with strong sup-port from his family and during histime in the Iowa Army NationalGuard has had the opportunity to

work with many fantastic soldiersover the years.

“There is an appreciation forwhat you are doing for your coun-try that can’t be found in any otherjob. I believe the majority of usowe some service to our country inwhatever capacity we can,” Sharrsaid.

SHULLContinued from Page 26

diversity, and so much more.“I got to see the world and

got a good education,” Shulladded. “The Navy was agood experience.”



Unsure of what he wanted to do with hislife following high school, Fred Cline ofShenandoah joined the Navy.

That decision led to four years of mili-tary service, which in turn taught himresponsibility and gave him direction.

“The four years I spent in the militarywas a Godsend,”said Cline. “I wasyoung and I want-ed to have a goodtime. It maturedme. I had neverbeen outside ofClarinda, Iowavery much and Igot to see a lot ofthe world andhow other peoplelive.”

Born and raisedin Clarinda, Cline graduated in 1955 fromClarinda High School. Not ready for col-lege, Cline joined the Navy in August1955.

“I wanted Naval Avionics, but ended upin radio school after basic training,” Clinesaid.

Boot camp was completed at GreatLakes Naval Training Center, followed byradio school in Norfolk, Vir.

“I was assigned to what was called a flagstaff – you had squadrons of ships and itwas an amphibious squadron, so it wastroop carriers and their support ships. I wasstationed out of San Diego,” Clinedescribed. “We kind of did our own thing.We lived in their vessel, but had our ownresponsibilities.”

Since it was peacetime, Cline said theymostly performed maneuvers and playedwar games.

“We would load up thousands ofMarines on these ships, which wouldinclude gunnery ships, destroyers, cruisers,and sail up the coast of California. Wewould land these Marines in these smallamphibious boats,” Cline recalled. “You’dland these on the beach and they’d playtheir war games. We, as a staff, coordinat-ed all these activities with the Marines.”

Cline also recalled a large war game sce-

nario taking place in the Philippines, whichlasted three or four days.

“We practiced an all out war,” he chuck-led. “During that three or four daysbecause we were short staffed, you’d gen-erally go 40, 50, 60-hours without sleep.”

One time after a war game, while sta-tioned near Clark Air Force Base in thePhilippines, Cline said they received aswim call, where they could swim in theocean.

“I swam out probably 50-75 yards fromthe ship and went down to the bottom ofone of these land swells and I couldn’t seethe ship. All of a sudden you think, ‘Oh mygosh, where’d the boat go,’ that was myfirst shock. My second shock was, wealways had a group of Marines on the shipand there were five Marines on the differ-ent levels of the ship with M1 rifles, and asI climbed up the net the first time (to getback on the ship) I came to realize theywere there watching for sharks.”

Cline also said they went on a Asiatictour, which included being stationed inJapan for nine months, plus one monthsailing to Japan and another month sailingback.

In Japan, Cline started working with anencoding and decoding machine.

“You’d get the top secret messages in, itcame in coded groups of five that made nosense. You ran it through this machine andget the message. I started doing that, alongwith still being radioman.”

While in Japan, Cline said he wouldsightsee when he was free, he especiallyrecalls the beautiful shrines.

“When we were in Japan, we had a wargame in Korea. It was the first time theRoyal Korean Marines were a part of. I hadto go into the communications office onbase inland and you could still see all thedamage from the Korean War – shell holes,shattered trees and buildings with only onewall.”

Assigned back to the United States,Cline requested shore duty and wasassigned to the United States Naval MissileTesting Center at Point Mugu, Calif., about60 miles north of Los Angeles.

“There all I did was cryptology (encod-ing and decoding). I was very fortunatethere at Point Mugu.”

Fred Cline Shenandoah

Military was a “Godsend” for ClineBy KENT DINNEBIER

Staff Writer

Serving with the 89th Division of theUnited States Army, James Copp ofClarinda saw World War II from the frontlines as he made his way across Europefrom France to Czechoslovakia and back.

Assigned to the motor pool, Copp, now87, was responsible for keeping the tractors

that carried heavyartillery like 155millimeter how-itzers that firedshells weighing97 pounds.

