Kittson County Veterans
(Please add names)
Akerlund, John, US Army, 4th Infantry Division
Anderson, Axel, US Navy, WWI
Due to a massive computer crash that damaged some links, Axel Anderson information is shown below temporarily:
Anderson, Axel C.
B: 02 Dec 1883, Jonkping, Sweden
D:
M: Hildur Marie Johnson b. 12 Oct 1886, Jupiter Township, MN d. 26
Nov 1910
FN: Unknown Anderson
MN: Unknown
Children of Axel C. Anderson and Hildur Marie Johnson:
Melvin C. Anderson
B: 17 Nov 1910, Minneapolis, MN
D: 06 Sep 1978
M: 17 Nov 1932, Ida E. Lindquist
Children of Melvin C. Anderson and Ida E. Lindquist:
Gerald Anderson
B: 03 May 1935Arlen Anderson
B: 27 Mar 1941David Anderson
B: 05 Jun 1944
Paul Anderson
B: 16 Apr 1946
Anderson, Elray, US Army, Vietnam
Anderson, John
Anderson, Raymond "Pete"
Anderson, Roger, US Army, 1st Air Cavalry, Vietnam
Aslakson, Arlen, 11th Airborne, Korea
Austad, Donald, USS Alpine, WWII
Balderston, William Charles (Bill) USMC, WWII, 1st Marine Division
Bell, Jack D., WWII, Aviation Ordnanceman, Second Class,
U.S. Navy
Service # 3289701, United States Navy. Entered the Service from: Minnesota
Died: February 2, 1944. Missing in Action or Buried at Sea
Tablets of the Missing at Honolulu Memorial, Honolulu, Hawaii
Awards: Purple Heart
Billings, Carl, 122nd Chemical Process Co.
Billings, Frederick, Jr. US Army
Blomquist, Edwin
Blomquist, Reynard O. (KIA)
Boffman, Obed, US Army Air Corps, WWII
Bogestad, Gary, Cambodia, Machine Gunner
Boroski, Anton (Toni) Walter (KIA)
Bottman, Obed, US Army Air Corps, WWII Newfoundland
Bowman, Farley Wentworth, US Army, WWII
Bronson, Glen, US Navy Seebees, WWII
Bronson, Wayne
Broughten, Edwin M., WWI
Brosdahl, Clarence, WWII
Bothum, Melbin, WWI, US Army 90th Division
Cameron, Bob
Carpenter, John
Carlson, Thure William, Hallock, MN
Private, U.S. Army, WWI
359th Infantry Regiment, 90th Infantry Division
Entered the Service from: Minnesota
Died: November 2, 1918
Buried at: Plot D Row 32 Grave 15, Meuse-Argonne American Cemetery, Romagne,
France
Christenson, Harold
Clow, Elmer R., Private, U.S. Army, WWII, Service # 37586822
517th Parachute Infantry Regiment
Entered the Service from: Minnesota
Died: December 24, 1944, Buried at: Plot E Row 3 Grave 54, Henri-Chapelle
American Cemetery, Henri-Chapelle, Belgium. Awards: Purple Heart
Clow, Robert, US Marines, WWII
Dahlgren, Vincent, US Army, WWII, Germany
Cummins, Arthur, WWI, US Army 5th Division, Combat Wounded
Cummins, Arthur "Jimmy", Korean War
Daigre, John, US Navy, WWII
B: 17 Jul 1926
D: 17 May 2005
Danielson, Chief, US Army Air Corps, WWII, Iceland
Danielson, David, US Marines 1966 - 1969
Danielson, Guy, US Army Air Corps, WWII
Danielson, Woody, US Army, WWII, 10th Mtn Div.
