Thursday, December 1, 2011

Volume 95; Number 24

www.bladepublishing.net

A community newspaper serving Browerville, MN and surrounding areas. USPS 067-560

Walt Carlson shares his WWII story

By Rin Porter Walter Carlson of Ward Township is 90 years old this year. After hearing questions from his nieces and nephews about his World War II experiences, he decided to tell his story to the Blade because they wanted to know. Walter Carlson was born in Ward Township in September 1921 to Adolph and Agnes Carlson. Adolph was the son of Charlie and Amelia Carlson, who moved to Ward Township from Iowa in 1894 when Adolph was 4. One reason they chose Ward Township was because Amelias brother, who Walter knew as Old Man Grant, lived nearby. Charlie Carlson was a poor farmer, Walt recalled. He was awkward in everything. He had a face full of whiskers, and he liked to smoke a pipe. The young boys liked to try to set his whiskers on fire. Grandpa Charlie had a few cows and horses. He had a lot of bad luck with his cattle and sickness with his horses, but he never complained about it in the house, Walt said. He kept it outside. But my dad, he was continually bellyaching to Ma about something either Polacks or Bohunks or Republicans or Democrats or snow or rain. It was the last thing I heard at night before I went to sleep and the first thing I heard when I woke up. He had a way hed tell you to do something, and if you did it right it was fine, but if not hed chew you out. But he never explained how to do it. Walt was one of eight children. His sister Dorothy was the oldest, then came Walt, Lester, Ted, Adeline, Ervin, Louis, and Lucille. Five are still alive: Walt, Ted, Adeline, Ervin, and Louis. After completing 8th grade, about 1935, Walt worked for his dad, and worked for the neighbors for 50 cents a day. In the late summer a group of men would go down to Redwood Falls to shock and thresh grain. There they were paid good money, Walt said: 30 cents an hour. During the Depression years that was very good pay. After finishing at Redwood Falls, the men would sometimes go out to South Dakota and work in the wheat fields. Back home, things were pretty skimpy, Walt remembered. The family had seven cows and five horses and 150 chickens, four or five brood sows. Thats the way I left it to go to the Army. Here is where Walts war experiences begin. He was drafted into the U.S. Army on July 24, 1942, at the age of 21. He and others were sworn in at Fort Snelling, and then headed to Fort Sill, Oklahoma, for artillery school and basic training. Continued on page 16.

75

Squads damaged in chase near Bertha

At 2:22 pm, November 23, a Todd County Deputy attempted a traffic stop on an individual (Wade Moenkedick) who was known to not have a valid drivers license. The individual fled north on Hwy 71, north of Hewitt. Moenkedick stopped a few miles later, but then fled again after backing into the squad car, causing extensive damage. Moenkedick was located by other Todd County Deputies and the pursuit continued. During the pursuit two other Todd County squads and an Eagle Bend squad were run into by the suspect. Moenkedick, of rural Bertha, was eventually taken into custody on County 23, south of Hwy 210. He is being held in the Todd County Detention Center waiting formal charges. The Wadena County Sheriffs Office, Henning Police Department, Eagle Bend Police Department, MN State Patrol, DNR, and the Bertha Ambulance assisted with the incident. Photos by Stacey Rushmeye.

Rural Cushing man is thankful to local law enforcement and rescue personnel

Walt and Elfredia Carlson

To the editor: On July 13, 2011, at 2 PM, I experienced a farm accident that occurred while I was spraying thistles along a drainage ditch that forms the west boundary of our farm. The accident resulted in a broken collarbone and three broken ribs when I was tipped from my six wheeler as I descended a short, steep slope. Of course, the accident was my fault because I failed to consider the unbalancing effect that 300 pounds of herbicide, sprayer, and gear in the cargo box would have on my Polaris. And a small, unfixed problem with the shifting linkage caused me to blunder along in high-range rather than the more appropriate low-range. Worse yet, I didnt have a cell phone (I do now) to call for rescue, although I had told my wife that Id be working in that location, which is about 3/4 mile west of our house and Norris Road. I hope that readers might learn from my mistakes. Although I tried repeatedly to get up from the ground, I just couldnt get past the pain. The best I could do, for fear of the machine overheating and incinerating me, was to painfully reach up and turn off the ignition. As I lay that in the marsh grass, I realized there would be no rescue for me until sometime after my wife returned at nine or ten oclock from her Catholic Youth Group meeting. I was worried that she might not notice my absence Continued on page 16

WEEKLY WEATHER REPORT

Wed. Nov. 30 Cloudy 37/24 Thur. Dec. 1 Mostly Cloudy 25/13 Fri. Dec. 2 Sunny 31/21 Sat. Dec. 3 Partly Cloudy 32/17 Sun. Dec. 4 Mostly Cloudy 25/15 Mon. Dec. 5 Partly Cloudy 23/11