"There were seven (of us) brothers gone at one time. I can remember when I came home and saw my Dad and Mom. I could have cried, seeing the wear and tear it had on them. It was tough - I missed seeing them for almost three years. A war was a war; they didn't send us over there for just two months, we were over there until it was over."
As the war in Europe wound down, the ominous threat of continuing the fight in Japan loomed. Having seen and experienced so much, would Ken and the rest of his company have to ship directly to the Pacific? This would mean a 60-day journey aboard to troop transport directly to Japan - without so much as a stopover back home along the way. Sixty days on the water - Ken recalls being "sick as a dog" during the nine-day journey to England.
At any rate, the war in Europe certainly was winding down, but still active. Ken remembers one particular night just outside Paris. "There was a lot of artillery fire going on, and so we stayed in one of these old buildings with nothing more than a roof held up by sticks. Well that night, lo and behold it began to thunder and lightning. With the lightning you could see what was going on. We were literally, just surrounded by rats. So we didn't stay there - we'd rather deal with the rain. That just scared the hell out of me to see that many rats in one place! It was worse than seeing the enemy."
I asked, was it hard to find food?
"Never. When we were desperate the boys would always get some kind of animal from somewhere. We went deer hunting on a German preserve that was meant for officers, so we brought back a lot of fresh meat. But, that didn't last long - we were always moving. Sometimes the kitchen would catch up to us and we'd have army chow for a day or two, and then move on. We saw a lot of country."
As I sat with Ken and his wife Thora, we flipped through a photo album. One of the pictures showed the men with a batch of fresh fish: "That's from dynamiting one of the rivers - we were hungry for something fresh to eat."
Ken went on: "The thing that amazed me about Hitler was that he had the foresight to build all those superhighways. They were beautiful! When we first got on one of those highways, I was driving my Jeep, and we were moving with a bunch of tanks. Well, one guy challenged me to a race. So help me, those tracks on that tank were almost a perfect circle! We were going 60 mph, and I thought what would happen if something happened to that tank - something minor, where would we be? I just got ahead of him, and that was it. But man, those highways were beautiful."
I asked Ken, what was the reception you got as you moved through villages? Were the people overjoyed?
Oh, yes - we stayed in Versailles for like five minutes, and I couldn't believe how many Frenchmen were around that Jeep! The girls were all kissing us, and oogling - it was sheer joy to see those people. Ours was the first liberated vehicle that they saw - first U.S. Army vehicle.
Even when the atomic bombs were dropped on Japan, still, Ken did not know if he would be shipped home. A peacekeeping army would be necessary; would he be a part of it? Peace had been declared, the war was over, and naturally the men were overjoyed. But, the larger question had yet to be answered - would the Americans have to go to Japan, even as peacekeepers? In Europe, the soldiers were loaded onto ships, still unaware of their destination. Anchors aweigh, the ships set out. Prophetically, the ocean was clear as glass. Ken described it, "They loaded us up, and we didn't know if we were going to Japan yet, or if we were going home. Well, it was like a honeymoon cruise coming back. The ocean just seemed to be perfectly quiet, all the way back - I can't imagine that, according to how stormy it was when we went over in January. So, they put us in camp in Norfolk, fed us steak that night, and the next day was processing. We were home for about a month before we got our notice to report back. We reported back, were trucked up to Minnesota, and there were issued our discharge papers and tickets back home, with travel paid. That was the end of the story."
Of the seven boys in Ken's family that went off during World War II, every single one made it back home. For Ken, the war was over - he received unemployment pay until he was able to find work, which at that time was more difficult than it sounds - everyone was looking for a job. For unemployment, the soldiers coming back from World War II received $100 per month, which was "adequate, so long as you didn't drink it all up."
Folks, it was truly a pleasure to sit down with Ken and Thora, to hear their stories and perspectives. There are still many more accounts to come in this series of articles on World War II, and we will continue on this series in a few weeks, following a short break. Join me then as we hear voices from the Pacific Theatre.
