training, he was on the crew of the USS Hickman County which was coming out of dry dock. They loaded ammo in New Jersey and began the long trip to Vietnam via the Panama Canal. “It was pretty rough water in January in the Atlantic. I was the radio operator, trying to decipher Morse code on the World War II equipment in there. The ship was rolling sideways. I was so determined I wasn’t going to get sick. I was trying to copy this broadcast and the typewriter was actually moving back and forth. I looked down to the end of the shack and there were some headphones swaying … whoop … oop. And I went ‘blaap.’ I’d say saltine crackers saved my life.” Eventually, he was part of a crew which transported supplies back and forth from the Philippines to Vietnam.
Jim and Judy Cole.
“When I got into high school and I wasn’t here at night to help, Dad got rid of the milk cows. We were down to only five or six at the time. As far as crops, we had corn, oats and alfalfa, but no soybeans back in those days. Well, he did have them
one time when I was little because I can remember walking beans and they were as tall as I was.” After graduating from Hudson High School, Jim joined the U.S. Navy, serving from November 1964 until February 1968. After basic
When he returned to Hudson in March 1968, his dad had arranged for him to rent ground near town. “I did that a few years and then I asked Elmer Torkelson if he’d be interested in selling. I wish I could buy more land at that price – $385 an acre. He gave me a 30-year contract at 5 percent interest. “I had to take a second mortgage twice on that land in the ‘80s – I
Respectfully serving families for generations. BALTIC | 180 St. Olaf Ave. 605.529.5411 DELL RAPIDS | 104 East 4th St. 605.428.4200
COLTON | 205 East 4th St. 605.446.3246 GARRETSON | 101 South Leslie Dr. 605.594.3700
www.minnehahafuneralhome.com 8
The Farming Families Magazine | www.agemedia.pub | July 2021
