Grandfather’s War – Donald M Duwe in World War II

In the summer and fall of 1941, when my grandparents, Donald M. (1911-1980) and Itola F. (1920-1990) Duwe, were starting their married life and a new business in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, war was probably not much on their minds. There was war in Europe, of course, but that was far away. However, less than two months after they announced their ownership of The Home Bakery, the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor and the United States was in the war.

Itola F. and Donald M. Duwe wedding photo – 14 June 1941

When the U.S. Army called in December 1942, Donald left his life in Sturgeon Bay behind and enlisted in Milwaukee.

For his skills as a baker, the army ranked him a T-5, or Tec-5, which allowed him to be paid at the level of a Corporal. He was assigned to the U.S. Army’s 36^th Infantry Division, 132^nd Field Artillery Battalion, Battery C., which mobilized 105mm howitzers pulled by trucks in the field. Like the rest of the 36^th Infantry Division, the 132^nd FA was mostly made up of men from Texas. The roster of the 132nd FA, Battery C. (page 135, faint but readable) shows many of its members came from Weatherford, Texas, which had a population of about 6,000 in 1940 (about 30,000 today).

 105mm howitzer artillery piece pulled by truck in Africa ca 1942-43. 

Source: Library of Congress - http://loc.gov/pictures/resource/fsa.8e00437/

Here are the unit and rank patches that Donald Duwe would have worn on his uniform:

 

 Source of 36^th Inf Div nickname “T-patchers”

 Tec-5 patch

Here is a brief summary of history of the 132^nd Field Artillery’s service in World War II. For the full history of the unit, beginning with its formation in Texas in 1917, please see the link below to the Texas Military Forces Museum’s web site:

WORLD WAR II:  The Regiment was called to federal service as part of the 36th Infantry Division on 25 November, 1940 and arrived at Camp Bowie, Brownwood, on 11 Jan 1941. Reorganized 31 January, 1942, with 1st Bn becoming the 132d FA Battalion (105 mm Truck) and the 2d Bn becoming the 155 FA Battalion (105 mm Truck), trained with the 36th Division, moved to Camp Blanding, Florida and Camp Edwards, Massachusetts. At Camp Edwards, the 155th was redesignated as a 155 Howitzer Battalion, transferring its weapons to the 133d Field. The regiment departed from New York for North Africa on 2 Apr 1943.

North Africa / Salerno / Anzio / Southern France / Vosges: After staging in North Africa, the unit — assigned as direct support for the 142d Infantry, landed in the assault at Salerno 9 September, 1943 and fought the bloody battles up the boot of Italy until relieved, retrained and committed to reinforce the Anzio assault on 22 May, 1944. Later the unit made a third amphibious landing in Southern France, 15 August, 1944, and fought with the 36th during the later months of the war, ending the war on the German-Austrian border area. The unit was returned to the United States and demobilized in December, 1945 at Camp Patrick Henry, Virginia.

World War II Campaign Streamers:  Naples-Foggia, Anzio, Rome-Arno, Southern France, Ardennes, Alsace, Central Europe. Croix de Guerre with Palm, World War II, "VOSGES".

After the war, Donald Duwe returned to Sturgeon Bay to make another try at running a bakery. The bakery business lasted about three years, before he sold out and moved the family to Milwaukee, then to Cudahy, Wisconsin. In Milwaukee, he took up factory work, which he would perform until retirement.

Resources:  

The best place to start learning about the role of the 36^th Infantry Division in WWII is the page presented by the Texas Military Forces Museum: History of the 36th Infantry Division.   
That same web site also presents a page about the Lineage and Honors of the 132nd Field Artillery Regiment / Battalion.

Ethel May RADLOFF (nee DAVIES) at age 96 (1981) - in her own voice

From left to right, Frank RADLOFF, Ethel May RADLOFF (née DAVIES), Audrey CHRISTENSEN (née RADLOFF), Harold RADLOFF, Adeline RADLOFF, Wilma SHANKLIN (née RADLOFF); Waupaca, Wisconsin; February 1943. (Howard RADLOFF is absent from photo, probably away in military service at that date)

In the early 1980s, my grandmother and her sisters pinpointed me as the young person in the family most likely to be interested in the family history. In August, 1981, my great-Aunts Adeline AYRES and Wilma SHANKLIN (both née RADLOFF) were inspired to record their mother, Ethel May RADLOFF (née DAVIES) telling about her life, and to send the audiocassette to me.

