EDINA VETERANS MEMORIAL A LASTING TRIBUTE

EDINA, MINNESOTA 2015

[REVISED 2018]

EDINA VETERANS MEMORIAL A LASTING TRIBUTE

REMEMBERING THE COMMITMENT AND SACRIFICES OF THOSE WHO HAVE SERVED – AND THE FAMILIES AND COMMUNITY THAT SUPPORTED THEM

APPRECIATING THE COMMITMENT AND SACRIFICES OF THOSE WHO ARE SERVING AND THOSE WHO WILL SERVE – AND THE FAMILIES AND COMMUNITY THAT SUPPORT THEM

Researched and Written by Marshall Schwartz

This document was prepared as part of the Edina, Minnesota Veterans Memorial Project. Copyright © 2017 by the Edina Historical Society. All rights reserved by the Edina Historical Society.

PREAMBLE

The Edina Veterans Memorial was still a work in progress when “Edina Veterans Memorial – A Companion Reader” was released in 2012. This new account, “Edina Veterans Memorial – A Lasting Tribute”, extends past the celebratory memorial envisioned in 2012, to the lasting memorial that now stands so serenely amidst the trees in Utley Park.

EDINA’S LEGACY OF PATRIOTIC SERVICE

Patriotic service and community support for men and women in uniform are deeply imbedded into the fabric of Edina’s rich history. Thousands of its citizens have honorably served in the Army, Navy, Marines, Coast Guard, Air Force or wartime Merchant Marine over the years. They did not do so alone. Behind each son or daughter in uniform were a loving family, caring friends, and a grateful community. Attracted by the excellent schools, parks, and other quality-of-life attributes, many other veterans took up residence – and continue to do so – in Edina after having served.

Data derived from the most recent (2010) U.S. Census shows nearly one in seven (13.9%) of Edina’s adult men and women residents at that time had served in the military. This is more than a full percentage point higher than the national average. Additionally, a survey of residents conducted in 2012 indicated eight of ten Edina households then included at least one veteran or someone only one step removed from a veteran or individual who was serving on active duty.

The legacy of military service that is such a pronounced part of Edina’s heritage took root even before Edina was incorporated as an independent village. It extends back to the Civil War era, when Charles McCabe, James Hawkes, James Bryant, and other pioneering residents of what was then rural western Richfield made the trek to Fort Snelling to patriotically, and courageously, volunteer for military service. After the War, returning Union soldiers from the small milling crossroads community were joined by Michael Maloney, Preston Cooper, Beverly Yancey, and other veterans like them who had lived elsewhere in the antebellum Republic and came to settle in the part of Richfield Township that would become Edina.

1 Native and adopted sons who had served in the Grand Army of the Republic during the Civil War went on to play a prominent role in the founding of Edina. Better than one in four of the 56 Founding Fathers who voted at the Grange Hall December 12, 1888 on the proposal to separate from Richfield and incorporate Edina as an independent village was either himself a Civil War veteran or just one step removed from one.

The connecting thread of patriotic service and appreciative citizens that has existed in Edina since, and even before, incorporation was most visible at the time of the Second World War. Every third or fourth house in Edina and Morningside (which were then separate villages) typically had one or more service stars displayed in a window at some point during that historic era. Blue stars were for family members who were serving. Gold stars were for loved ones who had perished while serving. Some homes showed both blue and gold stars.

The homes displaying service stars were primarily concentrated in what is today the northeast quadrant of the long-since reunited Edina. The combined number of occupied dwellings present in suburbanized Morningside and northeast Edina at that time far exceeded those located in what were then the still rural southern and western parts of Edina. The unevenness in residential development is reflected in casualties. Fifteen of the 25 households in today’s Edina that trace to servicemen who perished during the Second World War were clustered within Morningside, Edina’s Country Club District (which had 4% of Edina’s land and a third of its dwellings), and adjoining neighborhoods.

Like many other communities across America, adults and children living in Edina and Morningside were fully mobilized in both patriotic spirit and activities on the home front during WWII. While family members, friends, neighbors, and co-workers were away serving in the military, the 7,200 residents of the two villages anxiously waited for their safe return. The hopeful community members purchased War Bonds and Stamps and vigorously participated in paper and scrap drives, rationing, Red Cross sewing and blood donor programs, and other patriotic endeavors that supported the war effort. Many also worked in critical defense industries. At the same time, absent sons and daughters in uniform were also embraced and celebrated at local churches and by students and faculty members at the Wooddale School.

2 The service billboard and display panel combination that stood at the corner of 44th Street and France Avenue to honor Morningside men and woman in uniform testifies to the community’s heightened wartime commitment and cohesiveness. There was a name and blue service star for each man or woman from Morningside who was serving, and a name and gold star for each resident who had perished. The first gold star posted was in remembrance of Frank Ellis Jr., who was a crewmember on the USS Arizona when the iconic battleship was sunk during the Japanese attack against U.S. military installations and naval vessels at Pearl Harbor the morning of December 7, 1941.

Several Morningside families had multiple members recognized on the service billboard and panel. The Schapers, Hirsches, Entrikins, Phelpses, and Courtneys were prominent among them. Five of the blue stars were for sons of Arthur and Lucie Schaper. Three Hirsch brothers also had blue stars. Two other blue stars were for George and Norma Entrikin. A third star, a gold one, was displayed for their brother John, who had been killed while serving in the Pacific Theatre. Boyd Phelps, whose esteemed grandfather Jonathan Taylor Grimes once owned most of the land that constituted Morningside, was recognized with a blue star. So was his son, Boyd Phelps Jr. The elder Phelps saw service in both the First and Second World Wars. Wayne Courtney and his sister Yvonne were also recognized with personalized blue service stars. Wayne Courtney went on to serve as Mayor of the reunified Village of Edina.

Though as deeply committed, Edina did not have a focal point display on the scale of the Morningside service billboard and panel arrangement to publicly recognize Village residents serving in uniform during World War II. A group of Edina citizens joined together at war’s end in 1945 for the purpose of creating a memorial to honor the more than 600 men and women from the Village who had served. World War I Marine aviator Elmer Williams, whose son had died fighting in World War II, played a leading role in the project. The display of appreciation to hometown veterans would have stood off of West 50th Street and Wooddale Avenue; but the noble endeavor clashed with post-war development urgencies, and the goal was never realized. The Edina American Legion Post later established a memorial flagpole in close proximity to that location to honor the patriotic men and women who had served our country in times of war and peace.

3 The American Legion flagpole was part of a larger effort undertaken by neighborhood and civic groups to preserve and enhance the park area abutting the Minnehaha Creek in the vicinity of the West 50th Street and Wooddale Avenue intersection. The flagpole was dedicated May 30, 1955. Edina and Morningside were still separated at that time. The American Legion tribute, which remains a cordial presence on the southwest corner of West 50th Street and Wooddale Avenue, would not be Edina’s last or most prominent physical expression of gratitude to its and all American veterans.

THE EDINA VETERANS MEMORIAL PROJECT

In keeping with Edina’s deeply imbedded patriotic spirit, its citizens, businesses, and civic organizations joined together with their staunchly supportive municipal government and state legislators in a collaborative undertaking whose ultimate result was the establishment of a lasting veterans memorial in Edina. The dignified landmark interlaces civic and national pride to honor the contributions and sacrifices of all Americans, especially - but not only - those with Edina connections, who have served, are serving, or will someday serve in our nation’s armed forces. The parallel contributions and sacrifices of waiting families and others in the community are also recognized.

Organized planning for the collaborative undertaking began in 2010, when Edina’s Parks and Recreation Department Director John Keprios and visionary Edina resident Mike Goergen secured backing from Mayor Jim Hovland and the City Council for the project. A volunteer committee chaired by Goergen was then established to develop and implement a project plan for a permanent tribute to the veterans who have valiantly served over the years to protect our nation’s freedoms. The resultant Edina Veterans Memorial was dedicated on Memorial Day, May 25, 2015. Popular John Keprios had retired by that time, and his partner Mike Goergen had been succeeded as head of the memorial committee by the equally enthused closer Richard Olson.

Dedication of the Edina Veterans Memorial at Utley Park May 25, 2015

4 Edina’s celebratory Veterans Memorial is positioned at West 50th Street and Wooddale Avenue, in an attractively landscaped part of Utley Park. The family household of Edina pioneer miller and Founding Father Andrew Craik had once stood on the spot. Memorial committee members were aware of the nearby American Legion flagpole during the site selection process. Only after the tranquil Utley Park site was chosen as the location for the envisioned memorial, though, was it discovered that the very same creek-side plot had been selected some 65 years earlier as the place where the unrealized expression of gratitude to Edina residents and other veterans would have been built.

For some, Edina’s lasting tribute to veterans is an emotional destination that evokes memories of service and fallen friends, relatives, and fellow Americans. For others, it is a source of intellectual discovery and contemplation. For yet others, it is a unifying symbol of civic and national pride. For all, the tasteful memorial is a visual reminder that freedom is not free.

NOT JUST NAMES IN STONE

The focal point of Edina’s lasting tribute to its and all veterans is an inspiring bronze sculpture of a majestic American bald eagle with outspread wings. The sculptured eagle, which is positioned with a tri-fold American flag atop a six foot high polished black granite base, is symbolic of America’s enduring freedom and strength. Thirty-four names are engraved into the granite base beneath the bronze eagle and flag.

5 The 34 names are those of native and adopted sons of Edina (and Morningside during the period of separation) who died while serving in a time of war over the years since Edina was incorporated in 1888. The first death occurred during the First World War, when Roy and Elizabeth Sherman’s 18-year-old son Elmer was killed while fighting in a heavily fortified sector of France’s Argonne Forest. Elmer Sherman was the only Edina resident who perished in that conflict. Twenty-five deaths trace to the Second World War, three to the Korean War, and five to Vietnam. A sizeable number of Edina’s sons and daughters have valiantly served in combat zones around the world since Donald and Betty Kaster’s 23-year-old son Stephen died while leading his platoon in Vietnam in 1970. Thankfully, none of them have perished.

Each honored warrior whose name is etched into the polished granite base, and whose photograph and home location are displayed on the nearby kiosk panel, has a unique story of love, promise, and a life that ended early in service to his country. These tragic stories remain an everlasting part of Edina’s heritage: From Frank Ellis and Owen Baird, who will forever be 21 – To Elmer Sherman and David Peterson, who will never be 21; From Chuck Prescott and Harry Davis, who did not get to see their children grow and bloom – To Bernard Johnson and Bill Bates, who lost the opportunity to have children; From Joseph Redpath, who lies beneath a foreign field where poppies blow – To John Entrikin, who rests below ocean waves – To Hal Thorson, who soared high to touch the hand of God, and now lies somewhere in an unmarked jungle grave.

Some of the hometown Edina heroes who made the ultimate sacrifice of giving their lives while serving our country, Hill Larson and Henry Mickelsen among them, were already in uniform when war broke out. Others, like Donald Hill and Craig Egge, valiantly volunteered during a time of conflict. Still others, like Paul Christensen and Bruce Randall, patriotically answered the call to duty when they were drafted. Whatever his path to service, every one of the fallen warriors willingly placed himself at risk to protect America and its way of life. Each also left proud, but anxious, loved ones behind when he went to war. Those waiting mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, wives, and children would later tearfully hang gold service stars in the windows of their grief-stricken homes.

6

While each fallen Edina warrior’s all-too-brief life story is emotionally compelling in itself, together they merge to create an even more powerful testament of duty, commitment, and sacrifice. Along with recognizing Edina’s patriotic heritage, this account endeavors to go beyond honored names etched in stone and relate the stories of the 34 real people with lasting ties to Edina whose lives ended early while serving to preserve our freedoms. These tragic accounts vary substantially in origin, privilege, education, and life experience; but all share three common threads that create an eternal bond:

The first binding thread is that each Gold Star Serviceman was either killed in action or otherwise died in the line-of-duty while serving our country during a time of declared war or other designated period of armed conflict.

The second thread is that each Gold Star Serviceman had a strong familial or residential bond to the Edina community as it is presently constituted. This essential linkage could be any one of the following fundamental connections: His parents were residents of Edina when he was born; He was a resident of Edina for a significant part of his life; He registered with Selective Service, was drafted, or enlisted while he was a resident of Edina; He entered on duty while he was a resident of Edina; He died or was declared dead while he was a resident of Edina; Or his spouse or at least one parent was residing in Edina when he died or was declared dead.

The third thread that eternally binds Edina’s 34 Gold Star Servicemen is that each essentially lost two lives: The first was the one he had that ended tragically and early while serving our country. The second was the one that fate never allowed him the opportunity to experience.

7 The chronicle of duty and love of country that follows is pointedly Edina- fatality centric. This channeled perspective is in no way intended to diminish the contributions of others who have also served and sacrificed. What is intended is to illuminate hometown stories of promise, service to country, and ultimate sacrifice that are as a much a part of Edina’s heritage as the iconic mill on the Minnehaha Creek and the Grange Hall. It is aspired in doing so that current and future generations will remember with gratitude the tragically brief lives of the 34 memorialized sons of Edina – and through them, all veterans who have honorably served our country around the world during times of war and peace. This is fundamental, because every American who has served, is serving, or will serve in our nation’s armed forces is entitled to the certainty that his or her contributions and sacrifices will not be forgotten.

LEST WE FORGET

8 9

WORLD WAR I MEMORIAL WASHINGTON, D.C.

