Delano American Legion Memorials
Epitaph in Delano Central Park
CIVIL WAR
Pvt. James Robertson
James Robertson was born about 1832 in Scotland. He enlisted on August 21, 1862, in
Franklin Township, Wright County. He was in Company B, Minnesota 9th Infantry.
James Robertson died December 14, 1864 in the Jefferson Barracks in St. Louis,
Missouri of disease. He was a married man.
Pvt. John Robertson
John Robertson was born about 1841 in Scotland. He enlisted August 18, 1862, in
Franklin Township, Wright County. He was a member of Co. B, Minnesota 9th Infantry. John was taken prisoner at Bree’s Cross Roads, Mississippi on June 10, 1864, and he died
October 2, 1864 at Andersonville, Georgia. John was buried in Andersonville.
SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR
Pvt. Robert L. VanEman
Robert L. VanEman was born in Delano in 1877, the son of William L. and Hattie VanEman. He enlisted in Minneapolis on April 29, 1898, and was mustered into the service of the United States as sergeant on May 7, 1898. By special orders dated June 25, 1898, he was ordered on detached service with recruits of the 13th Minnesota volunteer infantry at Camp Merritt, California, and on the steamship City of St. Paul. Sgt. VanEman reported back to duty with Company I, Sept. 1898. On September 26, 1898, at his own request, he was reduced to the ranks. Robert was 21 years old, single, and a bookkeeper by profession. He died February 20, 1899 at Manila of small pox, and is buried in the San Francisco National Cemetery.
WORLD WAR I
Cpl. Walter H Buckley
Walter Buckley was born in Delano July 16, 1891, the son of C. J. and Rosa (nee Grafft) Buckley. He graduated from the Delano high school department in 1911. He joined the national guard as a member of Battery E, 151st field artillery and was sent to the Mexican border. Upon his return from Texas he was out of the service for a few years, but reapplied to his old unit, and was sent out with the Rainbow Division, which landed in France in October of 1917. Bursting cannon-breech killed him January 24, 1918 at Camp Coetguidad, France. Cpl. Buckley was buried in the Oise-Aisne American Cemetery and Memorial in Fere-en-Tardenois, Picardie, France.
Pvt. Michael Krajewski
Michael Krajewski was 29 years old, and had been in the service less than three months, stationed at Camp Grant in Rockford, Illinois, when he contracted and died of Spanish influenza. Pvt. Krajewski was born September 23, 1889, the son of George and Mary Krajewski, who farmed near Greenwood before moving to Delano. His funeral was held at St. Peter’s church, and the casket was preceded by a number of boys dressed in sailor suits and little girls dressed in white and carrying rosebuds, which they deposited
on the casket before it was lowered into the ground at the gravesite.
Pvt. Clarence McEachern
Clarence Arthur McEachern was the son of Angus and Anna (nee Eppel) McEachern. He was born July 16, 1901, in Delano. After completing the grades he worked for a short time as station-helper at Kerkhoven, and then enlisted in Minneapolis; he was only sixteen at the time.
Pvt. McEachern reached France June 27, 1917, a member of Company F., 18th Infantry, First Division. In March of 1918 he was severely gassed, and on July 7th, in the battle of Cantigny, received the wound from which he never recovered. Pvt. McEachern was hospitalized in France, and then in New York and in the fall of 1919 was brought to St. Mary’s Hospital in Minneapolis. He died there on June 15, 1920; he had been shot in the hip, and resulting in paralysis.
Pvt. Otto Mellows
Otto Mellows was born July 23, 1894, in Norway. He first lived in Minneapolis, where he worked as a boilermaker. In 1917, when he registered for the draft, Mellows was living in Delano, working as a well driller for C. Carlson and T. B. Rader. When he shipped out as a member of Company C., 3rd Pioneer Infantry, he listed his friend Miss Mary Plotnik as his next of kin. Pvt. Mellows died October 12, 1918 from disease, and was buried at Meuse Argonne – American Cemetery.
Pvt. Leonard Schaust
Pvt. Leonard Schaust was killed in action, November 10th, 1918. He left Delano for Jefferson Barracks in August, and went to Franc in September. Leonard was the son of Peter and Mary (nee Matter) Schaust. He was born May 18, 1894, and was 24 years old when he was killed.