Here is a brief audio clip (.MP3 format) of my great-grandmother telling about her life at age 96:

Clara Petersen, Army Nurse Corps, World War I

Clara Petersen (1886-1966) was two years old when her young mother died, leaving father Robert to work the farm near Elba, Nebraska and to raise four daughters, aged 7 to 2. Clara grew to be a strong, independent woman. Trained as a Red Cross nurse, at age 31 Clara volunteered for service in the Army Nurse Corps.

The Wisconsin Veterans Museum in Madison holds, among its collections, Clara's uniform and medical kit. When she donated those items, she wrote the following statement about her service:

”I was a member of Base Hosp. 11 which was a Chicago Unit comprised of Augustana St. Mary and St. Joseph nurses and doctors. I was on duty at Camp Upton, Long Island (New York) 3 months before going overseas. While there I was on duty with Base Hospital 11 from August 25, 1918 til January 15, 1919 and transported to Evacuation Hospital 28 which took over the Base 11 when their personnel was sent back to the States. I was with Evac. 28 until they closed about June 1, 1919, returned here in July. While in France stationed at Base Section 5 at Grand Blottereau”.

From the museum's searchable online artifacts collection, here is Clara's hat:

  

and medical kit:

  

Clara continued to care for the health needs of veterans, working at the National Military Home at Wood in Milwaukee during the 1930s. Her Christensen nephews remembered her as their "rich aunt," because she always drove a late model car. With a sister, she invested in rental property in California, where she died in 1966. 

Sources:

• MacDonald, Lyn. The Roses of no man's land: nurses on the Western front. London, England : Penguin books, 2013. Your local public library's interlibrary loan service can help you borrow a copy of this book if you are interested in this topic.

•  United States World War I Centennial Commission 

• wisvetsmuseum.com (To see more photographs of Clara's uniform, go to Collections->Search Collections->Collections Database->Advanced Search by Name of Clara Petersen).

• Portrait from: Yellowstone County, Montana, in the world war, 1917-1918-1919, by William W. Gail.

Os and Jennie CHRISTENSEN farm, early 1940s

Photos taken on Os and Jennie's farm in 1941 and 1942

 

Dated in album as Spring 1941, from left to right. Back row, Clifford ("Kip") Christensen, Robert ("Bob") Christensen, Oswald ("Os") Christensen. Front row, Ron Hardel (son of Jennie's sister Alta), Donald Christensen, Dorothy Christensen, possibly Kenneth Dunn (son of Kip & Os's sister Mabel). One of the horses is "Prince". Identifications provided by Dorothy Inderdahl (nee Christensen), December 2017.

Dated in album as July 1942, left photo is Dorothy Christensen; right photo is Dorothy with Audrey E Christensen (nee Radloff)

 Dated in album July 1942, from left to right: Ron Hardel, Os Christensen, Bob Christensen, Don Christensen. Dorothy Christensen is between an unidentified couple, friends of Os and Jennie Christensen.

Ruth Eliza YOHN, 1905 - 2001

The photo below has been identified as being of Ruth Eliza Jarnick (nee Yohn), 1905 - 2001. Ruth was the daughter of Albert and Lillie Yohn (nee Davies).  Although I do not have an exact date for the photo, the hairstyle dates it to the mid-1920s. 

Photo identified by Janet King (nee Straw), Ruth's grand-niece, December 2017.

Daughters of John Walter DAVIES and Eliza Jane (nee JONES)

Ethel Radloff (nee Davies) and her sisters, 1937. The five sisters were daughters of John W Davies and his wife Eliza J - nee Jones. In this photo, from left to right, are Laura E Freeman, Alice E Washatko, Edith J Nelson, Ethel M Radloff, and Lillie A Yohn. The photo was probably taken in Waushara County, Wisconsin.

SHANKLIN, Arthur and Wilma (nee RADLOFF), ca mid 1930s

SHANKLIN, Arthur Edward, 1909 - 1995, and Wilma Gertrude (nee RADLOFF), 1910 - 2001.

