Southern Wisconsin veterans remember their experiences this Veterans' Day.
A 22-year-old Roger King gets his shoes shined by a young Korean man in downtown Pusan, Korea, in 1951 during the Korean War.
King was drafted in 1950. He served as a railroad conductor in the 724th Railway Operating Battalion.
The trains carried troops to battle zones and transported supplies, equipment and food.
King said working the railroad didn’t expose him to any “life-threatening experiences” during the war, but he learned a lot about himself.
“It was a good experience,” he said. “It made a better person out of me, I think.”
King served from April 1951 to September 1952 before being discharged.
King, 80, lives in Harvard, Ill., but is a frequent visitor to the Rock-Walworth County area. He said he doesn’t talk about his war experience much, but he tries to participate in Veterans Day programs, especially those at local schools, because “it’s important for children to learn.”
Credit: Submitted photo
A 20-year-old Bruce Terland stands in front of the Sherman tank he drove in Company C of the 737th Tank Battalion, part of Gen. George Patton’s Third Army, which rushed to reinforce the American units overrun by German attack during the Battle of the Bulge in World War II.
The picture, dated 1944, was taken with a German camera Terland found in a house that had been bombed.
Terland enlisted in the Army in 1942. He was 19. He had been reading about the war in Life magazine, but it wasn’t until the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor that he felt compelled to join the war effort.
Terland reported to California for training, then to Tennessee for practice maneuvers and then to New York for more training. He said the company thought it was headed to Africa, but the war there had ended before they were deployed.
The 737th Tank Battalion participated in major battles in Europe. Terland remembers the German soldiers his company captured made fun of the guns on the tank; it paled in comparison to the guns mounted on German tanks, he said.
Terland was discharged in August 1945.
Terland, 87, of Avalon might be last living member of his company.
Credit: Submitted photo
A 20-year-old Stephen Manthei, right, and fellow soldier Bob Tarbuck, left, prepare for the Battle of Ripcord, during which their platoon was attacked, killing everyone but the two of them.
The picture was taken in July 1970. Little was known about the battle, the last major confrontation of the Vietnam War, until 1985, when an association was formed for survivors of the battle.
Manthei was drafted to the United States Army in March 1969. He was 19. He reported to Fort Campbell, Ky., for basic training, then to Fort Polk, La., for advanced infantry training and then to Camp Evans, I Corps, Vietnam, for jungle training.
Manthei was assigned to the 101st Airborne Division as a rifleman. He operated an M60 machine gun on a “killer team.” He also served on a four-man reconnaissance team, dropped seven times into the middle of the jungle without a radio.
“I guess courage is being scared and saddling up anyway,” he said.
Since his discharge in 1971, Manthei, 59, of Janesville has been trying to educate people about the Vietnam War and post-traumatic stress disorder.
“I’m pretty vocal about what happened to me when I got back, and it isn’t pretty,” he said. “We say we’re a progressive country, but as far as taking care of veterans, we’re way behind.”
Credit: Submitted photo
A 20-year-old Howard Wagner talks on a radio telephone in the mountain jungles near Phan Tiet, Vietnam.
The picture, dated 1970, was taken near the end of Wagner’s time with the 1st battalion (mechanized), 50th infantry.
Wagner was drafted in 1968. He was 18. He reported to Fort Campbell, Ky., for basic training, then to Fort Polk, La., for advanced infantry training and then Fort Benning, Ga., for non-commissioned officers training.
The 1st battalion, 50th infantry, was deployed to Vietnam in December 1969. The men provided road security, watching constantly for bombs planted under the road. But soon the commander took away the company’s transportation, Wagner said, because it wasn’t “getting enough kills.”
That forced the men to go up the mountains on foot, carrying a three-day supply of food, seven canteens and 100 rounds of ammunition, among other weighty items. Wagner said they were in the sweltering jungle for weeks at a time.
Wagner, 59, of Milton was discharged in November 1970, and when he arrived home, he met his daughter, who was born a few months earlier.
Credit: Submitted photo
A young Steve Cameron holds a little Vietnamese girl at the orphanage his unit started in 1965. Read story
Credit: Submitted photo
Steve Cameron of Milton in Vietnam Read story
Credit: Submitted photo
A young Jacqueline Melvin feeds an injured solider ice cream in a reception hut on the island of Guam in 1944. Read story
