Posted: 11/12/03

Bronze stars honor 2 area vets

Cliff Buchan
News Editor

More than 50 years ago, El Ewert and Art Anderson were on opposite ends of the globe sharing a common goal. Both were Army infantrymen who went into battle and fell wounded in combat against German and Japanese forces.

Anderson came from the East Side of St. Paul; Ewert was from the farm fields of Mountain Lake. They had little in common in the days before the Second World War but today share the bond of what has been called Americaís greatest generation.

For Art Anderson, 84, and El Ewert, 78, itís been a long time since the two men marched off to war in the 1940s, no more than kids called to the service of their country.

The military service of the two Forest Lake area men was united on Tuesday night in Forest Lake during the annual Veteransí Day program sponsored by American Legion Post 225 and VFW Post 4210.

As area veterans paused to recognize veterans of the Korean War, Anderson and Ewert took the stage to receive Bronze Stars for valor for duty in World War II.

Andersonís story

Anderson was 22 years old when Army service caught up with the St. Paul man in the spring of 1942. ìI was drafted,î he says with a crackle in his voice.

His service duty commenced in April of 1942, just four months after the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. By September of 1942, Anderson was in England and Ireland preparing for action against German and Italian forces.

It all happened quickly, Anderson recalls. He completed basic training in Texas and never dreamed he would be sent into action so quickly.

ìI thought were going on maneuvers,î he recalled. ìThat train kept right on going to New York.î

Anderson wonít forget his Christmas of 1942. He arrived in North Africa on Dec. 24, 1942. His arrival followed the Allied landing in North Africa on Nov. 8. 1942.

By February, Anderson, a member of the 133rd Infantry and the Armyís 34th Division, joined in the fight for the Kasserine Pass. The fighting raged until May with the German forces scoring early success.

Anderson survived unhurt but was nearly captured during one engagement. The fighting took the lives of 1000 American troops. But the fight was important, Anderson said.

Indeed, the war in North Africa and the eventual Allied victory helped set the tone for the remainder of the war and gave the allies the jumping off point needed for the fight that was to follow in Italy.

At the Casablanca Conference in January 1943, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill called North Africa ìnot the beginning of the end.Ý But the end of the beginning.î

On to Italy

Andersonís unit by-passed the invasion of Sicily but went ashore in Italy at Salerno in September of 1943, part of the second wave of forces to reach the Italian mainland.

Anderson made it through October but on the 4th of November in 1943, he was seriously wounded by mortar fire at the battle of Casino. The mortar shell that exploded near Anderson left him blind in his left eye and with serious wounds to his left arm and left leg.

Anderson makes little of his war service and wounds today.

ìI was part of an infantry company that made one attack after another,î he says. In all, he fought in 13 major battles in North Africa and Italy.

After being wounded he spent four months in a field hospital in North Africa before being sent to a hospital in West Virginia in early 1944. He returned to active duty status in mid-1944 and was assigned to an infantry replacement camp in Maryland.

ìAll I could think about was my buddies I had left behind,î he said.

When the Germans launched their last-ditch Battle of the Bulge attack in December of 1944, Anderson was on call to be sent back to Europe but was spared.

Ewertís story

El Ewert was 18 in 1944 and still in high school as the war was winding down. But the war was far from over and in October of 1944, Ewert was drafted.

ìI was in basic training for only 3‡ weeks, he said, recalling the speed with which the Army was preparing troops for combat.

Ewert was a big, strapping 220-pound kid of 19 when his 25th Army Division unit followed Gen. McCarthurís invasion of The Philippine Islands by one week.

If anyone thought it was mop up duty, the thought faded when a regimental commander was killed in action, Ewert recalled.

Ewert carried a Browning automatic rifle. He was engaged in combat for 69 consecutive days in fighting against stubborn Japanese troops who fought hard.

He went into action at the battle of Balette Pass on May 13, 1945.

ìI got hit on the 21st of May,î Ewert said. ìI know of 27 guys who got it,î he said of fellow soldiers who gave the ultimate sacrifice.

Ewert was left alone to fire and man the BAR when Japanese ambush fire killed two ammunition carriers. A mortar shell explosion struck his left side and left him with a shrapnel wound in his stomach. ìItís still there,î he says of the shrapnel that is in his body.

Ewert spent 30 hours in the field waiting for evacuation to a field hospital. His recovery in the Philippines took 3‡ months. By the time he left the jungle, his 220 pound frame had dwindled to a man of 147 pounds.

He was wounded in the days leading up to the U.S. invasion of Okinawa and eventually the mainland of Japan.

With the end of the war looming, Ewert trained for an amphibious landing that was expected in the battle to take the mainland of Japan. The warís end on Aug. 14, 1945 made the invasion unneeded.

He was eventually sent to Japan as part of the U.S. occupation force where he helped Koreans enslaved by the Japanese prepare to return to their country.

Still serving

Both Ewert and Anderson are retired today, but still serve their country through military organizations. Both men left the service as sergeants.

Ewertís active military service continued until Oct. 30, 1947 when he was discharged. He returned to civilian life in Minnesota.

Heís active today with the American Legion in Forest Lake, is a member of Kraus-Hartig VFW Post 6587 in Spring Lake Park and a member of the Disabled American Veterans. He is a life member of all three organizations.

Anderson, a 25-year resident of Forest Lake, is a life member of American Legion Post 225 and VFW Post 4210 here. He is also a member of the DAV.

Over the years the two men often wondered why the Bronze Stars they were promised during the war never materialized. Both were awarded Purple Hearts for their combat wounds.

Later, Ewert said, the two learned that a fire in 1973 in St. Louis, MO, destroyed Army records from World War II. What happened between 1943 and 1973 the two men canít say.

At Tuesdayís program at Post 225, the Bronze Star medals were officially presented by another Army veteran from Forest Lake, Col. James P. Noll, retired, a Purple Heart and Silver Star recipient from Vietnam. Sixth District U.S. Congressman Mark Kennedy was also on hand to join in the ceremony.

For Anderson and Ewert the Bronze Star is an important thank you from a nation that takes stock in the sacrifices given by its men and women.

ìItís pretty special,î Ewert says. ìTo me and my kids, it means a lot.î

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