This is Burnett Dahl's Story
Burnett Dahl was born in Red Wing on November 23, 1919, went to school in Red Wing, excelled in sports and was on the 1933 State Tournament Basketball team that won the State. He also played football for the Wingers. He married Kay Herreid in 1942 and had three daughters, LuAnn Lange (Peter), Judy Hinrichs (David), and Kari Schamber (John). Burnett died in Red Wing after a lengthly illness on July 17, 2005.
Burnett wanted to be a lawyer, went two years to Hamline University, two years to Northern Iowa and then the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor and Burnett tried to enlist on December 8th, 1941, but they were not ready for the influx. They did not have clothes or anything. He did not get the call from Fort Snelling until January 1942 and there he was sworn in and issued his army clothes.
Basic Training was spent at Fort Warren in Cheyenne, Wyoming. After 13 weeks of marching, sloshing, running, and shining shoes, “They picked us up with a train and we headed for the center of the country, made several stops and let proportionally number of guys off that were scheduled to go. They were on orders until we hit Texas and we stopped for a couple of days in the Texas Panhandle. We were to be at the RR station at 8 a.m. the next morning, headed for Tuscon, and an airbase, Davis Monthon.”
"I was on a detail that made runways for the B-24s. The concrete was thick, the rattlesnakes and gila monsters were many, and my pick was swinging ... but we got it done and the B-24's came in." "I made Tech Sergeant, went to officer's school, made 2nd Lt. And transferred to Baton Rouge, North Carolina. Kay was able to come with me and we got an apartment near Wilmington, Delaware."
First Lt. Dahl Travels Europe...Normandy first! “We traveled from the states to Britain by a fast troop ship, the Mauritania with 8,000 troops. We were so fast the Nazi subs couldn't get us and we landed safe and sound at Southampton. It was a wonderful trip and I'd bet not too many people could say that."
Burnett met several men from Red Wing among them was Katlon Sealer, whose his family had the big feed store on Main Street. His nickname in school was Pete Seiler and they visited about their old home town. In England, Burnett was part of the troops that were bluffing Hitler. They would fake locations of where they were going to invade Europe. Rommel and Hitler argued over where the Allies would land. Hitler was wrong and the Desert Fox was right. Normandy!
"As we were crossing the channel, it was rough seas and I got diarrhea. On the beach, stuff was coming at us and over us and I still had the diarrhea. I had a platoon, but passed out because of dehydration. Medics got me back to the beach and when I woke up, the men were talking German and I thought I had been captured (hadn't even fired my gun yet.)"
"When we were close to Germany a train went by with box car doors closed and our boys decided to shoot it up. With bullets flying we could see the dripping coming from the box cars. My God, The train cars were filled solid with wine and champagne, all commandeered from France."
"We fought and we freed. We were the group that freed Paris and we did that on August 18, 1944. We cleaned up the remaining Germans in Paris and I went to a coiffure, a barber in town and I got the works and the cost was equivalent to $8 in American money. I came back in December on a three day R & R and went to the same coiffure and asked for the same thing and this time it was $58.
"I got to be with General Patton and learned his slogan... “Your blood and my guts.” We won the war ... we beat Hitler ... God bless our troops."
The Greatest Generation
This is the Gordy Fisher Story
The “Brits” said ... “The American GI's were Overpaid, Oversexed, and Overhere”, but truly, if American forces hadn't helped Great Britain and the Allies, we might all be speaking German right now. Gordy Fisher's story is one of “Been there, Done that”.
Gordy joined the U.S. Army Air Corps after the Japanese hit Pearl Harbor. He was at the University of Wisconsin studying engineering. He trained to be a fighter pilot at Kelly Field in San Antonio, Texas and later at Tampa Bay, Florida. While on a training flight in a P-43 his landing gear failed and his craft landed in a nearby swamp. These planes crashed so often it sparked the phrase, “One a Day at Tampa Bay”.
His assignment took him to Ireland. He would fly planes carrying parts for other aircraft and goods to East Anglia bases in Great Britain. The British made jokes about the Americans, but war was war, and help was help. England was in big trouble and men like Gordy Fisher were crucial to their survival.
When D Day came around, Fisher became part of history. He was to fly in supplies like food and blood to soldiers in battle and picked up wounded to fly them back to hospitals in England in his DC-3, “Gooney Bird”. When the Allies seized Paris, Gordy learned to love France and made many friends there. There was a rumor that Gordy flew under the Arc d' Triumph in Paris.
