A Small Town’S Contribution: The Participation, Sacrifice and Effort of the Citizens of Platte, South Dakota During Wwii an Oral History

By Randall M Dewitt

To Serve Is To Honor
To honor ones country.
To honor ones family.
To honor ones fellow man, and to honor ones faith.
These are the qualities of the people represented in this work.
A Small Towns Contribution was written to pay tribute to The Greatest Generation, whose willingness to put themselves in harms way,
and to sacrifice themselves for the benefit of others, paved the way for the rest of us to enjoy the freedoms we do.
The citizens of Platte, South Dakota served honorably, alongside their brethren, and deserve to be remembered.
These pages reflect a sampling of stories from Platte residents who served in the Armed Forces during World War II.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Mar 26, 2014
• ISBN: 9781493189182

Randall M Dewitt

Randall Melvin DeWitt studied history, with a focus on World War II, at Dakota Wesleyan University in Mitchell, SD. He lives there with his wife and children where he continues to pursue his passion of talking with and telling the stories of those who fought. His inspiration for such work is his grandfather, Melvin H Duin, who served in the United States Navy through the entire conflict. He has many books, specifically about history and WWII, including "A Small Town's Contribution", "Brief Introductions to U.S. History", From the Skies: Kenneth Peters during WWII, "Points of Interest" and "In Parallel". Many more are in the works.

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A Small Town’s Contribution

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The Participation, Sacrifice and Effort of the Citizens of Platte, South Dakota during WWII

An Oral Story

Randall M Dewitt

Copyright © 2014 by Randall M Dewitt.

Library of Congress Control Number:   2014905557

ISBN:       Hardcover        978-1-4931-8919-9

                 Softcover           978-1-4931-8920-5

                 eBook                978-1-4931-8918-2

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

Rev. date: 03/21/2014

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Contents

Introduction

Preface

Art Warejcka

(Army, Europe)

Mel Labaugh

(Navy, Atlantic, Europe)

H.T. Sly

(Navy, Occupation and Relief Force)

Jacob Delange

(Army, Alaska)

Ben Turgeon

(Navy, Atlantic, Pacific)

Cleo G. Henry

(Army, Europe)

Charles Wagner

(Army, Europe)

Beryl Pranger

(Navy, Home Front)

Wayne Falor

(Navy, Atlantic, Pacific)

Babe C. Anderson

(Army, Europe)

Morris Thomson

(Army Air Corp, Europe)

Bill Stanforth

(Marines, South Pacific)

Lester Hildebrand

(National Guard, South Pacific)

Lyle Duba

(Army Air Corp, Europe)

Cornelius Lieuwen

(Army Air Force, South Pacific)

Lawrence Henry Cool Jr.

(Navy, South Pacific)

Floyd W. Hampton

(Air Force, Europe, Home Front)

Norman Lien

(Navy, Pacific)

Francis Beck

(Army Air Force, Europe)

Enoch Olson

(Army, Home Front)

Ray Thompson

(Navy, Pacific)

Herman Korthals

(Army, Europe)

Harold Pranger

(Army, Europe)

Bruce Bakken

(Navy, Europe, Pacific)

Frank Brtna

(Army, Europe, Alaska)

Les Gropper

(Army, Europe)

Vernon Burnham

(Army, Europe)

Orin Vanzee

(Army Air Corp, Europe)

Epilogue

A Special Thanks

Bibliography/Sources

DEDICATION

This book is dedicated to the people of Platte, South Dakota and their efforts during WWII.

Through a small town in south central South Dakota, the citizens of Platte—like their brethren from other small towns and big cities across the country, took up the challenge to preserve freedom and personal liberty during the toughest of times. Their sacrifice will never be forgotten or dismissed. To all who served, both abroad and on the home front, we remember, always.

Thank you all.

INTRODUCTION

Platte, South Dakota lies low in the south central section of South Dakota, situated only miles from Lake Francis Case on the Missouri River. A small town of about 1,350 people, Platte boasts a vibrant and respectful community primarily of farmers and businessmen, and it has been that way for years. Friendly surroundings and good company are a part of the atmosphere, and the people there, generally live with the values and traditions of their ancestry: hard work and dedication to their professions.

In many ways, the community of Platte is the same as it was back in the 1940’s, where neighbors were willing to help out in any way they could and the local businesses did their part to aid their fellow man.

It is no surprise then to consider the town back in that era and the effort and support that was given during the World War II period, which is the focus of this project. As events took place and the United States was plunged into the war, the people of Platte stepped up and did their part, entailing numerous men and women who volunteered to serve in whatever capacity they could.

As a small town, Platte did not receive the recognition of a Chicago or New York, who by sheer volume, had hundreds of thousands of its citizen’s serve during the war. None the less, having a substantial percentage of their population serve in the armed forces, they represented the spirit of the country at the time, as well as every other small community that offered everything they had to protect the values and grace of the land of opportunity.

Therefore, the purpose of this work is to pay tribute to those who accepted the challenge and to tell their stories. In doing so, I interviewed numerous WWII veterans and their families from Platte and the surrounding areas and listened to the heartfelt accounts of that struggle. Their stories are presented in their own words and are true accounts of the time.