“IN THEIR DEVOTION, THEIR VALOR, AND IN THE LOYAL FULFILLMENT OF THEIR OBLIGATIONS, THE OFFICERS AND MEN OF THE AMERICAN EXPEDITIONARY FORCES HAVE LEFT A HERITAGE OF WHICH THOSE WHO FOLLOW MAY EVER BE PROUD” – GENERAL JOHN J. PERSHING

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WORLD WAR I

The world must be made safe for democracy -- Over there, the Yanks are coming, coming over. We won't come back till it's over, over there -- Lafayette, we are here -- Doughboy -- Chateau Thierry -- Trench Warfare -- Belleau Wood -- Meuse-Argonne -- St. Mihiel -- The Great War -- War to end all wars …

11 PRIVATE ELMER CLAUDE SHERMAN UNITED STATES ARMY

Argonne Forest Meuse-Argonne American Cemetery

Elmer Sherman’s grave marker at Elmer Sherman’s cenotaph on Victory Memorial Drive Meuse-Argonne American Cemetery

“In Flanders fields the poppies blow between the crosses row on row, that mark our place; and in the sky the larks, still bravely singing, fly scarce heard amid the guns below. We are the Dead. Short days ago we lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow, loved and were loved, and now we lie in Flanders fields.” – John McCrae

12 PRIVATE ELMER CLAUDE SHERMAN UNITED STATES ARMY FEBRUARY 28, 1900 – OCTOBER 3, 1918

Elmer Sherman was born February 28, 1900 in Princeton, Minnesota. He was the third of Leroy (Roy) and Elizabeth Sherman’s eight children. Roy Sherman was a carpenter by trade, but also worked at various unskilled jobs to support his growing family. Roy and Elizabeth relocated with their children from Princeton to South Minneapolis in 1908. The family moved again four years later, this time to Edina. They took up residence there off of Hillside Road. Elmer had recently turned 17, and was living with his parents and siblings in Edina, when he enlisted in the Army on April 15, 1917 – just nine days after the U.S. entered the First World War. He was working for a wholesale milliner at the time. Elmer was the first Edina resident to volunteer for service in World War I. After completing basic military training, Elmer deployed to join the American Expeditionary Forces in France. He was assigned to an infantry company in the 2nd Infantry Division. The untested 2nd Division was soon committed in a major offensive against heavily fortified German forces in the rugged Argonne Forest. Private Elmer Claude Sherman from Edina was killed in action during close combat in the Argonne Forest on October 3, 1918.* Elmer, who had aspirations of becoming a dentist, was just 18 years old when he died early. He was the only resident of Edina killed while serving during the First World War. Elmer is buried in France at the Meuse- Argonne American Cemetery. A memorial service was held for him in Edina at the ‘Little Brown Church’, which later became the Edina-Morningside Community Church. He is additionally remembered with a tree and cenotaph on Victory Memorial Drive in Minneapolis.

* Historical Note: The Meuse-Argonne sector in northeastern France was outlined on the north and south by parallel river valleys. The two valleys were separated by a jagged ridgeline. The heights of the Meuse River stood at the eastern end of the battlefield and the rugged Argonne Forest at the western end. A 12-mile-deep German defensive network of trenches and underground structures tied together with barbed wire, machine gun nests, and strong points was imbedded into the hilly terrain. The Meuse-Argonne Offensive during which Elmer Sherman was killed began September 26, 1918 and ended with the signing of the Armistice on November 11, 1918. It was the deadliest and most significant American offensive action of the First World War. In just six weeks time, the victorious American Expeditionary Forces suffered 26,277 killed and 95,786 wounded while overtaking the heavily fortified German positions.

13 WORLD WAR II MEMORIAL WASHINGTON, D.C.

“OUR DEBT TO THE HEROIC MEN AND VALIENT WOMEN IN THE SERVICE OF OUR COUNTRY CAN NEVER BE REPAID. THEY HAVE EARNED OUR UNDYING GRATITUDE. AMERICA WILL NEVER FORGET THEIR SACRIFICES.” – HARRY S. TRUMAN

14 WORLD WAR II

Pearl Harbor -- Date which will live in infamy -- Corregidor -- Bataan -- Doolittle Raid -- Midway -- Guadalcanal -- Unconditional Surrender -- Anzio -- D-Day -- Hurtgen Forest -- Bastogne -- Okinawa -- Iwo Jima -- A-Bomb -- Triumph and Tragedy …

15 ELECTRICIAN’S MATE THIRD CLASS FRANCIS ARNOLD ELLIS JR. UNITED STATES NAVY

Morningside Memorial USS Arizona

Hawaiian Islands

USS Arizona Memorial

Pearl Harbor

Hawaii “I do not know the dignity of their birth; but I do know the glory of their death. They died unquestioning, uncomplaining, with faith in their hearts, and on their lips the hope that we would go on to victory.” – General Douglas MacArthur

16 ELECTRICIAN’S MATE THIRD CLASS FRANCIS ARNOLD ELLIS JR. UNITED STATES NAVY MARCH 11, 1920 – DECEMBER 7, 1941

Francis “Frank” Ellis Jr. was born in Chicago March 11, 1920. He was the only surviving son of Frank and Isabelle Ellis, who had immigrated to Canada from England five years earlier. Frank Ellis Sr. worked as an inspector for the Canadian National Railroad. He and Isabelle were Canadian citizens; but their son Frank Jr. was a U.S. citizen by birth. Frank Jr. was 19 when he enlisted in the peacetime U.S. Navy in August 1939. The Ellises were staying with family friends, Jack and Verna Bonneau, at 4222 Alden Drive in Morningside at the time. Frank Sr. and Isabelle Ellis, who had a permanent home in Winnipeg, took up temporary residence on West 44th Street in Morningside after their son departed. Upon completion of basic seaman’s training, Frank Jr. was assigned to the Pacific Fleet in Hawaii. There, he joined the crew of the Battleship Arizona. Electrician’s Mate 3rd Class Francis Arnold Ellis Jr. was killed in action aboard the USS Arizona when carrier-based Japanese aircraft attacked U.S. naval ships and military facilities at Pearl Harbor the morning of December 7, 1941.* Frank was 21 years old when he died early. His remains were not recovered. He is entombed on the Arizona and honored at the USS Arizona Memorial and the Honolulu Memorial.** Francis Ellis Jr. was also remembered by the Morningside community with the first gold star on the service billboard at 44th and France. U.S. immigration officials extended Isabelle Ellis’s visitor visa, so she could be present when the billboard was dedicated in May 1942.

* Historical Note 1: The Pearl Harbor naval base and airfields on Oahu were attacked in two waves by carrier-based Japanese aircraft, beginning at 7:55 AM Hawaii time December 7, 1941. The surprise attack lasted two hours. When it was over, the Arizona and three other U.S. Navy battleships were sunk or capsized. Four others were damaged. Three cruisers and three destroyers were also sunk. The United States formally entered World War II the following day.

** Historical Note 2: The USS Arizona was mortally wounded in the opening minutes of the Japanese attack, when a bomb penetrated the armored deck near one of the ship’s ammunition magazines. In addition to Frank Ellis Jr., 1,103 other sailors and 73 Marines died on the Arizona that morning. Ship’s Captain, Franklin Van Valkenburgh, who had grown up in and received his appointment to Annapolis from South Minneapolis, was among the casualties. He was posthumously awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for his heroic actions on the exposed bridge of the doomed battleship.

17 SEAMAN RECRUIT LEO THOMAS SLAVIN UNITED STATES COAST GUARD

Florida

Coast Guard Training Center, Fort Lauderdale The Slavin Family Grave Stone at St. Margaret’s Cemetery

Leo Slavin’s Grave Marker at St. Margaret’s Cemetery

“Could it be your brother there? Or a sweetheart, or your friend? All the years that have gone by, still the memories never end … Long ago they sailed away to a different port of call. Do salute them silently, Coasties one and all.” – Dolly Juhlin

18 SEAMAN RECRUIT LEO THOMAS SLAVIN UNITED STATES COAST GUARD APRIL 9, 1913 – JANUARY 17, 1942

Leo Slavin was born in Edina April 9, 1913. He was the youngest of Patrick “Hank” and Johanna “Anna” Slavin’s four children. Hank and Anna Slavin had moved to Edina from Green Isle, Minnesota in 1900. Hank, whose cousin with the same name (Patrick Slavin) played a prominent role in the incorporation of Edina, owned and operated a strawberry and raspberry farm off of Mendelssohn Road in northwest Edina.* He and Anna and their children worshiped at St. Joseph’s Catholic Church in Hopkins. Leo attended Hopkins High School from 1930-1934; but did not graduate. He had difficulty finding steady work during the Great Depression and its aftermath and held various jobs, including one as a cook at the nearby Interlachen Country Club, before enlisting in the Coast Guard in the wake of the Japanese attack against U.S. naval ships and military facilities at Pearl Harbor December 7, 1941.** Leo reported for Coast Guard basic seaman training at Fort Lauderdale, Florida on January 12, 1942. Seaman Recruit Leo Thomas Slavin of Edina died in the line-of-duty when he suffered a heart attack and drowned in the ocean during training, just five days after reporting for duty. Leo was 28 years old when he died early. Funeral services for him were held in Hopkins at St. Joseph’s Catholic Church. He is buried in a family plot at St. Margaret’s Cemetery in Hopkins.

* Historical Note 1: The tract off Mendelssohn Road on which the Slavin berry farm stood was acquired from Civil War veteran and Edina Founding Father Michael Maloney. Mrs. Maloney was a music teacher. She had named the dirt road after her favorite composer, Felix Mendelssohn. Dwaine and Marian Egge purchased a new home on Mendelssohn Lane in the early 1960s. The lot where their house stood had previously been part of the Maloney farm, and then the Slavin farm. Dwaine and Marian’s son Eric would later perish in Vietnam.

** Historical Note 2: The Coast Guard was established in 1790 as the Revenue Cutter Service. Its purpose was to curtail the flow of untaxed goods being smuggled into the United States. The mission was expanded to meet national defense needs in WWI, and again in WWII. Nearly 173,000 Coast Guard men and women were engaged in WWII. They escorted ships across the North Atlantic, supported Army landings at North Africa, Sicily, and Normandy, and delivered Marines to invasion beaches at Guadalcanal and other Pacific islands. Coast Guard vessels and crews are also credited with sinking 14 enemy submarines. Five hundred seventy-two Coast Guardsmen were killed in action. Thirteen hundred forty-five others died in the line-of- duty as a result of accidents or disease.

19 FIRST LIEUTENANT HENRY ERNST MICKELSEN UNITED STATES ARMY

4390 Coolidge Avenue

The Philippines

Bataan

Nichols Field

Manila American Cemetery at Fort Bonifacio

“We're the Battling Bastards of Bataan - No mama, no papa, no Uncle Sam. No aunts, no uncles, no cousins, no nieces. No pills, no planes, no artillery pieces. And nobody gives a damn!” – Frank Hewlett

20 FIRST LIEUTENANT HENRY ERNST MICKELSEN UNITED STATES ARMY JANUARY 7, 1916 – MARCH 28, 1942

Henry Mickelsen was born in Minneapolis January 7, 1916. He was the younger of Peder and Christine Mickelsen’s two children. Peder was a building contractor. Peder, Christine, Emma, and Henry Mickelsen attended Emanuel Lutheran Church in Minneapolis. Henry graduated from the University of Minnesota in 1937 with a degree in chemical engineering and an ROTC commission as a lieutenant in the Army Reserves. In 1938, he moved with his parents and sister from South Minneapolis to a newly built home at 4390 Coolidge Avenue in Edina. Henry was living with his family on Coolidge Avenue and working with his father in the construction business when he entered on active duty as a Coast Artillery officer in the Army in April 1941. He was serving as a maintenance officer with an Army Air Forces unit at Nichols Field near Manila on December 8, 1941 (December 7th in the U.S. and Hawaii), when Japan attacked U.S. military installations in The Philippines. Henry was among the 16,000 American troops on Luzon that survived the initial Japanese assault and withdrew to the Bataan Peninsula.* First Lieutenant Henry Ernst Mickelsen of Edina was killed in action on Bataan March 28, 1942, while returning from a reconnaissance patrol behind Japanese lines.** American forces on Bataan surrendered 12 days later. Henry was 26-years-old when he died early. His remains were not recovered. He is memorialized at the Manila American Cemetery at Fort Bonifacio in The Philippines.

* Historical Note 1: In the face of superior Japanese strength, some 16,000 American and 64.000 Filipino troops on Luzon disengaged and withdraw south to establish defensive positions on the Bataan Peninsula. Outnumbered, low on supplies, and facing annihilation, holdout forces surrendered April 9, 1942. Most of the prisoners were forced to undertake the notorious Bataan Death March under extremely harsh conditions to an imprisonment facility at Camp O’Donnell, more than 100 kilometers to the north. An estimated 10,000 of them died before reaching Camp O’Donnell.

** Historical Note 2: Just weeks after having learned that his son Henry was missing in action in The Philippines, 52-year-old Peder Mickelsen dutifully registered for the WWII draft at the Hennepin County Draft Board office in Hopkins. He was required to do so under a newly enacted wartime amendment to the Selective Service Act of 1940. In what became known as the “Old Man’s Draft”, the scope of the original Act was extended to include males 45-64 years of age - not for combat roles, but to serve on the home front. The targeted registration officially took place April 27, 1942 at local draft boards around the country.

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FIRST LIEUTENANT ROBERT STANLEY ADAMS JR. UNITED STATES ARMY AIR FORCES

B-24 Liberator

4201 Grimes Avenue

Morningside Memorial

ARIZONA Robert Adams’s Grave Stone at Fort Snelling National Cemetery

Florence

Davis-Monthan Army Air Field

“If you are looking for perfect safety, you will do well to sit on a fence and watch the birds; but if you really wish to learn, you must mount a machine and become acquainted with its tricks by actual trial.’’ – Wilbur Wright

22 FIRST LIEUTENANT ROBERT STANLEY ADAMS JR. UNITED STATES ARMY AIR FORCES APRIL 25, 1920 – DECEMBER 4, 1942

Robert Adams Jr. was born in Omaha, Nebraska April 25, 1920. He was the older by 10 years of Kathryn and Robert Adams’s two sons. Robert Adams Sr. worked for the Texas Company (Texaco). Robert Jr. was 18 when his family moved from Omaha to a home at 4201 Grimes Avenue in Morningside. He had completed two years of college and was living with his parents and younger brother on Grimes Avenue when he enlisted in the pre-war Army Air Forces aviation cadet program in October 1940. After earning his silver pilot wings and receiving a commission as a second lieutenant, Robert was assigned to the 39th Bombardment Group at Davis-Monthan Army Air Field in southern Arizona for transition training on the B-24 Liberator heavy bomber.* He married Jean Servick from Red Wing, Minnesota while he was in flight school. First Lieutenant Robert Stanley Adams Jr. of Edina died in the line-of-duty December 4, 1942, when the B-24 Liberator aircraft he was piloting on a navigation training flight was heavily damaged by turbulence in a violent storm and crashed in the desert near Florence, Arizona.** Robert was 22 years old when he died early. Jean Adams was pregnant. Their son Robert Stanley Adams III was born four months after Robert’s death. Robert is buried at the Fort Snelling National Cemetery in Minneapolis. He was remembered by the Morningside community with a gold star on the service billboard at 44th and France.

* Historical Note 1: Davis-Monthan Army Air Field was named after two 1920s era military pilots from the Tucson area who, like Robert Adams, were lieutenants that perished in aircraft accidents. Within weeks of the Japanese attack at Pearl Harbor, the 39th Bombardment Group arrived at Davis-Monthan and began training B-24 Liberator crews. High intensity B-24 transition training continued there for the next two years, until Davis-Monthan became home to the new B-29 Superfortress in late 1944.

