This is the Lew Fiero Story
Lew Fiero spent his early years at the family home in St. Anthony Park, St. Paul. Following grade school, he attended Central High School. His family moved to Baudette, Minnesota and Lew graduated from the Baudette High School in 1938. He attended Hamline University until 1940, then transferred to the University of Minnesota where he graduated in 1943 with a BA in Journalism.
In March 1942, the Marine Corps offered the opportunity to enlist as a PFC and on graduation, have the opportunity to attend officers training. Fiero accepted this opportunity and upon graduation was ordered to Parris Island, South Carolina to attend “Boot Camp”.
Those who survived, received orders to Basic Officer School at Quantico, Virginia. Fiero attended the 41st Basic officer Class, following which he received his commission as a 2nd Lt., USMC in 1943. Fiero was assigned to Marine Corps Aviation as a ground officer, and was then assigned to such service schools as chemical warfare and ordinance. He was assigned to serve with Marine fighter squadrons at Cherry Point, North Carolina.
During Fiero's senior year at the U of MN he had been dating Mabel Murray, a charming southern gal from Augusta, GA. Following her graduation from the U of MN, she enlisted in the Navy as a WAVE. Following her commissioning as Ensign, she and 2nd Lt. Fiero continued their courtship and they were married with appropriate ceremony in a Baptist church in Washington D.C. Mabel had to receive special permission from the Secretary of the Navy to wear a wedding gown, rather than uniform. Following a brief Washington honeymoon, the two returned to their respective East Coast bases. They managed to meet at various locations when they could obtain weekend leave. Ensign Mabel Fiero had been assigned to Norfolk Naval Air station where she served as recreation officer for the enlisted WAVE detachment.
In 1945, Lt. Fiero was assigned to the E1 Toro Naval Air Station near San Diego, CA. Mabel, having become pregnant, resigned from the Navy and the couple made the transfer to California where they lived off base. When Fiero received overseas orders to the 4th marine Air Wing in the Pacific, Mrs. Fiero flew back to her home in Augusta, GA where a daughter, Marguarite was born.
Fiero was assigned to Hq. Squadron, 4th Marine Air Wing, then located in the Marshall Islands on Majuro Atoll. The air group consisting of the famed Corsair fighters and SB2C aircraft had the mission of neutralizing the Japanese air bases in the mid pacific. As Assistant Ordinance officer, Fiero had the opportunity to fly on several SB2C missions as an observer. In mid 1945, he was transferred to the island of Guam which the Marines had previously retaken from the Japanese. A beautiful island with an excellent airstrip and good harbor. Guam was later used by B29 squadrons which attacked the Japanese bases further north in the Pacific.
In February 1945, Fiero received orders stateside, flying first to Hawaii and then by ship to San Francisco. He reported to Great Lakes for separation from active duty. Returning to Augusta he saw his daughter for the first time. The couple returned to St. Paul and Fiero took a position with the St. Paul Dispatch-Pioneer Press in the advertising department.
In 1947, the 4th Infantry Battalion, USMCR, was formed. Lew joined as Battalion Public Relations officer. He had become a 1st Lt. This began his 21 years serving in the active reserve with both infantry battalions and Marine Air Groups in such locations as Minneapolis, Atlanta, and Jacksonville. Fiero retired as a Lt. Colonel in 1960.
Lew's civilian occupation included managing a newspaper and also retail advertising departments in Atlanta, Jacksonville, Fairmont and Red Wing, He had also owned and managed a retail store in Redwood Falls. During those years, Lew and Mabel had another daughter, Cheryl and a son, Bruce. Lew has five grandchildren and seven great grandchildren. Lew obtained a Real Estate license while in the advertising field and Mabel was also a realtor until retiring. Mabel passed away in January, 2005. Lew now resides in his home on Martha Lane. He maintains activity with the Marine Corps League, the American Legion, Kiwanis and with a local singing group, the “Silvertones” and is a member of the First Covenant Church in Red Wing.
