November 11, 2015
A soldier’s story World War II vet looks back at his military service
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By Sara Hardin Displayed in the O’Fallon home of Roland “Bo” Sturhahn is a photo of his 19-year-old self, a young man called upon to defend his country in a time of desperation. Now 89, he reflects on his experiences as a World War II soldier, his youthful spirit resonating in his retelling. “In 1943 I got a notice to register for the draft,” said Bo Sturhahn. “Then, in the spring of 1944, I was a senior in high school, and in May I got a notice I am now to report for a pre-induction from the U.S. government. They told me that: ‘You’ve got no choice.’ Bo Sturhahn graduated from high school in June, 1944. Since the draft quota had been momentarily filled, thanks to many young men around his age volunteering to enlist, Sturhahn spent the fall attending Washington University. It wasn’t until December of that year that he received the notice to report for duty. “On Dec. 30, I was at the designated place with a lot of other guys, wondering what to do, wandering around, and finally I got to a desk. The guy that was there said, ‘Hello there. What do you want: Army or Navy?’ Talk about a quick decision!” he laughed. “So, I said Army. After that, I was sent to Fort Knox, Kentucky for basic training.” After a few months spent at Fort Knox and some time spent at home, Sturhahn was momentarily transferred to the east coast, then quickly transported to the west coast via a week-long ride on a troop train. A troop ship, traveling in a zig-zag pattern to throw off Japanese submarines, took Sturhahn and his fellow soldiers to the Philippines, were he would spend the rest of his deployment. “I joined an outfit called the 706th Tank Battalion. We joined another group of GIs that had just finished the Battle of Okinawa, and I was to replace some of their losses. This was a rest area in the Philippines, just south of Manila,” explained Sturhahn. “After a while, we started getting serious about learning about tank warfare and getting in shape and so forth, because they were starting to prepare us for a big push. Then, all of a sudden, the atom bomb came and knocked out Japan, and they surrendered because of that. We found out afterwards that [the Japanese] had the battle plans, and our tank outfit was going to be the first to hit the Japanese beaches.” While he waited in the Philippines to be sent back home, Sturhahn was as-
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Photo by Sara Hardin World War II veteran Roland “Bo” Sturhahn in his home in O’Fallon holds a photo of himself during his active duty military service.
signed jobs such as filling a water truck at the bay and watering the camp roads to combat the dust which resulted from the brutal tropic sun, or riding a jeep to sites where equipment had broken down, guided by a Filipino whose language barrier limited communication to points in the right direction. Sturhahn was honorably discharged in Chicago on Aug. 23, 1946 at the age of 21. He started college that September at Washington University under the GI Bill and graduated in 1950 with a degree in Business. “Washington University was really busy with GIs,” he said. “There were about 10 guys for every gal.” Among the artifacts and memorabilia collected from Sturhahn’s experiences is a collection of newspaper clippings of coverage of the war. His wife, Sue Sturhahn, explains that the ability to return to the articles and recollect on the events is a unique and valuable experience. “One thing that Bo did before he was drafted and left was keep track of articles from the St. Louis paper about the war, and he started a scrapbook. He has all of these old, original articles,” said Sue Sturhahn. “What he didn’t know until he got home, is that after he left, his dad continued to do that and cut the articles out about the war all the time he was gone and overseas. So we have boxes of original articles, scrapbooks, which Bo has gone through and
made some notes on. One of his main interests he has always had is history. So, he can recall a lot of this, whether he participated or not, and of course with all of this memorabilia he can go through it and put things together because he’s a history buff.” In 2011, Bo Sturhahn was an honored guest of the Honor Flight, an event which invites U.S. military veterans to visit the war memorials in Washington, D.C. When asked about his experience during the trip, he is momentarily at a loss for words. See A SOLIDER’S STORY page 4
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