** Historical Note 2: The Army Air Forces lost over 4,500 aircraft in combat operations against the Japanese in the Pacific during the Second World War. Over the same period, the Army Air Forces lost more than 7,000 aircraft in fatal accidents that occurred within the continental United States. Over 15,500 Army Air pilots, crewmembers, and ground personnel lost their lives in this way, most of them in training accidents. One of every 50 cadets was killed in flight or combat transition training before ever reaching a war zone. Fighters were the most dangerous type of plane to fly, followed by heavy bombers like the B-24 Liberator Robert Adams was flying when he was killed. Through the War, B-24s averaged the horrific statistics of 35 accidents per 1,000 flight hours.

23 MAJOR HOYT ALLEN ROSS UNITED STATES ARMY AIR FORCES

Luzon

C-47 Dakota

4226 Scott Terrace

Hoyt’s High School Yearbook Photo - 1931

Hoyt Ross’s Grave Stone at the Fort Snelling National Cemetery Rockhampton

“Those who have long enjoyed such privileges as we enjoy forget in time that men have died to win them.” – Franklin D. Roosevelt

24 MAJOR HOYT ALLEN ROSS UNITED STATES ARMY AIR FORCES MARCH 12, 1913 – DECEMBER 19, 1943

Hoyt Ross was born March 12, 1913 in Iowa City, Iowa. He was the second of Charles and Leanore Ross’s three children. Hoyt grew up with his parents and two sisters near Seattle, Washington, where Charles Ross was employed as a railroad clerk. Hoyt graduated from high school in Seattle in 1931, and later relocated to Minneapolis with his family. After attending Macalester College in St. Paul for a short time, he enrolled as a mechanical engineering major at the University of Minnesota in September 1936. Hoyt who had married by that time, left the University after two years and moved to Iowa with his wife Mabel. He commanded a Depression-era Civilian Conservation Corps camp near Iowa City for a couple of years before returning to Minneapolis. Hoyt and Mabel were living in Minneapolis on Oak Grove Street with their infant son Terry when Hoyt was called up for duty in December 1941, in the wake of the Japanese attack at Pearl Harbor. Hoyt held a commission as an infantry lieutenant in the Army Reserves, but immediately transferred to the Army Air Forces. He had to leave Mabel and Terry to deploy to Australia a month later. There, Hoyt was stationed in Brisbane with 5 Air Force, which was subsequently re-designated Fifth Air Force. His strong performance merited two promotions in three years, a significant achievement for a non pilot-rated Army Air Forces officer. Major Hoyt Allen Ross was killed in the line-of-duty December 19, 1943, when the C-47 Dakota transport aircraft in which he was a passenger encountered severe weather while flying to Brisbane and disintegrated over Rockhampton. Hoyt was 30 years old when he died early. Mabel Ross and her two-year-old son Terry were living in Morningside with another family at 4226 Scott Terrace when Hoyt perished.* Hoyt was initially buried in overseas. His remains were returned to the United States in 1948 for re- interment at the Fort Snelling National Cemetery in Minneapolis.

* Historical Note: Mabel Ross lived just two houses away from the Boyd Phelps family on Scott Terrace in Morningside. Boyd Phelps, the grandson of village patriarch Jonathan Taylor Grimes, had seen service with the Navy in the First World War. He was again away serving in the Navy in World War II. His son Boyd Jr. was concurrently away serving in the Army. Charles and Letha Carlson lived next door to Boyd and Alice Phelps. Two of their sons were away serving in the Navy. A third son, Curtis, had once delivered newspapers to homes on Scott Terrace. Curt Carlson would go on to become one of Minnesota’s most successful and wealthiest business entrepreneurs.

25 ENSIGN JOHN McCLELLAND ENTRIKIN UNITED STATES NAVY

USS Anderson

4160 West 44th Street

Morningside Memorial

Honolulu Memorial

“They who mourn on distant shore for sailors who'll come home no more can dry their tears and pray for these who rest beneath the heaving seas … For when they lived, they chose the sea.” – Eilene Mahoney

26 ENSIGN JOHN McCLELLAND ENTRIKIN UNITED STATES NAVY JUNE 29, 1921 – JANUARY 30, 1944

John Entrikin was born in Omaha, Nebraska June 29, 1921. He was the first of Harry and Edna Entrikin’s three children. His brother and sister also went on to serve during World War II.* Though John was born in Omaha, his parents actually lived in nearby Holstein, Iowa. Harry and Edna Entrikin relocated their family from Holstein to South Minneapolis when John was eight years old. Harry Entrikin worked for the Texas Company (Texaco) as a lubrication engineer. John was attending Minneapolis West High School when the family moved to a new home at 4160 West 44th Street in Morningside. He graduated from West in June 1939 and started at the University of Minnesota the following September. John, who was enrolled in the school’s first naval ROTC unit, graduated from the University in June 1943 with a degree in aeronautical engineering and naval science and a commission as an ensign in the Navy Reserves. He was activated and deployed to join the Pacific Fleet as a ship’s radar officer three weeks later. Ensign John McClelland Entrikin of Edina was killed in action January 30, 1944 when his ship, the Destroyer USS Anderson, was hit by enemy shellfire while bombarding shore positions off Wotje Atoll in the Marshall Islands.** John was 22 years old when he died early. He was buried at sea and is memorialized in Hawaii on the Tablets of the Missing at the Honolulu Memorial. He was also remembered by the Morningside community with a gold star on the service billboard at 44th and France.

* Historical Note 1: John Entrikin’s sister was one of three women in uniform who were recognized by their Morningside neighbors with blue stars on the service billboard and panel at 44th and France. In total, nearly 400,000 women served in uniform during WWII. Some 74,000 of them were nurses. Many others performed essential clerical, transportation, and other support roles at home and abroad. Women also served as pilots, testing and ferrying aircraft. Thirty-eight female pilots perished in flying accidents, while 30 nurses died from hostile fire. In all, 460 women serving in the U.S. armed forces died in the line-of-duty during WWII. Ninety others were taken as prisoners of war.

** Historical Note 2: Wotje is not as widely known as other atolls in the Marshall Islands. Americans are more familiar with names like Kwejelein (where heroic amphibious landings were successfully executed) and Bikini and Enewetak (which were used for nuclear weapons tests after the War). Nevertheless, the Wotje Atoll served as an important forward base for Japanese warplanes and was heavily fortified with costal artillery and anti-aircraft batteries. It was frequently targeted by U.S. Navy ships, like the Anderson, and carrier-based aircraft.

27 SECOND LIEUTENANT BARRETTE LEROY BAKER UNITED STATES ARMY AIR FORCES

B-24 Liberator 5200 Schaefer Road

Norfolk

Nuremberg

THE SECRETARY OF WAR ASKS THAT I St. Avold ASSURE YOU OF HIS DEEP REGRET…

Lorraine American Cemetery at St. Avold

“They knew not the day or hour nor the manner of their passing when far from home they were called to join the great band of airmen that went before.” – Inscription at the American Cemetery and Memorial in Cambridge, England.

28 SECOND LIEUTENANT BARRETTE LEROY BAKER UNITED STATES ARMY AIR FORCES OCTOBER 30, 1915 – FEBRUARY 25, 1944

Barrette Baker was born in Minneapolis October 30, 1915. He was the older of Maurice and Beryl Baker’s two sons. Barrette’s younger brother went on to serve in the Navy during World War II. Maurice Baker was Vice President of the W.L. Baker Company, a family-owned retailer of professional painting and wall papering supplies. Barrette grew up in South Minneapolis. He graduated from West High School in June 1934 and received an Associate of Arts Degree from the University of Minnesota in 1936. Barrette’s parents moved from South Minneapolis to a home at 5200 Schaefer Road in the Mirror Lakes area of Edina in 1940. Barrette was working on the staff of “The Shoppers Guide” in St. Paul when he married Dorothy Piper in January 1941. He and Dorothy were living in South Minneapolis when Barrette enlisted in the Army Air Forces aviation cadet program in October 1942. Barrette received his pilot’s wings and commission as a second lieutenant in July 1943. Following transitional flight training on the B-24 Liberator heavy bomber, he deployed to Old Buckenham Air Field in Norfolk, England with the 453rd Heavy Bombardment Group.* Second Lieutenant Barrette Leroy Baker was killed in action February 25, 1944, when his B-24 Liberator was shot down while on a raid over Nuremberg, Germany.** Barrette was 28 years old when he died early. Dorothy Baker had been staying with her parents in Wisconsin and also living in Edina with Maurice and Beryl Baker. Barrette is buried in France at the Lorraine American Cemetery at St. Avold.

* Historical Note 1: Two weeks after Barrette Baker’s death over Nuremberg, veteran movie actor Major James Stuart became Executive Officer of the 453rd Heavy Bombardment Group. As a B-24 lead pilot, Stuart led a 1,000-plane raid over Berlin. He retired from the Air Force Reserves in 1968 as a major general with 20 combat missions.

** Historical Note 2: The historic German city of Nuremberg was the site of pre-war rallies that became huge Nazi propaganda events. It was also a key railroad center and an important hub of German military production, including aircraft and tank engines. Crews of the 453rd Bombardment Group completed their deployment to England in January 1944 and flew their first combat mission February 5, 1944. Just 20 days and five missions later, the Group was participating in the “Big Day” air assault against the German aircraft industry when Barrette Baker’s B-24 Liberator was shot down over Nuremberg.

29 SECOND LIEUTENANT DONALD MAX HALE UNITED STATES ARMY AIR FORCES

B-17 Flying Fortress 4507 Grimes Avenue

South Dakota

Rapid City Army Air Base

“Should my end come when I am in flight, whether the brightest day or darkest night; Spare me your pity and shrug off the pain, secure in the knowledge that I’d do it again; For each of us is created to die, And within I know, I was born to fly.” – Gary Claude Stoker

30 SECOND LIEUTENANT DONALD MAX HALE UNITED STATES ARMY AIR FORCES MARCH 5, 1921 – MAY 18, 1944

Donald Hale was born in Montgomery County, Iowa March 5, 1921. He was the youngest of Frank and Ethel Hale’s four sons. One of his older brothers also went on to serve in the Army during World War II. After graduating from high school in Iowa, Donald relocated to Morningside in 1940. Donald had been employed as an office worker at the Towle Company, a commercial real estate mortgage-banking firm in Minneapolis, and living in Morningside at 4507 Grimes Avenue with his brother and sister-in-law for two years, when he registered for Selective Service in Hennepin County on September 23, 1942. He traveled to his family home in Iowa the next day to enlist as a private in the Army Air Forces. Donald completed flight training and received his pilot’s wings and a commission as a second lieutenant the following year.* With his new silver pilot’s wings in hand, he reported to the Rapid City Army Air Base (since renamed Ellsworth Air Force Base) in South Dakota for transition flight training on the B-17 Flying Fortress heavy bomber.** Second Lieutenant Donald Max Hale was killed in the line-of-duty on May 18, 1944, when the Flying Fortress he was piloting on a training flight crashed near Rapid City. Donald was 23 years old when he died early. His remains were returned to Iowa for burial.

* Historical Note 1: The trek to rated pilot status during World War II was arduous and unforgiving. Nearly 317,000 adventurous applicants were selected to begin pilot training. Only 193,000 of them (61%) ultimately earned their coveted silver wings and entered the Army Air Forces as pilots. The remaining 124,000 candidates either failed to fully satisfy the demanding flight qualification standards or, like Donald Hale, were killed in line-of-duty accidents at some point during their training.

** Historical Note 2: The Army Air Forces B-17 heavy bomber was called the “Flying Fortress” because of its heavy defensive armament, which included 10-12 machine guns and armor plating in vital locations. In part, because of their heavier armament and armor, the B-17s carried smaller bomb loads than other four-engine American and British bombers used in Europe during the Second World War. The long-range mission payload for a B-17 Flying Fortress was typically 4,000 pounds, compared to 8,000 pounds for the B-24 Liberator and 14,000 pounds for the British Lancaster. All of these capacities were dwarfed by the 18,000 pound payload of the new B-29 Superfortress being delivered to Army Air Forces units in the Pacific.

31 CAPTAIN WILLIAM PARKER BATES UNITED STATES ARMY AIR FORCES

B-24 Liberator

4515 Arden Avenue

Norfolk

Halle Bates Family Grave Stone at Lakewood Cemetery

Bill Bates’s Grave Marker at Lakewood Cemetery

“I hear them pass on their outward flight…and try to see the pilot's face. I imagine a boy who's just left school, on whose quick-learned skill and courage cool depend the lives of the men in his crew and success of the job they have to do.” – Sarah Churchill

32 CAPTAIN WILLIAM PARKER BATES UNITED STATES ARMY AIR FORCES JANUARY 19, 1922 – JULY 7, 1944

William “Bill” Bates was born in Minneapolis January 19, 1922. He was the younger of Elmer and Ruth Bates’s two children. Elmer Bates was President of McGill Paper Products Company, a supplier of business stationery and envelopes. Elmer and Ruth Bates moved from South Minneapolis to a home at 4515 Arden Avenue in Edina’s Country Club District when Bill was 11 years old. Bill graduated from Minneapolis West High School in June 1940 and went on to the University of Minnesota. He voluntarily left the University in March 1942, soon after the Japanese attack against U.S. naval ships and military facilities at Pearl Harbor, to enter the Army Air Forces aviation cadet program. Bill completed the aviation cadet program and received his pilot’s wings and commission as a second lieutenant the following year. After transitional flight training, he was assigned to England as a B-24 Liberator bomber pilot in the 453rd Heavy Bombardment Group. Bill was subsequently transferred to the 564th Bomb Squadron of the 389th Heavy Bombardment Group at Hethel Airfield in Norfolk, England. Captain William Parker Bates of Edina was killed in action July 7, 1944, when the Liberator heavy bomber he was piloting was damaged by anti-aircraft fire during a bombing mission over Halle, Germany and collided in mid-air with another B-24. Bill was 22 years old and a veteran of more than 25 combat missions when he died early.* He was listed for eight years as missing in action, until his remains were recovered and identified in November 1952.** Bill is buried in Minneapolis at the Lakewood Cemetery.

