Cliff Buchan
News EditorThere are countless stories of World War II romances. Stories of American servicemen who fell in love while stationed overseas. Bob Kunshierís story is not one of them.
His is a story of friendship with a woman he met in Ireland in 1942 when he trained there for the invasion of North Africa. But Kunshierís story is one that took a new path this summer when he and his five daughters visited the small hamlet in Northern Ireland where the two had met 62 years ago.
Kunshierís first trip to Ireland with Army duty in 1942 and his visit in July of 2004 as a retired father and grandfather were separated by the post-war years that included a postal service career and a life in Forest Lake with his late wife, Dort, and their seven children.
They had been married 55 years at the time of her passing in 2003.
Kunshier, now 82, was one of many young men from Forest Lake who joined a National Guard unit in Stillwater with the idea of serving their required one-year of military service. He joined the Guard unit in 1940 and was assigned to the Regular Army in January of 1941.
The one-year stints became more, of course, when the U.S. entered World War II after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941. For Kunshier, military service did not end until his formal discharge in September of 1945.
Ireland training
Kunshier was a ìshy and bashfulî kid of 20 when he arrived in Northern Ireland in May of 1942 for training as part of the Armyís 135th Infantry, 34th Division.
It was only by chance that Kunshier met Clare Murphy who lived in Lisnaskea, a small town some six miles from the camp where the Army unit trained.
On a weekend bicycle journey to Lisnaskea with a buddy, Kunshier and Murphy met and became friends. As a young man from a small lake town in the heartland of the U.S., Kunshier said his visits to Lisnaskea and family visits with the Murphy family helped fill his free time.
ìI was mostly getting ready for North Africa,î Kunshier said. ìAbout every weekend Iíd go back (to Lisnaskea). It was just a friendship.î
On his free time from Army duty, Kunshier would walk one mile to a nearby village where he would rent a bicycle for the five-mile journey to Lisnaskea. The weekend visits were filled with family gatherings, an occasional movie and on rare occasions, an Irish dance.
ìIt was a place to go on weekends,î Kunshier recalled.
From June of 1942 until December, Kunshier and Murphy shared a friendship that never blossomed into romance. Soon they would be separated by war.
On Christmas Eve of 1942 Kunshierís unit left Ireland for the North Africa campaign.
ìShe didnít know I was leaving,î Kunshier said of his friend in Lisnaskea.
The war years
As a member of the Armyís 135th, Kunshier served as a machine gunner throughout 1943 taking part in a number of battles against German and Italian forces.
His Army unit continued on to the Italy Campaign after Allied forces were victorious in North Africa.
In early 1944, Kunshierís unit went ashore at Anzio, commencing more than a year of duty in Italy.
In Italy, Kunshier served with a five-member 75 mm mountain howitzer crew. The artillery battery provided fire support to advancing U.S. Forces in the fight to win the war in Italy.
ìWe were still in Italy when the Allies landed at Normandy,î Kunshier recalled.
Kunshier finished the war in Italy and served in peacetime duty for six months before coming home for good in September of 1945.
Life at home
After the war, Kunshier returned home to resume life without military service.
He was married in 1948 and seven children were born to Dort and Bob.
From 1950 until 1977, Kunshier was a railway mail clerk for the U.S. Postal Service. For the first 20 years he was assigned to trains that ran between St. Paul and Minot, ND, with some trips into Canada also part of his duty.
He spent the final seven years of his postal career with work in the Twin Cities after postal employees were eliminated from train jobs in 1970.
He retired in 1977. With his military service, he recorded close to 33 years of duty time.
Ireland contacts
Throughout his life in Forest Lake, Kunshier has remained in contact with Clare Murphy. She became a family friend through letters and cards that were exchanged over the years on a regular basis, Kunshier said.
ìI would write a letter on occasion to keep in contact,î Kunshier said. ìShe always wanted us to come and visit in Ireland.î
Murphy got as close as Chicago on one occasion, Kunshier said, but travel restraints did not allow for a visit to Minnesota.
Murphy, now 80, never married. She is retired today after working most of her life as a librarian.
She lives with two sisters in Pontadown, a city 40 miles from Lisnaskea, but still owns the family home where Kunshier came to visit so often in 1942. The old home in Lisnaskea serves as a summer place for the Murphy clan, Kunshier said.
Over the years, Kunshier said he never seriously considered the trip to Ireland, but began thinking about the reunion with Clare with the encouragement of his children.
It would also be an opportunity to see the country where he trained for the war, he said.
ìI wouldnít have gone by myself,î he said.
After much encouragement, Kunshier and his five daughters made the big trip in July. He was joined by daughters Deb Houle, Mary Conroy, Connie Mueller, Lorry Kosman and Birdy Dahl.
ìIt would be something meaningful for all of us,î Deb Houle explained. ìIt was something Iíll never forget.
Brothers Bill and Tom Kunshier left the tour-guiding duty to their sisters.
The Kunshiers spent two weeks in Ireland, landing in Dublin and going on to Lisnaskea where Clare Murphy and other family members met their Forest Lake guests. They spent a week in the Lisnaskea area and time with Clareís family and touring the countryside.
For the final week they went off on their own to visit Ireland. The two families reunited on the final day before the Kunshiers returned home.
Bob Kunshier says a return visit to Minnesota may not happen because of Murphyís reluctance to travel great distances. But the Kunshier family is already kicking around the idea of a return visit to Ireland, perhaps in two years.
ìIíd go back,î he said.
Kunshier says he is happy he made the visit and could see old places and old friends from an important part of his life.
And that includes Clare Murphy, a friend from 62 years ago who remains a friend today.
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