Men from different parts of Missouri maintain strong bond after serving in WWII

Combat experiences often draw men closer together than brothers. The same is true for Ivan Lee and James Mansker, two World War II Army veterans whose friendship has spanned about 70 years.

Neither man knew the other before the war, but the pair, along with Stacy Leach, from Peace Valley, Missouri, fought in the Army on the Philippine Islands, and later served in Korea before that war broke out.

When their service was complete, the three men agreed to meet at the Float Stream Restaurant in Van Buren, Missouri, on the Wednesday after Labor Day. Leach, who died about 16 years ago, came up with the meeting time. Mansker said Leach was the one who held the three of them together and kept them steady. Without each other's friendship, they probably wouldn't have made it through the war.

Photo by Janet Jackson (James Mansker, 89, Of Lebanon, Left, And Ivan Lee, 89, Of Jackson, First Met At Jefferson Barracks In St. Louis In 1944. They Were Sent To Camp Hood, Texas, And Then On To The Philippine Islands For 18 Months, Until The End Of World War Ii. They Were Together A Total Of Two Years, Two Months, And 26 Days. Following The War, They Served In The Korean War.)

"We would have been in an insane asylum," Mansker said.

When they meet now, Lee and Mansker usually talk about the war and catch up on each other's lives.

"We really don't go over much of what we [did] when we were in the service because it's not really something we like to remember too much. It was just that we had to do it," Mansker said. "... We have pretty strong feelings for each other. There's times that we went through you can't even imagine, and there's no way of telling it."

Both 89, Lee and Mansker first met at Jefferson Barracks in St. Louis in 1944 as they were placed in nearby quarters. They were sent to Camp Hood, now known as Fort Hood, in Killeen, Texas, and were together more than two years.

Lee is a little more talkative about his experiences than Mansker, but still doesn't tell the whole story of their experience with the 108th Infantry, 40th Division.

The men were given an M1 rifle and told to forget the basic training they learned in the United States, because it wouldn't work in the Philippines.

"The company I was in had four squads," Lee said. "All four of us would get together. We were about seeing-distance from each other; we were hunting for the Japanese and we would clean them out."

Lee said they walked all day, returning to camp at night. This went on for a month. "[There] wasn't too much exciting going on, but we left a pretty good size cemetery," he said.

After Leyte, the troops went to another island that had more Japanese than the last and more people were killed, and following that, they went to Mindanao.

The Japanese hid in caves and they shot at the U.S. troops from about a mile off. Lee dug a foxhole, like everyone else, close to a big tree. The Japanese blew the tree to pieces.

A fellow soldier jumped in Lee's foxhole. The shooting stopped and Lee told the soldier he was in Lee's foxhole and he'd need to dig another one. The guy said he didn't have a shovel and asked if Lee would loan him his shovel.

Lee said he would, but then decided to give up his foxhole and dig another. But the guy wanted Lee's shovel back after Lee got done because Lee's first hole wasn't deep enough.

Lee found another spot to dig, but right about then, the Japanese started shooting again. "There I was. I had no foxhole and I had [given] mine away, so I ... said, 'Lord I need some help with this.' I heard a voice. It said, 'I am here; don't be afraid'," Lee said.

Lee looked around, but didn't see anyone. Then he heard the voice again saying the same thing. "Then I remembered what I said; then I remembered what I heard. I figured it was the Lord talking to me. For some reason I wasn't scared anymore," Lee said.

Lee told the soldier he didn't need the shovel anymore, so Lee crawled back to where he'd been, lay down on his back, crossed his legs, put his hands under his head and looked up at the sky. "Like that, the guns stopped," Lee said.

A short time later, Lee came down with a stomach ache. He was shuttled from medics to doctors and location to location, finally being discharged -- on paper. From there, Lee said he and his outfit joined engineers in Korea to build Quonset huts, an airport and highways. Lee drove a bulldozer for a while and then a large truck.

Mansker said he was moved from place to place in Korea, building huts and doing various other jobs.

Their families

Lee, who grew up in Dexter, Missouri, and has lived in Jackson about four years, was married to his late wife, Mary Ann, for 62 years. They have a daughter, two grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

He owned a Dairy Queen in Dexter and was in heating and air conditioning before retiring.

Mansker, who grew up in Laclede County, lives on a farm. He and his wife, Normalea, have six children, one of whom died, four grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.

He did body and fender work when he got home.

rcampbell@semissourian.com

388-3639