Veterans recount how military shaped them

By Journal staff | Sunday, November 16, 2008

Previous Page

Share

• del.icio.us
• Digg
• NewsVine
• Fark

Print

Email

Lloyd Keszler’s service runs the gamut from the U.S. Army between 1955 and 1957 to the Sturgis Veterans Honor Guard.

The 72-year-old Keszler recalled his active duty was spent on a 75mm Skysweeper, which is for anti-aircraft. He was stationed on an Air Force base in Japan. The objective, he explained, was to shoot down planes wishing to attack the base.

An active duty volunteer, Keszler said, “I learned a lot about the military courtesy and discipline.” About 90 percent of those Keszler knew were going overseas.

Eleven people were on a gun crew, Keszler recalled, and seven had to be on duty all the time. Therefore the men never had a lot of time off, he said.

Keszler and his compatriots were located three miles from the base. He said if Sturgis were the base, the gun crew would be located at Bear Butte. Keszler said the crew base in Japan was similar to Bear Butte, but flattened at the top.

He joined the National Guard in 1952 while in high school. Army basic training was at Fort Leonard Wood, Mo. Keszler was married in October 1955 between his basic training’s eight-week stints.

Readjusting to civilian life posed no problem for Keszler. He was glad to get home to his family and young son, Terry, who was born when Keszler was gone.

“I think you grew up a lot,” Keszler said of his experiences. “You learn to cope with the situation.”

He spent two years in Rapid City after the service before coming back to Sturgis, where he had lived since the fourth grade.

Keszler said he is reminded of Veterans Day’s significance almost every day, as a member of the Honor Guard. The Honor Guard served at more than a dozen memorial services in October, and Keszler recalled a day featuring eight funerals.

“It’s a great honor to be able to supply a service for these people who have passed on,” said Keszler, who has been member of the group for three years.

One of the funerals last month was for a World War II veteran who passed away in Hot Springs.

“They bring the body in, but there’s not one single mourner other than the Honor Guard,” Keszler recalled. “It makes you feel good that, at least, you are

part of somebody that’s there.”

His time in the Honor Guard allows him to reflect on the military and the honors the departed deserve, Keszler said.

Jason Gross, Meade County Times Tribune

Nila Charles

Nila Charles and her sister enlisted in the Navy together in 1973 on what Charles described as “the buddy system.” Because they enlisted together, they were able to go through basic training and schooling together, but were separated soon after that. Charles’ cousin was in the Navy on the Enterprise aircraft carrier, which is in part what inspired the sisters to enlist.

Charles was stationed in Hawaii for several years, and then spent two years on a ship at the North Island Naval Air Station in San Diego. Charles’ main duties were overhauling torpedoes. In San Diego, she was part of a crew that tested practice torpedoes. After building them, they were loaded on a truck that brought them to an aircraft. The torpedoes were then dropped from either fixed wing planes or helicopters. Charles said they would set up a target in the harbor and watch for the dropped torpedo to circle around the target. When the targets were hit, green dye that had been specially rigged within the target would come to the surface. They would recover the torpedoes and the process would begin again.

Charles also went overseas for six months to the Philippines, then to Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean, working on a tender that fixes submarines and destroyers.

Charles was one of 100 women who were the first to be stationed on a Navy ship. She said that they had to prove themselves and most of the men on board were thinking dejectedly, “Oh no – girls.” Although a fellow soldier, Mylan Charles (who ended up making Nila his bride), laughed and commented, “We were really thinking, ‘Oh boy – girls!’”

When in Hawaii, Charles worked on submarine torpedoes. In San Diego, she air-launched torpedoes, and on the ship, she worked on anti-submarine rockets. She said that far below decks, she worked in a secure area where they assembled the rockets.

Although it was hard to be away from home, Charles said she appreciated the chance to learn so many different things and see other countries. She also appreciated the chance to receive some college education.

After eight years in the Navy, Charles decided not to re-enlist – not because she didn’t want to continue, but because she knew if she remained in the service she would be separated from her new husband. After leaving the Navy, she spent several years in the reserves.

Charles has remained active in the Newell VFW, serving as the commander.

Heather Kari, Belle Fourche Post

Jim Dunn

Jim Dunn served his country in the U.S. Army from Sept. 25, 1945, until June 14, 1947.