“I worked onthe tractors mostof the time. I hadthese big things tokeep running.They were highspeed tractors andwe traveled 50

miles per hour at times,” Copp said.“Between our four divisions we had over300 artillery pieces on the front lines.”

Originally from Eagle Grove, Copp wasdrafted at the age of 19 and was inductedinto the Army March 23, 1943, at CampDodge. He completed his basic training atCamp Haan in California and then went toCamp Irwin in California for artillery train-ing.

From there, Copp was sent to FortCarson near Colorado Springs, Colo., tojoin the 89th Light Division. After three

months of winter maneuvers at Camp Polknear Leesville, La., he was sent to CampRoberts in California and then to CampButner near Durham, N.C. where his lightdivision was reformed into the 89thTriangular Division that consisted ofapproximately 15,000 soldiers.

“Then I went to Fort Sill, Oklahoma, forfour months of school as a tractor mechan-ic,” Copp said. “After we got all our train-ing, we went to Port of Embarkation atBoston and off to France we went for com-bat.”

Copp and his fellow soldiers left Bostonin January of 1945 and needed 14 days tocross the Atlantic Ocean by convoy.

“The North Atlantic is really rough inJanuary. It was scary,” Copp said. “As weapproached England, we couldn’t land atSouth Hampton because the Germans hadus blockaded with submarines.”

Instead, the troops landed at La Havre,France. Soon after, Copp and the rest of the89th Division made its way to Luxemburgto join forces with troops under the com-mand of General George S. Patton. Thetroops proceeded to Trier, Germany, and onMarch 12, 1945, encountered their firstcombat since Copp joined them.

“We kept moving toward the RhineRiver and I crossed it on a pontoon bridgeon March 26, 1945,” Copp said.

After crossing the Rhine River, Coppsaid the troops discovered Ohrdruf concen-tration camp on April 10, 1945, nearWeimar, Germany.

James Copp Clarinda

Copp saw World War II from front lines

see CLINE, Page 30

see COPP, Page 32

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During her six years in the United StatesArmy Dana Dammann saw the dangers ofwar first hand.

The daughter of Terry and DebbieDammann of Clarinda, Dana graduatedfrom Clarinda High School in 2003 andsoon after enlisted in the Army.

“I always want-ed to join the mil-itary to serve mycountry and seethe world,”Dammann said.“It was a hugeaccomplishment.I feel like Iaccomplished alot from the time Ientered basictraining throughmy time in Iraq. A

lot of my friends didn’t come back, so Ifeel fortunate.”

Dammann chose to serve in the MilitaryPolice with the Army and was assigned toFort Leonard Wood Missouri for her basictraining and her police training.

Following her training, in 2004,Dammann was sent on a one-year rotationto Korea for a peace keeping mission.

“We did a little law enforcement, but pri-marily backfilled for other MPs throughoutKorea while they were going for their train-ing. We also went through the training near

the Demilitarized Zone,” Dammann said. Although the experience exposed her to

the culture of Korea, Dammann said shewas happy to return to the United States inJanuary of 2005.

Upon her return, Dammann wasassigned to Fort Carson Colorado andserved as a combat MP with the ThirdBrigade Fourth Infantry Division.

As a combat MP, Dammann underwentextensive field training at Fort CarsonColorado to prepare her for a Novemberdeployment to Iraq.

“I was nervous, but at the same time Iwas excited. That’s one of the whole rea-sons I joined the Army. I knew it was goingto happen and it was a matter of time,”Dammann said.

Remaining with the Third BrigadeFourth Infantry Division when she arrivedin Iraq, Dammann performed a wide vari-ety of duties during her year in Iraq.

Her squad assisted in with route security,prisoner transports and traveled throughoutthe country assisting with the training ofthe Iraqi Police Service.

In addition, Dammann said her squadwas assigned to a Special Forces unit for awhile and assisted with various raids.

“It definitely was a test of your abilityand how you reacted,” Dammann said.“The culture was completely different andyou did not know who was friendly andwho wasn’t.”