* Historical Note 1: The B-24 in which Bill Bates died was fatally wounded by ground-based anti- aircraft fire. While this was not a rare occurrence, far more American bombers lost over Europe during WW II were downed by fighter aircraft. Luftwaffe pilots were exacting such a heavy toll on formations of slow moving, mutually defending heavy bombers operating beyond the range of protective escorts that it had become ‘statistically impossible’ for American bomber crews flying in 1942-43 to complete a 25-mission tour. The air war in Europe was turned on its head near the end of 1943, when up-powered P-51 Mustangs became available. The modified P-51s were able to escort bombers all the way to and back from targets located throughout Germany. Within a year, the once dominant Luftwaffe fighter arm had essentially been defeated.

** Historical Note 2: The subordinate Air Forces arm accounted for 12% of the Army’s battle casualties and 28% of its fatalities during the Second World War. Fifty-two thousand Air Forces personnel died in combat, and 36,000 died from non-combat causes. 33 PRIVATE FIRST CLASS ROLAND CHARLES KLATT UNITED STATES ARMY

5740 Ewing Avenue South Rollie with his mother and Oscar Holt

France Italy Italy

Rollie Klatt’s Grave Marker Algeria at St. Mary’s Cemetery

Italian Front July 1944

Algiers Anzio

"When you go home, tell them of us and say: For their tomorrow, we gave our today" – John Maxwell Edmonds

34 PRIVATE FIRST CLASS ROLAND CHARLES KLATT UNITED STATES ARMY APRIL 27, 1919 – JULY 9, 1944

Roland “Rollie” Klatt was born in Minneapolis April 27, 1919. His parents, Albert and Pearl Klatt, divorced early in his life. Pearl Klatt married Oscar Holt when Rollie was about nine. Pearl was employed as a machine operator at Munsingwear. Oscar worked as a barber, and later as a carpenter. Rollie grew up with his mother and stepfather on Brook Avenue in the Browndale neighborhood of St. Louis Park. He attended St. Thomas Parochial School and St. Louis Park High School. Rollie was working as an automobile mechanic and living in Edina with his mother and Oscar Holt at 5740 Ewing Avenue South when he enlisted in the peacetime Army in April 1941, eight months before the Japanese attack against U.S. naval ships and military facilities at Pearl Harbor. Rollie came ashore with the 34th Infantry Division at Algiers in North Africa and later at the Anzio beachhead in Italy.* Private First Class Roland Charles Klatt of Edina was a driver in the 34th Infantry Division’s 175th Field Artillery Battalion when he died in the line-of-duty July 9, 1944 from injuries sustained in a military vehicle accident on the Italian front. Rollie was 25 years old when he died early. He was buried at an American military cemetery in Europe. A memorial service was held for him in August 1944 at Christ the King Catholic Church in Minneapolis. Rollie’s remains were returned to the United States after the war for re-interment. He is buried at St. Mary’s Catholic Cemetery in Minneapolis.**

* Historical Note 1: The 34th “Red Bull” Division was re-activated as a National Guard unit in February 1941 as part of the pre-World War II buildup. Its battalions were drawn from National Guard units in Minnesota, Iowa, and North and South Dakota. In May 1942, the 34th became the first American division to deploy to the European Theatre of Operations. Beginning with landings at Algiers in November 1942, the 34th Division participated in six major campaigns, amassing more front line combat days than any other U.S. division in the Second World War. Based on per capita fighting strength, the 34th had the highest casualty rate of any U.S. division in the European Theatre of Operations.

** Historical Note 2: The identified remains of 93,238 Americans who died in the line-of-duty while serving in the Army, Army Air Forces, Navy, Marines, and Coast Guard during the Second World War are currently buried on foreign soil at one of 15 American military cemeteries in Europe, North Africa, and The Philippines. Next of kin of 233,174 other deceased service men and woman elected after the War, as Rollie Klatt’s mother did, to have their loved one’s remains returned to the United States for re-interment.

35 SECOND LIEUTENANT HILMER WOODROW LARSON UNITED STATES ARMY AIR FORCES

B-24 Liberator

401 Washington Avenue

Rhone American Cemetery at Draguignan

Nimes Draguignan Foggia

“Most healthy young men or women from sixteen to forty years of age can be taught to fly an ordinary airplane...but the requirements for a military aviator call for more concentrated physical and mental ability in the individual than has ever been necessary in any calling heretofore.” – Brigadier General William “Billy” Mitchell in 1930

36 SECOND LIEUTENANT HILMER WOODROW LARSON UNITED STATES ARMY AIR FORCES JUNE 5, 1918 – JULY 12, 1944

Hilmer “Hill” Larson was born June 5, 1918 in his parent’s home at 401 Washington Avenue, at the far northwest corner of Edina. He was the fourth of Charles and Ida Larson’s eight children. A younger brother and sister also went on to serve during World War II. Charles Larson worked at the Minneapolis Moline plant in Hopkins. He and Ida and their children worshipped at Gethsemane Lutheran Church in Hopkins. Hill attended Hopkins High School, where he was a member of the National Honor Society and lettered in football, track, and golf. After graduating from Hopkins at the top of his class in 1936, Hill completed business school and attended the University of Minnesota. He was working as an office manager at a trucking company in St. Paul when he enlisted in the peacetime Army in October 1941. That was two months before the Japanese attack against U.S. naval ships and military facilities at Pearl Harbor. Hill married Evelyn Kral in May 1942. He transferred to the Army Air Forces five months later and was selected for pilot training.* Evelyn stayed with him in California during his training. Hill received his pilot’s wings and commission as a second lieutenant in July 1943. Upon completion of transition training on the B-24 Liberator heavy bomber, he deployed to Italy in February 1944 with the 461st Heavy Bombardment Group. His squadron flew out of the Torretta Air Field near Foggia. Second Lieutenant Hilmer Woodrow Larson of Edina was killed in action July 12, 1944, when the B-24 heavy bomber he was co-piloting on his 30th or 31st mission was shot down over the Mediterranean. The aircraft was returning to its base after having bombed rail yards near Nimes, France. Hill was 26 years old when he died early.** His remains were not recovered. He is memorialized on the Tablets of the Missing at the Rhone American Cemetery in Draguignan, France.

* Historical Note 1: In 1939, the peacetime Army Air Corps had a total compliment of 20,000 service men and woman and 2,400 aircraft. By the end of 1944, the strength of the wartime Army Air Forces had risen to more than 2.4 million men and woman – accounting for 31% of the Army’s total personnel - and nearly 18,000 aircraft of all types.

** Historical Note 2: The Army Air Forces suffered over 52,000 battle deaths (more than the Marine Corps) and lost 27,700 aircraft in combat worldwide during WWII. Thirty-six hundred of the battle deaths were, as in Hill Larson’s case, missing in action and declared dead. A bomber crewmember’s chance of being killed while completing the required number of missions was 71%.

37 PRIVATE FIRST CLASS LEROY VERNON COATY UNITED STATES ARMY

Wisconsin

Durand

Lower Vosges Mountains

LeRoy Coaty’s Grave Stone at the Forest Hill Cemetery in Durand, Wisconsin

“The pain has stopped, for I am dead. My time on earth is done. But in a hundred years from now, I’ll still be twenty-one.” – R.W. Gilbert

38 PRIVATE FIRST CLASS LEROY VERNON COATY UNITED STATES ARMY APRIL 9, 1923 – NOVEMBER 13, 1944

LeRoy Coaty was born Joseph LeRoy Vernon Coaty April 9, 1923 in Maxville, Wisconsin. He grew up in neighboring Durand. His name had become LeRoy Vernon Coaty through usage by the time he entered high school, then legally at the time of his marriage. LeRoy was the first of Raymond and Agnes Coaty’s four children. Ray Coaty worked as a mechanic for Case Implements in nearby Menomonie, Wisconsin. LeRoy was a bright student and was pushed ahead in school as he grew up. He graduated from Durand High School in 1939, having participated in choir, Glee Club, and forensics. After briefly attending Stout Institute in Menomonie, LeRoy enrolled at the University of Minnesota. He was attending the University and working as a clerk for Western Auto Stores when he was drafted into the Army in March 1942.* He was boarding in South Minneapolis with the family of his future bride, Betty Lou Brandt, at the time. LeRoy had hoped to be selected for Officer Candidate School but was assigned, instead, as a Private in the 44th Infantry Division.** LeRoy was 20 and Betty Lou Brandt was 18 when they married in October 1943. LeRoy deployed to France with the 44th Division the following September. Private First Class LeRoy Vernon Coaty was mortally wounded while attacking German positions in the lower Vosges Mountains near Sarrebourg, France. He died November 13, 1944. LeRoy was 21 years old when he died early. Nineteen-year-old Betty Lou Coaty was working as a clerk at Honeywell and living at 4646 Brookside Avenue in Edina when LeRoy was killed. LeRoy’s remains were returned to the United States for re- interment after the War. He is buried in Durand, Wisconsin.

* Historical Note 1: Eleven and a half million (61%) of the more than 16 million Americans who served during WW II were conscripted under Selective Service. As amended after the attack on Pearl Harbor, the Selective Service Act required all males 18 to 65 to register for the draft. Those between 18 and 45 were subject to immediate induction, with selection made by a lottery process. An estimated 178,000 draftees like, LeRoy Coaty, were killed in action during the War.

** Historical Note 2: The 44th Division was a federalized New York/New Jersey National Guard unit augmented with draftees and volunteers from around the country when it embarked for France in September 1944. The Division moved into defensive positions in northeastern France in October 1944. Its first significant offensive action came a month later, when it launched attacks through the lower Vosges Mountains. LeRoy Coaty was killed on the first day of the offensive.

39 TECHNICAL SERGEANT JOSEPH LESTER REDPATH UNITED STATES ARMY AIR FORCES

Joseph

Lena Redpath and her children 6300 Brookview Avenue

Framingham

Neupre

B-17 Flying Fortress

Derben

Ardennes American Cemetery at Neupre

“People sleep peacefully in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf.” – George Orwell

40 TECHNICAL SERGEANT JOSEPH LESTER REDPATH UNITED STATES ARMY AIR FORCES NOVEMBER 17, 1921 – JANUARY 14, 1945

Joseph Redpath was born in Eau Claire, Wisconsin November 17, 1921. He was the fourth of Percy and Lena Redpath’s nine children. Two of his brothers went on to serve in World War II. Percy and Lena Redpath moved from Eau Claire to a farm near Montevideo, Minnesota when Joseph was four years old, then to Edina a few years later. Percy was hired as Edina’s first Police Chief in 1930.* Soon after that, the Redpaths moved to 6300 Brookview Avenue. Percy and Lena and their children worshipped at St. Patrick’s Catholic Church. Joseph was 16 when Percy died from scarlet fever in 1937, and Lena relocated the family to Hopkins. Joseph graduated from Hopkins High School in 1940. He was working at the First National Bank when he enlisted in the Army Air Forces in September 1942 with aspirations of becoming a pilot. After washing out near the end of flight training, Joseph was assigned to the 390th Heavy Bombardment Group in Framingham, England. He became a radio operator/rear gunner on a B-17 Flying Fortress. By early January 1945, Joseph and his crewmates had flown the 25 combat missions needed to qualify for rotation; but they continued flying because of shortages due to heavy aircraft losses and casualties. Technical Sergeant Joseph Lester Redpath, who grew up in Edina, was killed in action January 14, 1945, when his aircraft was shot down on a bombing run against oil storage facilities at Derben, Germany. He was 23 years old when he died early. Joseph had diligently continued flight training in England and was close to receiving his pilot’s rating when he was killed. He is buried in Belgium at the Ardennes American Cemetery in Neupre.

* Historical Note: The honorable connection between WWII combatants and the Edina Police Department does not stop with the Redpaths. Hank Wrobleski, who eventually rose to Captain, was one of just six officers in the Department in 1947. He had been an MP in the Army. Marine veteran George Butler, who ultimately retired from the Department as a Sergeant, and Navy veteran Bert Merfeld soon also became Edina Police Officers. Army Air Forces veteran Wayne Bennett was hired as Chief in 1955. With Bennett, five of the Department’s eight officers at that time were WWII veterans. Bert Merfeld succeeded Wayne Bennett as Chief in 1975. Veterans Aloysius Hines and Carl Jean Johnson were police dispatchers during the post-war era. Hines had served in the Navy, and Johnson had lost a leg while serving in the Army. Johnson’s brother-in-law, former Marine Bill Hoffman, had the most unique wartime experience of any of the veterans who became Edina Police Officers. He was one of the first 11 Americans to enter Nagasaki after the atomic bomb was dropped there. Bill Hoffman ultimately retired as a Sergeant, after having worn the Edina Police uniform for 25 years.

41 PRIVATE FIRST CLASS LEO FREDRICK HAWKINSON UNITED STATES ARMY

Clark Field THE SECRETARY OF WAR DESIRES ME Manila American Cemetery TO EXPRESS HIS DEEP REGRET … at Fort Bonifacio

The Philippines

Clark Field

Manila

“They laid the world away; poured out the red sweet wine of youth; gave up the years to be…and those who would have been their sons. They gave their immortality.” – Rupert Brooke

42 PRIVATE FIRST CLASS LEO FREDRICK HAWKINSON UNITED STATES ARMY NOVEMBER 29, 1916 – JANUARY 30, 1945

Leo Hawkinson was born in Minneapolis November 29, 1916. He was the oldest of Joseph and Jeannie Hawkinson’s two children. Joseph Hawkinson, who had come to America from Sweden with his parents as an infant, was employed as a pressman at Hicks Japs Company in Hopkins. Leo and his younger sister Clara lived with their mother and father in the Grandview Heights area of Edina.* Leo was 15 when his father died in December 1931. Jeannie Hawkinson moved to South Minneapolis with Leo and Clara the following year. She found work there as a seamstress. The family attended the nearby Minnehaha Lutheran Church. Leo graduated from Minneapolis Roosevelt High School in June 1935 with aspirations of studying aeronautics at the University of Minnesota. Depression era financial strains forced him, instead, to go to work as a tree-topper to help support his widowed mother and sister. Leo was later working at the Strutwear Knitting Company and living with his mother in South Minneapolis when he married Grace Anderson in June 1941. He enlisted into the peacetime Army a week later. Private First Class Leo Fredrick Hawkinson, who grew up in Edina, was serving in The Philippines with the 40th Infantry Division when he was killed in action January 30, 1945, in the final push to recapture Clark Air Field on Luzon.** Leo was 28 years old when he died early. He is buried in The Philippines, at the Manila American Cemetery at Fort Bonifacio.

* Historical Note 1: Roy and Elizabeth Sherman, whose son Elmer was killed in WWI, had relocated within Edina by 1920. They and the Hawkinsons lived just five houses apart in the Grandview Heights area that had once been part of Civil War veteran Beverly C. Yancey’s berry farm.