Greatest Generation
This is the Robert F. “Bud” Jagusch Story
Robert Bud Jagusch was born December 17, 1921 in Plaza, North Dakota and moved to Red Wing when he was very young. His parents were Jack and Adeline Jagusch. Bud had one brother Wally who fought and was also wounded in World War II. He had one sister Norma (Marvin) Bang who also served her country in WWII.
Bud went to Central High in Red Wing. He met Martha Jacobson after the war. Martha said “World War II was just over and we were glad to see the men around when we went out”. They met at Vieth's in Hager City, talked some and Bud gave Martha a ride home. That's how they met. They were married on Flag Day, June 14, 1947. They went to California on their honeymoon - 5400 miles in 9 days. Martha got to dip her toe in the ocean. Their first apartment was in Red Wing's west end. It was fine until the landlord told them “No going in the kitchen after 8 p.m.” which stopped the midnight raid to the refrigerator so they built a house at 324 Seymour Street.
They moved several times and their last move was to the famous 20 acre Strawberry Patch which Martha oversaw. Many berry pickers remember Martha saying, “Make sure you pick them all, not just the big ones.” The strawberry patch now is a housing development called Briarwood. Bud spends his summer months on Tyler road.
Bud and Martha had two daughters, Carol (Neil) Sideen who live in Howard Lake , Minnesota and Helen (Roger) Manthei who live on a farm near Danube, Minnesota. Both Carol and Helen are school teachers in their respective towns.
Bud and Martha loved to travel. They went to Mission, Texas each winter since 1980. Even after Martha's death, Bud heads for Texas to play golf and just suck up the sun away from the cold Minnesota winters.
The family’s first big camping trip was to Yellowstone, Glacial Park, and the Black Hills. They camped many nights, but one night, Grandma Adeline was chased by a bear into the outhouse.
Bud and Martha had many jobs over the years. Bud was a car salesmen and Martha was the manager of Sears, but mainly she was “Queen” of the Patch.
Robert enlisted in the U.S. Army on December 4, 1942 and served in the Headquarters Company, 1st Battalion, 8th Infantry Regiment, of the 4th Infantry Division. Bud went from Fort Snelling, Minnesota to North Carolina to England. He was in the Invasion at Normandy, as they fought their way through France, Belgium in the battle of the Bulge, and on into Germany where he was wounded. He was an Anti Tank Crewman as a Truck Driver and his discharge papers list the battles he was in as “The Ardennes, Central Europe, Northern France and the Rhineland”.
He was awarded the U.S. Army Ribbon with 4 Bronze Service Stars, the Good Conduct Medal and the Purple Heart. Bud was wounded on September 28, 1944 in Germany. He was separated from the service while hospitalized at Butner, North Carolina on December 20, 1945. Upon returning to the states, Bud was active in the Disabled American Veterans and the Purple Heart organization and after 50 years he received the following honor:
Comrade
I take deep pride in being able to send you the enclosed Certificate. The devotion and dedication it represents can never be put in the form of words. You are to be congratulated for reaching this great milestone. In this day and age when everyone seems to be worried about themselves, it is quite refreshing to learn that someone like yourself has devoted 50 years toward bettering the benefits of your fellow veteran. I would like to extend to you my personal thanks for everything that you have done for the veterans.
Sincerely,
Richard E. Marbes , DAV National Commander
In 1998, Neil and Carol took Bud and Martha on a trip to Sweden, through Denmark into Germany and then to Belgium and Luxemborg. They visited sights that were once Bud's battlefield. Martha died August 9, 2006.
We must never forget the vets that bled for our freedom. Bud was truly one of Red Wing's Greatest Generation.