While carrying out her duties, Dammannand her squad came under small arms fire

Dana Dammann Clarinda

Saw dangers of war first handBy TESS GRUBER NELSON

Staff Writer

For those that know Ty Davison, it’s nosurprise he likes to help others. AShenandoah resident and Clarinda native,Davison is very active in the ShenandoahFire Department and EMS.

In fact, even when he served in the Navy,Davison was helping others, working in

A v i a t i o nOrdinance aboardaircraft carriers.

“ A v i a t i o nOrdinance entailsloading bombs,missiles, and bul-lets – if it explod-ed, we handled it.We loaded thoseon F18 fighterjets,” Davisonexplained. “It waspretty cool and in

my opinion, it’s the best job there is to havein the Navy. I had a great time and met a lotof great people.”

A 1998 graduate of Clarinda HighSchool, Davison knew at an early age hewanted to serve in the military. He chosethe Navy, for the most part, because it wasa Navy recruiter who got to him first.

“I actually think everyone should serve acouple years,” Davison said. “It’s a goodway for people to grow up.”

Following boot camp in Great LakesNaval Training Center outside Chicago inAugust, Davison attended AviationOrdinance School in Pensacola, Fla., forthree to four months. He was then sent toNaval Air Station Lemoore in Californiafor FRAM, or Fleet Rehabilitation andModernization school.

“Lemoore is actually where my brotheris stationed now,” Davison said of hisyounger sibling, Daniel. “He’s doing thesame job I did, only he’s on SuperHornets.”

Upon the completion of FRAM training,which was another three or four months,Davison reported to his squadron at CecilField in Jacksonville, Fla.

“I was only there for a short whilebecause they shut down.”

Decommissioned at the end of

September in 1999, everything at CecilField, including Davison, was moved toBeaufort, South Carolina.

However, before that, as a member ofCarrier Air Group 1, Squadron VFA82, theMarauders, Davison was aboard the USSJohn F. Kennedy, a supercarrier, for a sevenmonth cruise.

This ship, described Davison, wasroughly the same size of Clarinda – about6,000 aboard. He added it was also like asmall city in the sense it had a bank, barber,gym, movie theatre and dentist.

“My first cruise, in ‘99-2000, wasreferred to as the Millennium Cruise, insupport of the no-fly zone in Iraq. As far asports, we hit Malta, Italy, Marseilles,France, Aquba, Jordan, Dubai, SaudiArabia, and Tarragona, Spain.”

If he had to choose, Davison said hisfavorite ports on that cruise were Malta andMarseilles.

“The people were great and the scenerywas something you just don’t see aroundhere, but what was really neat was beingimmersed in different cultures.”

In 2001, now assigned to the USSRoosevelt, Davison left on a second cruise.

“We left eight days after 9-11 hit. Therewe pretty much went straight to theMediterranean Sea and bombed the crapout of Afghanistan.”

On the way to Afghanistan, carrier qual-ifications were completed as well as train-ing.

“People were ready to go over there. Itwas October before we actually startedbombing because of the workups.”

Davison remembers standing on theflight deck of the Roosevelt whenPresident George Bush declared war on theTaliban.

“Everyone was pretty amped.”Not only did Davison work on the flight

deck seven days a week in 12-hour shifts,he was also day shift supervisor, whichmeant a lot of paperwork.

“After all the paperwork, it was morelike 16-hour days.”

There were 12 aircraft in one F18squadron that needed to be loaded withmissiles, certified for flight and maintainedhe explained.

“You were kept pretty busy.”

Ty Davison Shenandoah

Davison served overseas as part of Navy

see DAMMANN, Page 32

see DAVISON, Page 29120621-46220

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Marvin Fulk of Clarinda had no doubt hewould be drafted once he turned 18, but heis glad he had the opportunity to serve hiscountry.

Fulk graduated from Clarinda HighSchool in 1944 at the age of 17 and knewhe would be drafted when he turned 18

because hisfather, Ed Fulk,was chairman ofthe Page CountyDraft Board.