He was first assigned to Fort Snelling in Minnesota, but then moved to Camp Canton in southern Missouri for his basic training in the Signal Corps. From there, he went to the Army Signal Corps School in Fort Monmouth, N.J.

His next duty was in Hawaii where he met veterans from World War I as well as World War II.

Always on the move, he was sent to Fort Dix, N.J., the day before Christmas and then on to Camp McCoy, Wis., to test winter equipment in Task Forest Frost. During this operation, two men lived in mountain tents and learned basic survival tactics.

Having successfully completed his training with Task Forest Frost, Dunn was assigned to the 92nd Armored Field Artillery Unit in the Second Army Division. There, he became an expert with the recoilless rifle, and joined the ski patrol.

After his training with the ski patrol, he completed one year of enlistment in the regular Army and was sent to Fort Monmouth, N.J., where he was awarded a 30-day leave.

When he returned to active duty, the weather was cold, wet and damp, and he was assigned to an amphibious outfit that used caterpillars and set up equipment in the Milwaukee, Wis., area.

Dunn said he felt he had good training in the Army as he learned discipline and how to get along with all types of individuals. He was proud to be in the service as his father, Bill Dunn, had come off a farm to serve in World War I in a machine gun company. He later worked in the stamp mills at the Homestake Mine.

Dunn said his Army training helped him a great deal during the 30 years he served the Lead area in the South Dakota Legislature. 

Dunn and his wife, Betty, live in Lead. They have four grown children.

Vince Coyle, Lawrence County Journal

Sid Phelps

While in his senior year in high school, Sid Phelps joined the South Dakota 109th Engineers National Guard Unit in 1949. Since he went to college out of state, he was discharged from the unit.

Phelps earned a music degree and was drafted into the U.S. Army in the early 1950s. He took basic training at Camp Chaffee, Ark., and was assigned to the 5th Armored Division band at the base. At that time, a band training unit was established with the 5th Armored Division, and he and three other band members with music degrees were made instructors and directors in the unit.

That experience was an influence on a lifetime of directing and teaching music at elementary, middle school, high school and college levels, as well as playing professionally in Mexico, Canada, Alaska, Hawaii, Australia, Malaysia and Thailand.

Most of his teaching years were spent in Alaska. Upon his retirement, he moved back to the Black Hills. He and his wife, Marian, have lived in Spearfish for nearly 10 years, and he is still playing with the Black Hills Jazz Band.

Phelps noted: “The older one becomes, the more one realizes the years in the service, good and difficult, are the formulative years for the rest of our lives. I’d do it again. Our United States of America is worth it, and much more.”                                Vince Coyle, Lawrence County Journal

       

Willie Steinlicht

Willie Steinlicht, a graduate of Deadwood High School, was inducted into the Air Force in Stockton, Calif. He was processed in Oakland and took his basic training at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas.

He attended technical school at Chanute Air Force Base in Rantoul, Ill.

His next tour of duty was in Wiesbaden, Germany, where he checked out the support planes that were being used by the Air Force.

From there, he was transferred to the Boeing Air Force Base in Renton, Wash., where he again checked out the planes that were used by the Air Force.

He finished his four-year military career in the 28th Field Maintenance Unit of the 28th Bomb Wing at Ellsworth Air Force Base in Rapid City. This was during the Bay of Pigs conflict in 1961, so there were constant red alerts for his units.

Steinlicht noted that the B52s could refuel in mid-air with the KC135 troop planes.

He worked with MD3 generators, where you could plug a cable into a plane and check out the entire electrical system in an aircraft. An MAIA gas turbine cranked up the airplane and was used to start the turbine engines.

The 28th Field Maintenance provided ground support equipment machinery used around the air base. This included the portable light systems.

Willie helped put in the missile sites in western South Dakota and then went to Sedalia, Mo., to help put in more missile sites.

He later went to work for Boeing, an aircraft manufacturer, and said he is proud of the 50 years of service belt he received from Boeing.

After working at the Beresford Farmers Union Store, he came back to Deadwood and worked for Eddie Rypkema. He is active in the Disabled American Veterans Organization as well as the local VFW and American Legion Posts.

Steinlicht and his wife, Dorene, were married in May of 1962. He is currently the secretary at the Masonic Temple in Deadwood.

Vince Coyle, Lawrence County Journal