- Dan Wegmueller of Monroe writes a weekly column for Friday editions of the Times. He can be reached at dwegs@tds.net.
As the war in Europe wound down, the ominous threat of continuing the fight in Japan loomed. Having seen and experienced so much, would Ken and the rest of his company have to ship directly to the Pacific? This would mean a 60-day journey aboard to troop transport directly to Japan - without so much as a stopover back home along the way. Sixty days on the water - Ken recalls being "sick as a dog" during the nine-day journey to England.
At any rate, the war in Europe certainly was winding down, but still active. Ken remembers one particular night just outside Paris. "There was a lot of artillery fire going on, and so we stayed in one of these old buildings with nothing more than a roof held up by sticks. Well that night, lo and behold it began to thunder and lightning. With the lightning you could see what was going on. We were literally, just surrounded by rats. So we didn't stay there - we'd rather deal with the rain. That just scared the hell out of me to see that many rats in one place! It was worse than seeing the enemy."
I asked, was it hard to find food?
"Never. When we were desperate the boys would always get some kind of animal from somewhere. We went deer hunting on a German preserve that was meant for officers, so we brought back a lot of fresh meat. But, that didn't last long - we were always moving. Sometimes the kitchen would catch up to us and we'd have army chow for a day or two, and then move on. We saw a lot of country."
As I sat with Ken and his wife Thora, we flipped through a photo album. One of the pictures showed the men with a batch of fresh fish: "That's from dynamiting one of the rivers - we were hungry for something fresh to eat."
Ken went on: "The thing that amazed me about Hitler was that he had the foresight to build all those superhighways. They were beautiful! When we first got on one of those highways, I was driving my Jeep, and we were moving with a bunch of tanks. Well, one guy challenged me to a race. So help me, those tracks on that tank were almost a perfect circle! We were going 60 mph, and I thought what would happen if something happened to that tank - something minor, where would we be? I just got ahead of him, and that was it. But man, those highways were beautiful."
I asked Ken, what was the reception you got as you moved through villages? Were the people overjoyed?
Oh, yes - we stayed in Versailles for like five minutes, and I couldn't believe how many Frenchmen were around that Jeep! The girls were all kissing us, and oogling - it was sheer joy to see those people. Ours was the first liberated vehicle that they saw - first U.S. Army vehicle.
Even when the atomic bombs were dropped on Japan, still, Ken did not know if he would be shipped home. A peacekeeping army would be necessary; would he be a part of it? Peace had been declared, the war was over, and naturally the men were overjoyed. But, the larger question had yet to be answered - would the Americans have to go to Japan, even as peacekeepers? In Europe, the soldiers were loaded onto ships, still unaware of their destination. Anchors aweigh, the ships set out. Prophetically, the ocean was clear as glass. Ken described it, "They loaded us up, and we didn't know if we were going to Japan yet, or if we were going home. Well, it was like a honeymoon cruise coming back. The ocean just seemed to be perfectly quiet, all the way back - I can't imagine that, according to how stormy it was when we went over in January. So, they put us in camp in Norfolk, fed us steak that night, and the next day was processing. We were home for about a month before we got our notice to report back. We reported back, were trucked up to Minnesota, and there were issued our discharge papers and tickets back home, with travel paid. That was the end of the story."
Of the seven boys in Ken's family that went off during World War II, every single one made it back home. For Ken, the war was over - he received unemployment pay until he was able to find work, which at that time was more difficult than it sounds - everyone was looking for a job. For unemployment, the soldiers coming back from World War II received $100 per month, which was "adequate, so long as you didn't drink it all up."
Folks, it was truly a pleasure to sit down with Ken and Thora, to hear their stories and perspectives. There are still many more accounts to come in this series of articles on World War II, and we will continue on this series in a few weeks, following a short break. Join me then as we hear voices from the Pacific Theatre.
- Dan Wegmueller of Monroe writes a weekly column for Friday editions of the Times. He can be reached at dwegs@tds.net.
