Kaukauna Times
June 1, 1945
Sgt. Carl De Bruin was in one of the outfits to last quit
fighting in Germany. “The only way to be a mountaineer fighter” Sgt Carl J.
DeBruin said, “is to have one leg shorter than the other.” Probably no one will ever figure out who
fired the last shot along the 44th Division front – but a squad from
“B” Company 324th Infantry was in there pitching right to the last
and as fate would have it, the last job was climbing an Australian mountain
after some Germans who still had to be convinced that everything was kaput. We
climbed about 1500 feet that afternoon, struggling along at about a 45° angle
dropping to fire now and then, caring the wounded down the long treacherous
slope. By evening the company had cleared the last Jerries from the mountain
slope and a few minutes later the “cease-fire” order came in.
Lawrence Gerend
The class of ‘45 was greeted by a capacity
crowd in the Kaukauna High School auditorium at traditional class night,
exercises Tuesday evening. 13 members were inducted into the August Grignon
chapter of the national honor society. Each senior was presented with a momentum
of his four years at high school and the program closed with the singing of the
class song by the senior class. Lawrence Gerend was awarded the Lang Trophy the
award presented to the most all around, senior. Richard Oudenhoven and Marjorie
Burdick received the highest Thilmany awards of $100 each. “It is the little
things in life that make great men and women”, said Dean Tom Stine of Carroll
College to the graduating class of 112 at commencement exercise. This
fifty-second class to graduate from Kaukauna High School had its ranks thinned
with the armed forces claiming twelve who will receive their diplomas and
absentia.
Leo H. Schmalz is chosen as state
secretary of the Wisconsin Elks Association Sunday. He has been an officer of
the Elks for many years.
Mrs. Michael Niesz, 10th St., received a letter
Thursday morning from her son, Pfc. John Niesz who is stationed in Okinawa. He
wrote that he was in a hospital with a cast on his left leg due to a shrapnel
injury. Pfc Niesz entered service in May 1942 and is a member of the First
Marine Division as a machine gun gunner. Before entering service, Niesz was
employed at Thilmany Pulp and Paper Company.
Seaman Robert E. Eiting, Signalman second class
is spending a 30-day rehabilitation leave at the home of his parents on Lawe
Street. He recently completed his ninth trip across the Atlantic and has been
in service for 32 months.
Memorial services to honor the war dead were
held Wednesday evening with a large crowd of townspeople turned out to pay
tribute to those men who have made the supreme sacrifice for their country. The
line of march began at the Legion Hall and proceeded to Soldiers and Sailors
Monument at the bottom of Lawe Street Bridge where the main services were held.
June 6, 1945
Five of the six remaining members of the
Kaukauna High School class of 1895 were able to be present at a dinner honoring
their Golden anniversary Friday evening at Hotel Kaukauna. The celebration was
sponsored by the Alumni Association. A reception was held and registration for
the dinner. Bert Fargo president of the Alumni Association in 1895, was
Toastmaster and introduced guests and Mayor L. F. Nelson who welcomed the
returning grads. A musical number was offered by Nancy Leigh at the piano and
Miss Leigh and Grace La Borde sang “Roses of Picardy”.
Gordon Hennes, 23, coxswain, USNR, has arrived
at the Navel Training Center, Norfolk. Va. He will undergo pre-commissioning
training duties on a new destroyer.
Staff Sergeant Harold E. Wuyts, Augustine
Street, recently a member of the 95th fighter squadron, received an honorable
discharge from the military service on May 22.
He returned to the states on May 11 after almost 32 months of service
overseas and received his discharge under the point system, having 94 points,
nine more than the required number. Wuyts entered service in March 1942 and
went overseas in September 1942. He served in England, France and Italy.
Pvt. Orville A. Romenesko, Kaukauna, has been awarded the combat infantry badge while serving with the 38th division in mop up operations in the Luzon Mountains.
Junior M. Van Lanen was inducted into the Navy,
May 18, and received orders to leave June 5 for duty. A birthday and farewell
party was held for him at his home on Gertrude Street.
Robert J. Dreger, Oviatt Street, enlisted in the U.S. Navy on May 24th and has reported to active duty.
Edward L. Jirikowic, Desnoyer Street,
distinguished himself while fighting with the 32nd “Red Arrow”
infantry division in Luzon. As a result he received a field promotion from
technical Sgt. to second Lieut. and has been placed in charge of a rifle
platoon. Lieut. Jirikowic entered active service in October, 1940 and went
overseas in April 1942. A veteran of several major engagements he holds the
distinguished unit badge, the combat infantry badge, the Purple Heart medal,
the Asiatic-Pacific ribbon, the Philippine liberation medal and the good
conduct medal.
June 8, 1945
There are still some unlicensed bicycles in the
city, according to James E. McFadden, chief of police and any bicycles that are
found without licenses will be picked up by the police department and held
until the owner complies with the ordinance. The department is making a check
this week on all unlicensed bicycles
Seaman James B.
