Country
Friday, May 17, 2019 • Volume 7, Edition 7
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Focusing on Today’s Rural Enviro Environment
Forever a Marine
PHOTO BY DIANE LEUKAM
Denny Schnell talks about his time in Vietnam as a Marine, May 8 at his home south of Alexandria.
“I feel that I saved lives, as many lives as I could.” Denny Schnell By DIANE LEUKAM Staff Writer
ALEXANDRIA – Semper Fi. The Marine Corps motto is a Latin phrase meaning “Always faithful.” For Denny Schnell of Alexandria, those two words connect him with every other Marine around the world. “When you graduate and the first time you are called a Marine, it sends a chill down your spine that you will never forget,” Schnell said. “I will be buried as a Marine and I will love this country till the day I die.” Schnell was in a reflective mood May 8 at his home south of Alexandria. He talked about life, memories of his time in Vietnam, his Marine Corps buddy, Randy Fischer, having a deep love of his country, and what he wants to do next. At 63, he has been working hard his whole life and is thinking about slowing down and opening a new chapter in his life, one of service to veterans. He would
like to make a difference. Schnell has been in the agriculture business since he came home from the military. He and his wife, Pat, raised their two children, Shane and Tiffany, and now have four grandchildren. They own some land and have rented other land, which he let go of this year. Schnell operated a custom manure pumping business, which he sold last year, though he is retaining a steel shed-building business. Their small herd of registered Black Angus cattle was sold last week. Farming has been in his blood, but for him, it is time to move on. “I’m going to have an auction in July,” he said. “All my equipment will go and I plan on getting reunited with my boat. It hasn’t seen the water in years but that’s going to change.” Born and raised in Illinois, Schnell and his family moved to Minnesota when he was 14. The son of Don and Virginia Schnell, he worked on the farm along with two brothers and a sister. Life was not ideal.
This month in the
COUNTRY
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Denny Schnell (right) carries a radio on his back as he works in communications as a Marine in Vietnam in the early 70s. The helicopters are American Bell UH-1 Iroquois, or “Hueys,” and Schnell said the sound of them still gives him chills.
“I was not a good a kid,” he said. “I was 16 and I had a party when my parents were gone. It didn’t start out to be like that, but all of a sudden it was one of the biggest bashes…and oh my god, the house was trashed. I had no intention but that’s how it ended up. My dad punched me right in the face.” Looking back, he understands his parents’ frustration and anger. For Schnell, the results were life-changing.
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“I just left,” he said. “I figured they’d come looking for me but they never did. I just kept on going and the next thing you know I’m in the Marine Corps over in some foreign country and that’s how Denny Schnell the Marine came to be.” On his own at 16, Schnell got a job at a junkyard cutting parts off of cars.
10 A family’s burgeoning bird business Glenwood
15 Country Acres According To: Dana Freese
13 Lyme disease not only tick danger Wendy Womack column
16 For love of veterans, families Sauk Centre
SCHNELL continued on page 2
20 From farm to table Albany 21 Country Cooking