Easter, George Randolph,
Jr, Humboldt, MN, WWI, France
Private First Class, U.S. Army, 6th Engineer Battalion, 3rd Infantry Division
Entered the Service from: Minnesota
Died: October 24, 1918
Buried at: Plot D Row 19 Grave 31, St. Mihiel American Cemetery, Thiaucourt,
France
Ecklund, Howard M., Kittson County, Private U.S. Army, Service # 37776572, 27th Infantry Regiment, 25th Infantry Division. Entered the Service from: Minnesota. Died: May 17, 1945, Buried at: Plot A Row 4 Grave 175, Manila American Cemetery, Manila, Philippines. Awards: Purple Heart
Englund, Charles R., US Navy
Flint, Roger
Flugstad, Olaf, US Army, Co. 2, 138th Infantry Diviision, 35th Division, WWI
Folland, Arthur, US Army Air Corps
Folland, John I., US Navy, WWII
Folland, Lee, WWII, 2nd Division, US Marines, Machine Gunner
Goldstrand, Gene, US Navy WWII, and re-enlisted US Army
Grahn, Gordon, US Army
Grahn, John
Grahn, Lawrence
Grahn, Norman, US Army WWII
Grahn, Reynold, USS Otus, WWII
Grandstand, Paul Luther, US Army, WWII, Japan, Korea
Griffin, Don
Gunnarson, Carl Gordon, WWII Tank Destroyer Battalion. Awarded Silver and Bronze Star.
Gunnarson, Wallace
Gustafson, Jim
Gunnarson, Peter Lloyd (KIA)
Gunnarson, Wallace
Hallberg, Robert, US Army, Korea
Hanson, Alfred M., Karlstad, MN (KIA) FN: Herman Hanson
Private, U.S. Army, 306th Infantry Regiment, 77th Infantry Division
Entered the Service from: Minnesota
Died: October 1, 1918, Buried at: Plot G Row 26 Grave 14, Meuse-Argonne
American Cemetery, Romagne, France
Killed in action in the Argonne Forest. (Recently a movie called "The
Lost Battalion" was made about this battle .... Alfred was part of
this battle.
Hart, Warren, US Army, 20th Infantry, Sixth Division, New Guinea
Haugen, Anton
Haugen, Bob, US Army MP, Vietnam
Haugen, Clifford, US Army WWII, POW at Anzio
Hazelton, Wesley, US Army Air Corps, WWII
Hickok, Buster
Hickok, Myron, US Army, 63rd Infantry, 6th Infantry, Purple Heat at Luzon WWII
Holter, Walter, US Army Air Corps, WWII
Homstad, Milo Steven (KIA)
Hughes, Tom
Jensen, Tineus J., Karlstad, MN, Private, U.S. Army, 341st
Machine Gun Battalion, 89th Infantry Division
Entered the Service from: Minnesota
Died: November 1, 1918, Buried at: Plot C Row 28 Grave 11, Meuse-Argonne
American Cemetery, Romagne, France
Johnson, Charles, US Army, US Army Forces Pacific, Vietnam War. Awarded the Bronze Star, Dec 10, 1971.
Johnson, Dayles
Johnson, Henry
Johnson, Harris
Johnson, Marvin O., US Army Korean Era
Johnson, Oscar
Johnson, Ralph (KIA)
Johnson, Raymond, 6th Armored Infantry, CIB, Purple Heart, French Croix Du Guerre at Kasserine Pass.
Kempf, James
Klegstad, Dale, US Army
Klevin, Bertil, Korea
Kleven, Carl, WWI
Knowlton, Lowell, WWII
Koland, Clarence, US Army Air Corp, WWII
Kolberg, Arthur (KIA)
Krantz, Brian, US Army
Krantz, Norman (Butch), US Army WWII
Krantz, Randy, US Army Veteran
Krantz, Wayne, US Army Veteran
Krusel, Frank M., Private First Class, U.S. Army, Service
# 37323294, 712th Tank Battalion. Entered the Service from: Minnesota
Died: July 26, 1944
Buried at: Plot C Row 3 Grave 36, Normandy American Cemetery, St. Laurent-sur-Mer,
France. Awards: Purple Heart
Kushinski, Edward (KIA)
Kushinski, Martin
Larson, Wallace US Army 40th Division, Korean War
Laurentzen, John A., Kittson County,
Technician 4th Class, U.S. Army, Service # 39697621
530th Anti-Aircraft Arty (Automatic Weapons) Battalion
Entered the Service from: California
Died: June 28, 1945
Buried at: Plot E Row 5 Grave 4, Netherlands American Cemetery, Margraten,
Netherlands
Levenhagen, Charles, US Army, Korea
Levenhagen, Gerhardt
Locken, Olaf (KIA)
Locken, Kenneth
Lund, Leslie
Lund, Lawrence
Lund, Marvin
Lund, Maurice
Lund, Merle
Lund, Orval
Lund, Opal
Lysford, Jerome (Jerry), US Army
Lysford, Melvyn O., US Army
Lysford, Roger
Martinson, Ferdinand
Matthew, Warren, WWII, Navy Air Force, DFC
Matthews, B. Deane, US Air Force, WWII
Matthews, Dennis L., US Merchant Marine, US Army, WWII
Mattson, Ray E. US Coast Guard, (KIA)
McGovern, Richard, PFC, Died 13 May 1968, Vietnam
Meader, William
Moose,
Nay. Byron, US 7th Army, son of Paul
Nay, Floyd Norman,, son of Paul Nay, (37314118) served 494th Armored Field Artillery Battalion, 12th Armored Division in World War II. Awarded Purple Heart, March 24, 1945, in Germany. Re-enlisted July 16, 1950 as a Corporal and was wounded in action at Tague, Korea, September 11, 1950. Discharged June 26, 1956 as a Sargeant as a Transportation Movement Control Sprecialist, Det #3, 1262nd ASU.
