Covering our war heroes

Wars are fought over global protection, politics, ideals, even economics.

But wars are always fought by people. Over the last 100 years, the Southeast Missourian has covered those people, the heroes who died or were taken prisoner while in combat and the families and friends they left behind.

One of those people was Virginia Lewis.

For 5 1/2 years, her son, Earl Lewis Jr., was a prisoner of war in Vietnam. One day in 1973 she got a call from a soldier in Chicago. That soldier was among one of the first groups of POWs to be released, and those men had the privlelige of calling relatives of other POWs to let them know they were coming home.

When Earl finally landed in California, he got to meet his 5-year-old son for the first time.

"It was very difficult for my husband and me and Cary, his brother," said Virginia, who still lives in Cape Girardeau. "It was kind of bad, but everyone was very nice and very helpful and everybody got through it."

Today, Earl Jr., lives in California. He has three grown children including Earl Lewis III, who served in Operation Desert Storm.

The Southeast Missourian's war files go back as far as 1918, covering World War I and II, the Korean War, Vietnam, the Persian Gulf and the War on Terror.

World War I

Clarence Altenthal grew up on the Altenthal farm just off a gravel road west of Jackson. As he grew up, his responsibilities around the farm increased, and he helped his father take care of the land. But he joined the "Fighting Sixth" in August of 1917. A year and 13 days later, his parents were handed a yellow slip of paper which read: "Pvt. Clarence Altenthal, If., killed in action, on August 14."

Almost three years later, his body was returned to Jackson. He was buried on June 19, 1921.

A few months after Altenthal died in 1918, the Cape Girardeau region suffered a cluster of losses. Five men died from Oct. 9 through Oct. 26, although news of the deaths sometimes came weeks later.

Private Florence Baker of Allenville, Robert Knight of Cape Girardeau and Cleveland Baker of Jackson died of illnesses not long after entering the service.

Florence Baker, 18, began serving overseas on Sept. 25. He died 19 days later on Oct. 9. Knight, 21, died of pneumonia on Oct. 10, thirty-five days after being inducted into the Army. And Cleveland Baker died of an illness on Oct. 11, less than three months after enlisting.

On Sept. 28, 1918, Pvt. Joseph Koch was injured in battle. His arm was shattered by shrapnel and had to be amputated. His mother, Anna, received word that he was injured, but the nurse's letter said he was getting along nicely and didn't seem in mortal peril. Two weeks later, on Oct. 19, Joseph Koch died of blood poisoning.

Lt. Louis Juden of Cape Girardeau died on Oct. 26 in a Normandy, France, hospital from the effects of gas he inhaled during a battle several days before. It was the second time Juden had been the victim of poisonous gas, but this time he couldn't recover. His unit was part of an important drive between Cambral and St. Quentin.

Juden's grandmother received word of her grandson's death from a nurse at the hospital where he stayed. Juden, whose mother died when he was an infant, asked the nurse to write a letter to his grandmother. After the war, Juden's body was returned to the United States. He was buried at New Lorimier Cemetery on July 24, 1921. The local American Legion post was named in his honor.

World War II

Lloyd Dale Clippard was born about a year after the casualties from World War I stopped. In 1938, he moved with his family to a farm near Bloomfield. He enlisted in the army in June 1941.

At 19 years of age, Clippard died on Dec. 7, 1941, during Japan's surprise attack on Pearl Harbor. He was the first Cape Girardeau native who died in World War II.

Clippard was a seaman aboard the USS Utah when Japan attacked. He had been serving as an orderly and was receiving training as an electrician.

When the VFW Post 3838 was chartered on Sept. 20, 1942, it was named in his honor. His name was placed on a plaque listing war casualties at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu.

Korean War

Richard Wilson didn't have a weapon, but he wasn't going to leave an injured man behind. In trying to save a life, he lost his own.

Wilson, a private first-class, was an Army Medical Servicemen during the Korean War. His unit was ambushed and suffered heavy casualties. Wilson was killed while trying to administer aid to one of the wounded soldiers.

