Honoring our veterans
Section
LEST WE FORGET
b World War II veteran honors other soldiers’ service By Warren Kagarise Issaquah Press reporter
The industrious Klineburger spent a hardscrabble childhood in Arizona before joining the Army as a young man. “I never dreamt of my dad buying me a bicycle,” he recalled. “If I wanted a bicycle, I went out and scrounged parts, put them together and rode it.”
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ugene Klineburger is humble about the years he served in the U. S. Army during World War II and immediately after the conflict. “I never did anything really great during the war. I did what they told me to do,” he recalled. Klineburger, 92, did not see combat, and instead served stateside as war raged in Europe and the Pacific. The longtime Issaquah resident guarded prisoners of war and detained Japanese-Americans at camps across the West from 1942-46. “I appreciate what my fellow soldiers went through, I really do,” he said. Like Klineburger, more than 16 million people served in the armed forces during World War II. The National World War II Museum estimates about 1,000 veterans who served in that war die each day. December marks 70 years since the attack on Pearl Harbor and the United States’ entry into the fighting. Ties to the long-ago battles loosen as the greatest generation fades into history and baby boomers settle into retirement. “As they’re aging and dying off, it will be like ancient history,” Klineburger said. So, he helps to preserve World War II history by sharing tales
about the years he spent as a military police officer. Soldiers transported German prisoners of war to Papago Park near Phoenix, and captured Italians to Ogden, Utah. The government sent interned Japanese-Americans to Tule Lake, Calif. Klineburger served at each site, as well as the Davis-Monthan Field — now Air Force Base — in Tucson, Ariz. Once, German prisoners escaped and, although more than 100 miles from Mexico, trekked toward the border. “They figured if they could get into Mexico, they’d be free,” Klineburger recalled. “Well, you’ve got a bunch of foreigners walking across the desert that couldn’t even talk English and didn’t have anything to eat. Well, we caught them pretty easily.”
Down Mexico way Klineburger developed a mechanical aptitude and impressive marksmanship early on. “I’d ask Mom what was for dinner and she would say, ‘I don’t know. Go out and get it,’” he recalled. “So, I’d go out and shoot a jackrabbit, we’d bring it in and cook it for dinner.” Klineburger developed a lifelong fascination with cars during his Arizona boyhood, after he started fixing up old Model Ts. The restored cars came in handy, especially as a counter-revolution known as the Cristero War raged just across the border in Mexico in the late 1920s. “We used to sit on our side of the border with binoculars and watch the war in our Model T Ford,” Klineburger said. Following World War II, he and his brothers settled in Washington in 1954 and took on a successful taxidermy business in Seattle. In addition to the taxidermy outfit, the Klineburger brothers operated a tannery and organized big game hunts around the globe. The
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
ventures earned the family a write-up in Sports Illustrated in 1964. “We told people we were the three Ts: tanning, taxidermy and travel,” Klineburger said. The business attracted high-profile clients, including astronauts, racecar drivers, royalty and former Texas Gov. John Connally, the man riding in the same car as President John F. Kennedy on the day he was assassinated in Dallas. Roy Rogers and World War II hero Jimmy Doolittle became good friends with Klineburger. Even though Klineburger’s service ended after World War II, his ties to the military never slackened. For years, he remained in contact with some fellow soldiers, but all have since died. In the most recent conflicts, his grandsons served in Afghanistan and Iraq as reservists and helped evacuate wounded soldiers from the battlefield. Now, almost seven decades after World War II ended, Klineburger still recalls memories — some serious, some lighthearted — from the men he served alongside during his years in the military. “Some of those guys from New York, they’d never seen a gun before,” he joked. “They didn’t even know which end to use.” Warren Kagarise: 392-6434, ext. 234, or wkagarise@isspress.com. Comment at www.issaquahpress.com.
BY GREG FARRAR
Issaquah resident Eugene Klineburger keeps fellow World War II veterans alive in his memory.
Remembering the 19 who gave the ultimate sacrifice for freedom Freedom isn’t free. Since the birth of this country, men and women have been willing to fight and die for Americans to be free to live their lives as they choose. And the number of those who have paid the ultimate sacrifice is staggering. More than 1.3 million men and women have died in wars fought by or on behalf of this country since 1775. Men and women have also been willing to sacrifice their personal time, by serving in times when
Paul Alfred Ambrose
Robert Arndt
Robert Baskett
Private, U.S. Army, 701 T.D. Battalion July 9, 1924 – May 31, 1944 Graduated from Issaquah High School in 1942. KIA in Anzio, Italy. Buried in Hillside Cemetery.
Corporal, U.S. Army, C Company, 3rd Battalion, 47th Infantry, 9th Infantry Division Died at age 21. Born: May 6, 1946 Died: July 29, 1967 He was shot in early 1967, but recovered; was back in action only a few days when he was killed in Dinh Tuong Province, South Vietnam. Buried in Hillside Cemetery.