“I was ready togo because all ofmy friends wenttoo,” Fulk said. “Iwas glad I got tohelp. It gave megood memoriesand I appreciatedbeing in the serv-

ice.”However, Fulk was not immediately

inducted into the Army when he was draft-ed. Instead, he received a deferment untilJanuary of 1945 so he could help his fatherpick corn before he departed.

Fulk was officially inducted into theUnited States Army Feb. 14, 1945, at FortLeavenworth, Kansas, and was sent toCamp Fannin in Texas for 16 weeks ofbasic training.

With World War II still underway, Fulkreceived infantry training that includedspending time at the rifle range.

“I liked to shoot at the rifle rangebecause Dad would never let us handleguns on the farm. I got a pretty goodrecord,” Fulk said.

So good, in fact, he earned an ExpertInfantry Badge as well as a Sharp ShooterMedal with qualification bars for the M-1and the Carbine.

It was also while he was at the rifle rangethat Fulk said he learned that PresidentFranklin D. Roosevelt had died. Afterbeing informed of the death of theirCommander In Chief, Fulk said the sol-diers held 10 minutes of silent prayer.

Fulk said his infantry training alsoincluded instruction on the proper use ofgas masks.

“We would have to walk into a dark con-crete building full of different gasses andput on our masks. It was pretty scary,” Fulksaid.

As Fulk was nearing the conclusion ofhis basic training in May of 1945, theUnited States achieved victory in Europe.

As a result, Fulk said the remainder ofhis training focused a potential invasion ofJapan.

Once his training was completed Fulkreceived a short leave before reporting toFort Riley, Kansas, in July of 1945.

From Fort Riley, Fulk embarked on afour-day train trip to Fort Ord in Californiato prepare for departure to the PacificTheatre.

“When we arrived at Fort Ord the moodwas more serious,” Fulk said.

However, since his birthday was not untilAug. 15 and he could not enter battle untilhe turned 19, Fulk was assigned to a slow-er traveling liberty ship that was intendedto reach Japan after he and other soldiers ina similar situation had their birthdays.

“We didn’t know at the time the firstatom bomb had been dropped Aug. 6,1945, on Japan,” Fulk said.

Since an invasion of Japan was not need-ed after the use of the atomic bomb, Fulkinstead joined a troop ship in September of1945 and assisted with the occupation ofKorea.

Fulk arrived in Inchon, Korea, Oct. 21,1945, and was assigned to Headquarters184th Infantry 7th Infantry Division,known as the Hour Glass Division, inSeoul, Korea, as a clerk typist.

Although Fulk said he had never heardof Korea before arriving in the country, hequickly gained an appreciation for theKorean culture and brought home severalsouvenirs like robes and other items ofclothing.

In April of 1946, Fulk received the GoodConduct Medal and was promoted to cor-poral. He was assigned to Headquarters asa Battery Clerk. His duties included keep-ing service record books for the soldiersand assisting with payroll.

“I liked it because when it was time for asoldier to leave, I would notify them. Iliked to tell them because they were readyto go,” Fulk said.

Marvin Fulk Clarina

Clarinda’s Fulk served in Pacific TheatreBy TESS GRUBER NELSON

Staff Writer

Don Gillham of Shenandoah might be83-years-old, but he has the spunk of a manin his early 20s.

Truth be told, it’s that same audacity thatprompted Gillham to enlist in the Army,and that helped him cope during two stintsin Japan – one during the occupation fol-

lowing WorldWar II, and theother during theKorean Conflict.

“It’s an experi-ence you neverforget,” Gillhamsaid of the Army.“A good experi-ence in my case. Itook two trips toJapan and met alot of good peo-ple.”

Born and raised in Chariton, Iowa,Gillham spent most of his childhood andteenage years on the Earl Milnes dairyfarm.

“The most fun I had was when I’d ridealong with the guy that had the dairy, andwe’d see a good-looking lady walkingdown the street, and I’d slump down in thepickup and honk the horn,” Gillhamlaughed. “I’d stay hid down there just toembarrass the heck out of him.”