The Raymond Thompson Story
From the Today Magazine “Courageous Generation”
Raymond (Ray) Thompson was born in December of 1925, on a farm in White Rock, Minnesota. He attended elementary school in Zumbrota and a rural school in Bellechester. When he was seventeen, the family moved to a farm in Featherstone Township. Soon after his eighteenth birthday, he received the dreaded draft notice. His world of innocence and freedom, as he knew them, came to an end.
Although World War II was in its final stages, it was still going strong. After being inducted into the service, Ray was sent to Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. He recalls no one was able to find any uniforms small enough for him. The man issuing the clothing asked why Ray enlisted when he was too young and small to fit in a uniform. Ray told him, “It wasn't my choice to be here. I was drafted,” Ray may have been small, but he was miles ahead of the “city kids” when it came to having the strength needed for basic training. After they were issued their uniforms the men were sent by train to Camp Hood, Texas, for basic training. After basic, they were told they were being sent to Germany and were issued heavy clothing for the trip, only to discover the orders were changed and they were going to the Philippine Islands, the last place they needed warm clothing.
His unit was sent by troop train to southern California and to a ship for the trip across the Pacific. This was Ray's first look at an ocean, as well as his first ocean voyage. As the train passed through Kansas, it stopped and hundreds of people in the town came out and handed sandwiches through the train window to the soldiers. He remembers those sandwiches tasted great. Upon reaching Southern California, the men were put on a flatboat and brought out to their ship, climbing rope ladders to get on board. Many young men found this very difficult. Ray was on ship twenty-six days and was sick every day. There were 3,000 young men aboard. It took longer than normal to reach the destination because minesweepers had to travel in front of the ship, locate the mines and clear them before passing through the area.
Arriving at Leyte in the middle of the night, it was raining, hot and steamy. “I wondered what I had gotten into,” he said. His unit joined the 132nd Americal Division, the only division that both formed and disbanded overseas. The patches they wore are now a sought-after item for collectors and are quite expensive in the antique market. Ray fought on three islands during the time spent in the Philippines. While on Cebu, preparations were made to establish a beachhead on mainland Japan, but just before they were to leave, word came that the atomic bomb had been dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki and Japan surrendered. After the treaty was signed, the mission was to find and dig out Japanese hiding in the caves who either didn't know the war was over, or didn't believe it.
Sixty-plus years later, the memories of his wartime action are still fresh in Ray's mind. During one march, Ray's division was without water for three to four days. In order to survive, they licked the dew off the leaves of the plants in the early morning. Finally, they reached a small river. Crazy with thirst, soldiers dove headfirst into the water, only to discover the enemy had fortified the island with machine guns. Ray paddled as fast as he could to get out of the line of fire. He dropped his rifle in the water, but made it to shore. His steel helmet was hit and flew off his head. He never did recover it, and wonders if it is still lying somewhere on that island. As the men ran, bullets hit the dirt alongside them.
Another time, radio contact was lost with another unit and “friendly fire” ensued. The mistake was discovered before anyone was injured. Ray saw death all around him. Some incidents have been burned into his memory. One involved his captain, who was shot and killed by a sniper while coming onto the island. “The poor guy only lasted about five minutes.” Ray caught sight of a young Japanese man wearing a white T-shirt. During a chase, the sniper dropped a U.S. Carbine that had probably been picked off a dead American soldier. His wife, Dorothy, said, “Ray still wakes, yelling from nightmares of those long-ago days.” He often mentions one image that still haunts him. Ray was transporting some GIs in a Jeep through a village when a young woman suddenly ran in front of his vehicle. The woman was hit, but Ray was ordered not to stop. To this day, he believes she may have been killed.
One day Ray returned to his barracks and was told, “You're going home. Now! He remembers calling his parent's house from the St. James Hotel. His parents were delighted to see him, but with very little fanfare. Tough to be calm after going though Hell.