Captain Fisher was part of the “Battle of the Bulge”, ferrying engineers to fix the tanks and he recalls playing Christmas Carols for the passengers, before they faced bullets, bombs and blood in the fierce battle that was coming. He was assigned to General George S. Patton. To Gordy, Patton was noble and essential to the allies effort, not a hard nosed tyrant like some people thought. He flew a DC-3 for Patton's unit, flying in gas and blood and flying out the wounded.
Patton eventually fought his way to one of the prisoner death camps near Weimar, Germany, called Buchenwald. When Gordy entered the camp, it seemed like he had entered another reality. The grounds were full of the dead, the dying, and the living dead. Bodies were stacked like objects on top of each other. There were twenty thousand, mostly beaten, tortured, and burned in crematoriums. He flew in reporters and newsmen to tell the world of the atrocities. Patton made the citizens of Weimer go inside the camp to see what their countrymen had done and witness “Man's inhumanity to Man” and it made Gordy realize why he went to war.
Gordy saw the torture chambers where people were beaten with bats while hanging from hooks until they died. He heard of barrels that were hammered with nails and a prisoner put inside, rolled around camp until the prisoner died from lack of blood. They said they burned better without blood.
Gordon Fisher played many roles in the war. He was pilot, a passenger, and a volunteer. But above all, he was first-hand witness to the world. He saw the havoc that bombs could wreak on London. He saw the terror of Buchenwald. He saw planes crash and he saw jubilation for victory.
Captain Gordon Fisher served in the U.S. Army Air Force during World war II and was a pilot that flew everything but the proverbial kitchen sink and including the B-17, B-26, P-38, P-43 and P-47. He was there when the buzz bombs dropped on Ireland, he was there when the Allies invaded Normandy, he was there when the German's and Allies fought the “Battle of the Bulge”, he was assigned to and supplied General Patton's tanks and troops as they swept across France and Germany, and he witnessed first hand the Holocaust at Buchenwald.
Gordy Fisher, along with many others from the Red Wing area are the hero's who fought to protect us. We owe them our heartfelt thanks. Gordy's story is a part of the Greatest Generation, Red Wing, and we are proud of all of them.
This is the Gordon Kjos Story
Gordon was born May 11, 1918 to Casper and O'Lena (Barsness) Kjos in Holden Township, Kenyon, Minnesota. Gordon had two brothers Arthur Morris and Clarence Lenord and one sister Lillian Cristella.
Their family rented a farmstead from the Bakko family in Holden Township and Gordon lived and worked there for 23 years until going into the Army.
Gordon tells of a scare he had when he was 12 years old that nearly took his life. He had a pain on his right side which turned into a ruptured appendix. A skin had formed around the organ and luckily the poison did not spread. He was hospitalized for 24 days with tubes for draining. He remembers that a friend from Faribault brought him ice cream pies everyday. What are friends for? But he pulled through, and it might have been the pies.
Shortly after Gordon's bout with the rupture, his father died of the same affliction, a ruptured appendix that could not be repaired. Gordon, his mother and siblings worked the farm and suffered through the great depression. It was tough times, but they survived. He attended Mankato Commercial College and received his degree in Accounting in March of 1940.
Gordon was drafted into the army on December 24, 1941, seventeen days after Pearl Harbor. From St. Paul to Camp Roberts, California in 4 days by train, he experienced his first KP duty on the train. His first command was with the Communications Battalion. His Basic Training included a 15 mile march with full field pack on his back. Gordon said “I could hardly walk for several days after the hike.
Gordon was in the Finance Section in the 7th Motorized Division. He was transferred to Camp Adair, Oregon in the fall of 1942. On a 2 week furlough, Gordon went back to Minnesota and married Bernice on November 10, 1942. They lived in Corvalis, Oregon while stationed at Camp Adair. He was promoted to Tech Sergeant and transferred to the 69th division, and then assigned to Camp Shelby, Mississippi.
Bernice delivered a little girl, Suzanne, and Gordon was a proud papa. In September of 1944 his division was ordered overseas.
The “Ile De France” once a luxury liner, now a troop ship delivered Gordon to Europe. Now stationed in Winchester, England, his division had 2200 riflemen help fight the Battle of the Bulge as replacements. Soon their division packed their bags and equipment and crossed the channel to France and settled at Forges Les Eaus. They moved through the area that the Battle of the Bulge took place and many of the dead were still laying in their place of demise. Going through mine fields was not a pleasant experience.