When he was 16, Gillham decided toleave the dairy, where his father also

worked, and take a job doing bridge repair. “I did that for two summers when I was-

n’t in school.”A 1946 graduate of Chariton High

School, Gillham said he wasn’t able toattend his own graduation ceremony,because he was in Tokyo in the Army.

“As soon as I turned 18, I enlisted –mainly because there weren’t any jobsaround. By the time June and graduationcame, I was already through with basic andin Tokyo.”

However, Gillham’s introduction into themilitary wasn’t an easy one. Just two daysinto the service, he came down with themumps and spent 10 days in the hospital.

“By that time, the guys I had come withhad already started, so I had to wait for thenext group.”

Basic training was completed at FortKnox, Ken., followed by a couple weeksfurlough.

Gillham then reported to Fort Lewis,Wash., where he boarded a troop shipheaded for Japan.

“The first day the sea was real rough, butafter that it was smooth,” he recalled.

Although Gillham doesn’t recall theship’s name, he does remember it dockedin Yokohama.

“It was quite a culture shock at first.”Assigned to the supply department at

General Headquarters, Gillham deliveredsupplies to the various camps, as well asGeneral Douglas MacArthur’s residence.

“I saw him every once in a while, but he

Don Gillham Shenandoah

Shen man served in Japan during occupation

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When Joe Gray of Shenandoah thinksback to his days in the Army, he can’t helpbut smile.

The Army, he said, allowed him to seethe world, get a great education, meet a lotof people, learn about diversity, as well aslearn about setting priorities and being

responsible. “I really liked

it,” said Gray. “Ihad a great time.”

A Farragutgraduate of 1975,Gray enlisted hisjunior year on thedelayed enlist-ment program.

“I wanted tosee some parts ofthe world, so Ienlisted,” Gray

recalled. “Through the Army I got to skithe Alps, run with the bulls in Spain, andsee the changing of the guard in London,England. I’ve done a lot of things.”

Basic training took place a month afterhe graduated high school at Fort LeonardWood, Mo. What he remembered mostabout basic training was how hot andhumid it was that summer.

Following basic training, Gray was sentto Advanced Individual Training (AIT)School in Aberdeen, Maryland for fourmonths to learn tank turret repair.

“I worked on the great big guns, 105-millimeter gun,” Gray said. “If somethingwere to happen to that tube, where the shellcomes out, it would kill everybody in thetank. After so many rounds are fired, theycame to me. I set up a tripod with a scopethat had a long rod with a mirror andlooked for any cracks. If there were anycracks, it was pulled off and replaced.”

After school, Gray was assigned toBamberg, Germany. He said sinceBamberg is full of churches, it wasn’tbombed during World War II.

There were about 60 tanks at the base inBamberg constantly in rotation of inspec-tion. To inspect just the tank tube took allday Gray recalled.

“If there was just a hairline crack, itwould be taken off and removed.”

Gray was at Bamberg for almost twoyears and then he changed my MOS.

“I wanted to try something different so Iput in a request as a company clerk. I want-ed to get involved in the paperwork part ofit. They had access to all kinds of thingsand I wanted that access,” said Gray.

Gray was sent back to the states to go toschool to be a company clerk. For threemonths he trained at Fort Jackson, S.C.,and then he was sent back to Germany.

Assigned to Schwabisch Gmund, nearStuttgart, Gray said he remembers the coldweather the most.

“I liked Germany, but I didn’t like thecold too well. It wasn’t cold like it is here -it was colder. I got frostbite on my feet and

Joe Gray Shenandoah

Days in the service make Gray smileBy KENT DINNEBIER

Staff Writer

As a favor to a friend, Dave Grebert ofClarinda willingly put himself in harm’sway as he spent one year on active duty inVietnam.

A machinist with the United States AirForce, Grebert was stationed at Nellis AirForce Base near Las Vegas, Nev., in 1968.

“A friend ofmine had just got-ten married. Wewere working inthe shop togetherand had the samebackground. Heactually got theorders, but I vol-unteered to takehis orders. I didnot see why heshould go whenhe had just gotten

married,” Grebert said.After making arrangements with his

commanding officer to go to Vietnam inplace of his friend, Grebert arrived atCameron Bay Air Base in October of 1968.He spent the next year at the air baserepairing various types of air craft.