Nay, Fred "Toby", US Army, Purple Heart in Germany
Nealis, Melvin T., US Army, WWII, Staff Sergeant. Major General John E. Dahlquist, Commanding General, 36th Division, awarded him the Silver Star Medal for gallantry in action. He was awarded the medal somewhere along the front of the 6th Army Group in Germany according to US Army Signal Corps Photo taken March 13, 1945.
Nelson, Bill
Norberg, Clyde
Norberg, Otto
Norberg, Rick
Nordling, Alvin
Nygaard, Maurice Alfred, US Navy, Killed in Action, WWII (formerly of Lake Bronson, killed in the Phillippines, WWII, son of John A. Nygaard.
Ohman, Reuben, US Army
Olson, Alvin, US Army Air Corps, WWII
Olson, Arnold
Olson, Barry, US Army, 1st Air Cavalry
Olson, Clifford L., Karlstad, MN, WWII, Technician 4th Class, U.S. Army, Service # 17108504, 79th Signal Company, 79th Infantry Division. Entered the Service from: Minnesota Died: September 30, 1944. Buried at: Plot C Row 16 Grave 94, Lorraine American Cemetery St. Avold, France. Awards: Bronze Star, Purple Heart
Olson, Carl, US Army, WWI, US Army Motor Ambulance Supply in France
Olson, Clifford, US Navy, WWII
Olson, Clifford, US Army WWII, 63rd Infantry, 6th Infantry Division
Olson, Dennis
Olson, Earl W., USArmy
Olson, Harlan, US Army, 25th Infantry, Vietnam
Olson, Hjalmer E.(Chap) U.S. Army, WWI, US Military Police
Olson, James
Olson, Ole M. Karlstad, MN, Private, U.S. Army, 357th Infantry
Regiment, 90th Infantry Division
Entered the Service from: Minnesota
Died: September 15, 1918, Buried at: Plot D Row 24 Grave 3, St. Mihiel American
Cemetery, Thiaucourt, France
Olson, Oscar Clifford
Pantzer, Ken
Pearson, Edward
Pearson, Vernon (KIA)
Pearson, Willard
Pede, Terry F., US Marine 13th Expeditionary Unit, Kuwait
Peterson, Leon, US Army Vietnam War
Peterson, Lester Eugene, US Air Force, Vietnam, Thailand
Peterson, Marlin Trent (KIA)
Peterson, Phillip O. (KIA)
Prekwas, Victor, (KIA) WWII
Ricker, Trafton G., 9th Maine Infantry, Civil War Veteran. Buried at Eidsvold Cemetery near Halma, MN
Roswell, Arvid, WWI, US Army Co. 9, 161st Depot Brigade, WWI
Roswell, Lester, WWII
Roswell, Thomas, WWI, US Army co. H, 117th Infantry, 30th Division, WWI
Rugstad, Olaf, US Army 35th Division, WWI
Rustad, Alfred, Jr. (Rusty), US Navy, WWII
Sandahl, Allan, WWII
Sandahl, Carl, WWI
Sandahl, Gordon, USS Hornet, WWII
Severson, Orville B. (KIA)
Shablow, Robert
Short, Gordon, Corporal in the 32nd Division, 127th Infantry, US Army.