Amazingly, if one small South Dakota town’s contribution is so extensive, one should consider the national scale of the war and pay tribute to all others who thus far have yet to receive their proper recognition.

Thank You

PREFACE

For most Americans, World War II started with the bombing of Pearl Harbor by the Japanese on December 7th, 1941. The war itself had been raging in Europe for almost two years, as Hitler invaded Poland in September of 1939. The United States’ participation, up until that point, had been primarily supplying our allies in Great Britain and France. The conflict did not truly strike the home front however, until that fateful bombing occurred.

Once Pearl Harbor was bombed, every American instantly stood up and took notice that the nation was under attack. By the millions, men and women began volunteering for, or were drafted into the Armed Forces. In fact, over 16 million Americans participated in WWII.

In the beginning, the war took on a defensive stance as the United States spent the first six months attempting to stop the Japanese advance over Pacific waters. Soon, forces were readied and the U.S. and its allies invaded North Africa, a beginning to the fight in Europe. The U.S. began offensive efforts against the Japanese on the Island of Guadalcanal in the Deep South Pacific.

As the war progressed, allied forces fought their way through Africa and into Italy, where they eventually were able to enter Germany from the South of France through Marseilles. At the same time of course, the U.S. was struggling through the Normandy Invasion, which had begun with D-Day only a month prior; both incursions being necessary for gaining a foothold on the European continent.

In the Pacific Theater, the U.S. made their way north across the Pacific Ocean in a dual strategy; island hopping from point to point and taking out the Japanese forces piece by piece.

By early 1945, the United States and its allies had taken hold of the war and saw a path to victory. The continued march then saw the Germans fall and capitulate in early May and the Japanese succumb to the Atomic Bomb blasts in August, thus ending the war in principle.

The brutal conflict took the lives of over 450,000 Americans and seriously wounded another 2.5 million. In the process, freedom from tyranny was saved and oppression in many other countries was ended. In addition, the names of such battles as Iwo Jima, Okinawa, Anzio, Normandy, Saipan, Guadalcanal and others will be forever remembered.

The Stories

Official Accounts of WWII

Told by the Veterans Who Served and Lived

Through the Conflict

ART WAREJCKA

(Army, Europe)

Art Warejcka was a member of both the 32nd and the 12th Evacuation Hospital Units stationed in France. Warejcka spent most of his time only a short distance behind the front lines, dealing with the enormity of casualties in post invasion Europe. Warejcka went through the Cherbourg Campaign, the Battle of the Bulge and all across Germany. He and his unit met up with the Russian Contingent in May. Ironically Warejcka was originally destined for the Pacific Theater as an infantry man but dental work changed his destination and position

I was in the Army and I ended up in the European Theater of Operations. I got inducted into the service on October 23, 1942 at Fort Crook, Nebraska. Then I was sent to Camp Stoneman, California and placed with the 314 th Infantry Division. I was supposed to go to Australia to train, but because of my teeth and the poor condition they were in, I stayed back and had dental work done. I had 16 impacted teeth and they all had to be pulled out. After I left the hospital I was granted a furlough and I took a train back home.

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Then when I went back to the West Coast I was put into a different unit, the 32nd Evacuation Hospital, and we were sent to another camp where we had desert warfare training in Arizona. Then in January of 1944, we left and went to Camp Kilmer, New Jersey. We weren’t there long before we headed to Brooklyn, New York. In Brooklyn we got aboard the S.S. Susan B. Anthony sometime in February and left for overseas.

We first stopped in Belfast, Ireland in mid March and it was hectic there. Everyone was preparing for the invasion of France, so we spent a lot of time just getting our equipment ready.

Then in May our group moved to North Wales, to a staging area, and by the beginning of June we moved again, this time to Bristol. Well, six days after the invasion of D-Day, on the 12th, we landed at Omaha Beach. We went to shore in landing crafts and had to spend that first night in our foxholes. We moved out the next day and went with a large convoy to just south of Cherbourg, about 15 or so miles, and bivouacked in an orchard there. I remember that place because we saw the parachutes of the D-Day paratroopers still hanging in the trees and on buildings.

Then we started to set up our hospital camp. Sometimes we would be able to set up in buildings, any suitable ones we could find, but most of the time we would just have to put up tents. The 32nd Evac had a lot doctors and nurses, about 15 each and we had about 25 trucks and every one of them carried a load of our equipment. We’d set up the tents and get all the medical supplies in there and ready for when we got patients. We never had a stationary place though. Our unit always moved. In fact, from Cherbourg on, all the way through the war, we had to move several times.

Normally, we would be located somewhere behind the front lines, usually pretty close though. After battles of skirmishes we would get the wounded or injured soldiers and treat them. Then we would either return them to duty or, if their wounds were real serious, send them back to a hospital for further treatment. As a ward orderly, I was in charge of a particular tent and I would make sure that dressings were changed and medications were given and other things like that. I also took temperatures and checked over the equipment. They actually listed me as a surgical technician, but I had never gotten any kind of formal training to do that.

Since we were not a full hospital, our treatment of the wounded was rather limited. In being a moving field hospital, we couldn’t always deal with everything. So sometimes we could only