Bergeron, Dickson Street, arrived in the states after spending one and one-half
years over seas. He will be spending a
30-day leave with his family. Seaman Bergeron went overseas in January of 1944
where he participated on three major battles in the Philippines.
June 13, 1945
Mrs. Ed King was elected president of the
Auxiliary to post 41, American Legion at its meeting Thursday evening. She will
succeed Mrs. Frank Femal as president.
Neil J. McCarthy, Wisconsin
Avenue, has been promoted to First Lieutenant at his station in the
Philippines. First Lt. McCarthy is a communications officer with a unit of the Fifth
Army Air Force. Overseas one year he has
served in Australia, New Guinea and the East Indies.
Henry Mau, Lawe Street, who is stationed at an
engineer depot at Granite, Ill., has been promoted to sergeant. Sgt. Mau has
been in service for a year and a half.
Staff Sergeant Donald
C. Kobs, Kaukauna, a leader of a mortar section writes home. “We fired over 400
rounds in five minutes in preparation for an attack in the Philippine Island
Mountains minutes before an attack on the Jap positions. The infantrymen made
their attack without a man being killed.” Sgt. Kobs has been overseas since
August of 1942. He is entitled to wear the combat Infantryman’s badge and the
Philippines Bronze Arrowhead Metal.
Dave Hartjes was re-elected the grand Knight of the
Knights of Columbus at the regular meeting June 11. Besides the election of officers,
a class of 14 candidates were inducted into the first degree.
Seaman Rich Grapentine was at Pearl Harbor last fall when
President Roosevelt made a visit there and writes of interesting facts
concerning of operations in the Pacific. He tells of a recent meeting with
James Weigman who is serving on board the U.S.S. Indiana.
June 15, 1945
Kaukauna native Pvt. Willard Delcore writes home
from Czechoslovakia. “We were on our way to Prague, the capital, when the war
ended. Our division, the fourth armored, always scared the Germans. There were
many boys killed and many more hurt. I had some very close ones, and I presume
the Lord was with me. I saw so many dead German that I can hardly believe it.
This country of Europe isn’t worth anything and we can thank God that we live
in America.”
Robert A. Klister, 22, Oviatt Street, has been
promoted to the rank of staff Sergeant at a U.S. hospital in England. He is the
chief clerk in this hospital headquarters.
He had been in the Army for 29 months.
Elmer Eiting was named “king” of the Schut at
the 96th annual celebration at Hollandtown Sunday. He knocked down
the last piece of the wooden bird atop the 80-foot pole in the 180th
round.
In a recent release announcement from the war
department, the name of Staff Sergeant Grover J. Patterson of Kaukauna was
listed as being released from a prisoner camp in Germany. In a letter to his
wife Delores and daughter Kay dated June 7 he made no mention of being a prison
of war. The announcement came as a surprise.
June 20, 1945
Lt. Wilfred Van Abel in
the seat of his P-47 Thunderbolt Fighter.
Lt. Wilfred Van Abel U.S. Army Air Corps was
shot down over France in September 1943 and taken prisoner by the Germans. He
was imprisoned with about 10,000 other officers. Van Abel had flown thirty-six
missions as a pilot of a P-47 Thunderbolt. Lt. Van Abel was liberated with the
advance of the Allied armies ten days before V-E Day. After his liberation he
was flown to New York on June 1.
June 22, 1945
Pfc. Robert R. Pankratz, of Kaukauna, a member
of the 134th Infantry regiment in Germany narrowly escaped injury
when four men near him were killed. “I heard a loud explosion when a man 20 in
front of me stepped on a bobby trap that killed him. A medic attempting to
reach him was killed five yards from me when he stepped on a mine. The Germans
then began sending mortars towards us killing two men near me. I came out with
a few scratches.”
Seaman first class Jerome J. Truyman has
returned to California after having enjoyed a two-week leave with his parents
on Crooks Ave. Truyman, a gunner’s mate, has been in the navy 32 months 23 of
which were spent at sea. He returned home after his ship was torpedoed in Iwo
Jima and was forced to dock for repairs.
Starting with eighteen pheasant eggs in the
spring of 1935 the Fox River Valley Game Farms which specializes in the raising
of ringneck pheasants, have developed into the one of largest pheasant raising
farms in the United States. Frank and Norbert Van Zeeland raised 17 birds in
the first year. In 1944 and 1945 their output will be well over 20,000. Two
more Van Zeeland brothers, Leonard, and Bernard, have supplementary farms in
conjunctions covering 340 acres.
Corp. Jerome Verhagen Kaukauna recently
returned home after two and one-half years in Europe. He was in a truck driving
branch of service overseas.
Inducted
in the navy:
Mooney, William W.
Pahl, Robert G.
Inducted in the Army:
Wulterkens, Theodore C.
De Bruin, Barnard W.
Kons, Wilbert G.