** Historical Note 2: A strong strategic argument existed for recapturing Luzon, the largest of the Philippine islands: For the Navy, Manila’s deep water port was one of the best in the orient; For Army Air Forces, there was the Clark Field complex, where Leo Hawkinson was killed, which was actually 15 separate airfields; And for military planners, American control of Luzon would stress Japanese lines of communication to the East Indies. Above all, Luzon was an ideal staging area for planned military operations. By the time the War ended in August 1945, Luzon had become the “England of the Pacific” in preparation for the invasion of the Japanese Home Islands. The cost of victory was high, however. American forces suffered 62,000 ground casualties, including 13,700 killed, on Luzon and neighboring islands during the nearly eight month Philippine campaign.

43 SECOND LIEUTENANT HARRY LOUIS DAVIS UNITED STATES ARMY AIR FORCES

4368 Vernon Avenue South B-25 Mitchell

South Carolina

Harry Davis’s Grave Marker at St. Mary’s Cemetery

Greenville Army Air Base

“They shall not grow old, as we that are left grow old. Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn. At the going down of the sun and in the morning we will remember them.” – Laurence Binyon

44 SECOND LIEUTENANT HARRY LOUIS DAVIS UNITED STATES ARMY AIR FORCES MARCH 15, 1921 – FEBRURY 2, 1945

Harry Davis was born in Ferndale, Michigan, March 15, 1921. He was the first of Alvin and Helen Davis’s three children. Alvin’s brother Dwight was a General Motors District Manager in Minneapolis. Harry moved from Michigan to Edina and stayed with his uncle Dwight at 4368 Vernon Avenue while attending Minneapolis West High School. Harry was a talented athlete and both wrestled and played basketball. He also sang in the Glee Club. He graduated from West in January 1939. Harry was living in Edina with his uncle and working as an electrical technician when he enlisted in the Army in May 1942. He married Martha Linstroth of Minneapolis shortly after enlisting. Martha resided in Edina with Dwight Davis while Harry was in the Signal Corps Officer Candidate School. Harry completed Officer Candidate School in February 1943. With his new commission as a second lieutenant in hand, he transferred to the Army Air Forces and entered pilot training. After earning his silver pilot’s wings in the latter part of 1944, Harry was assigned to the Greenville Army Air Base in South Carolina for transition training on the B-25 Mitchell medium bomber.* Second Lieutenant Harry Louis Davis of Edina was killed in the line-of-duty February 2, 1945, when the aircraft he was piloting crashed near Greenville during a training flight. Harry was 23 years old when he died early. Martha Davis and their infant daughter were staying with Harry in South Carolina when he perished. Funeral services for Harry were held in Minneapolis at the Incarnation Catholic Church. He is buried at St. Mary’s Cemetery in Minneapolis. The word “Daddy” is inscribed above Harry’s name and flight wings on his grave marker.

* Historical Note: The twin-engine B-25 Mitchell medium bomber Harry Davis was piloting when his fatal accident occurred first gained fame as the aircraft used in the legendary Doolittle Raid, in which 16 B-25s launched from the aircraft carrier Hornet bombed mainland Japan just four months after the attack at Pearl Harbor. Only five of the pilots, including mission commander LTC. James Doolittle, who flew that April day had earned their wings before 1941 – and 15 of the 16 co-pilots had been out of flight school for less than a year. To enable them to take off from a carrier deck and carry out their special mission, each of the aircraft used in the Doolittle raid had been secretly and meticulously modified at Wold-Chamberlain Field in Minneapolis. Although the actual damage done by the B-25s to Tokyo and four other Japanese cities was insubstantial, the raid provided an important morale boost for the American public while, at the same time, strategically alarming the Japanese who had perceived their Home Islands as invulnerable to such an attack.

45 SECOND LIEUTENANT HAROLD HENRY THORSON UNITED STATES ARMY AIR FORCES

P-38 Lightning 4523 Wooddale Avenue

The Philippines

Hal at Hamilton Field Mindoro

Los Negros

“Yes, they’ll buzz those pearly gates in their Lockeed 38’s, thrilling the pretty angels with their stunts. St. Peter will come running when he hears the motors humming. And he’ll hang a welcome sign out front.” – John R. Johnson

46 SECOND LIEUTENANT HAROLD HENRY THORSON UNITED STATES ARMY AIR FORCES FEBRURY 21, 1924 – FEBRUARY 19, 1945

Harold “Hal” Thorson was born February 21, 1924 in Minneapolis. He was the second of Henry and Marie Thorson’s five children. Henry Thorson was a Deacon at the First Baptist Church of Minneapolis. He owned Chicago Avenue Transfer, a cartage company that operated a fleet of furniture moving trucks and vans. The Thorson family moved from South Minneapolis to a home at 4523 Wooddale Avenue in the Country Club District of Edina during Hal’s junior year at Pillsbury Academy in Owatonna. Hal had reluctantly transferred to the more disciplined military school after a fun-filled sophomore year at Minneapolis Central High School. He was a swimmer/diver and played football at Pillsbury. Hal graduated in May 1942 and then enrolled at the University of Minnesota. He left the University after a semester to enter the Army Air Forces aviation cadet program. Hal received his pilot’s wings and commission as a second lieutenant in March 1944. After transition training on the twin-engine P-38 Lightning fighter at Hamilton Field in California, Hal deployed to The Philippines.* He joined the 9th Fighter Squadron on Mindoro Island New Years Day 1945. Second Lieutenant Harold Henry Thorson of Edina was killed in action February 19, 1945, when his P-38 Lightning was shot down by ground fire while attacking a Japanese airfield on Los Negros Island. Hal was two days short of celebrating his 21st birthday when he died early. His remains were not recovered. He is memorialized at the Manila American Cemetery at Fort Bonifacio in The Philippines.**

* Historical Note 1: Richard Bong had already completed P-38 transition training when Hal Thorson arrived at Hamilton Field; but Hal likely heard of him. Bong achieved notoriety during training by flying loops around the Golden Gate Bridge and flying low over San Francisco’s Market Street to wave to office workers. Despite the indiscretions, Bong was allowed to complete training. He was then assigned to the 9th Fighter Squadron. Major Richard Bong was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor two weeks before Hal Thorson joined him in the 9th Fighter Squadron. He ranks as America’s all-time top combat Ace, having shot down 40 enemy aircraft during WWII.

** Historical Note 2: Of the 405,000 American service men and woman who died in WWII, 55,000 were either lost or buried at sea or declared missing in action while serving in the Pacific Theatre. They are memorialized by name at the Honolulu Memorial in Hawaii, or in Manila at Fort Bonifacio, or at the Presidio of San Francisco. The 24,000 service men and woman who died under like circumstances in the European Theatre are memorialized at 15 sites in Europe and North Africa, or at Battery Park in New York City.

47 SERGEANT WALTER ROWE STRUBEL UNITED STATES ARMY

4372 Thielen Avenue Italy

Walt Strubel’s Grave Stone at the Fort Snelling National Cemetery Riva Ridge Mount Belvedere

“When duty whispers low, thou must, the youth replies, I can!” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

48 SERGEANT WALTER ROWE STRUBEL UNITED STATES ARMY FEBRUARY 25, 1924 – FEBRUARY 20, 1945

Walter “Walt” Strubel was born in Minneapolis February 25, 1924. He was the only child of Clarence and Grace Strubel. Clarence Strubel was an agent/broker with the Travelers Insurance Company. Clarence, Grace, and Walt moved from South Minneapolis to a home at 4372 Thielen Avenue in Edina when Walt was 14. The family continued to attend the Lake Harriet Christian Church in South Minneapolis. Walt, who was active in both Boy Scouts and Sea Scouts, was a member of the first class (June 1942) to graduate from Minneapolis Southwest High School. He was elected to the student council and served as chairman of the cap and gown committee his senior year. Walt went on to study engineering at the University of Minnesota, but withdrew after a year to join the Army’s elite 10th Mountain Division. He adapted quickly to the wartime military and, despite his youth, was wearing sergeant’s stripes 18 months after entering on duty. Sergeant Walter Rowe Strubel of Edina was serving in Italy as a ski trooper in the 10th Mountain Division when he was killed in action February 20, 1945 during intense combat on Mount Belvedere in the Apennine Mountains.* Walt was five days away from celebrating his 21st birthday when he died early. He was initially buried in Europe; but his remains were returned to the United States after the War for re- interment. Walt is buried at the Fort Snelling National Cemetery in Minneapolis.**

* Historical Note 1: Mount Belvedere is the highest peak in the Apennine Mountains. Controlling it was critical for advancing into the Po Valley. American units had tried unsuccessfully for six months to capture and hold this key piece of terrain when the assignment was given to the recently arrived 10th Mountain Division. Approaches to Mount Belvedere were protected by German artillery entrenched on Riva Ridge, a snow and ice covered ridgeline so steep the Germans considered it impassable. The 10th Mountain Division ski troopers, who had trained for winter warfare in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado, proved them wrong. They scaled 1,400-foot vertical cliffs and captured the high ground in a surprise night attack February 18, 1945. Mount Belvedere was assaulted and taken the following day. German forces launched seven counterattacks over the next three days. The ski troopers held their newly won ground in fierce combat - but at a very high cost. In three days of fighting, the 10th Mountain Division suffered 850 casualties, including 195 killed. Walt Strubel was one of the ski troopers who died holding Mount Belvedere.

** Historical Note 2: Walt Strubel was born and grew up in Minnesota. He entered on duty from Minnesota, and it is listed as his home-of-record on official War Department records; nevertheless, Washington is shown as Walt’s home state on his gravestone at the Fort Snelling National Cemetery. 49 PRIVATE FIRST CLASS PAUL JOHN CHRISTENSEN UNITED STATES ARMY

4510 Drexel Avenue

Riverside Cemetery in Menominee, Michigan

Worms Meuse River

“Most of them were boys when they died, and they gave up two lives - the one they were living and the one they never lived. When they died, they gave up their chance to be husbands and fathers and grandfathers. They gave up their chance to be revered old men. They gave up everything for our country, for us. And all we can do is remember.” – Ronald Reagan

50 PRIVATE FIRST CLASS PAUL JOHN CHRISTENSEN UNITED STATES ARMY SEPTEMBER 8, 1924 – MARCH 18, 1945

Paul Christensen was born in Menominee, Michigan September 8, 1924. He was the second of Paul G. and Ruth Christensen’s three sons. Paul G. and Ruth Christensen and their children moved from Michigan to a home at 4621 Browndale Avenue in the Country Club District of Edina in 1935. They moved again two years later to a new home at 4510 Drexel Avenue, also in the Country Club District. Paul G. Christensen was an executive at Lloyd Manufacturing Company, a supplier of loom products. The family attended Edina-Morningside Community Church, where Paul was a member of Boy Scout Troop 4. Paul graduated from St. Louis Park High School in June 1942. He competed in track and was a member of the yearbook staff and Vice President of Hi-Y his senior year. Paul was 18 when he was drafted into the Army in June 1943. He deployed to England with the 11th Armored Division in September 1944. Paul was wounded in Belgium three months later, during the Battle of the Bulge.* He was awarded the Silver Star for extraordinary heroism during that engagement. Private First Class Paul John Christensen of Edina was subsequently killed in action March 18, 1945, as 11th Armored Division forces were pushing toward the airport at Worms, Germany, on the west bank of the upper Rhine River. Paul was just 20 years old when he died early. He was initially one of 5,000 U.S. servicemen buried at the American military cemetery in Luxembourg. His remains were returned to the United States after the war for re-interment. Paul is buried in a family plot at the Riverside Cemetery in Menominee, Michigan.

* Historical Note: The 11th Armored Division was activated in August 1942. Like Paul Christensen, the new unit lacked a military pedigree and had no combat experience when it deployed from England to France December 16, 1944. Its untested troops were assigned to a quiet sector of the front in France; but the Von Rundstedt Offensive, also known as the Battle of the Bulge, launched that same day dictated an immediate change in plans. The Division force-marched to the Meuse River where, over the next two weeks, it held a 30-mile sector of the front line, launched a successful attack against German forces in Belgium, and secured the highway to Bastogne under fierce assault in freezing winter weather. It then spearheaded an attack that linked up with other American units on January 16, 1945 to trap large numbers of German troops. In a month’s time, the 11th Armored Division (aka the Thunderbolt Division) had leaped from being inexperienced and untested to become a highly effective fighting force in General George Patton’s Third Army.

51 FIRST LIEUTENANT WARREN MALCOLM HALVERSON UNITED STATES ARMY

M-4 Sherman Medium Tank

4804 France Avenue South

Lorraine American Stoumont Cemetery at St. Avold St. Avold Braubach Station

“The rights we have today we may consider as natural rights, but they were won by blood, sweat, sacrifice, and death.” – General Dwight D. Eisenhower

52 FIRST LIEUTENANT WARREN MALCOLM HALVERSON UNITED STATES ARMY JULY 5, 1917 – MARCH 21, 1945

Warren Halverson was born in Minneapolis July 5, 1917. His family name was mistakenly recorded as Halvorson on his birth certificate. He was the first of Henry and Mabel Halverson’s two children. Henry Halverson operated a wholesale candy business. Warren grew up in South Minneapolis, where his family worshiped at the Lake Harriet Methodist Church. He attended West High School, but left before graduating. At West, Warren played football and basketball. He was working as a salesman for the family candy business when he married Vera Wilson in January 1938. The hospital error was corrected, and his surname legally changed to Halverson at the time of the wedding. Warren and Vera bought a home at 4804 France Avenue South in Edina in 1940. They had a son; but he died in infancy. Warren was selected for Officer Candidate School (OCS) shortly after being inducted into the Army in August 1942. He received a commission as a second lieutenant in the armored forces upon completion of the OCS Program seven months later. Warren embarked for England with the newly activated 740th Tank Battalion in April 1943.* After additional training, the battalion deployed from England to Belgium in November 1944. Warren’s baptism under fire came a month later at Stoumont Station, when his unit stopped the furthest advance into Belgium of the German 1st SS Panzer Division during the Battle of the Bulge.** First Lieutenant Warren Malcolm Halverson of Edina was killed March 21, 1945 during fighting near Braubach, Germany. Warren was 27 years old when he died early. Vera Halverson was living at 4804 France Avenue. Warren is buried at the Lorraine American Cemetery in St. Avold, in France.

