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Top Stories ‘Greatest Generation’ vets receive honors
Top Stories ‘Greatest Generation’ vets receive honors
Oct
30
2009
| ‘Greatest Generation’ vets receive honors |
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| Written by Register Staff | |
| Friday, 30 October 2009 | |
 World War II veterans were honored by the Korean War Veterans during the Aurora Farmers Fair earlier this month. From left: Kyle Deganbach, sitting in for his grandfather Army veteran Francis Meyer, who has since died; Army veteran Chester R. Lester; Merchant Marine veteran Orville Brown; and Navy veteran John Wunderlich. These were the four men honored as members of “America’s Greatest Generation” by the Korean War Veterans Association Southeastern Indiana Chapter No. 4 recently, on-stage during the 101st Aurora Farmers Fair. The chapter decided to honor Aurora-area World War II veterans partly because those remaining are dying at the rate of 1,200 per day, said chapter commander Luther Rice. Others were honored during the A Roar of Thunder Regatta in March. The Philippines Veteran Francis Meyer, 89, who was hospitalized at the time of the fair, and represented on stage by a grandson, has since joined the ranks of those who have died. Meyer, Greendale, an Aurora native, was drafted into the Army in April 1942. After basic training, he was transferred to Fort Ord, Calif., then sent to New Guinea where he was promoted to staff sergeant. Later, Meyer was sent to the Philippines, where some of his experiences were so painful, he could not discuss them, said his family. But he was awarded the Silver Star, the nation’s third highest decoration for valor, for saving the lives of others in his squad. Meyer, who received ribbons for his service in the American Theater and the Asiatic-Pacific Theater, also received two bronze stars, a victory medal, a combat infantry badge, and a good conduct ribbon, and was recognized for his service in the Philippine liberation. He served his country for three years and eight months, including time in Japan during reconstruction, said Kyle Deganbach, the grandson who accepted Meyer’s plaque at Farmers Fair because Meyer then was in the hospital. He did tell his family about 100-mile walks each way. Meyer also referred often to “his war buddy” Calvin Sparks, who was very close, said Deganbach. Never wounded during the service, Meyer bore the effects of illness from his service in the tropics. He was discharged in December 1945, and married Roberta June Waldon in March 1946. The couple raised one daughter, Francine Meyer, while living for almost 50 years near the present site of the Aurora Fire Department atop Trester Hill. Previously, they lived near South Hogan Creek, said Deganbach. Omaha Beach Chester Lester, 88, Railroad Avenue, Aurora, participated in the D-day invasion of France at Omaha Beach June 6, 1944, driving a truck off a barge into and through the ocean. The truck had been waterproofed with asbestos grease around its electrical components, and a flexible tube into the cabin to draw air for the engine. “The first time we started, they were dropping shells on both sides of us,” Lester recalled. The barge, loaded with trucks, backed off, then went in again under escort by a “Corvette” gun ship. “It was firing over us,” said Lester, who was in the United States Army’s amphibious forces. Though told ahead of time about the shore guns, the troops did not know two German divisions had moved into the area two days earlier for training. “We lost seven in our group ... of 105 men,” said Lester. Once on the beach, he jumped out of his truck and headed for a little railroad track with his commander, he said. “There were men all spread out along the railroad track. They were all dead,” he recalled. He stood up to look around, and a shell went off behind him, he said. “It twisted me around a little bit. After that, I knowed to get down,” said Lester, who remained there four hours while his commander left to look for the rest of the outfit. Later, the incoming tide forced the Americans to make a move, and they blew through a wall the Germans had, then drove up the road a little piece, said Lester. With a half track in front of him, he had to stop, and asked the other driver what was going on. “He said, ‘There ain’t nothing in front of me but Germans,’” said Lester. They sat all night, and at some point Lester’s commander came back with one man. Then they found a big yard in front of a little farm house. “He and I set up a little First Aid station. ... We jumped in and started patching them up,” even though they’d had only basic First Aid training, said Lester. “The beach was covered with bodies. I hate to say it but I had to run over some of them to get where I was going,” he added. Lester continued to fight in the battles for northern France and central Europe, then returned to the United States in December, 1945. “It’s way back. I can hardly remember it now,” said Lester, who had been drafted in Cincinnati. He never made any close friends, he said. “You didn’t get close to nobody. You never knowed when you were going to lose them. They were just friends, that’s all,” he