The 69th made contact with the Russians on the River Elbe. Their next stop was Schmidtheim, Germany. Finance section set up shop and they were in business. The division was constantly on the move as the war effort was moving fast. From Schmidtheim to Bad Ems, they crossed the Rhine River on a pontoon bridge, called Victor Bridge, 1370 feet long, (longest tactical Bridge in the world) to Kassel, Germany and soon to Leipzig, Eilenburg, then to Naunhof, Germany where they remained until the end of the war. Shortly after, men of the 69th made contact with the Russians on the River Elbe on April 24, 1945. Kjos
shipped back to the states and was discharged on September 27, 1945 at Camp McCoy, Wisconsin.
Sgt. Kjos receives the Bronze Star Medal
Technical Sergeant Gordon K. Kjos, Finance Department, US Army for meritorious service in connection with military operations against the enemy from 13 December 1944 to 20 March 1945. in the United Kingdom, France, Belgium, and Germany. Technical Sergeant Kjos, as Chief of the Adminstrative Section, Finance Office, demonstrated outstanding ability and initiative in the efficient supervision of the administrative operation of the Finance Section. His attention to duty over long periods of time without regard to personal comfort was an important factor in the successful operation of the Finance Section. His enthusiasm and devotion to duty reflect the highest credit upon Technical Sergeant Kjos, and the armed forces of the United States
By command of Major General Reinhardt
H. Pengelly
Lt. Col. A.G.D.
Adjutant General
Gordon was born May 11, 1918 to Casper and O'Lena (Barsness) Kjos in Holden Township, Kenyon, Minnesota. Gordon had two brothers Arthur Morris and Clarence Lenord and one sister Lillian Cristella.
Their family rented a farmstead from the Bakko family in Holden Township and Gordon lived and worked there for 23 years until going into the Army.
Gordon tells of a scare he had when he was 12 years old that nearly took his life. He had a pain on his right side which turned into a ruptured appendix. A skin had formed around the organ and luckily the poison did not spread. He was hospitalized for 24 days with tubes for draining. He remembers that a friend from Faribault brought him ice cream pies everyday. What are friends for? But he pulled through, and it might have been the pies.
Shortly after Gordon's bout with the rupture, his father died of the same affliction, a ruptured appendix that could not be repaired. Gordon, his mother and siblings worked the farm and suffered through the great depression. It was tough times, but they survived. He attended Mankato Commercial College and received his degree in Accounting in March of 1940.
Gordon was drafted into the army on December 24, 1941, seventeen days after Pearl Harbor. From St. Paul to Camp Roberts, California in 4 days by train, he experienced his first KP duty on the train. His first command was with the Communications Battalion. His Basic Training included a 15 mile march with full field pack on his back. Gordon said “I could hardly walk for several days after the hike.
Gordon was in the Finance Section in the 7th Motorized Division. He was transferred to Camp Adair, Oregon in the fall of 1942. On a 2 week furlough, Gordon went back to Minnesota and married Bernice on November 10, 1942. They lived in Corvalis, Oregon while stationed at Camp Adair. He was promoted to Tech Sergeant and transferred to the 69th division, and then assigned to Camp Shelby, Mississippi.
Bernice delivered a little girl, Suzanne, and Gordon was a proud papa. In September of 1944 his division was ordered overseas.
The “Ile De France” once a luxury liner, now a troop ship delivered Gordon to Europe. Now stationed in Winchester, England, his division had 2200 riflemen help fight the Battle of the Bulge as replacements. Soon their division packed their bags and equipment and crossed the channel to France and settled at Forges Les Eaus. They moved through the area that the Battle of the Bulge took place and many of the dead were still laying in their place of demise. Going through mine fields was not a pleasant experience.
The 69th made contact with the Russians on the River Elbe. Their next stop was Schmidtheim, Germany. Finance section set up shop and they were in business. The division was constantly on the move as the war effort was moving fast. From Schmidtheim to Bad Ems, they crossed the Rhine River on a pontoon bridge, called Victor Bridge, 1370 feet long, (longest tactical Bridge in the world) to Kassel, Germany and soon to Leipzig, Eilenburg, then to Naunhof, Germany where they remained until the end of the war. Shortly after, men of the 69th made contact with the Russians on the River Elbe on April 24, 1945. Kjos
shipped back to the states and was discharged on September 27, 1945 at Camp McCoy, Wisconsin.