* Historical Note 1: The 740th Tank Battalion, in which Warren Halverson was serving when he was killed, was one of 31 separate armored units fighting in the European Theatre. These separate battalions and their Sherman tanks were placed under temporary control of infantry divisions as the tactical situation dictated. In the six months between its arrival on the continent to the end of the War, the 740th was attached at one time or another to elements of the 1st, 3rd, 7th, and 9th U.S. Armies, as well as the 2nd British Army and the American 82nd Airborne Division.

** Historical Note 2: On December 17, two days before being turned back by the 740th Tank Battalion at Stoumont Station, soldiers of the 1st SS Panzer Division executed more than 80 unarmed American prisoners at the Belgium town of Malmedy. The Malmedy massacre was the worst atrocity committed against U.S. prisoners in Europe during World War II.

53 PRIVATE FIRST CLASS ALFRED BERNARD JOHNSON UNITED STATES ARMY

5724 Hansen Road Bernard Johnson’s Grave Marker at the American Cemetery at Margraten in The Netherlands

Bernard in the U.S. Before Deploying

Ardennes Margraten Berga

“POW/MIA is not merely an issue or a symbolic figure on a black and white flag. It is a brother, a husband, a father or a son.” – Senate Select Committee on POW- MIA Affairs

54 PRIVATE FIRST CLASS ALFRED BERNARD JOHNSON UNITED STATES ARMY MARCH 23, 1921 - APRIL 1, 1945

Alfred “Bernard” Johnson was born in St. Paul March 23, 1921. Bernard was the first of Clara and Alfred Benus Johnson’s 10 children. Two of his brothers went on to serve in the Navy during WWII. Clara and Alfred Benus Johnson moved their family from Little Falls to a rented home at 5724 Hansen Road in Edina when Bernard was 15. Alfred Benus Johnson, a WWI veteran, initially farmed and later worked as a carpenter with his brother. He was also a volunteer Edina fireman. The family attended Gethsemane Lutheran Church in Hopkins, where Bernard was an active parishioner. Bernard graduated from St. Louis Park High School in June 1940. He took drafting courses at Dunwoody Institute for a year, before enlisting in the Army in May 1942. After training in Texas and Kentucky, he deployed to Europe with the 820th Tank Destroyer Battalion in September 1944. The battalion moved into front line positions in the Ardennes sector on December 11, 1944. Five days later, Germany launched the Von Rundstedt Offensive, which became known as the Battle of the Bulge.* Bernard was taken prisoner in Belgium December 17th, when attacking German armored forces surrounded his unit. Private First Class Alfred Bernard Johnson of Edina was incarcerated at a prisoner of war camp near Berga, Germany when he died April 1, 1945.** His death was initially attributed to disease; but subsequent information indicated he was either shot while attempting to escape or executed by his captors. Bernard, who was barely 24 years old when he died early, is buried in The Netherlands in the American Cemetery at Margraten. Bernard Place in Edina is named in his honor.

* Historical Note 1: December 16, 1944, German forces unexpectedly launched a massive assault through the Ardennes. The Von Rundstedt Offensive, also known as the Battle of the Bulge, was designed to split Allied forces and drive to the Port of Antwerp. The 30-day Battle of the Bulge was the largest and bloodiest land battle fought by U.S. forces in WWII: 8,500 Americans were killed, 47,500 were wounded, and 20,000 were taken as prisoners.

** Historical Note 2: Six Army air and ground combatants from Edina-Morningside were taken as prisoners by the Germans during WWII. Bernard Johnson was the only one of the six who did not survive the ordeal. He was incarcerated at the infamous Stalag IX-B camp near Berga, where POWs were routinely beaten, starved, and forced to work as slave laborers constructing underground munitions factories. Berga had the highest death rate of any German prison camp where Americans were held. Twenty percent of the Americans imprisoned there died from disease, beatings, or malnutrition.

55 SERGEANT CHARLES DOUGLAS PRESCOTT UNITED STATES ARMY

4211 Oakdale Avenue

Chuck and Jane with their daughter, Suzanne

Morningside Memorial

Chuck Prescott’s Grave Marker at the Lorraine American Cemetery in St. Avold Hurtgen St. Avold Tauberschecken Forest -bach

“It is foolish and wrong to mourn the men who died. Rather, we should thank God such men lived” – General George Patton

56 SERGEANT CHARLES DOUGLAS PRESCOTT UNITED STATES ARMY OCTOBER 28, 1915 – APRIL 14, 1945

Charles “Chuck” Prescott was born October 28, 1915 in Stronghurst, Illinois. He was the first of Albert and Lillian Prescott’s three children. His younger brother died at an early age. Albert Prescott was a banker and also Secretary/Treasurer of the National Farm Owners Association. It was from him that Chuck acquired a love for fishing. Chuck graduated from Stronghurst High School in 1933 and then from the University of Illinois with a degree in marketing research in 1937. After college, he moved up to the Minneapolis area to begin working at General Mills. Chuck married Jane Moore in October 1938. They had met while both were attending the University of Illinois. Chuck and Jane contracted with a local builder in 1940 to have a house constructed on a lot in Morningside. They moved into their new home at 4211 Oakdale Avenue the following year.* Chuck was a 28-year- old father of two pre-school daughters when he was drafted into the Army in March 1944. Additionally, Jane was pregnant. Chuck had already deployed to Europe when their son was born in October 1944. Sergeant Charles Douglas Prescott of Edina, a veteran of intense fighting in the Hurtgen Forest, was killed in action April 14, 1945, while the 4th Infantry Division was clearing an area of Bavaria near Tauberscheckenbach. Chuck was 29-years-old when he died early. He was posthumously awarded the Silver Star for extraordinary heroism during this engagement. Jane Prescott and their three children were living in Morningside when Chuck died in the final days of the War. He was remembered by the Morningside community with a gold star on the service billboard at the corner of 44th Street and France Avenue. Chuck is buried in France at the Lorraine American Cemetery in St. Avold.

* Historical Note: Chuck and Jane Prescott entered into an agreement with Mickelsen & Son Contractors in December 1940 that called for Mickelsen & Son to build a house for the Prescotts on a lot at 4211 Oakdale Avenue in Morningside. The price of the new house was $6,353. Tragedy of war would strike both parties to the agreement. Peder Mickelsen and his son Henry were the principals in Mickelsen & Son Contractors. The Mickelsen family was living a half mile from 42nd and Oakdale, on 43rd and Coolidge in Edina, at the time. Chuck and Jane Prescott had been established in their new Morningside home for less than a year when Henry Mickelsen was killed in action during fighting on the Bataan Peninsula in The Philippines. He preceded Chuck Prescott in death by two years.

57 PRIVATE FIRST CLASS DONALD GRANT HILL UNITED STATES ARMY

Lakewood Cemetery 4616 Moorland Avenue

Donald Hill’s Grave Marker at Lakewood Cemetery

Japanese Ryukyu Home Islands Islands Okinawa

“In peace, sons bury their fathers. In war, fathers bury their sons.” – Herodotus

58 PRIVATE FIRST CLASS DONALD GRANT HILL UNITED STATES ARMY JANUARY 15, 1922 – APRIL 28, 1945

Donald “Don” Hill was born in Minneapolis January 15, 1922. He was the eldest of Grant and Ella Hill’s two children. Grant Hill was a partner in a Ford Motor dealership and also owned a small automobile parts manufacturing company. The family attended Westminster Presbyterian Church in Minneapolis. Grant and Ella Hill moved from South Minneapolis with Don and their daughter to a new home at 4616 Moorland Avenue in the Country Club District of Edina when Don was 14. Don graduated from Minneapolis Washburn High School in January 1940. At Washburn, he had been Hi-Y President, sang with the Glee Club, and was a member of the varsity football team. After graduating from Westminster College in Fulton, Missouri, Don enlisted in the Army in December 1943. He deployed to the Pacific in July 1944 and was assigned to the 105th Infantry Regiment of the 27th Infantry Division. Private First Class Donald Grant Hill of Edina was mortally wounded by a Japanese sniper during fighting on Okinawa* in the Ryukyu Islands.** He died April 28, 1945. Don was 23 years old when he died early. He was initially buried overseas. A memorial service was held for him at the Westminster Presbyterian Church in July 1945. His remains were returned to the United States for re-interment in March 1949. Don is buried at the Lakewood Cemetery in Minneapolis.

* Historical Note 1: Okinawa was the site of the last major battle of the Second World War. The engagement began April 1, 1945 with the heaviest pre-assault air and naval bombardment of the Pacific campaign. Two Marine divisions and four Army divisions, including the 27th Infantry, participated in the fierce fighting, which lasted 12 weeks. In the end, the victorious American and Allied forces gained naval anchorages, airfields, and staging areas within 350 miles of Kyushu, the southernmost of the Japanese Home Islands. The victory was costly, however. More than 36,000 American Marines, sailors, and soldiers were wounded and 12,500, including Don Hill, were killed. The Army commander on Okinawa, Lieutenant General Simon Buckner, was among those who died.

** Historical Note 2: In a last ditch attempt to counter the overpowering American force advancing toward the Home Islands, suicidal Kamikaze air tactics were introduced by the Japanese Navy against U.S. ships massed in the waters off Okinawa in April 1945. Kamikaze pilots flew some 1,900 suicide sorties against American naval vessels during the battle for Okinawa. Thirty-six U.S. ships and landing craft were lost and 368 were damaged as a result of these attacks. Japan’s desperate gamble inflicted considerable damage; but it depleted critical combat resources and failed to change the outcome of the battle for Okinawa.

59 SERGEANT DWIGHT CARLTON WILLIAMS UNITED STATES ARMY

4515 Edina Boulevard

THE SECRETARY OF WAR DESIRES ME TO EXPRESS HIS DEEP REGRET…

Plaque at Williams Park in Edina

Italy American Cemetery in Florence

Lake Garda

Apennine Mountains

Florence

“His name and fame are the birthright of every American citizen. In his youth and strength, his love and loyalty, he gave all that mortality can give. He needs no eulogy…he has written his own history.” – General Douglas MacArthur 60 SERGEANT DWIGHT CARLTON WILLIAMS UNITED STATES ARMY JULY 22, 1924 – APRIL 30, 1945

Dwight “Bud” Williams was born in Minneapolis July 22, 1924. He was the second of Elmer and Margaret Williams’s two sons. Elmer Williams was a Marine aviator in WWI and co-founder of Alaska Airlines. He was also a founding partner of Allison- Williams, an institutional investment-banking firm based in Minneapolis. Bud grew up at 4515 Edina Boulevard in the Country Club District of Edina. His family worshiped at the nearby St. Stephens Episcopal Church. Bud attended Blake School, where he was a member of the debate team, President of the Glee Club, and Managing Editor of the school paper. Classmates enjoyed him for his liberal social positions, casual dress habits, and love of a good debate. Bud graduated Cum Laude from Blake in 1942 and went on to Harvard University. He voluntarily left Harvard after a year to enlist in the Army. Upon completion of specialized mountain warfare training in Colorado, Bud deployed to Italy in December 1944 as a ski trooper with the elite 10th Mountain Division.* His battalion was soon engaging German forces in the northern Apennine Mountains. Bud was among the 10th Mountain Division ski troopers who heroically scaled Riva Ridge in February 1945, and then went on to capture and hold the strategic heights of Mount Belvedere. Sergeant Dwight Carlton Williams of Edina was killed in action near Lake Garda in the Po Valley April 30, 1945.** Bud was 20 years old when he died early. He is buried in Italy, at the American Cemetery in Florence. Williams Park, at the old Edina mill site on the creek, is named in his honor. Bud used to play there as a young boy.

* Historical Note 1: The 10th Mountain Division’s first WWII deployment belied its subsequent exemplary performance in Italy. In June 1942, Japanese forces occupied Attu and Kiska in the Aleutian Islands. After more than 12,000 American soldiers succumbed to trench foot alone in the initial campaign to retake Attu, American commanders determined that men trained for the cold and wet should be used to recover Kiska. The 10th Mountain Division was selected. Following a period of specialized training, division troops made a night beach landing on Kiska. They soon came under apparent attack. They responded. Soldiers died. The next day, the men realized they had been fighting each other. The Japanese had already left the island.

** Historical Note 2: Italian partisans publicly executed Mussolini on April 28, 1945. Hitler committed suicide in his Berlin bunker two days later, on April 30, 1945. That was the same day Bud Williams was killed in Italy. The German commander in Italy signed a general surrender document the following day, ordering all German forces in Italy to cease hostilities at 2:00 PM May 2, 1945. 61 FIRST LIEUTENANT EDWARD CHARLES CHRISTL JR. UNITED STATES ARMY

Ed as a Cadet Virginia Johnson at West Point Christl 5111 Arden Avenue

Germany

Austria

France

Ed Christl’s Grave Stone at the West Point Cemetery

Reims Eferding Berlin

“And when our work is done, our course on earth is run, may it be said: Well Done. Be Thou At Peace.” – The West Point Alma Mater

62 FIRST LIEUTENANT EDWARD CHARLES CHRISTL JR. UNITED STATES ARMY FEBRUARY 9, 1921 – MAY 4, 1945

Edward “Ed” Christl Jr. was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin February 9, 1921. He was the first of Edward and Lillian Christl’s two children. Edward and Lillian Christl moved from Wisconsin to South Minneapolis when Edward took a job as manager of a local grain elevator. Ed Jr. had not yet started school when the move occurred. He went on to graduate from Minneapolis DeLaSalle High School in 1939. He was a standout basketball player and leader at DeLaSalle. Edward Christl Jr. entered the United States Military Academy at West Point in July 1941. He was the tallest and one of the most popular cadets in his class. “Big-Ed” as he was known to his classmates, co-captained the undefeated Army basketball team his senior year. He received a commission as a second lieutenant in the Field Artillery coincident with his graduation from West Point in June 1944. Ed married Virginia Johnson of Edina shortly before deploying to Europe in December 1944. Upon his arrival in Europe, Ed was assigned as an artillery forward observer with the 65th Infantry Division. First Lieutenant Edward Charles Christl Jr. was killed in action May 4, 1945 during an attack against a stubbornly defended SS position near Eferding, Austria.* Although he was an artillery forward observer, Ed had volunteered to lead the ground attack against the holdout SS troops. Ed was 24 years old when he died early. He was posthumously awarded the Distinguished Service Cross, the nation’s second highest award for his heroism, for his actions during the final hours of the War. Virginia Christl was living in Edina with her parents at 5111 Arden Avenue when Ed died. Ed was initially buried in Europe. His remains were returned to the United States in 1949 for re-interment at the West Point Post Cemetery. Christl Arena, a multi-purpose venue that serves as the home court for the West Point men’s and women’s basketball teams, is named in Ed’s honor.