said. Lester’s decorations and awards include the Distinguished Unit Badge, the European-African Middle Eastern Campaign Medal with three bronze stars and one bronze arrowhead, the American Campaign Medal, the World War II Victory Medal, the Lapel Button, and the Army Good Conduct Medal. Discharged in 1945, Lester married Geneva Combs in August 1947, and the couple raised one son, Aurora Councilman Fred Lester, who was awarded the Purple Heart Medal for wounds received while serving with the Army in the Republic of South Vietnam. Chester Lester said he would serve again “if it had to be done.” “I don’t approve of these other things going on, but this was a necessary thing. It had to be done and no other country could do it,” he said. “If it wasn’t for this country, we would have lost it all. There was no other country had the equipment to fight it,” said Lester. “I know I hauled a lot of good men to that graveyard on Omaha Beach.” Merchant Marine The availability or non-availability of merchant marine shipping determined what the allies could or could not do militarily during WW II, said Rice. To support one soldier for one year required 7 to 15 tons of supplies. United States merchant ships faced danger from submarines, mines, destroyers, aircraft, kamikaze and the elements, said Rice. Of the United States Merchant Mariners, who protected shipping, about 8,300 were killed at sea, another 12,000 wounded with 1,100 or more of these dying from their wounds, and another 663 men and women taken prisoner, said Rice. Overall, one in 26 Merchant Mariners serving aboard merchant ships in WW II died in the line of duty, suffering a greater percentage of war-related deaths than all other U.S. services, said Rice. Auroran Orville L. Brown originally intended to volunteer for the Navy and asked a friend to enlist with him. The friend would not go into the Navy but said he would be willing to join the Merchant Marines. So Brown, who will be 83 Nov. 18, joined the U.S. Merchant Marines in November 1944 at age 18. He served aboard the Liberty ships Tomas Guardia and James Bennett Moore, then aboard the Victory ship Amanclo, seeing service in the Atlantic and Pacific oceans as well as the Mediterranean Sea. He was awarded a war zone bar for each area. “The first trip we made, I was on an old Liberty ship that had to be repaired before we could cross,” recalled Brown. When the ship reached Halifax, Nova Scotia, the rest of the convoy sailed on ahead. “It is really dangerous going by yourself. They went off and left us, we were so slow,” said Brown. Most of his service was routine, though there were submarines around the convoys at times, when depth charges would be dropped. The most memorable time was in 1945 when he was in a convoy off the East Coast of the United States and a German sub came in close enough to sink another Liberty ship. “That’s the only danger I was in,” said Brown, who sailed “clear around the world” on a Victory ship in the latter part of 1945. “It was uneventful; it was just submarines around us,” he said. He, too, would have done it again, though he noted, “I had no idea of what I was getting into” when he volunteered. Brown returned to Dearborn County in August 1945, and in February 1948 married Wanda Leigh. The couple raised two sons and two daughters. Radio training Aurora native John J. Wunderlich, 84, was drafted in 1943, attending basic training at Naval Station, Great Lakes, Ill. From there he was transferred to the Naval Air Station at Millington, Tenn., attending a 20-week course to prepare him as an aviation radio operator. In June 1944, he was selected for the Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps, which would eventually have led to his becoming a commissioned officer in the Navy. He attended Ohio Wesleyan University until August 1945, then transferred to Miami University of Ohio. In June 1946, Wunderlich was offered the choice of continuing college, leading to a commission, or being released from active duty. He chose the latter, returning to Aurora where he began a career as an insurance agent in a business created by his grandfather years before. Although he served three years in active duty, “it wasn’t too exciting,” said Wunderlich. Had he not gotten into officer training, his next step would have been to join a pilot with a torpedo bomber as radio operator, but the actual duties would have involved operating a machine gun more than the radio, he said. “I did what I was told. ... But I did enjoy it, met a lot of people,” said Wunderlich. Married to Joann Finn in April 1947, they raised a son and a daughter. Wunderlich retired after 52 years in the insurance business, now managed by his son, David Wunderlich. Greatest gen. Rice read a history of each man’s military service before Aurora American Legion Keith Ross Post No. 231 Commander Ken Cash presented the serviceman with a commemorative plaque. Each “is truly a member of ‘America’s Greatest Generation’ as newscaster Tom Brokaw described those that served, fought and died in defense of liberty during World War II,” said Rice. He then thanked each man for his service to his country. |
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