He was stationed in the Pacific Theatre, in these campaigns:
New
Guinea, Leyte/Luzon/Ville Verde Trail (Philipines) and part of the
occupational forces on mainland Japan after Japan surrendered...He
served from 1942 to the end of 1945...
Silnes, Theodor, US Navy
Silnes, Torger, US Merchant Marines
Skatrud, Herbert A., US Army Coast Artillery Corps, WWI
Skinner, Melvin, US Army, Viet Nam
Snare, Floyd (KIA)
Sobolik, Dennis
Solvskar, Toryus, Karlstad, MN, WWI, Private, U.S. Army,
140th Infantry Regiment, 35th Infantry Division
Entered the Service from: Minnesota
Died: March 1, 1919, Buried at: Plot D Row 23 Grave 6, St. Mihiel American
Cemetery, Thiaucourt, France
Spilde, Henry M. b. 15 Apr 1896, Halma; d. 10 Apr 1918, Camp Dodge, buried at Eidsvold in Halma. Henry Melbin Spilde of Halma died from scarlet fever on April 10, 1918, at Camp Dodge, Iowa, and was buried at Eidsvold Cemetery in Halma three days later. He served with Co. H, 350th Infantry, 88th Division. Henry is honored during "Call the Roll" at the Halma-Lake Bronson American Legion Post #315 Memorial Day service and his flag is flown at the Eidsvold Cemetery's "Avenue of Flags". "Let us dedicate ourselves to the task of carrying on that those whom we honor shall not have died in vain."
Spilde, Tilden P., USS Chicago, WWII and US Army and re-enlisted with the US 87th Infantry Divisioin, 10th Mountain Division, Korean War Era.
Souder, Donald, US 3rd Army, Korea, 1951 - 1953
Souder, Neil, US Army, 2nd Infantry Division, Korea
Spilde, Glendon, Sr. US Army, 43rd Infantry Division, WWII
Spilde, Keith
Stamnes, Dale, USS Alaska, WWII
Strom, Clarence
Stromberg, Vernon A., Yeoman, WWII, Third Class, U.S. Navy
Service # 7576187, United States Naval Reserve Entered the Service from:
Minnesota
Died: December 18, 1944
Missing in Action or Buried at Sea
Tablets of the Missing at Manila American Cemetery, Manila, Philippines
Sugden, William L, WWII, Gunner's Mate, Third Class, U.S.
Navy, Service # 8709316
United States Navy
Entered the Service from: Minnesota
Died: January 12, 1945
Missing in Action or Buried at Sea
Tablets of the Missing at Manila American Cemetery, Manila, Philippines
Awards: Purple Heart
Swanson, Ronald, US Navy, WWII
Swenson, Elwood Monroe, Karlstad, MN, Private First Class,
U.S.Army,
Service # 19019455, Sternberg General Hospital Entered the Service from:
Minnesota, Died: December 29, 1941. Buried at: Plot D Row 9 Grave 235, Manila
American Cemetery, Manila, Philippines. Awards: Purple Heart
Sylvester, Kalvin, US Army
Tuff, James (Jimmy), US Marines, WWII and Korea
Due to a massive computer crash that damaged some links, the Tuff information is shown below temporarily:
Tuff, Peter J.
B:
E: Came to Kittson County in 1917
D:
M: 10 Nov 1918, Melia C. Bothum, dau of Barney (B. M.) and Martha
Bothum
FN:
MN:
Children of Peter J. Tuff and Melia C. Bothum:
Peter Tuff
Melia Tuff
James Tuff
M: Allie Jane Stahl, they had 1 daughter and 2 sons
Jack Tuff
M: Kay Jones
Barbara Tuff
M: Lloyd Anderson, they had 1 daughter and 1 son.
Turner, Dale
Turner, Gordon C., US Navy
Twistol, Delmore, US Navy
Undeberg, Dwayne, US Army, Vietnam War Era, served in Korea
Undeberg, Dwight, US Army, 171st Infantry Brigade and Alaska Department, Vietnam War Era.