RADLOFF Family post-war baby boom. Waupaca, Wisconsin, USA. October 1946.

All left to right. Back row: CA Christensen, Frank Radloff; left of stairs: Ruth Mortenson Radloff, Eileen Johnson Radloff, Wilma Radloff Shanklin, Adeline Radloff DeGodt; KIDS: David Shanklin, Dennis DeGodt, Donnie Radloff, Jay DeGodt with Lynn Christensen just behind, and Vicki Christensen; Right of stairs: Ethel Radloff, Kip Christensen, Harold Radloff, Art Shanklin.

 

Same farmhouse as in 1946 photo, November 2017, taken by Jason DeGodt. Farmhouse is just south of Highway 10 in Waupaca.

Remembering Walter Edward Dier, 1892 - 1918

On this Memorial Day 2017, I want to remember Walter Edward Dier, who died on 1 November 1918 in the Meuse-Argonne Offensive that brought an end to World War I.

Walter Dier, born in 1892, was the younger brother of my great-grandmother, Mary Ann "Mayme" Duwe (nee Dier). His parents, Matthew "Matt" and Signe "Cena" Dier farmed in the Town of Sevastapol, northeast of Sturgeon Bay, in Door County, Wisconsin. Walter grew up to be a Cheesemaker, working in Ephraim at the time he registered for the draft in June 1917.

Walter's draft registration card tells us that, at age 25, he was of medium height and build, and had black hair and grey eyes.  Here is his signature on the card:

As part of the American Expeditionary Force (AEF), Walter served in the 89th Infantry Division, 354th Regiment. The 354th, formed in September 1917 at Camp Funston, Kansas, was mostly composed of Missouri men, but was later filled out with men from Colorado, Wisconsin and Illinois.

By 20 October 1918, when the 89th Division moved to the front lines, the Meuse-Argonne Offensive had been underway for almost one month. This massive offensive in northeastern France sought to cut vital German rail lines by penetrating to the vicinity of Sedan and Meziere near the border with Belgium.

As the regimental history relates:

"...we were in the first wave launched against an enemy strong point, consisting of fourteen machine guns on a hillside just southeast of Barricourt. This was the hardest and fiercest resistance we had met during our whole time on the front."

It is likely that Walter Dier died in the assault on those machine guns. Ironically, Walter, a second-generation American, died less than 80 miles from his father's birthplace in Merzig, Saarland, Germany.

Here is Walter Dier's grave marker in the Meuse-Argonne American Cemetery and Memorial, located in Romagne-sous-Montfaucon, Departement de la Meuse, Lorraine, France.

According to the excellent interactive encyclopedia created by the American Battle Monuments Commission, 

"Over 1,200,000 American soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines took part in the Meuse-Argonne Offensive. Of these, over 170,000 became casualties; and 26,000 died."

The same source tells us that the 89th Division suffered 5,625 wounded and 1,466 killed during the course of the war.

As a point of comparison, there are 58,300 names of American service men and women carved into the Vietnam Veterans Memorial wall in Washington, D.C.

Please consider visiting the Wisconsin Veterans Museum on the Capitol Square in Madison, where the exhibition "WWI Beyond the Trenches: Stories From The Front" will run until April 2019.

Sources:

History of Company F, 354th Infantry, 89th Division.

 

Meuse-Argonne Offensive, Wikipedia article.

The Meuse-Argonne Offensive, 26 September to 11 November 1918, interactive learning resource presented by the American Battle Monuments Commission.

Meuse-Argonne offensive, map showing daily position of front line : Map Room G-3, G.H.Q., May 24, 1919. (Library of Congress)

The Virtual Wall Vietnam Veterans Memorial.

PVT Walter Ed Dier, Find A Grave record.

Valeria and the Wolf girls, circa 1940-1941

This is a group photo of my paternal grandmother, Itola F Duwe (nee Wolf) with her mother and sisters. Valeria Miatke (1880-1967), at far left in the photo, was born in rural Shawano County, Wisconsin. She married Albert J. Wolf (1881-1954) in 1902 and the couple had seven daughters. In the photo, I believe they stand in birth order from left to right: Evelyn (1903-1980), Hildegard (1904-1992), Audrey (1906-1975), Ila (1908-1992), Delores (1911-1966), Loraine (1913-?), and my grandmother, Itola (1920-1990).