He won a Congressional Medal of Honor for his act. The medal citation says that Wilson rushed to the aid of the wounded soldiers, "oblivious of the danger to himself, constantly exposing himself to hostile fire. After the company pulled back, he learned that a comrade previously thought to be dead had been seen to be moving and attempting to crawl to safety. Despite the protests of comrades, unarmed and facing a merciless enemy, Private Wilson returned to the dangerous position in search of his comrade. Two days later, a patrol found Wilson lying beside the man he returned to aid. He had been shot several times while trying to shield and administer aid to the wounded man. Private Wilson's superb personal bravery, consummate courage and willing self-sacrifice for his comrades reflect untold glory upon himself and upholds the esteemed traditions of the military service."

On July 27, 1986, a new Army medical aid trainees barracks at Fort Sam Houston, Texas, was named in Wilson's honor. His portrait was put on display at the 101st Airborne War museum in Fort Campbell, Ky.

Another Cape Girardeau Korean War hero, Don Edwards, didn't die in the Korean conflict. But his sacrifice was celebrated in this city after returning home.

About 3,000 people threw Edwards a welcome home party on Sept. 29, 1953, the day he came home after 27 months as a prisoner of war during the Korean conflict.

A parade was organized in his honor, and Mayor Manning Greer presented Edwards with a key to the city.

Edwards was wounded twice before being captured.

Roland Busch Jr. came home as well after being presumed dead.

Mr. and Mrs. Roland G. Busch received an official telegram that their son, Roland Busch Jr. had died when his jet crashed into a Korean hillside. He was searching for a friend who was shot down the day before. Fifteen months later, they found out that their son was still alive. It was later learned that he crawled out of his crashed plane, his trousers on fire. For three days, he was cared for by a Korean family, then was captured by the communists and became a prisoner of war.

The Busches were visiting with relatives when they found out their son was returning home early.

"We all started crying like babies," Mrs. Busch said at the time.

The Southeast Missourian reported that Mayor Manning Greer, close friends of the Busches viseted the Busch home.

"If ever there a celebration was due, this occasion merits one," the mayor said, and Busch returned home to a hero's welcome on Sept. 22, 1953.

In a story published in the Missourian, Busch, three times decorated and newly promoted to lieutenant, junior grade, told the crowd at Courthouse Park that he just wanted to see some State College Indian football games. He died in 1961 when his Navy fighter plane crashed into the water off the coast of California.

Vietnam

The Busch family suffered another loss in the next war when Roland's brother, Elwin, died. Capt. Elwin A. Busch was 35 years old and a veteran of the Air Force. The plane he was piloting was shot down on June 9, 1967, in Vietnam.

Another Cape Girardeau native, Robert Taylor, also died during the Vietnam conflict. He grew up in Cape Girardeau and graduated in 1964 from Central High School. He was active at Maple Avenue United Methodist Church, an Eagle Scout and played two years for the Golden Eagles Marching Band at Southeast Missouri State University.

On the morning of March 8, 1968, Taylor died in Vietnam, just 11 days short of his 21st birthday.

Earl Tharp, also 20 years old, was killed on June 26 in 1970, the result of hostile enemy mortar fire at his base camp in Vietnam.

The minister's son volunteered for the Army in 1968, just following his graduation from Cape Girardeau Central High School.

Robert Gregory was a much more seasoned veteran, but he suffered the same fate as Taylor, Busch and Tharp. Gregory was shot down during a reconnaissance mission and was declared missing on Dec. 2, 1966. He was declared dead by military officials in 1973. When Vietnamese officials turned over the remains of servicemen in 1988, one of the bodies was identified as Gregory's.

Gregory, a 1950 graduate of Central High School, was 34 years old when he was declared missing. He served as a flight instructor and pilot. He received three Purple Hearts, a Distinguished Flying Cross, an Air Medal and a Silver Star.