My Dad was stationed on a ship close to the Aleutian Islands off the coast of Alaska when he served in the Army during World War II. I never asked him questions about his time in the service. He never saw any combat and I guess I felt, when I was younger, his service time wasn’t as important as others who had experienced combat. After a recent interview with Harold Guggemos of Winsted, who shared his Army service during WWII, I can’t seem to get my Dad’s stories out of my mind. I wish I would have really listened to him. I wish I would have tried to understand what it was like for him to be away from home for so long. He died in 1999 so I can’t go back and ask him anymore. However, Harold did give me some insight into a few of the things I remember my Dad telling me. Dad said his time on board ship was one of the worst things he had ever experienced in his life. At the time, he wondered if the war was ever going to end. Harold told me that throughout his service in the War he only lived one day at a time. Most of the time, he had no idea where they were or how long they would be there. The ships they traveled on were crammed with men. Each man was assigned their own area which was the aisle by their bunks. The bunks were canvas strapped to iron pipes, one bunk on top of another and approximately 18 inches of space between them. No one was allowed away from it except when they were given a short visit to the deck of the ship at their assigned time of the day. Only about 20 percent of the men could fit on the deck of the ship at one time. After listening to Harold’s WWII experiences, I do have a better understanding of what my Dad went through. At first, Harold had hesitated to share his WWII history with me because he felt that he was just one of so many to live through it. I want to thank Harold for his time and sharing his story. I do have a much better understanding of my Dad’s service time. It must have been a very difficult time for all of the men, most of them very young and away from home for the first time. Watch for Harold’s story in the Herald Journal’s November 5th Veterans’ issue.
Monthly Archive for October, 2007Page 2 of 6
City Engineer Dave Martini told the Mayer City Council Monday that progress on the east side street improvement project has been “sluggish at best” due to recent rains. Martini said the project is currently “a couple of weeks” behind schedule, and will not meet the October 31 target date for substantial completion. He added that, weather permitting, he hopes the first lift of asphalt will be applied before the end of construction this year. He also said he expects reconstruction of driveways affected by the project to be finished this year.
The sun has been hidden by clouds and rain clouds for the better part of the past couple weeks. Let us all take a minute to observe this great visit and pray it continues! My father-in-law tried combining corn early Sunday morning, but said the ground was just too soft or “greasy” as he likes to say it. Combining today is promising. Hopefully, we’ll get a dry spell so area farmers can get this miserable growing season behind them.
Lester Prairie School District is out of statuatory operating debt because of four factors: sound fiscal management, voters passing the levy, an increase in enrollment, and legislative action, according to the auditor’s report, given at tonight’s meeting (Monday).
Congratulations to all the board members and Supt. Joe Miller, who pulled off this feat. The auditor has positive remarks for the board.
A wine tasting club that meets on a regular basis, formed by the Waverly Liquor Store, met Thursday and tasted 10 wines there, according to Manager Wanda Tussing (she is a stitch, if you know her at all). They are being trained on such things as where the wines come from and how they are made, as well as how to properly taste a wine. Contact Wanda if you are interested in joining.
When I recently interviewed Troy Fasching, asst. crew chief of a top fuel dragster, Troy was babysitting his son, Wyatt, who is three years old. Wyatt would play in his tent in the family room, occasionally joining us in the kitchen for a snack and to be part of the conversation. At one point, Wyatt took my Herald Journal pen and asked for some paper and told me he was going to help me. His first question “Do you have kids?” Now, any living, breathing mother could not be asked a better question. It was difficult for me to leave his interview to get back to my own. Wyatt was a “natural” when it came to interviewing. He also knew what was interesting news because he reminded his dad about an accident that the dragster had been in, too. For three years old, he was already showing signs of being a great reporter. But as I was leaving and looked back at the screen door, I saw him waving goodby. How’s that for being good at public relations too. Troy Fasching’s article on the fastest accelerating vehicles in the world is to be rerun in its entirety this week in the Herald Journal because the second page of the article was omitted in error last week. Watch for it in the Monday, Oct. 22nd issue as well as all of the latest news in our area.
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