Undeberg, Helmer T., US Army, WWI
Undeberg, Helmer, Jr., US Navy Seabees, WWII
Wennersten, Bror August, US Army WWI
Westerberg, Gordon G. (KIA)
Widstrand, Roy P., Fireman, First Class, U.S. Navy, Service # 8709322, United States
Naval Reserve. Entered the Service from: Minnesota
Died: November 18, 1944, Missing in Action or Buried at Sea
Tablets of the Missing at Florence American Cemetery, Florence, Italy
Awards: Purple Heart
Wirak, Elmer, Technician Fourth Class, U.S. Army, Service #37025251, 18th Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division, Entered the service from Minnesota. Died: 29 Apr 05, Buried at: Plot B Row 7 Grave 23, Netherlands American Cemetery, Margraten, Netherlands, Awards: Purple Heart.
Wojiechowski, Rudy, Sr. US Army 44th Infantry
Younggren, Dean, US Navy, WWII
If anyone has contact with the old County Selective Service (Draft) Boards, perhaps they still have some records of the names of the draftees or enlistees.
Local veterans receive presidential unit citation
Awards at Memorial Day programs
for heroic service in WWII
by
Cindy Stewart
Kittson County Enterprise
June 5, 2002
It took 57 years, but for a few Kittson county World War II veterans, it was worth the wait.
The long delayed Presidential Unit Citation for heroic service during the battle of Okinawa was finally approved earlier this year for the 96th Infantry Division of the U.S. Army.
The 96th Infantry Division is now one of only four entire Army Divisions awarded the Presidential Unit Citation for heroic action during WWII.
The award reads:
"This is to certify that the president of the United States of America has awarded the Presidential Unit Citation to the 96th Infantry Division for extraordinary heroism in military operations against an armed enemy April 1, 1945 June 30, 1945."
Five of the members fighting for their country in April June, 1945 were from Kittson County.
Legions in the county honored these veterans at their respective Memorial Day services, May 27.
G. A. Leonard Norberg Post #63, Hallock, honored the late Melvin Anderson. His wife, Francis, Hallock, accepted the honor on his behalf.
Halma-Lake Bronson Olaf Locken Post #315 honored Lloyd Bengston, Lake Bronson; as well as, the family members of Milton Haack and Richard "Dick" Weiler.
Olaf Berquist Post #214, Lancaster, honored Hilson Stewart, Humboldt.
Stewart and Benquist look back on the war and quickly remark that they feel lucky to be alive.
"My most vivid memories of the war are of how lucky I was and still am to be alive," Stewart said.
He remembers one such incident where he was with a fellow infantry division member and his buddy stood in a fox hole, looked through his binoculars and then proceeded to fire.
"We were always told never to shoot out of the same place as where we used our binoculars, because the reflection always gave your location away. I went into a hole before the shot came back at us," Stewart remembers.
Bengston remembers a similar instance where his life was spared.
He recalls being with six other division members, fighting their way up a hill and came upon a cave.
"It was too late to realize but inside the cave were Japs and I landed on my leg. It just happened to be a dud," Bengston said.
These events and more mark the memories of these two Kittson County veterans, who set out on a bus for Fort Snelling back in the 1940s.
Bengston remembers about seven total Kittson County "boys" on the bus. Three of them ended up in the same division of the Army, despite their wishes to sign up for the Navy.
"Most boys wanted to be in the Navy," Stewart said, "but then I decided I always got sick on a boat anyway and changed my mind to the Army."
The three stuck together as far as Camp Wood in Texas for basic training. From there they were sent home for five days on delay, but found themselves together again in Fort Ord, California and Seattle, Washington.
From then on, despite being in the same division, Stewart became separated from Bengston and Anderson.
Their first step on the island of Okinawa was met with very little resistance. After the first week, however, the battle broke loose.
The Army went south and the Marines went north. The enemy managed to hide in caves and grass and trees and kept the 96th Division fighting for many days.
For Stewart and Bengston, they spend time remembering the good times as well as the "rough" times.
They try to reflect on the 50 years since the fighting and the memories and training they received and how it's made an impact on their lives, even to this day.
They want others to know about the history of the Battle of Okinawa and their feelings of joy and relief when the war was finally over.
They'll add one more piece of memorabilia to their war memorials one more award highlighting a division for it's extraordinary heroism and gallantry in the conquest of Okinawa, Japan.
