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Things were different for the next generation.
Both of my parents came from large families. This generation — their generation — born in America, went to war. These warriors —my uncles — were my heroes. Their war was World War II. Probably half of the men attending my family gatherings fought in Europe and Asia.
Thankfully, it was “the war to end all wars.” Like my editor would say, “Ya sure.”
Draft boards got more sophisticated by the time my cousins and I turned 18. Very few of my cousins were exempted; all of us either enlisted or were drafted.
At our family gatherings, we all had peacetime stories and jokes to tell. Only one, Dennis Eberhardt, was in harm’s way, flying missions over Vietnam. Another, Adrian Infield, was trained to jump out of a perfectly good airplane. Thankfully he never needed to parachute into a combat zone.
The Deck family has a different story to tell. The old guy traveled around a bit before finding a farm girl and buying land in the Waumandee Valley. This couple, Joe and Agnes Deck, raised four sons and two daughters. All of his sons went to war. Laverne, also known as “Butch,” and Morris served in Europe during WWII. Butch was with Wisconsin’s highly decorated 32nd Infantry Division.
Morris was part of an airborne outfit. The oldest, Lonnie, fought his way through the Pacific Islands, the islands we read about in our history books. These three brothers are all gone now.
The youngest son is Claude. He has an interesting story. He was younger and didn’t go to war with his brothers. After bouncing around like most teens, he was drafted in time to go to Korea. There is a longer version that he might share with you, but in my short version, when he got to Korea he faced north and took a hit. When I was a kid, his sister-in-law and his nephew told of his prayer book keeping the bits of steel from piercing his heart.
While interviewing him last summer, I found out that more pieces did a number on his face, neck, arms and the rest of his chest not protected by the legendary prayer book. A little luck and the prayers of his family probably saved his eyes. This shrapnel is still working its way out of his body after 56 years.
If you are piecing this all together, yes, he is the same Claude Deck who optioned on his GI bill to become a teacher, principal and administrator at Onalaska.
I don’t want to leave the sister and mother out of this family of heroes. Mother Agnes and sisters, Mercielle and Bernice, did their part.
You would have expected no less of them. The ones left home to do the praying and the worrying have a huge responsibility when our country is at war.
In order to complete this family of warriors, I need to add my friend Bob Deck (Bubby to Grandpa Joe). He is the son of Lonnie. In 1965, a few days before turning 18, Bob enlisted, and not many months after graduating, he went to Vietnam. He was telling a friend that he must have done a good job there because he was sent back for
a second go-around. When brave pilots were belting in and saying “goodbye” to Bob, both he and the pilots knew my friend could well be the last person the pilots would ever see. He, too, deserves our admiration. He earned it.
Now, after reading a little about a typical family and reading more about a family of warriors, please take a little time to reflect on how your family has contributed to forming this proud nation. Maybe this war is the one “to end all wars.” We can only hope.
When you see a veteran today, thank him or her.
Brommer is a lifelong resident of Buffalo County. “Therefore being normal is a constant struggle. Maybe the hills, coulees and dugways are to blame for the imbalance,” he says.