This is the war story of Donald R. Johnson
Don Johnson was born on the 7th of September 1919 in Ellsworth, Wisconsin. His parents were farmers and Don grew up on that farm. He graduated from Ellsworth High School in 1938 and happened to be in the same class with his girlfriend and future wife, Gladys. They lived on adjoining farms also. They had 3 children. David Rudolph and his wife Nancy had 2 children, Wendy and Jennifer. Steven Robert and his wife Monica had 3 children, Jeremy, Jessica, and Jason - who was born on Grandpa Don's birthday - and daughter Jane.
Don was drafted on 27 November 1941 just before Pearl Harbor. He took basic training at Camp Croft, Spartenburg, South Carolina, transferred to Fort Jackson, Columbia, South Carolina. He was in a “Wire Company” that laid wire where needed, established switch boards and other tasks involving communication wiring.
Don and Gladys were to be married on Valentine's Day, 1942, but Don was stationed at Camp Croft
where his outfit was standing a “White Glove” inspection and the inspecting officer found dust on the window sell. Don's outfit was confined to the base for one week which spoiled the wedding plans. But Don and Gladys were married the next week. Their honeymoon consisted of a lunch in a small restaurant in Spartenburg, South Carolina, which Don recalls cost $1.25 each. But as they were eating their sandwich they noticed a large rat climbing up the wall. They finished their honeymoon lunch and left the place.
From South Carolina, they were transferred to warmer weather in Yuma, Arizona. Don was a squad leader as a Buck Sergeant in the 13th Infantry, 8th Division, of the 3rd Army. General Eisenhower was having trouble with Rommel in North Africa and they expected to fight in the warm desert.
Sgt. Johnson's outfit was transferred to a repo depot at Joyce Kilmer Army Base on the east coast and went overseas on a Troop Ship. They were part of a large convoy of ships that zig zagged to avoid the German submarines with their deadly torpedoes.
The ship landed at Belfast, Ireland and they had frozen turkey on board which they were supposed to eat on Christmas Day, but the big meal was postponed to New Year's Day so the turkey waited and waited under a tree for seven days. The turkey was not only under a tree, but also under distress.
They had a big meal, turkey, mashed potatoes, vegetables, cranberries, pumpkin pie. The problem was the turkey was spoiled and all of the men got ptomaine Poisoning. (Something you remember for the rest of your life).
On July 1, 1944 they were transferred to South Hampton, England, getting ready for the Invasion of Europe. They hit the beach ... UTAH BEACH and the fight was on. Hitting the beach was a wet one.
Don recalls that as his landing craft hit the beach, it did not get all the way up on the beach. In the water he went, knapsack on his back, rifle and a large duffel bag with all his clothes. The duffel bag got wet and the clothes got very heavy from the soaking. He tossed the duffel bag in a woman's garden on that longest day. He knew it was a woman's garden because it was very nice and neat, just like a woman would do.
They marched and fought their way to Brest, France on the most northerly part of France where the German subs were docked. The German submarines were in horizontal silos to avoid Allied bombers destroying them.
Later, Don got a package from an organization that was called “Reclaiming Effects” and in the package was all of his clothes that he had dumped in the flower garden several years ago.
Don and his outfit were under mortar attack and he hit the ground. On August 25, 1944, all of sudden he felt a hot piece of metal tear through his upper back. It was a large piece of shrapnel, (almost 2 inches long and weighed several ounces). He was picked up and placed on a stretcher on a jeep that had 2 stretchers on the top and one next to the driver. Don was in the top, the rode was bumpy from bombs and Don flew out. He was placed back on top and they made it to the first aid station The piece of metal was removed and Don still has it as his keep sake. It had ripped through one of his lungs and just missed his heart. He was hit twice, but never found the other chunk.