They will never forget how their heroism and continuing demonstration of raw courage exemplified the highest traditions of the military service.
Hilson Stewart tells of experiences at the Battle of Okinawa
Lori Bothum
A Humboldt man heard about his upcoming Presidential Citation for Heroic Service during the Battle of Okinawa from a neighbor who read about it in the February 21, 2002 North Star News.
Hilson Stewart, a member of the Lancaster American Legion, was in the 96th Division during that armed conflict of WWII when so many lives were lost.
Opening lines from a book that Hilson has, "Okinawa, touchstone to victory," read: "There was never any doubt that the battle for Okinawa would be amongst the bitterest and bloodiest of the war. From the point of view of the Japanese defenders, there was no illusion that it was anything except the last battle before the invasion of the homeland itself...and from the point of view of the attackers, Okinawa was the culmination of four years of the Pacific War
Hilson went into the U.S. Army in September 1944, when he was 20 and said he should have been there a year earlier except that his employer, Harold Glidden, wanted him to stay on at the dairy farm for one deferment.
"At that time, they quit, or let up, taking the draftees for three months." He said. "When I went in, the war in Europe was nearly over."
He went in with some of the local boys, including Lloyd Bengtson and Melvin Anderson - who are also receiving citations for service in Okinawa, Glen Spilde and Ray Seidel from Badger.
Training at Ft. Hood, Texas was cut short, they came home on a five-day "delay en route" and then went to Ft. Sheridan, IL and were shipped out to Ft. Ord, CA.
"There we took one week training for climbing up and down ropes on ships and then went by train to Seattle where we were supposed to ship out. The ship had trouble, so for ten days they put us on detail cleaning up a lumberyard. Lloyd Bengtson had two female cousins who showed us around Seattle. Melvin and Lloyd shipped out on a different ship a week ahead, and Ray Seidel and I got shipped to the Scofield Barracks in the Hawaiian Islands where we got a week of jungle training."
When they shipped out for the four day trip, they weren't told anything. Their ship was one of three troop ships accompanied by guard ships, all without lights.
"We were just about ready to land when they told us our destination," Hilson said. "I used to get seasick, but the water was so smooth and calm. We could go up on deck-no smoking allowed - and the water looked like you could cut it with a knife.
"We came into the harbor in the morning and the first thing we saw, as we were getting ready to go down the ropes, was a kamikaze pilot heading for our ship. Gunners on another ship must have hit him, so the plane went over us and hit the crow's nest on our ship, then landed in the ocean."
As they went ashore on a landing barge, there was very little opposition, only sporadic shooting, from the enemy troops in their well-planned and equipped caves. The Japanese were waiting for all of the 50,000 assault troops to land, but, as Hilson said, "we didn't know it at the time. So we said, "How come they made so much of this?"
He and his friends were assigned to different companies on the 12-14 mile wide and 67 mile long island with two airstrips, 150 miles from Japan. Civilians of Chinese nationality farmed what they could.
They gave us a spiel, saying they were short of troops but figured there were more coming. There should be 248 GI's to a company, 12 companies to a regiment and three regiments to a division.
"They figured opposition from the get-go but it didn't happen for eight days. The marines were sent to the north of the island and we (infantry who landed in about the center of left side of the island) were sent south.
"Our division was assigned to Yonabaru. The resistance kept getting stronger. I can remember going through a town called Naha and the civilians were shell-shocked. A castle - Shuri - supposed to be beautiful at one time, was all bombed by airplanes. Our planes bombed the area for a week before we landed.
"We kept going, walking, and kept were waiting for all of the 50,000 assault troops to land, but, as Hilson said, "we didn't know it at the time. So we said, 'How come they made so much of this?"
He and his friends were assigned to different companies on the 12 - 14 mile wide and 67 mile long island with two airstrips, 150 miles from Japan. Civilians of Chinese nationality farmed what they could.
(Hilson was in the 383rd Regiment
dig about a foot down with our little shovels and lay down flat."
Coffee was one thing they couldn't give up, heating the instant coffee in the GI steel canteen cup, by breaking off a little piece of Composition C (an explosive), and lighting it.
For water, they first carried canteens filled by carried-in water. Then water bags, dropped by plane, broke open.