“It was basically the same work I hadbeen doing. It was just the idea that now Ihad to wear a helmet and flap vest, and attimes we would have mortars coming in,”Grebert said. “There was a mortar attackshortly after I got there. That kind of wakesyou up to what’s going on.”

Still, Grebert said he was excited aboutthe opportunity to serve his country. Hisolder brother, Alfred, had served inVietnam with the United States Army a fewyears earlier and Grebert said the year hespent in Vietnam gave him a better under-standing of what his brother had faced.

A native of Clarinda, Grebert graduatedfrom Clarinda High School in 1964. Hethen enrolled in the mechanical technologyprogram at Clarinda Community College.

Following graduation, Grebert receivedhis draft notice in June of 1966. However,since he was playing baseball for theClarinda A’s, he opted to take a delayedenlistment with the Air Force.

“The recruiter came to my house after I

graduated from college and talked to meabout joining the Air Force as an officer. Iwas playing baseball, so I took the chancethat I would not be drafted. About the nextweek I got my draft notice in the mail. Iwasn’t too surprised because everyone wasgetting drafted,” Grebert said. “I hadn’tthought about the Air Force until I talked tothe recruiter. He said I could delay enlist,so I took that option.”

Therefore, after the baseball season,Grebert reported to Lackland Air ForceBase outside of San Antonio, Texas, inSeptember of 1966 for basic training. Sincehe already held a degree in mechanicaltechnology, Grebert was able to skip tech-nical training school and was assigned toNellis Air Force Base immediately afterbasic training.

During his time at Nellis Air Force Base,Grebert assisted with air craft repairsincluding work on the new F-111 swing-wing aircraft. Tested in the Nevada desert,the plan was designed so the wings wouldbe out to the side for takeoff and thenswing back to make the aircraft sleeker inair. The sleek design was intended toincrease the speed of the plant.

“It was quite an experience working on anew aircraft like that. It was still in theexperimental stages so the engineers withGeneral Dynamics did most of the work,but I was able to see the repair work orupgrades they were making,” Grebert said.“It was used in Vietnam, but not verymuch. It didn’t work very well.”

In addition, Nellis Air Force Base wasthe home of The Thunderbirds, the famedU.S. Air Force demonstration squadron.Grebert said The Thunderbirds were giventop priority at the base and he often assist-ed with repairs to the planes during theirpractice sessions.

“We saw them practice and they put on ashow at the base every year. It was reallyexciting when they would come up toOmaha to be able to tell people that I hadworked on them,” Grebert said.

Following his year in Vietnam, Grebertspent his final year with the Air Force as amachinist at Offutt Air Force Base. Duringthat time he assisted with repairs toLooking Glass, the airborne commandercenter operated by the U.S. Navy.

Dave Grebert Clarinda

Grebert took place of friend in ‘Nam

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Aaron Green of Shenandoah considershimself a very patriotic person. So patriot-ic in fact, he admits being medically dis-charged from the Army has left a hole inhis soul.

Regardless, Green cheers for his fellowsoldiers every chance he gets and often

wonders whatroad he wouldhave taken, if hewere allowed tostay in the serv-ice.

“Perhaps toserve here athome in othercapacities is thedirection I wasintended to take?”Green pondered.

A native ofNebraska City, Green and his friend, ChrisMayhugh left home at the age of 17 tostrike out on their own.

“We were both disturbed by the pres-sures of the world and youth in general,”recalled Green. “We got ourselves an apart-ment and barely survived our senior year ofhigh school there.”

Not sure what he wanted to do followinghigh school, Green said he distinctlyremembers approaching Sergeant Trumblein the commons area of his high school.

“She was a recruiter representing theUnited States Army. Knowing my own per-sonal plight it didn’t take me long to putthe pen to the paper.”

Green explained the “buddy program”no longer existed; however, he could get anautomatic promotion if he could get some-one else to sign up.