* Historical Note: Hitler committed suicide April 30, 1945. Berlin was surrendered to Soviet Army General Vasily Chuikov two days later. On May 4th, the same day Ed Christl was killed by holdout SS troops in Austria, all German forces in Northwest Germany, Denmark, and The Netherlands were surrendered to British Field Marshal Bernard L. Montgomery. The formal unconditional surrender instruments ending the Second World War in Europe were signed at General Dwight D. Eisenhower’s Supreme Allied Headquarters in Reims, France May 7, 1945.

63 SECOND LIEUTENANT OWEN ROBERT BAIRD UNITED STATES MARINE AIR CORPS

TBM-3E Avenger

Beverly McNellis Baird

National Memorial Cemetery Ryukyu of the Pacific in Hawaii Islands Okinawa

“They fought together as brothers-in-arms. They died together, and now they sleep side by side. To them, we have a solemn obligation.” – Admiral Chester Nimitz

64 SECOND LIEUTENANT OWEN ROBERT BAIRD UNITED STATES MARINE AIR CORPS JUNE 18, 1924 – JULY 11, 1945

Owen Baird was born in Minneapolis June 18, 1924. He was the first of Stuart and Jessie Baird’s two sons. Stuart Baird was employed as an inspector at the Minneapolis Moline plant in Hopkins. Jessie worked for Honeywell as an assembler. Owen grew up in South Minneapolis, where he graduated from Minneapolis Central High School in January 1942. A strong leader, he was selected to captain the varsity football team his senior year. Owen was 18 when he enlisted in the wartime Navy in March 1943. He was selected for pilot training and began flight instruction at Pensacola, Florida the following November. Owen received his Navy pilot’s wings and commission as an ensign in April 1944, and then transferred from the Navy to the Marine Corps Reserves as an aviator. He married his high school classmate and sweetheart Beverly McNellis in February 1945. Owen deployed to the Pacific a month after he and Beverly were married. He was assigned there to Marine Torpedo Bomber Squadron VMFA 232, which soon moved to a forward-base on Okinawa in the Ryukyu Islands.* Second Lieutenant Owen Robert Baird was killed in action July 11, 1945, when his TBM-3E Avenger torpedo bomber was shot down by enemy ground fire while on a combat mission over the Ryukyu Islands.** Owen had just celebrated his 21st birthday when he died early. Beverly Baird was living in Edina at 4832 Vernon Avenue South at the time. Owen is buried at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu.

* Historical Note 1: The Marine Corps air arm entered WWII largely unprepared to perform its primary role of providing close air support for Marine ground units. That deficiency had profoundly changed by the time Owen Baird joined his unit in March 1945. Veteran carrier and land-based Marine pilots were delivering a conspicuous level of close air support for Marine and Army ground troops in the Pacific. They were also heavily involved in air-to-air combat to protect U.S. ships and installations from Kamikaze aircraft. Marine aviators are credited with shooting down 2,355 Japanese aircraft, while losing 573 of their own, during WWII.

** Historical Note 2: On the morning of August 6, 1945, 26 days after Owen Baird became the last Edina resident to perish in World War II, a B-29 Superfortress dropped an atomic bomb on the Japanese city of Hiroshima. Three days later, an atomic bomb was dropped on the Japanese city of Nagasaki. On August 15th, Japanese Emperor Hirohito announced Japan’s unconditional surrender.

65 KOREAN WAR MEMORIAL WASHINGTON, D.C.

“We have recommended against enlarging the war from Korea to also include Red China…In the opinion of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, this strategy would involve us in the wrong war, at the wrong place, at the wrong time, and with the wrong enemy.” – General Omar Bradley concerning a proposal by General Douglas MacArthur to extend the Korean War into China.

66 KOREAN WAR

Police Action -- Pusan Perimeter -- Inchon Landings -- Yalu River -- Frozen Chosin -- Human wave attacks -- Punchbowl -- Panmunjom Peace Talks -- Heartbreak Ridge -- Pork Chop Hill -- Iron Triangle -- 38th Parallel -- Forgotten War …

67 FIRST LIEUTENANT PAUL WALKER LATHAM JR. UNITED STATES MARINE CORPS

4617 Drexel Avenue

Pete and Mary Lou

Korean Peninsula

Panmunjom Punch Bowl

"Some people live an entire lifetime and wonder if they have made a difference in the world. Marines don't have that problem." – Ronald Reagan

68 FIRST LIEUTENANT PAUL WALKER LATHAM JR. UNITED STATES MARINE CORPS JUNE 24, 1925 – JUNE 19, 1951

Paul “Pete” Latham Jr. was born in Minneapolis June 24, 1925. He was the first of Paul and Eunice Spicer Latham’s four sons. Paul Latham Sr. was an agent for the New England Mutual Life Insurance Company. He had been a bombardier in the Army Air Corps in World War I. Eunice Latham was an accomplished artist. Paul and Eunice Latham purchased a newly built home in Edina at 4617 Drexel Avenue in 1928. It was one of the first houses sold by Thorpe Brothers Realty in the new Country Club District. The family attended nearby St. Stephens Episcopal Church, where Paul was a Boy Scout leader and the new church’s first Senior Warden. Pete was an active member of Boy Scout Troop 114, which met at the church. He attended Minneapolis West and Southwest High Schools before enrolling at the Norwich Free Academy, a college preparatory school in Connecticut. Upon completing Norwich, Pete enlisted as a private in the Marine Corps in 1943. After initially being assigned to the University of Rochester under a special wartime Marine officer training program, Pete transferred to Yale University. He graduated from Yale in 1946 with a mechanical engineering degree and a commission as a second lieutenant in the Marine Corps Reserves. Pete married Mary Lou Garth in September 1949. He was working as a design engineer at the Maytag Company in Newton, Iowa, when he was called to active duty in January 1951. Pete deployed to Korea four months later. There, he joined a rifle company in the 1st Marine Division. The company was securing a ridgeline in the Taebeck Mountains. The ridgeline overlooked a deep circular valley known as the “Punch Bowl”. First Lieutenant Paul Walker Latham Jr., who grew up in Edina, was killed in action June 19, 1951 while leading his platoon on a patrol.* Pete was five days away from celebrating his 26th birthday when he died early. He is buried in Spicer, Minnesota at the Spicer Family Cemetery.

* Historical Note: On July 10, 1951, three weeks after Pete Latham was killed, an armistice conference between combatants was convened at Kaesong, with the understanding hostilities would continue on the Korean peninsula until a truce was signed. Negotiations broke down in August, but resumed at Panmunjom two months later. The talks dragged on for two more years. No major offensives were launched by either side during the stalemate; nevertheless, casualties continued to rise as combat continued as an extension of the protracted negotiations. Finally, after 575 tedious meetings, a cease-fire agreement was reached. Fighting ended July 27, 1953.

69 CAPTAIN EARL GORDON SODERBECK UNITED STATES AIR FORCES

B-36 Peacemaker

Gordon as an Army Air Forces Lieutenant Flying B-29’s in WW II

Gordon and Mary Jean

WASHINGTON

Fairchild Gordon with his Son Boeing Field Air Force Base

"America owes a special thanks to those who are willing to make the ultimate sacrifice for their country. We must honor them and respect them, not just when they are in battle, but every day they wear the proud uniform of our country." – Ronald Reagan

70 CAPTAIN EARL GORDON SODERBECK UNITED STATES AIR FORCES AUGUST 10, 1917 – APRIL 15, 1952

Earl “Gordon” Soderbeck was born in Ashland, Wisconsin August 10, 1917. He was the only child of Ben and Hulda Soderbeck. They moved to South Minneapolis when Gordon was eight years old. Ben Soderbeck worked as a tree trimmer for a public utility. Gordon graduated from Minneapolis Roosevelt High School in 1936. He was living in South Minneapolis when he enlisted in the peacetime Army Air Forces in April 1941. He went on to earn pilot’s wings and a commission as a second lieutenant. Gordon married Mary Jean Wooten in August 1943. After completing transition training on the new B-29 Superfortress at McCook Army Air Field in Nebraska, Gordon deployed with the 9th Bombardment Group in February 1945 to Tinian Island in the Marianas. He flew bombing missions as a B-29 command pilot against the Japanese Home Islands for seven months, until WWII ended.* Following a brief post- war break in service, Gordon returned to the Army Air Forces. After flying transports in the Berlin Airlift, he transitioned to the new B-36 Peacemaker strategic nuclear bomber.** Captain Earl Gordon Sodererbeck was killed in the line-of-duty April 15, 1952 when the B-36 bomber he was co-piloting on a training flight crashed and burst into flames shortly after taking off from Fairchild Air Force Base near Spokane, Washington. Gordon was 34 years old when he died early. Ben Soderbeck was living in Edina at 63 Woodland Circle. Mary Jean Soderbeck and their three children were living on base with Gordon; but their home of record was Edina.

* Historical Note 1: The first atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima by a B-29 from the 509th Composite Group. The second atomic bomb was dropped on Nagasaki by a B-29 from the same Group. Both aircraft took off from the North Tinian Airfield, which the 509th shared with the 9th Bombardment Group.

** Historical Note 2: The B-36 Peacemaker, with its 10 piston engines, was initially deployed in 1949. It was the first bomber in the Air Force’s inventory with the payload capacity and range capable of delivering nuclear weapons from the United States to targets in the Soviet Union. On April 15, 1952, the same day Gordon Soderbeck died when his B-36 crashed near Spokane, the B-52 Stratofortress made its first flight from nearby Boeing Field in Seattle. Introduction of a new high performance Soviet jet fighter quickened obsolescence of the piston-driven B-36. By February 1959, all B-36s had been withdrawn from service and replaced by jet-powered B-52s.

71 SECOND LIEUTENANT WESLAND HANSORD UNITED STATES AIR FORCE

F-51 Mustang

4610 Wooddale Avenue

Wes Hansord’s Grave Marker at Lakewood Cemetery

Minneapolis – St. Paul

Hansord Family Stone at Lakewood Cemetery

Wooddale Wold-Chamberlain St. Paul Ave. Edina Field Holman Field

“Our Air Force belongs to those who come from ranks of labor, management, the farms, the stores, the professions and colleges and legislative halls … Air power will always be the business of every American citizen.” – General H.H. “Hap” Arnold

72 SECOND LIEUTENANT WESLAND HANSORD UNITED STATES AIR FORCE OCTOBER 17, 1929 – JULY 13, 1953

Wesland “Wes” Hansord was born in Minneapolis October 17, 1929. He was the eldest of Arthur and Inger Hansord’s three children. Arthur Hansord was a First World War veteran. He owned a Pontiac sales and service dealership in Minneapolis. Wes lived in two different homes in the Country Club District of Edina as he was growing up. He and his parents and two sisters initially lived at 4604 Arden Avenue. They later moved to 4610 Wooddale Avenue. The family worshiped at nearby St. Stephens Episcopal Church. Wes attended Minneapolis West High School, where he was Hi-Y President and Vice President of the All Hi-Y Council his senior year. After finishing at West in 1947, he went on to attend Yale University. Wes graduated from Yale in June 1951 and joined the Air Force the following February. He earned his silver pilot’s wings and a commission as a second lieutenant in February 1953. His initial “Cold Warrior” assignment was with the Air Defense Command’s 18th Fighter Interceptor Squadron, based at Wold-Chamberlain Field in Minneapolis.* Second Lieutenant Wesland Hansord of Edina was killed in the line-of-duty on July 13, 1953, when the F- 51 Mustang aircraft he was piloting on a training flight developed mechanical problems and crashed into a river bank near Holman Field in St. Paul.** Wes was 23 years old and had been out of flight school for less than five months when he died early. Funeral services for him were held in Edina at St. Stephens Episcopal Church. He is buried at the Lakewood Cemetery in Minneapolis.

* Historical Note 1: In addition to its linkage with the Doolittle Raid, Wold-Chamberlain Field had a second brush with fame during World War II. George H.W. Bush learned to fly there. The future President was assigned to the Wold-Chamberlain Naval Air Station as an 18-year-old Navy flight student from November 1942 to February 1943. It was the site of his first solo flight.

** Historical Note 2: While 36,574 actual battle deaths occurred in the Korean theatre, official casualty figures for the Korean War period are often reported as 54,246 – which is the number of United States dead engraved in granite at the Korean War Memorial in Washington, D.C. The reason for the variance is that casualty statistics recorded by the Department of Defense during the Korean War time period were of a global nature, and included the non-battle deaths of 17,672 service men and women that occurred outside of the Korean combat zone. A Cold Warrior Air Force pilot, like Wes Hansord, killed in a line-of-duty training accident in the continental United States while fighting was going on in Korea was counted as a Korean War casualty.

73 VIETNAM MEMORIAL WASHINGTON, D.C.

“Freedom is not cost free. It is bought and paid for with the lives, limbs, blood, and guts of American servicemen and women. It is sustained by American patriots of every race, color, and creed.” – General H. Norman Schwarzkopf

74 VIETNAM WAR

Pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and success of liberty -- Domino Theory -- Pacification -- Hearts and Minds -- Unconventional Warfare -- Destroy the village to save it -- TET Offensive -- Vietnamization -- Peace with Honor …

75 SECOND LIEUTENANT ERIC CRAIG EGGE UNITED STATES MARINE CORPS

6408 Mendelssohn Lane

Craig at Minnetonka High School

North Vietnam

Laos

Con Thien South Vietnam Cambodia

Craig Egge’s Grave Marker at Fort Snelling National Cemetery

"It is the soldier, not the reporter, who has given us freedom of the press. It is the soldier, not the poet, who has given us freedom of speech. It is the soldier, not the organizer, who has given us the freedom to demonstrate. It is the soldier, who salutes the flag, who serves beneath the flag, and whose coffin is draped by the flag, who allows the protestor to burn the flag.” – Father Dennis Edward O'Brian

76 SECOND LIEUTENANT ERIC CRAIG EGGE UNITED STATES MARINE CORPS NOVEMBER 5, 1944 – OCTOBER 14, 1967

Eric “Craig” Egge was born near Rochester, Minnesota November 5, 1944. He was the third of Dwaine and Marian Egge’s four children. Dwaine Egge was a Manufacturer’s Representative for the Lilliston Implement Company. The Egge family moved to Minnetonka when Craig was about to enter high school. Two years later, Dwaine and Marian purchased a new home at 6408 Mendelssohn Lane in the northwest corner of Edina. Craig continued attending Minnetonka High School, where he wrestled and played football. Craig graduated from Minnetonka High School in June 1962, and went on to St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota. He came out of St. Olaf four years later, during a time of domestic turmoil brought on by the unpopular Vietnam War, with a degree in psychology, a wrestling letter, and an entrenched sense of duty. Craig was eligible for a draft deferment because of a wrestling injury; but he chose, instead, to become a Marine. He completed Marine Officer Candidate School and received a commission as a second lieutenant the following year. Craig deployed to Vietnam and joined the 3rd Marine Division as a platoon leader on October 13, 1967. Second Lieutenant Eric Craig Egge of Edina was killed by artillery fire early in the morning of October 14, 1967 while his unit was defending a vital bridge in Quang Tri, the northernmost province of South Vietnam.* Craig was 22 years old and had been in country less than 24 hours when he died early.** His funeral service was held in Edina at Shepherd of the Hills Church. He is buried at the Fort Snelling National Cemetery.

