World War II vets honored at special luncheon
Seven World War II veterans, five from the Lake City area, were honored Thursday, Oct. 17, at a special luncheon at Lake House on Pepin restaurant.
Wayne Quist, a historian and retired Air Force colonel, was the master of ceremonies for the event.
He delivered remarks on the war overall and of each honoree’s contribution to the war effort. His notes form the basis for the short biographies that follow.
Staff Sgt. Dori Nelson Schmauss served in the U.S. Army Women’s Auxiliary Corps. She went overseas in 1944 to serve as a counselor. Using her G.I. bill funding, she completed bachelor’s and master’s degrees and went on to counsel quadriplegic war wounded at Boston Mass General Hospital. After her husband died in 1970, she went to Vietnam to work with war orphans.
Yeoman 2nd Class Betty Siegel Campion was a member of the U.S. Navy Waves. Campion, who was at St. Olaf College when the war started, joined the Navy at age 19 after her parents signed a waiver. She attended boot camp and later secretarial training and was stationed in Madison, Wis., correcting GED exams. Her late husband Bob was also a WWII vet.
Seaman 2nd Class Warren Roberson was a member of the U.S. Navy. He went overseas to Pearl Harbor in 1943. There he evaluated damaged ships, provided harbor transport, and trained in landing craft for the invasion of the Japanese mainland.
Private 1st Class Arnie Roen was a U.S. Army Combat Engineer serving in the Pacific Theater as a member of the 38th infantry division. The division participated in the New Guinea invasion, Leyte, Phillippines, and Bataan. As a combat engineer, he built bridges and roads while also serving as an infantryman. He was with General MacArthur in 1945 as he raised the American flag over Island Corregidor.
Ensign Dave McKenze was a U.S. Navy member aboard the Minesweeper U.S.S. Scoter. He swept mines at Okinawa before the expected invasion of Japan and was one of the first U.S. servicemembers ashore following the atomic bomb attack on Hiroshima.
Private First Class Gale Hill was a member of the U.S. Army. His father had served in the U.S. Army in France during World War I. Hill turned 19 in a fox hole in Europe.
Private First Class Richard Staub wasn’t far away. His father also fought in World War I, on the German side. Staub, like Hill, was in Patton’s Third Army during the Battle of the Bulge.
According to Quist, of the estimated 16 million Americans who served in World War II, fewer than 450,000 remain. Fewer than 10,000 of them live in Minnesota.
After the meal the vets cruised on the Pearl of the Lake Paddleboat as Captain Larry Nielson’s guests.