Veterans' Day and the Vets of Kewaunee County

U.S.S. Cowell, Fletcher Class

Joining the men and women of the Tin Can Sailors at a ship’s reunion – the U.S.S. Cowell‘s or at a national reunion - is both an honor and a privilege. September marked the 40^th anniversary of national gatherings. Five Wisconsin men and women sailors were there, but there was neither one from Algoma nor Kewaunee County. Many are/were eligible although most would have been men who served in World War ll. In more recent years, the list includes women.

Seaman Fritz Opicka was one of the World War ll men. Opicka enlisted in the Navy during June 1942. Following training at Great Lakes, he saw service on a destroyer in the Atlantic Ocean. Writing to his aunt and uncle, he described the morning the ship’s lookout saw something appearing to be rafts. They’d seen such rafts before but they were empty. Not this time. There were people on the rafts – 43 men and 3 women. As the ship pulled closer, those on the rafts began cheering and singing Yankee Doodle. With the exception of 2 women refugees and 2 Belgians trying to get to South America, those on the rafts were English. Their ship had been torpedoed and they had been adrift for 4 days and nights. There were injuries. While Opicka’s shipmates made the raftees as comfortable as possible, the cook made a birthday cake for one of the women who would celebrate her birthday the next day. Adding to the rescuees’ happiness were the cigarettes and clothing they were given. Not all on the torpedoed ship were set adrift however.  The captain was taken prisoner by the German sub crew and two English seamen were killed.

Lt. Frank Lidral was the communication officer in 1945 on the newly commissioned U.S.S. Herbert J. Thomas. In Boston for the commissioning, Lidral told folks back home that destroyers were named for heroes and in the case of Thomas, he was a Marine corps reserve sergeant who had won a purple heart and the Medal of Honor.* Lidral was a1942 graduate of the Naval Academy at Annapolis who requested duty on a destroyer. The Thomas, with Lidral on it, was assigned to the Pacific fleet.

In 1944 Donald Berkovitz was in Kewaunee visiting his parents. Berkovitz served on a destroyer crew in the South Pacific. About the same time Frank Schmidt was visiting his family in Algoma. Schmidt completed boot camp at Great Lakes, however was returning for further schooling. Two years later Schmidt was a coxswain** stationed at Bikini Island aboard the Quarty awaiting nuclear testing, an event which he witnessed. That first testing – Operation Crossroads - occurred in July 1946.

U.S.S. Kidd, Baton Rouge

The Beaurains, Lloyd and Orvin, both served on destroyers, in the Atlantic and Pacific respectively. Ironically both were fire control men. Lloyd’s wife, the former Lucille Johnson, was a Minnesota woman employed by the Navy Department in Washington.

During January 1944, AHS 1938 graduate Mathew Hauer was in town sharing his military experiences while visiting with his grandmother Mrs. Gus Umberham. Hauer had 3 stars on campaign ribbons from service in Africa and a Purple Heart from shrapnel wounds suffered in the Mediterranean when German planes sunk his destroyer, the Beatty.

Petty Officer Herman Dax was aboard the U.S.S. St. Mary’s at Yokohama in Tokyo Bay in 1945 where he was part of a crew hauling troops and supplies for the occupation. He told about the huge convoy of destroyers, destroyer escorts and aircraft carriers entering the bay, and thousands of planes over head. He told about General Douglas MacArthur passing by in a destroyer as he was on his way to the battleship Missouri where the Japanese surrender would take place. Dax said he was with the troops marching ashore with the band playing. Although the troops were in dress uniform, they carried weapons, remaining in readiness.

Wikipedia says the USS Bainbridge was the country’s first destroyer in 1915-1916, however the website American’s Navies indicates that destroyers were a new type of ship made necessary to counteract the torpedo boats that began making an appearance as early as 1891. Initially called torpedo boat destroyers, the name evolved to destroyer. The capabilities of the small, fast boat became clear around the world and the ship was here to stay. Destroyers were new in World War l. In April 1917, newspapers were heralding the “little craft” that could make 28 knots an hour. The Navy had 51 at the time, 49 in torpedo flotillas and 2 attached to submarines. The destroyers with their four 4” guns and four torpedo tubes carried about 100 men whose duty was protecting submarines and shipping lanes. At the time, there were two dozen subs in the Atlantic Ocean.

Nearly a year later, in February 1918, news articles said half the men in the Navy had been there for years while the other half enlisted as soon as the “current trouble” was evident. Many who had been discharged re-enlisted. Soldiers were embraced and recognized for their service while some forgot that the Navy was always there too. As one of the February 1918 articles pointed out, “If our many citizens could only get a glance of one of our little war dogs – the torpedo boat destroyer in heavy weather and could understand that it might have been days………- the Navy would get far more credit.”

Something for the Kewaunee County record books occurred on a destroyer during World War l. KHS graduate Walter Wiesnoski was a young petty officer aboard a ship patrolling the coasts of England and France while his brother Stanley was in the Army serving with Pershing in France. Stanley was in poor health and being sent back to the U.S. on a transport. As luck, or lack of it, would have it, the transport Jutland was attacked and sunk by a German sub. As the men attempted lowering the lifeboats Stanley was one thrown into the sea, being struck on the chest and severely bruised. Somehow he managed to keep afloat for about 2 hours. Meanwhile the two destroyers that heard the Jutland’s distress calls made for the scene. One picked up Stanley. When he learned the name of the other destroyer, he knew his brother Walter was on it. A small boat transported Stanley to meet his brother, whom he had not seen in years. The reunion was brought about by a sinking ship.

Reunions come about in any number of ways, one of which is the activities of Veterans' Day, once called Armistice Day, marking the end of World War 1 at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month. On a Saturday morning nine years ago a group of Lighthouse Keepers was working restoring the Grassy Island lights. The day just happened to be Veterans Day. The men were vets and on-the-spur-of-the-moment had their own impromptu memorial. They did it again the following year and in the intervening years, the memorial has grown to hundreds of folks coming together. Beginning with the national anthem, the event is an impressive recognition of veterans, some of whom are World War ll veterans in their 90s. There are men and women who have recently served, or are serving and are on leave. Speeches, the Sullivan-Wallen Post 11 presentation of colors, the Coast Guard's wreath, the Bellevue scouts leading the pledge of Allegiance, the bagpiper and a fly-over ,,,,, It is when the vets come together, there is a connection that the rest of us cannot begin to understand.

*Medal of Honor is the nation’s highest military honor and created during the Civil War. It was awarded at the White House for the first time on January 10, 1906 when it was personally presented by President Theodore Roosevelt. President Roosevelt ordered in September 1905 that medals thereafter would be conferred by the president. Prior to that time, such medals had just been mailed to the recipient. Roosevelt felt the awarding should be an impressive ceremony, noting the rare honor of the precious medal.

**Coxswains have their jobs on ship, but it is the coxswain who is in charge of and handling the captain’s gig. They keep the gig looking spiffy to always make the captain look good. Where does the captain go when leaves the ship for a small boat. When Uncle Richard was a World War ll coxswain, he said it was always up-river for cocktails.

Sources: Algoma Record, Algoma Record Herald;America's Navies website; F. Schmidt Interview 2006; Wikipedia; Paintings courtesy NLjohnson ART; photos are the bloggers.