Valeria and Albert's marriage broke up in the mid-1920s and they were divorced in 1925. Valeria married twice more, to Frank H Bibelhausen (1877-1937) and to Otto Holtz (? -1949). Albert spent the last 12 years of his life as a resident of the Hickory Grove Tuberculosis Sanitorium in West De Pere, Brown County, Wisconsin, dying there in 1954.

Ethel and Frank Radloff and Family, circa 1940

This is a studio portrait of my great-grandparents and their children. My best estimate is that this was taken around 1940. Ethel (1885-1990) and Frank (1883-1962) Radloff are front and center. Back row is Adeline (1925-2014), Harold (1914-1963), Wilma (1910-2001), Howard (1917-2009), and my maternal grandmother, Audrey (1921-2000).

Adeline Radloff skating on Shadow Lake, Waupaca, Wisconsin, ca. 1941

This is Adeline RADLOFF DEGODT AYRES (1925 - 2014) ice skating on Shadow Lake in Waupaca. I am guessing this is 1941-42 as she looks to be 16 or 17 to me. She had spunk in truckloads! I remember her working as a school crossing guard in the 1980s and slapping her stick down on the hood of a car that edged too far into the crosswalk. It is funny to think that today her grave marker is up on that hill in Lakeside Cemetery (behind her in this photo) with its inscription of "See You Later."

William Duwe and Family gravesite, Brockhausen Cemetery, Forestville, Door County, Wisconsin.

These photos are of our August 2016 visit to Brockhausen Cemetery on Hwy X (County Line Rd) in Door County. It is just Southeast of the Town of Forestville. 

The tall monument commemorates several people in the family of William Duwe and his wife Catharine Marie (nee Tagge). On the 1880 U.S. Census, both reported their birthplace as Holstein, part of Schleswig-Holstein, the northernmost state of modern Germany. William was probably born Wilhelm on 20 Dec 1835. Catharine was born Catharina, probably in Friedrichskoog, Dithmarschen on 2 Aug 1847. 

In April of 1866, the Tagge Family sailed from Hamburg for New York and settled in Forestville, Door County, Wisconsin. William Duwe served in the 32nd Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry Regiment in the Civil War, from its formation in 1862 through the end of the war in 1865. According to the Wisconsin Historical Society’s web site, the 32nd Wisconsin “participated in the Siege of Atlanta, Sherman's March to the Sea, the Battle of Bentonville and the surrender of the Confederate army.” 

William’s occupation appears as “Farmer” on the 1870 and 1880 U.S. Censuses. He became postmaster of Forestville in 1889. He died two years later in 1891 at the age of 55 and Catharine only one year later at the age of 44. It appears that William and Catharine had ten children together. Two children died before they did: Anna (1871 – 1879) and Mary (1869 – 1890). These two, plus Emma (1875 – 1898) are commemorated on the same monument stone as their parents. A stone for Fred (1886 – 1903) is also in this cemetery, as well as a special civil war service stone for William near the combined family monument. William and Catharine’s son, John Henry (1877 – 1937) was the father of Donald Matthew Duwe (1911 – 1980), who was the father of my dad, Ronald Raymond Duwe (b. 1942).

C.A. Christensen & sons, February 1943

This is a photograph of Christian Andrew "CA" Christensen and all of his sons on the occasion of the death of his only daughter in February 1943. Mabel was married to Leon Dunn and mother of three when she died at the age of 34 "after an operation," as the newspaper death notice put it.

Front and center is CA Christensen, who was born in Denmark in 1881 and came to the USA in 1888. His sons, from left to right in this photo, are Oswald R. "Os" (1906-1989), Earl H. (1909-1981), Clifford A. "Kip" (1919-1972),  William M. "Bill" (1927-2007), Edward P. (1916-1986), Carrol G. (1915-1993), and Arthur C. (1913-1996).

This photo was probably taken on the Dunn farm in the Town of Dayton, Waupaca County, Wisconsin.