Sgt. Kjos receives the Bronze Star Medal
Technical Sergeant Gordon K. Kjos, Finance Department, US Army for meritorious service in connection with military operations against the enemy from 13 December 1944 to 20 March 1945. in the United Kingdom, France, Belgium, and Germany. Technical Sergeant Kjos, as Chief of the Adminstrative Section, Finance Office, demonstrated outstanding ability and initiative in the efficient supervision of the administrative operation of the Finance Section. His attention to duty over long periods of time without regard to personal comfort was an important factor in the successful operation of the Finance Section. His enthusiasm and devotion to duty reflect the highest credit upon Technical Sergeant Kjos, and the armed forces of the United States
By command of Major General Reinhardt
H. Pengelly
Lt. Col. A.G.D.
Adjutant General
This is the Mearl Johnson Story
Corporal Mearl Johnson, USAAC, spent many missions in the tail of a B-17 flying and fighting over Europe during WWII. Mearl Johnson was born in Red Wing on July 27, 1920, the son of Mr. And Mrs. Mearl Johnson. Mearl Sr. worked at the Republican Eagle (and predessors) newspapers as a typesetter for 46 years.
Mearl Jr. graduated from Red Wing's Central High school in 1938, joined the U.S. Army Air Corps in 1941 and was assigned to a crew of B-17 airmen. His history of the war efforts on the Flaming Mame, are found in the website: <http://www.100th.com/> His missions over Europe started from England and were instrumental in the defeat of Nazi Germany.
Johnson married Doris Matthea Peterson on November 28, 1941. Pearl Harbor inspired Mearl to join the war effort. Mearl and Doris had three children, David, Cheryl, and Kerry. He worked at the Rockwool (now USG) plant for most of his work days and passed away on May 14, 2007
Editor's note: Being a tail gunner in a B-17 is a very dangerous job and put Mearl in harm's-way every time the giant bomber took off. We salute him and all the veteran's of this War and all veterans that have accepted the dangers to fight for our freedom. Mearl Johnson was part of a truly Greatest Generation from Red Wing.
Corporal Mearl Johnson, USAAC, spent many missions in the tail of a B-17 flying and fighting over Europe during WWII. Mearl Johnson was born in Red Wing on July 27, 1920, the son of Mr. And Mrs. Mearl Johnson. Mearl Sr. worked at the Republican Eagle (and predessors) newspapers as a typesetter for 46 years.
Mearl Jr. graduated from Red Wing's Central High school in 1938, joined the U.S. Army Air Corps in 1941 and was assigned to a crew of B-17 airmen. His history of the war efforts on the Flaming Mame, are found in the website: <http://www.100th.com/> His missions over Europe started from England and were instrumental in the defeat of Nazi Germany.
Johnson married Doris Matthea Peterson on November 28, 1941. Pearl Harbor inspired Mearl to join the war effort. Mearl and Doris had three children, David, Cheryl, and Kerry. He worked at the Rockwool (now USG) plant for most of his work days and passed away on May 14, 2007
Editor's note: Being a tail gunner in a B-17 is a very dangerous job and put Mearl in harm's-way every time the giant bomber took off. We salute him and all the veteran's of this War and all veterans that have accepted the dangers to fight for our freedom. Mearl Johnson was part of a truly Greatest Generation from Red Wing.
This is the Bob Olson Story
Sergeant Robert Olson grew up in Red Wing, went to war in World War II and just recently passed away. He fought in many battles in the South Pacific with the U.S. Army from May 1943 to May 1946. He witnessed the signing of the Japanese surrender from another ship near the USS Missouri.
Bob Olson went to war in a Dutch ship, fought at New Caledonia, Bougainville, Guadalcanal, Cebu, Leyte, Luzon, all part of the Solomon Islands or the Philippines, many times as the clean up squad, taking prisoners, and mopping up the battle fields. Their group was trained for a final landing in Japan, but the Atomic Bomb ended the war and there was no invasion. Although it took 30 days in a navy Ship, not injured, but Bob was one happy soldier to be discharged and home safely.