Sgt. Caismer Warras
Sgt. Warras was born October 10, 1894 in Illinois, When he registered for the draft in 1917, he was working as a farm hand for August F. Bernice in Delano. Caismer enlisted August 2, 1917, and went to France in May of 1918 as a member of the u. S. Army 5th Division, 11th Infantry, Co. K. His unit participated in the St. Mihiel Offensive, and took their objective on September 12, but continued to sustain heavy fire the following day when Casey was killed. His body was returned to the States is 1921.
WORLD WAR II
Cpl. Florenty Copeland
Cpl. Florenty George Copeland, son of Guy E. and Marie M. (nee Gonsior) Copeland, was born September 24, 1914 in Independence township and died July 28, 1945 in the Schleck General Hospital at Clinton, Iowa. Florenty enlisted in January 1942 and served 11 months in the South Pacific where he became ill, never fully recovering. He died non-battle, of leukemia, and was buried in the Watertown cemetery. Cpl. Copeland was a member of the U. S. Army Air Corp.
Pfc. Floyd E. Felt
Floyd Ellsworth Felt was born in Delano May 5, 1919, the son of Elmer and Mable (nee Nelson) Felt. He was baptized and confirmed by the Reverend E. H. Bruns of the Mount Olive Lutheran church, but moved to Mora, Minnesota when about 18 years old. Felt was inducted into the army April 23, 1941, and in May of 1942 was sent overseas as a member of 135th Infantry Regiment, 34th Infantry Division. He was stationed in Ireland until October when he was sent to North Africa. Pfc. Felt was killed in action on April 8, 1943, and is buried in the North African American Cemetery and Memorial in Carthages, Tunis, Tunisia.
Pfc.. Joseph E. Diem
Pfc. Joseph Edward Diem was born in Delano on September 25, 1911 and was killed in action on Moratai Island, Netherland East Indies on January 27, 1945. He attended St. Peter’s school and Delano high school. On June 21, 1941 he married Olivia Barthel, and had a son, Thomas. Joseph was the son of Joseph F and Annie (nee Eppler) Diem, and the brother of Leonard Diem.
1st Lt. Clarence Gabriel
Clarence Edward Gabriel was born in Delano on July 23, 1915, the son of Joe and Mary (nee Gonsior) Gabriel. He attended both the parochial and public grade schools and graduated from the Delano high school in 1933. Clarence was working for the Great Northern Railway when he was inducted into the Corps of Engineers, U. S. Army in March of 1942. He entered Officers Candidate School in April of 1943, and was commissioned as 2nd Lt. in July 1943. Lt. Gabriel then went to the Aviation Engineer Glider Training base at Westover Field, Massachusetts, and from there he was sent to Aberdeen Proving Ground, MD were he was graduated as a Bomb Expert. In February of 1944 he was sent to the South Pacific, and saw action in New Guinea, Leyte and Palawan where he was promoted to the rank of 1st Lt. in January of 1945. Gabriel was killed accidentally on June 6, 1945, and his body interred at the U. S. A. F. Cemetery No. 1, Puerto Princess, Palawan, Philippine Islands. 1st Lt. Gabriel was a member of the 1897th Eng. Aviation Battalion, Co. B.
Pvt. Clifford Hentges
Clifford Hentges was born May 15, 1923 in Saskatchewan, Canada to American parents Wm R and Bertha (nee Grotta) Hentges. He worked on the family farm between Delano and Watertown until being inducted into the army. He was a member of Co. F, 349th Infantry “Krautkillers” Regiment, 88th “Blue Devil” Division, and killed in action in Northern Italy on April 17, 1945, after stepping on a German landmine. Pvt. Hentges is buried in the Florence American Cemetery and Memorial in Florence Tuscane, Italy. He received the Purple Heart Medal with Oak Leaf Cluster, the Silver Star Medal, and additional army awards.
CPO. Clinton Keplinger
Clinton George Keplinger was born March 2, 1918 in Lykens, Wisconsin, the son of Edward and Anna (nee Bluhm) Keplinger, and brother of Horace Keplinger. He died on July 18,1944 of injuries received in the line of duty while serving with the U. S. Coast Guard at New Orleans, Louisiana. He had been hurt the first part of July when a rope became entangled around his leg and pulled him into the water, badly breaking the leg. Efforts to save the foot and subsequently the entire leg failed; gangrene set in, amputations were necessary, and death was caused by bleeding of the stump which could not be stopped. CPO Keplinger had married Evelyn Ledet; their son was born one month after Clinton’s death, and named Clinton George Keplinger Jr.