“Chris wanted to be a doctor, yet neitherone of us had any money,” recalled Green.“Allured by the prospect of having a paideducation through military service, Chris

signed up as well.”Green and Mayhugh enlisted in the serv-

ice under the Delayed Enlistment Programon Oct. 25, 1990 and shipped off to basictraining at Fort Benning, Ga., on Jan. 18,1991, having completed their senior yearsearly.

“While at boot camp it was announced tous that we were now at war with Iraq. Iremember watching the missiles light upthe skies over Baghdad on CNN. I remem-ber Drill Sergeant Davies telling us that wewill be going over there. I was actuallygrateful for that news.”

However, life had other plans for Green. “I suffered a medical problem during

training. Outside of what’s commonlyknown as the “gas chamber” I fell downinto an epileptic seizure,” Green explained.“A condition unbeknownst to me, I wascompletely bewildered when I brieflybecame conscious on the medivac helicop-ter and Drill Sergeant Raleigh said the epicwords that would help define my future,‘Son, you had a seizure.’ The next thing Iknow, I awoke in the base hospital.”

Green was medically discharged fromthe Army on March 5, 1991. He left FortBenning with $900 in his pocket with noidea where to go.

“I could’ve gone anywhere and just dis-appeared, but I’m grateful that the strongerpower brought me back to the Midwest.”

Green said he does not consider himselfa veteran because he did not serve in thecapacity he intended.

Still feeling the need to serve his coun-try, he said he inquired about enlisting inthe Iowa Army National Guard, however,because of his discharge status he was inel-igible.

“I watch servicemen come and go toactive tour and a part of my heart goes withthem.”

Employed at the Shenandoah Hy-VeeFood Store, Green is married to his wife,Lisa. The couple has three children, Skylor,Simeon, and Cheyanne.

Aaron Green Shenandoah

Green was happy to serve his countryBy KENT DINNEBIER

Staff Writer

A Braddyville man found himself in themidst of one of the biggest showdowns ofthe Cold War when the destroyer he wasserving aboard assisted with the quarantineof Cuba during the Cuban Missile Crisis.

Sam Grider was aboard the USSHenderson in October of 1962 when the

destroyer and itstwo sister ships,the USS Osborneand the USSBrinkley Bass,were sent byPresident John F.Kennedy to chal-lenge ships fromthe Soviet Unionthat were trans-porting missilesto Cuba.

“It was a strate-gic move to threaten the U.S. with (ballis-tic missiles). Castro had started stockpilingthem in Cuba,” Grider said. “The CIAfound out another shipment was on the wayand our ship and our two sister ships weresent to confront them.”

As the ships embarked on an interceptcourse, Kennedy demanded that SovietPremier Nikita Khrushchev order the shipto turn around and also begin the process ofremoving missiles from Cuba. If thosedemands were not met, Grider said thecrews aboard the three United States ships

had been ordered to board and seize theSoviet vessel.

“We understood we were either going toenter into combat with that ship or board itand hold it until the U.S. command andRussian command came to terms on how toresolve the issue,” Grider said. “The inci-dent could have escalated and we couldhave entered into a war with Russia. Then,the Cold War wouldn’t have been so coldanymore.”

It was going to take the USS Hendersonand its sister ships five days to reach theintercept point with the Soviet ship.Fortunately, during those five days,Khrushchev agreed to the demands of theUnited States.

“We were relieved. That was my sense ofthings. I think the whole world wasrelieved it resolved that way,” Grider said.“If Russia hadn’t agreed to remove the mis-siles we could have wound up in a war, andit could have been a nuclear war since theU.S. and Russia were both nuclear pow-ers.”

Originally from Denison, Texas, Gridervolunteered to join the Navy in 1962 at theage of 17. After completing his basic train-ing in San Diego, Calif., Grider was sent toLong Beach, Calif., where he joined thecrew of the USS Henderson.

Grider served as a machinist mate in theengine room operating the steam-drivenpropulsion system that controlled the speedof the ship. Meanwhile, during generalquarters, Grider served as an investigator at

Sam Grider Clarinda

Clarinda’s Grider served during Cold War

see GRIDER, Page 33

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