The battles in the South Pacific
Robert Olson, son of Margaret and Carl Olson, husband of Pat Nordeen Olson, brother of Vernon “Skinch” Olson left Red Wing in May 1943 for Fort Snelling in St. Paul. He was sent to Fort Custer, Michigan and was hurt in a training accident with live ammunition. His hand was injured, hospitalized for 3 weeks, infection set in and he almost lost his hand.
Bob left Custer to Pittsburgh, California Re-pot Depot, then to Stockton, California, Fort Stoneman for 10 days. He shipped out from San Francisco to New Caledonnia on a Dutch ship, “Bloom Fontaine”. He spent 3 weeks at New Caledonia and then sent to Solomon Island, Guadalcanal. They were a clean-up division near Henderson Air Field, a strategic field for the Americans.
Next stop .... Bougainville, Camp Ferguson, Americal Division, they had a 14 mile perimeter, 2 airstrips, one on the coast and one inland. The U.S. Air Corps used these strips twice a day and bombed Ravual, New Guinea and destroyed Papua, the capitol. It was then occupied by the Japanese Beepers and guards at the Air Field. Bob spent 6 months on Bougainville.
His group left in a large convoy of ships to Cebu City, on the Island of Cebu in 1944. They debarked on rope ladders. The Navy had been bombing Cebu and bombed the landing area. Bob saw a small Jap plane, the pilot waved at them and flew away. Half hour later the Jap artillery came on them hard and heavy. They lost many men. One battalion or 2000 men landed.
Bob spent 1 month on Cebu and they took the island from the Japanese. Bob saw the surrender of the Japanese at Cebu in August 1945. They then joined the 1st Cavalry Division.
One hundred ships left Cebu and went to Okinawa around Easter time. Bob's group went to Leyte from Cebu. Tachoban was the capitol and was captured from the Japs. Many hard fought battles. Bob's group was the mop-up group for a couple of months.
Bob also got to Luzon, Philippines. It was severely damaged. He trained there for the final landing in Japan. The Atomic Bombs were dropped and the Japanese surrendered. Their ship went to Yokohama and near the USS Missouri and they witnessed the signing.
Hachio, a small Japanese city near Hiroshima was nothing but rubble from the A Bomb. A Japanese man told Bob, each Japanese family was equipped with spears and pitchforks and were told to fight the American invaders.
It took 30 days, but Bob went back to the states on a hospital ship, he was not wounded, but was very happy to return to the states and home. Many battles, many memories, some good and some bad, but the good news was they won and Bob was home.
Sergeant Robert Olson grew up in Red Wing, went to war in World War II and just recently passed away. He fought in many battles in the South Pacific with the U.S. Army from May 1943 to May 1946. He witnessed the signing of the Japanese surrender from another ship near the USS Missouri.
Bob Olson went to war in a Dutch ship, fought at New Caledonia, Bougainville, Guadalcanal, Cebu, Leyte, Luzon, all part of the Solomon Islands or the Philippines, many times as the clean up squad, taking prisoners, and mopping up the battle fields. Their group was trained for a final landing in Japan, but the Atomic Bomb ended the war and there was no invasion. Although it took 30 days in a navy Ship, not injured, but Bob was one happy soldier to be discharged and home safely.
The battles in the South Pacific
Robert Olson, son of Margaret and Carl Olson, husband of Pat Nordeen Olson, brother of Vernon “Skinch” Olson left Red Wing in May 1943 for Fort Snelling in St. Paul. He was sent to Fort Custer, Michigan and was hurt in a training accident with live ammunition. His hand was injured, hospitalized for 3 weeks, infection set in and he almost lost his hand.
Bob left Custer to Pittsburgh, California Re-pot Depot, then to Stockton, California, Fort Stoneman for 10 days. He shipped out from San Francisco to New Caledonnia on a Dutch ship, “Bloom Fontaine”. He spent 3 weeks at New Caledonia and then sent to Solomon Island, Guadalcanal. They were a clean-up division near Henderson Air Field, a strategic field for the Americans.
Next stop .... Bougainville, Camp Ferguson, Americal Division, they had a 14 mile perimeter, 2 airstrips, one on the coast and one inland. The U.S. Air Corps used these strips twice a day and bombed Ravual, New Guinea and destroyed Papua, the capitol. It was then occupied by the Japanese Beepers and guards at the Air Field. Bob spent 6 months on Bougainville.
His group left in a large convoy of ships to Cebu City, on the Island of Cebu in 1944. They debarked on rope ladders. The Navy had been bombing Cebu and bombed the landing area. Bob saw a small Jap plane, the pilot waved at them and flew away. Half hour later the Jap artillery came on them hard and heavy. They lost many men. One battalion or 2000 men landed.