Sergeant, U.S. Army, 8th Infantry April 7, 1925 – July 15, 1944 Graduated from Issaquah High School in 1943. KIA in Normandy, France. Buried in Hillside Cemetery.
Information is incomplete and/or conflicting for the 19 local veterans killed while serving in wartime. Photos also could not be located for three of them. If you have information or photos, e-mail editor@isspress.com or call 392-6434, ext. 227.
James Patrick Brady Corporal, U.S. Army, Scotch Platoon, C Company, 2nd Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division Born: March 7, 1949 Died: June 18, 1969 KIA in Tay Ninh, South Vietnam. Buried in Greenwood Memorial Park, Renton.
John Raymond Smart Second lieutenant, U.S. Army Air Force, 443rd Bomb Squadron, 320th Bomb Group MIA Oct. 23, 1943, over the Tyrrhenian Sea near Giannuitri Island. The crew of the downed B-26 was seen in life rafts but Air-Sea Rescue boats could not locate them, and no one from the crew was ever seen again. Tablets of the missing are at Florence American Cemetery in Florence, Italy.
Clifford Benson Second lieutenant, U.S. Army Air Force, 737th Bomb Squadron, 454th Bomb Group Shot down in Croatia on April 21, 1944.
Louis Petersen
George C. Larsen
Peter Erickson Private, U.S. Army, 18th Engineer Regiment Died Aug. 10, 1918. Buried in Suresnes American Cemetery, in Suresnes, France. From the Sept. 27, 1918, Press: “A large congregation attended the memorial service Sunday afternoon at Issaquah in honor of Peter Erickson, the first of the boys from Issaquah to die in the service of his country. The oration delivered by the Rev. S. V. Warren touched a high note of patriotism.
war was not on or imminent. They have done all types of jobs that people in the civilian sector do, but instead did them in service to this country while they stood ready to defend our lives, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. We at The Issaquah Press salute, honor and thank the men and women from our community who have paid all types of sacrifices to keep themselves, their families and everyone else free. We hope you will do the same.
Emmett R. McDonald
Private first class, U.S. Army, infantry, Born: Feb. 17, 1926 Died: June 14, 1945 184th Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division. KIA by a grenade attacking Hill 181 in Ryuku, Okinawa, Japan. Buried in Arlington National Cemetery.
Jack McQuade Private, U.S. Army Air Force, 481st Service Squadron, 46th Air Service Group Born: Nov. 28, 1920 Killed April 18, 1945, in accidental bomb explosion. Buried in Hillside Cemetery.
Captain, U.S. Air Force Born: July 27, 1939, MIA May 31, 1966, Declared dead: Feb. 11, 1975 Missing in air loss/crash in North Vietnam. (Remains never recovered.)
Carl Albert Larson
Harold Gleason
Robert Hoskins
Corporal U.S. Army 361st Infantry Regiment, 91st Division Died Oct. 9, 1918 Buried in MeuseArgonne American Cemetery, in Romagne, France. (no photo available)
Private first class, U.S. Army, 301st Infantry Regiment, 94th Division Born: Feb. 6, 1916 Killed March 2, 1945, while serving as a medic near Serrig, Germany. Buried in Hillside Cemetery. (no photo available)
Lance corporal (mortarman), U.S Marine Corps, H&S Company 5, Mar 1 Mar Div Born: Sept. 14, 1949 Died: Nov. 25, 1968 KIA in Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnam). Buried in Hillside Cemetery. (no photo available)
Robert Watson Staff sergeant U.S. Army Air Force, 375th Bomber Squadron, 308th Bomber Group, Heavy; reported MIA between January and April 1944; crew of plane was never found. Tablets of the missing are at Manila American Cemetery, Manila, Philippines.
Flintoft’s Funeral Home and Crematory is proud to honor our community’s veterans.
Flight officer, U.S. Army Air Force, 422nd Bomb Squadron, 305th Bomb Group Killed Aug. 6, 1944, when the B-17 he was co-piloting was hit by flak and crashed near Vollradisroda, Germany. Interred in Germany; later brought home to Greenwood Memorial Park, Renton.
Elizabeth Erickson Woman Airforce Service Pilots (WASPs) Died in a training exercise over Sweetwater, Texas, in May 1944. Buried in Lakeview Cemetery, Seattle. Because WASPs were considered civilians, she never received a military burial. She was recently awarded a Congressional Gold Medal by President Obama.
Robert Philp Staff sergeant, U.S. Army Air Force, 589th Bomb Squadron, 387th Bomb Group Shot down near Mayan, Germany, where his crew was attacking a railroad viaduct, on Dec. 23, 1944.
Laurence J. Lortie Second lieutenant U.S. Army Air Force 45th Fighter Squadron, 15th Fighter Group MIA June 1, 1945, somewhere between Iwo Jima and Osaka, Japan; weather may have been the reason for the loss.
Joseph Albert Tondreau Fireman first class, U.S. Navy/Naval Reserve MIA or buried at sea Dec. 18, 1944. Tablets of the missing are at Manila American Cemetery in Manila, Philippines.