* Historical Note 1: Con Thien was a strategically important Marine combat base located in Quang Tri Province, within three kilometers of North Vietnam. A key bridge on the only ground supply line to Con Thien was washed out by heavy rains in September 1967. Immediate reconstruction of the bridge permitted the vital road to be reopened within two weeks. In October 1967, an under-strength battalion of the 4th Marine Regiment, 3rd Marine Division was assigned to secure the critical bridge. Elements of the battalion were attacked south of Con Thien by North Vietnamese Army Regulars in the early morning hours of October 14, 1967. The engagement ended three hours after it began, with the withdrawal of the North Vietnamese forces. Twenty-one Marines, including Craig Egge, died and 24 were wounded protecting the vital bridge to Con Thien that night.

* Historical Note 2: Craig Egge was killed within 24 hours of having arrived in Vietnam. He was not alone in this regard. In all, 997 of the 58,307 names on the Vietnam Memorial Wall in Washington, D.C. are those of American combatants who perished within 24 hours of their arrival in country.

77 PRIVATE FIRST CLASS ROBERT BRUCE RANDALL UNITED STATES ARMY

“Save one backward glance when you are leaving for the 4832 West Sunnyslope Road places they can no longer go.” – Major Michael Davis O’Donnell

North Vietnam

Laos Hue- Phu Bai Bruce Randall’s Grave Marker at the IOOF Cemetery in Norman, Oklahoma South Vietnam Cambodia

“Soldier rest! Thy warfare o’er. Dream of fighting fields no more. Sleep the sleep that knows no breaking.” – Sir Walter Scott 78 PRIVATE FIRST CLASS ROBERT BRUCE RANDALL UNITED STATES ARMY MARCH 8, 1947 – AUGUST 29, 1968

Robert “Bruce” Randall was born in Denver, Colorado March 8, 1947.* He was the eldest of William and Carol (Irene) Randall’s three children. In 1963, after spending his freshman year in San Antonio at the Texas Military Institute and his sophomore year in Fort Worth at Arlington Heights High School, Bruce moved to a home at 4832 West Sunnyslope Road in Edina with his parents and two younger sisters. William Randall was an attorney at Curt Carlson’s Gold Bond Stamp and Radisson Hotel Companies. Bruce graduated from Edina High School in June 1965. He entered the University of Minnesota a few months later, where he pledged and became a member of the Alpha Delta Phi Fraternity. Bruce had left the University by the time he was drafted into the Army in 1967. He deployed to Vietnam May 30, 1968 as an infantry rifleman with the 3rd Brigade of the 82nd Airborne Division.** Private First Class Robert Bruce Randall of Edina was killed in action August 29, 1968 during combat near Hue City in Thua Thien Province.*** Bruce was 21 years old when he died early. His remains were returned to the United States for interment. He is buried in Norman, Oklahoma at the Independent Order of Odd Fellows Cemetery.

* Historical Note 1: Edina school records and his grave marker at the IOOF Cemetery each show Robert Randall as having been born March 8, 1947. The date in both instances is presumed to have been provided by his parents and be correct. It differs by two months from the May 8, 1947 birthdate shown on a progressive trail of transcribed military records.

** Historical Note 2: In response to the North Vietnamese TET Offensive, which swept across South Vietnam in February 1968, the U.S. Commander urgently requested the stopgap commitment of additional combat forces from the strategic reserve in the U.S. The 3rd Brigade of the 82nd Airborne Division began deploying from Fort Bragg, North Carolina on February 14, 1968. It was rushed north to the historic Hue-Phu Bai area of Thua Thien Province, where the North Vietnamese onslaught presented a serious threat to the security of South Vietnam’s northern provinces. Brigade forces were still engaged in the Hue-Phu Bai area six months later, when Bruce Randall was killed.

*** Historical Note 3: More American military personnel (16,899) died in Vietnam in 1968 than any other year of the war. Three hundred thirty-two of the casualties were, like Bruce Randall, from Minnesota. The largest number of deaths in a single month of the conflict (2,415) occurred in May 1968. The most deaths in a single day (245) occurred on January 31, 1968, the second day of the massive TET Offensive.

79 FIRST LIEUTENANT LARS PETER HUSTAD UNITED STATES ARMY

7100 Tralee Drive Judy Bartlett Hustad

North Vietnam

Thua Thien Province

South Vietnam

“The bravest are surely those who have the clearest vision of what is before them, glory and danger alike, and yet notwithstanding, go out to meet it.” – Thucydides

80 FIRST LIEUTENANT LARS PETER HUSTAD UNITED STATES ARMY SEPTEMBER 27, 1944 – APRIL 5, 1969

Lars Peter Hustad was born in Atwater, Minnesota September 27, 1944. He was the youngest of Holger and Vera Hustad’s five children. Holger Hustad was a building contractor. After having lived in Helena, Montana for several years, the Hustads moved back to Atwater. From there, they came to Edina shortly before Lars started 10th grade at Edina High School in 1959. The family home was located at 7100 Tralee Drive. Lars, who especially enjoyed boating and water skiing, graduated from Edina High School in 1962, then went on to St. Olaf College. A week after graduating from St. Olaf with a history degree in June 1966, Lars married his St. Olaf classmate Judy Bartlett in St. Cloud. In his last year at St. Olaf, Lars signed up for the Army’s OCS option for college graduates.* He and Judy had been residing in St. Cloud as husband and wife for about five weeks when Lars left to begin basic training. Following basic training, Lars went on to the Infantry Officer Candidate School at Fort Benning, Georgia. He was commissioned a second lieutenant in the Infantry upon finishing the program. After serving as a basic training instructor at Fort Jackson, South Carolina for a short time, Lars deployed to Vietnam in May 1968. There, he joined MACV Advisory Team 2 in Thua Thien Province. His role was to help train Vietnamese 1st Infantry Division recruits with a regimen similar to that of the U.S. Army’s basic training program. In the final weeks of his 12-month tour of duty, Lars volunteered to accompany a Vietnamese unit on an aerial combat assault. The force landed late in the afternoon on April 5, 1969 and moved into a nearby tree line to set up night defensive positions. A wind gust toppled a tree that had been weakened by the pre-assault artillery barrage. The tree fell on Lars, killing him. Edina High School graduate First Lieutenant Lars Peter Hustad was 24 years old when he died early. He is buried at the North Star Cemetery in St. Cloud.

* Historical Note: During the 10-year span of the Vietnam War, 4.2% of America’s population served in uniform. In contrast, 12.2% served during the four years of America’s involvement in World War II, 3.8% served during the three-year Korean conflict, and 4.6% served during the two years America participated in WWI.

81 SPECIALIST FOURTH CLASS DAVID MARTIN PETERSON UNITED STATES ARMY

Remembrance of David at 6336 Rolf Avenue Normandale Lutheran Church Remembrance of David at Normandale Lutheran Church North Vietnam

South Vietnam Cambodia Binh Long Province

Binh Long David Peterson’s Grave Stone at Province Fort Snelling National Cemetery

“And I'm proud to be an American, where at least I know I'm free. And I won't forget the men who died, who gave that right to me.” – Lee Greenwood

82 SPECIALIST FOURTH CLASS DAVID MARTIN PETERSON UNITED STATES ARMY MAY 12, 1948 – MAY 9, 1969

David Peterson was born in Minneapolis May 12, 1948. He was the only son of Harvey and Marion Peterson. Harvey Peterson, a World War II Navy veteran, was employed as a glazier at the Ford McNutt Glass Company. Harvey and Marion Peterson moved from Richfield to a home at 6336 Rolf Avenue in Edina when David was 12 years old. The family attended the nearby Normandale Lutheran Church. David, who enjoyed building and racing boats and was an avid hunter, graduated from Edina High School in June 1966. He played clarinet in the concert band his senior year. David attended the University of Minnesota for a year and was working at Honeywell when he was drafted into the Army in May 1968. He deployed to Vietnam five months later. Upon arriving in Vietnam in October 1968, David was assigned to a rifle company in the 1st Infantry Division.* Specialist Fourth Class David Martin Peterson of Edina was participating in a search and clear operation in the jungles of Binh Long Province, near the Cambodian border, when he was killed in action May 9, 1969. David was three days away from celebrating his 21st birthday when he died early.** Funeral services for David were held in Edina at the Normandale Lutheran Church. A memorial in his remembrance is affixed to the wall in the church’s central corridor. David is buried at the Fort Snelling National Cemetery in Minneapolis.

* Historical Note 1: The 1st Infantry Division entered South Vietnam in July 1965. It was the first division-size U.S. unit to arrive in country. By the time David Peterson joined the Division in October 1968, emphasis had shifted from large scale search-and-destroy operations, like those that characterized 1966 and 1967, to smaller reconnaissance-in-force and joint operations intended to assist the South Vietnamese Army assume a more active combat role. The Division was recalled to the United States in January 1970 as part of the U.S. strategic draw down. During almost five years of fighting in Vietnam 6,146 members of the 1st Infantry Division were killed, 16,019 were wounded, and 20 were taken as prisoners of war. One of those killed was David Peterson. Another was Major General Keith Ware, the Division’s Commanding General, who died when his helicopter was shot down. General Ware was one of 12 officers of flag-rank that perished in Vietnam.

** Historical Note 2: David Peterson is one of 58,307 honored names on the Vietnam Memorial Wall in Washington, D.C. Forty-three percent (some 25,000) of the names are those of individuals who were 20 years old or younger when they died. The youngest was just 15. Names of three sets of fathers and sons and 31 pairs of brothers are imbedded into the Wall. So are names of eight valiant females, seven Army nurses and one Air Force nurse.

83 FIRST LIEUTENANT STEPHEN JOSEPH KASTER UNITED STATES ARMY

5700 Wooddale Avenue

Stephen as a senior at Edina High School

Long Khanh Province Stephen Kaster’s Grave Marker at Fort Snelling National Cemetery

84 FIRST LIEUTENANT STEPHEN JOSEPH KASTER UNITED STATES ARMY AUGUST 16, 1947 – NOVEMBER 2, 1970

Stephen Joseph Kaster was born in Green Bay, Wisconsin August 16, 1947. He was the second of Donald and Ruth (Betty) Kaster’s four children. Donald Kaster served in the Army Air Forces during WWII. He later also served during the Korean War. Donald sold insurance. Stephen was eight years old when his family moved from Green Bay to Rochester, Minnesota. He had just completed his junior year at Lourdes High School in Rochester when the Kasters moved again. This time, it was to 5700 Wooddale Avenue in Edina during the summer of 1964. The family worshipped at Our Lady of Grace Catholic Church, and Stephen attended Edina High School his senior year. Along with participating in track and the school choir, he also enjoyed golf, tennis, and bowling. Following his graduation from Edina High School in 1965, Stephen went on to St. John’s University in Collegeville. He majored in mathematics and participated in the ROTC program there. Stephen had recently graduated from St. John’s with a degree in mathematics and a commission as a second lieutenant in the Army Infantry, when his family relocated from Edina to Coon Rapids during the summer of 1969. He entered on active duty with the Army from Coon Rapids soon after that. Stephen deployed to Vietnam September 29, 1970, where he joined the 25th Infantry Division as a platoon leader.* Edina High School graduate First Lieutenant Stephen Joseph Kaster had been in Vietnam just five weeks when he was killed in action November 2, 1970, while leading his platoon on a mission in Long Khanh Province northeast of Saigon. Stephen was 23 years old when died early. He is interred at the Fort Snelling National Cemetery.

* Note: One hundred helicopter door-gunners from the 25th Infantry Division deployed to Vietnam from Hawaii in early 1963. They were the first troops from the Division to arrive in Vietnam. Within four years, the 25th was the largest American division-size fighting force in country. After initially serving in the Central Highlands, the Division moved south to the Cu Chi area in 1966. From 1966-1969, 25th Infantry Division soldiers fought against Viet Cong and North Vietnamese forces in the jungles and rubber plantations north and west of Saigon. They also helped defend Saigon and the Ton Son Nhut Air Base during the 1968 and 1969 TET Offensives, and participated in the Cambodian incursion in 1970. Beginning in December 1970, the Division began withdrawing from Vietnam. All of its elements were back in Hawaii by May 1971. Stephen Kaster was one of 4,561 combatants killed while serving in Vietnam with the 25th Infantry Division.

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In Memoriam

“Their yesterday makes possible our tomorrow.” – General Douglas MacArthur

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“We were young. We have died. Remember us.” – Archibald MacLeish

94 THE MEMORIAL

We tried, we tried, Oh God we tried So we could be here too And walk around remembering And look for names we knew

Our lives were lost so far away Upon a distant shore But we are here in memory As you read our names once more

Remember us, Remember us Although we're truly gone Remember us, as we once were And not just names in stone.

Author Unknown

95 Veterans Memorial Groundbreaking September 19, 2014

From left to right: Edina Mayor Jim Hovland, State Senator Melisa Franzen, Edina City Council Member Josh Sprague, State Representative Paul Rosenthal, Veterans Memorial Committee Chairman Richard Olson, State Representative Ron Erhardt, Principal Donor David Frauenshuh, and Retired Air Force Brigadier General Denny Schulstad

Veterans Memorial Dedication Committee Members and Special Friends May 25, 2015

From left to right: Veterans Memorial Committee Chairman Richard Olson, State Senator Melisa Franzen, Edina Mayor Jim Hovland, Peter Crain, Denny Schulstad, Frank Cardarelle, Jason Christiaansen, Marshall Schwartz, State Representative Ron Erhardt, Bob Benson, Edina Parks and Recreation Staff Liaison Kristen Aarsvold, Bob Kojetin, Bob Reed, Lance Elliott, Edina Community Foundation Executive Director Dick Crockett, and John Currie

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