Bob spent 1 month on Cebu and they took the island from the Japanese. Bob saw the surrender of the Japanese at Cebu in August 1945. They then joined the 1st Cavalry Division.
One hundred ships left Cebu and went to Okinawa around Easter time. Bob's group went to Leyte from Cebu. Tachoban was the capitol and was captured from the Japs. Many hard fought battles. Bob's group was the mop-up group for a couple of months.
Bob also got to Luzon, Philippines. It was severely damaged. He trained there for the final landing in Japan. The Atomic Bombs were dropped and the Japanese surrendered. Their ship went to Yokohama and near the USS Missouri and they witnessed the signing.
Hachio, a small Japanese city near Hiroshima was nothing but rubble from the A Bomb. A Japanese man told Bob, each Japanese family was equipped with spears and pitchforks and were told to fight the American invaders.
It took 30 days, but Bob went back to the states on a hospital ship, he was not wounded, but was very happy to return to the states and home. Many battles, many memories, some good and some bad, but the good news was they won and Bob was home.
This is the Evan Hallstrom Story
Much of this story is from the Red Wing Republican Eagle, July 2, 1995. We thank the newspaper and staff for preserving this history.
When Evan Hallstrom packed his gear to go off to war it wasn't the usual razor and shampoo, but there was that too. Evan took his 8 mm movie camera and a trombone. He shot movies during his free time, and his duties included making shipping crates strong enough to protect band members' instruments “even if a tank rolled over them." Many soldiers watched moments of World War II through binoculars. Evan Hallstrom did it behind the lens of his movie camera.
The young Red Wing florist and former trombone player with the U.S. 5th Army, 91st Infantry Division Band took his 8 mm camera with him to basic trainng at Camp White, Oregon, when drafted in October, 1942. Typical scenes include haircuts in a field, a dentist using a kick-powered drill on patients seated in a chair outside a tent, band practice and target practice In one scene, the young florist lays a mock funeral bouquet on a soldier taking a nap in the sunshine. “It was all fun and games at that time,” Hallstrom said.
The homemade film might have ended but his commanding officer got Hallstrom permission to take the camera with the 91st Division to Africa and Italy. Hallstrom said he took care never to film battles or something that might give away the troops; strategic positions because censors would have confiscated the movies en route to his parents waiting in Red Wing. Instead, he photographed lives of soldiers as well as of war-torn Italy He shot primarily in black and white film, because color film was relatively new and difficult to get. His parents in Red Wing purchased every roll that became available and shipped it to Europe for his use.
He compiled the films of Europe on a videotape. "It is available at the Red Wing Public Library," he said, and he hopes it will allow people to get a glimpse of life away from the battlefield. Starving families scoured fields after battle. Some were so hungry they cut meat from bloated horses, he said. “They would scrape up mess kits in the trash or they'd scrape the garbage pits or cans just to get a little food,” Hallstom said. His films offer brief glimpses of this mingled with pictures of mud, bombed battles and laughing children. Red Cross workers are seen giving away doughnuts, coffee and hot chocolate. He recalled one particular Italian family who lived upstairs in a shelled house. “All they had to eat was chestnuts and water,” he said. "They were afraid at first when the U.S. Soldiers arrived," he recalled. The soldiers shared food. They also shared Christmas goodies from home, played music and and fireworks. “By the time we left, we were friends.”
Evan is 87 at this writing. He was born in Red Wing to Frank and Violet Hallstrom. He graduated from Central High School, married Carol on April 23, 1949. and had 2 children, David (Diane) and Susan (Byers) In the service. Evan was affectionately known as “Swede” . Being from Minnesota, don't cha know!
Evan and Frank were inventors at the greenhouse. They developed the first air filled greenhouse and later many Minnesota Greenhouses did the same thing. They pumped warm air in the winter and cool air in the summer, much like the Metro dome.
In the service Evan was in the U.S. 5th Army, 91st Infantry Division Band and Division Headquarters. He served his country from October 1942 to September 1945. His tour overseas included the North African campaign and the invasion and capture of Italy. Being in the band, you wouldn't think he was ever in Harm's Way. Wrong. He was in the back of a truck when a German shell let close by, Evan was tossed into the other side of the truck, breaking his finger and his nose.