Three days later Don was air lifted in a C-47 to Cheltonham, England, the same hospital where Red Wing's John Dahl was recuperating. Don was transferred to several different hospitals and finally back to the states, this time on the Queen Mary. The Queen was a luxury cruise ship too fast for the German U boats. Don was in Fitzsimmons General Hospital in Denver, Colorado
Don was discharged on July 12, 1945. Back to Ellsworth and got a job as Pierce County Veteran's Officer. He held this job for 2 years and couldn't handle the $125 per month. He applied for a mail carrier job at Hager City and got it. He was a rural mail carrier for 29 years out of the Hager City post office.
One of the best things Don remembers is his trip back to Europe with about 60 other veterans. They visited many of the places that they had fought in, and he saw the place where he was wounded in Brest, France. Don would like to go to Washington, D.C. to see the WWII memorial with the Freedom Honor Flight group.
Don was awarded the Purple Heart, the Combat Infantryman badge, American Defense Service Ribbon, Good Conduct, European African Middle Eastern Campaign, and two bronze stars.
He is active in the Veteran's of Foreign Wars, the Royal Order of the Purple Heart and the local American Legion post.
The shrapnel piece that Don carries with him, is a reminder that Freedom is not always Free. He was one of many that bled for our freedom and we need to be ever grateful. Thanks Don.
This is the Jim Isensee WWII Story
After graduating from Red Wing Central High School in June of 1943, I enlisted in the U.S. Navy and was sworn in July 10th, 1943. I received my 8 week Boot Camp training at Coeur D Alene, Idaho. I was then sent to the Great Lakes naval Training Center of Milwaukee, Wisconsin for three months training as a Motor Machinist Mate. In January of 1944, I was shipped out to the U.S. Navy Submarine Base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. I worked aboard submarines doing whatever maintenance was required.
After three months at Pearl Harbor, I was shipped to Midway Island for duty at the Submarine Base. I worked with a Chief Petty Officer in a shop servicing governors and injectors from diesel engines. I was shipped out to Midway Island to be closer to the submarine action. The Battle of Midway between opposing aircraft carriers and the Naval aircraft aboard the carriers was pivotal in determining who won the war. The U.S. Won the battle of Midway and eventually won the war against Japan.
I was stationed on Midway Island for 16 months until the Japanese surrendered in August of 1945. While on Midway, I saw Bob Kempf, Red Wing, who was on the Sailfish submarine and also saw Red Wing's Virgil Mischke who's sub I don't recall. When I fist arrived on Midway, I went to the Post Office and there was Lloyd Gisslen of Red Wing behind the counter. Here we are, nearly half way around the world and 4 guys from a little town in Minnesota say hello. It truly is a small world.
I left Midway in November 1945 and was shipped back to California aboard the Battleship Nevada. I enjoyed a 30 day leave over the Christmas Holiday and reported to Great Lakes Naval Station at Milwaukee awaiting my Honorable Discharge on March 17, 1946. I'm proud to have served my country during World War II.
Back to civilian life again...after the war in the fall of 1946 I began my studies at the Dunwoody College of Technology taking a course in Highway Engineering and Land Surveying. Upon completion, I began work as Assistant County Engineer for Freeborn County in Albert Lea, Minnesota. After four years in Albert Lea, I became assistant County Engineer for Goodhue County here in Red Wing. I worked out of Red Wing in this capacity for 25 years. I then became Assistant City Engineer in Red Wing for a period of nine years retiring on January 2, 1986.
I married Lucy Nelson, November 10, 1951 in Rochester, Minnesota. Our marriage was blessed with three children ... Ann, Mark, and Beth. Ann married Marc Vogel. They were high school sweethearts. Ann is a nurse at Fairview and Marc is a retired Federal employee. Son Mark married Nancy Munday from Kansas. Mark has worked around the world on various nuclear plants as a construction inspector and as a stainless steel welding specialist. They now reside in Poteau, Oklahoma. Beth married Bob Skalko from Virginia, Minnesota. They met at the University of Minnesota at Duluth and are in business in Virginia.
My wife Lucy died February 25, 2008 leaving a huge void in my life. We were happily married for 56 years I thank God for everything.