Pfc. Richard E. Kraus
Pfc. Richard E. Kraus was killed on Peleliu Oct. 3, 1944, when he hurled himself over a Japanese hand grenade to protect his comrades from the blast. He was awarded, posthumously, the Congressional Medal of Honor, the nation’s highest military decoration. Richard, the son of Mrs. Edwin Olsen, was a graduate of Edison high school. He was inducted into the marines on his 18th birthday after he had barely missed passing army air force tests. In 1953 a destroyer ship was named in honor of Richard E. Kraus.
M/M. Donald Nelson
Donald Alfred Nelson was born March 11, 1914, the son of Alfred and Pauline Nelson. Turned down by the induction board on account of an arm injury he had suffered when run over by a car, Donald had volunteered for the merchant marines. M/M Nelson was a fireman on the S.S. Edward L Doheny, which sailed from the port of New York, New York on April 26, 1943, arriving in Aruba off the coast of Venezuela on May 29, 1943. Nelson died during the night of May 31, 1943, of drowning. He was buried in the Public Cemetery, San Nicolaas, Aruba, West Indies.
Pfc. Charles F. Perlick
Charles Perlick was born in Delano June 19, 1916, the son of Bernard C. and Albina (nee Kittock) Perlick. He was killed in action December 16, 1943 in Italy. Charles was living in Minneapolis when he registered for the draft in 1940. His body was returned to the United States for reburial in October of 1948.
S/Sgt. Sam Picus
Staff Sergeant Sam R. Picus, son of William and Bella (nee Aaronsohn) Picus, died on the New Guinea front in the South Pacific theatre of war September 30, 1944. He was born in Delano December 8, 1914, attended grade school and Hebrew school in Minneapolis, but returned to Delano for his high school years where he captained the basketball team and participated in school plays. Sam graduated from the University of Minnesota with a degree in journalism, and was working in Illinois when he joined the army in 1942. Sgt. Picus refused to go to Office Candidate School, in order to remain with his outfit. Co. M. 136th Reg. Inf. APO.
Pfc. Paul A. Roy
Paul Anthony Roy was Delano’s first fatality in World War II. He was the son of John and Frances (nee Gabrelcik) Roy, born January 13, 1918 on a farm near Lake Rebecca. After graduating from Delano High School, he worked on the home farm until being called into service on April 28, 1941. Pfc. Roy was a member of the 164th Inf. Regiment, Co. E. After training he was sent overseas to New Caledonia where he remained until shortly before he was killed in action at Guadalcanal on November 7, 1942. During his memorial services at St. Joseph’s church the entire Delano business district locked its doors to pay their respects to Roy.
Ens. Gerald E. Mergen
Ensign Gerald Earl Mergen gave his life for his country when the Navy Patrol plane in which he was conducting a routine flight crashed into the sea and exploded May 14, 1945 north of Daytonna Beach, Florida. Mergen was attached to the Jacksonville Naval Base. Born in Frazee, Minn. on March 9, 1923, Mergen moved to Delano with his parents, Frank and Ida (nee Krenz) Mergen between 1935 and 1940. By 1942 he was in San Diego, working for the Leighton Air Craft Comm. Ens. Mergen married Joyce Simmons in Florida March 8, 1945, just two months before his death. The bodies of Ensign and the four other officers killed in the accident with him were never recovered; a memorial service was held for Ens. Mergen at the Delano Methodist Church May 27, 1945
VIETNAM WAR
Sgt. John J. Russek
Sgt. John J. Russek, the son of Clarence and Luella (nee Rieland) Russek was killed in action in Vietnam December 13, 1968. John was born February 19, 1948. He graduated from Delano High School in 1966, and was employed by the Minnesota Highway Dept. before leaving for Vietnam June 20, 1968. Sgt. Russek was in the Light Weapons Infantry, Co. A, 18th Inf. Regt., 1st Battalion.
Pfc. Douglas D. Wallin
Pfc. Wallin, the son of Dewey and Veda Wallin, was born October 29, 1946 in Rochester. He was referred to as a former local boy in the Delano Eagle. Douglas had been in the service since January 1967, injured by an exploding mine on June 20, and died August 26, 1967 as a result of those injuries in a hospital in Japan. Pfc. Wallin was a member of the U. S. Army 16th Infantry, 1st Bn., Co. HHC.
'Delano Heroes Remember...' is a Gwen Briesemeister-Chase Production Film. Interviews by: Delano 5th grade students 2008
Featurine Pete Theis, Carroll Lundeen, Fred Gordon, and Walter Groz. The short version was made in order to enter it in the Greatest Generation project sponsored by the History center. The film won Honorable Mention.
Memorial on Bridge Ave by the Legion