"We scooped up muddy water from the shell holes, dropped in halizone tablets, and after an hour, we could drink it."
Then he got orders to report to HQ were he was put in I & R (intelligence and reconnaissance). Seidel was younger and homesick all of the time.
"Our leader, Ed Greufe, was a great guy from Missouri, and since then we have visited back and forth. Anyway, it was raining and very wet. Two weeks later we had to go back and get our rations. Our lines were so close together so we didn't use much reconnaissance.
In the weeks later we had to go back and get our rations. Our lines were so close together so we didn't use much reconnaissance. I heard my name being called from an ambulance and who was it but Ray Seidel. He had wounds on his back and neck, not too bad, but would push a gun to the opening, shoot, and push it back in. You had to watch where the flash was coming from to see which cave. The Japanese machine gunners hid in rice fields. We'd go nearly to the front line of the rice field and dig a hole. We'd use binoculars to pick them up, zero in and call back to the ship to tell the gunners where they were. We'd have to be very careful that they didn't fire on us. We told them to fire at will and they'd pick out a machine gun. We'd take turns, four of us, moving in with the binoculars. You could see when the ship gunners would destroy a machine gun.
"We had orders not to shoot out of the same hill as the binoculars, too dangerous. A guy from another division came and asked if we were having trouble picking off snipers. I said yes, 'look through the binoculars.' He did and said, 'Oh, I see them,' and he shot. I slid down and he must have been shooting left-handed. They saw him and shot a chunk out of his left arm. He was bleeding pretty bad and the medics came and bandaged him.
"General Easely, one of the highest mucky-mucks, and General Buckner got killed four days before the island was secured. The Japanese were held down. We'd been there a week, it was raining (we were off by ourselves, and Gen. Easely came to our
sent back to a hospital in Hawaii. About a year later they shipped him back to the Philippines and we came home on the same ship.
"We were getting an awful lot of artillery fire from the enemy. They had years to build up caves. On little tracks they woud.
The Japanese were held down. We'd been there a week, it was raining (tropical storms turned Okinawa into a mud field), we were off by ourselves, and Gen. Easely came to our
"The sergeant of our platoon (Hilson was in the 383rd Regiment
WÞ~í meeting more resistance all the time. I was there 10 days. Seidel and I were in the same company and dug in the same foxholes at night. One of us slept while the other was on guard. They (Japanese) had a lot of artillery. Lots of times we only had time to
latoon
and to my lookout place and said we were planning a move. He came over in a big opening in the rice paddy and asked how many machine guns we'd gotten that day. "Quite a few," I said, and he said L Co. is held down, the same predicament as us. He sai rice field. Me and another guy were close and ran over, but he was burned pretty bad. He said he couldn't see and died that night. The planes they used for that were little, not much for them to catch fire and burn.
"One night we dug our foxholes in, and the next morning four of us were going in with binoculars and heated our coffee. Sure enough they saw us and shot. I got hit in my right thumb with iron shrapnel. The medic said I could go back to sign up and get a Purple Heart, but he put sulfa powder on it, wrapped it up and I said it was foolish to go back. From the artillery shells hitting, I've never lost the ringing in my ears. When I was getting out, the doc said the ear ringing would go away. I thought it was on my record, but it wasn't. I'm hard
ofd, 'good luck, and we heard he'd gotten killed by sniper fire on the way to the other area.
"General Buckner was impressed with a marine division that was going up to fill in for another company. It was their first time at fire and Buckner wanted to see h hearing and am trying to get good hearing aids through the VA."
Hilson, who will be 80 in July, considers himself lucky. "I didn't think I'd see home. There were lots of casualties. We've got lots to be thankful for."
The American losses were heavy, with 7,374 killed or died of wounds, 31,807 wounded or injured, 230 missing; in addition, 26,221 non-battle casualties (probably on ships hit by kamikaze planes), 4,907 sailors were killed or MIA, and 4,824 were wounded.
From Okinawa touchstone to victory, "At the time these losses were sustained, ships and groundfire and anti-aircraft fire and Navy-controlled or coordinated planes destroyed 7,830 Japanese aircraft and 16 combat ships. The final act of the Okinawa story unfolded on 7th September 1945, when
Sow they were doing. He was told not to go between two cliffs where the snipers would fire into. He went and was hit by ricochet."