Bongers, Leon A.
Siebers, Mark P.
Bongers, Joseph L.
Coenen, Robert E.
Van Eyce, Francis P.
Menting, Leo W.
Pennings, Clarence A.
McGlin, Ervin W.
Klarner, Edward W.
Eimmer, Leonard J.
Balgie, Robert W.
Riehl, Leslie V.
Mertes, John L.
Nackers, Victor H.
Vander Hoogen, Franklin H.
Lettau, Ernest P. Jr.
Reichelt, Arthur E.
Word received here from the War Department by Mr. and Mrs. A. J. Lemke stated that their son, Pfc. John Lemke is presumed to have perished on October 24, 1944, when a Japanese prison ship on which he was a believed to have been confined, was sunk, because of submarine action in the South China Sea. He will be listed as killed in action on that date. Pfc. Lemke enlisted on 9 March 1941. He left for the Philippines on September 6, 1941, and was taken prisoner on Corregidor on May 6, 1942. He was a 1931 graduate of Kaukauna High School and in 1935 graduated of Lawrence College. Besides his parents he is survived by one sister, Marion, an instructor at Kaukauna High School.
Pfc. Joseph Vils, Dodge St. Kaukauna, is
spending a 30-day furlough here with his wife and daughters after returning to
the states in May from the South Pacific where he served for 21 months as a
member of the anti-aircraft section. He has been awarded the New Guinea
campaign ribbon and star, the Philippines liberation ribbon and star and the
good conduct medal.
Five Kaukauna boys have
enlisted in the Navy. Gerald L. Vander Bloomen, Taft Street, William S.
Milbach, Lawe Street, Henry D. Adams, Lawe Street, Clement John Koch, Third
Street, and James M. Kramer, Sarah Street.
Carl Bartsch will be installed as president of
the Lions Club at the chapter anniversary meeting Tuesday evening at Rainbow
Gardens. Dr. R. J. Deloria is the retiring president.
June 27, 1945
Ray Voet has completed his pre-medic course at
Notre Dame and is spending a 6-day leave with his family on Metoxen Avenue. Ray
enlisted in the Navy in 1940 and was in six major engagements in the South
Pacific during the early months of the war. When his ship was sunk as a result
of enemy action, he returned to this country and since then the Navy has
assigned him to various schools with the result that he is now ready to enter
the school of medicine.
Sometime this week nearly 500 German war
prisoners will arrive in Outagamie County to be put to work in the canning
plants harvesting and processing the summer crops. 175 prisoners will work for
the Fuhrmann Canning Company, at Appleton junction and will be housed on
property near the camp. When they are not working, prisoners will be confined
to their camps. Guards will accompany them at work. The prisoners will be paid
on the basis of $.60 an hour and will work 8 to 12 hours a day, the money will
go to the government. Prisoners will receive $.80 a day per man in scrap and
can use it at the canteen established for them. Calumet County will have 320
prisoners housed at Clinton Fairgrounds in buildings and army tents. By the
middle of July, the Army expects to have about 9000 prisoners at work in the
state. Their wages will average $4.50 to five dollars a day. The prisoners will
not be kept on any job where sufficient civilian labor is available.
Joe Steger
leads the Junior Softball league in batting with a .600 average. Steger has
made 15 base hits in 25 times at bat. Dave Kilgas leads the league in homeruns
with two.
Cpl. Donald Jerome Siebers, US Marine Corps, is
confined to the US naval hospital at Great Lakes where he has been a patient
for the last two weeks. Cpl. Siebers has been in service for about three years,
of which 27 months are spent overseas. After a leave, at home, he was
reassigned to Great Lakes.
Sonar 4/c Joseph F. Giordana, Kaukauna, arrived
home Wednesday to spend a 31-day leave.
After two years and four months of active duty in the South Pacific.
Giordana held a gunner's position aboard his ship and participated in five
major campaigns. He now wears with his five battle stars, the presidential unit
citation and a Philippine liberation, Asian-Pacific and American theater
service ribbons. He enlisted in the Navy while still in high school and entered
the service in October 1942.
June 29, 1945
Word was
received here by the parents of Lloyd Siebers that he was promoted from
sergeant to staff Sgt. Siebers is with a medical detachment in Germany, was
recently awarded the bronze star and recognition for his service.
The Photographers Association of America has
just notified F. J. Pechman of Kaukauna that he has again won honor in the
national competition. He was awarded the certificate of merit on three
photographs submitted.
A son was born to Mr. and Mrs. Gene Lamers.
A son was born to Mr. and Mrs. Carl Hermans.
A son was born to Mr. and Mrs. Leroy Westby.
A son was born to Mr. and Mrs. Carl J. Chopin.
A daughter was born to Mr. and Mrs. Leo
Hopfensperger.
A daughter was born to Mr. and Mrs. Alois Van
Vreede.
A daughter was born to Mr. and Mrs. Norbert
Micke.
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