Hilson was there about 90 days and he and the others on the front lines, in the muddy foxholes, would get pulled back and relieved once in a while.
"I don't remember changing clothes but we must have gotten clean clothes. They were worried about our shoes and feet. They probably dropped in a bunch of clean uniforms."
"Another poor jigger was flying a small plane, bringing
od
I drove him home to Lake Bronson, came back, picked up my dad and went to the elevator so I could apply for a job. My dad was talking to an old neighbor, George Finney, and I said 'let's have coffee across the street,' and by golly, this little girl came to wait on us, pretty as a picture, and I had to find out who she was (Eleanor Masloski from Lancaster). So I worked there and went out with her for two years and we got married in November of 1948. Seems odd that the first girl I met turned out to be my
Hilson, who was a sergeant by the time he got out, wasn't sent home right away because he didn't have enough "points," and with a Mexican buddy, "Night Fighter," guarded a civilian reservoir. He liked being in a foxhole with him since he was very alert.
Home again
"Got home on the Flyer. Somebody had written me that the Humboldt elevator had burned a year earlier. Lloyd Bengtson came with me to Hallock.
We had breakfast with my folks and wife.
"She was a great wife, but died a year ago from cancer." They had three children-son Shane lives at home and farms the land, Linda is a teacher in Fargo, and Becky works at State Farm in Hallock.
bringing our rations. It was so muddy, they even tried Caterpillars. We set up orange markers-the Japanese did, too. The plane was coming in one day, got too far over and got hit. He made a sharp turn, his plane was on fire, and landed in the
Til well negotiated the surrender of enemy garrisons in the Ryukyus."
It is probably true to say that no military force in history went into action better fed and better supported than General Buckner's Tenth Army."
Some words and information of the above were lost when copied from the Kittson County Newspapers
A total of 38 members of the Olson Family were honored guests at FtRiley, Kansas last Friday, home of the 1st Infantry Division (Big RedOne). The Harvey S. Olson Conference Room Dedication Ceremony took place in conjunction of the re-flagging ceremony of the 5th Squadron, 4th Cavalry Regiment Re-designation Ceremony. The 4th Cavalry, which is under command of the 1st Infantry Division, renamed their conferencecenter after the late Harvey Olson of Lake Bronson. Harvey served with Troop A, of the 4th Cavalry Reconnaissance and earned the Silver Star for his early morning actions on June 6, 1944, when he became one of the first amphibious soldiers to land on French soil near Utah Beach. All of the guests were given a guided tour by 4th Cavalry Officers. Some of thehighlights of the day were meeting some of Harvey's fellow soldiers that served with him in the 4th Cavalry, including his Lieutenant Ervin Aden; the troop parade and reflagging ceremony of the 3rd Brigade, 1st Armored Division; 2nd Brigade, 1st Infantry Division and the 5th Squadron, 4th Cavalry (Mechanized) Regiment; a Cavalry cannon salute; a Cavalry Charge; and a Reception, where we met the Commanding Officer of Ft Riley, Major General Robert E. Durbin. A luncheon was held with the 5th Squadron, 4th Cavalry troopers; a tour of 5th Squadron equipment and then followed by the Olson Conference Room Dedication Ceremony, which was addressed by Lieutenant Colonel John Richardson, and the unveiling ceremony. The US Cavalry Museum and the Patton House were the last two stops of the day. It was truly an unbelievable, once in a lifetime event!
009 caption....Curtis Olson, Terry Olson, Lieutenant Long, Patty Sele, Sgt Scaggs, Rita Larson and Paul Olson are pictured at Ft Riley Re-flagging Ceremony at Cavalry Parade Field. 075 caption....Harvey Olson's children are pictured at the Olson
Conference Center at 5th Squadron, 4th Cavalry HQ at Ft Riley. Paul Olson, Rita Larson, Patty Sele, Curtis Olson and Terry Olson are pictured following the unveiling ceremony.
176 caption....Wayne Krantz, Tommy Olson, Barry Olson,
Major General Robert Durbin, Billy Olson and Shane Olson are pictured at
the Ft Riley 1st infantry Division Re-flagging Reception.
Do not have room to copy and paste the nice pictures.