Wegenast drafted after joins National Guard
BY JOY POWERS

In 1944 Marvin T. Wegenast joined the National Guard in Edgeley, North Dakota. Nearly a year later, in 1945, he was drafted into the Army. Eighteen men boarded a bus in LaMoure, North Dakota and were off to Fort Snelling, Minnesota for their physicals and induction into the military. They received their army uniforms and a duffel bag full of army clothing. From there Marvin was sent to Fort Sill, Oklahoma for basic training.

Marvin said, "I’d learned a lot of things right here in Edgeley with our own people in the National Guard Unit in Edgeley. That knowledge really helped me at Basic Training. I felt like I had a slight advantage over many of the other men."

Basic Training was hard work. It was here that the men were pushed hard to be in good physical shape and trained to take orders. They always did a lot of marching, sometimes as much as 10-12 miles a day.

Their mornings would start at 5 a.m. with reveille and the salute to the flag. After that they would gather for breakfast which generally consisted of eggs, boiled or fried, and sometimes bacon. Several times they had to eat K-rations. Marvin commented that these were pretty "blah" in taste, but they were enough to keep you going.

After breakfast they would prepare for the days work by marching or doing drills. One of the drills had a course that involved a ladder laid high over the top across some water. The men would have to cross the water by hanging onto the ladder and going hand by hand swinging across the rungs. "It was surprising how many men would fall into the water," said Marvin.

"We had quite a strenuous swimming program and a big swimming pool," said Marvin. "If you didn’t jump in, they would push you in." Marvin remembered that there was a big net at the bottom of the pool and every so often it would be wenched up. "Most of the time there were about 2-3 guys in the net that had been at the bottom of the pool," said Marvin.

Learning to shoot the cannons was also a part of their training. They were trained to shoot and maintain the Howitzer 105mm and the Howitzer 155mm. "Being a farm boy, I didn’t have too many problems learning to drive the tanks, but there was still a lot to learn because they were so big and clumsy," said Marvin. Each tank generally had a crew of 5-6 men to operate it.

The M1 was their main rifle. Hours were spent by the men taking them apart, cleaning them and putting them back together. It was important that they knew everything about their gun they could so if the gun were to ever break during combat, they could repair it quickly.

Everyone received turns at KP Duty at least once a week. Marvin remembered a time when he and a friend had the weekend off. They hopped into his friend’s car at 5 p.m. and drove back home to Edgeley for the weekend. However, when it came time to go back, the car broke down near Aberdeen. They decided they would have to take the train and asked the conductor to write them a note to give the commanding officer explaining what had happened and why they were late returning. When they finally reached Fort Sill, Oklahoma, they showed the note to the commanding officer. As he crumpled it up and tossed it in the wastebasket he said, "I’ve heard them stories before." The men were assigned to KP duty for seven days, which meant after a hard day working and training; they spent their time in the kitchen doing dishes.

Marvin also remembered a time when he and three others were assigned to KP duty. They had worked very hard to get the silverware clean when the staff sergeant came in and ran his fingers across the tines and told the men they were too greasy and ordered them to redo it. The men had plans for that evening to attend a New Year’s party. However, upon receiving the orders, they began to rewash the silverware. It was 2:30 a.m. when they finally finished and no one was in the mood any longer to attend any party so they just went back to their barracks to go to bed.

One night Marvin was assigned to guard duty. He was patrolling back and forth around the barracks when he heard a noise coming from a pile of barrels. He yelled, "Halt!" but the noise continued. He fired his rifle into the barrels towards the noise and suddenly out ran a cat. He was relieved it was only a cat but Marvin said, "Back in those days, you couldn’t take any chances."

Marvin T. Wegenast was assigned to Service Company 67th Tank Battalion, 2nd Armored Division. He had received training in tank driving and maintenance of the Army Armored Tank.

PFC Marvin T. Wegenast received his special Military Police Training at Fort Sam Houston, Texas. Here he also received training as a clerk/typist. Then came the day when Marvin received his orders telling him that he would be shipped to Fort Ord, California for overseas training and from there he would be shipped onto Germany.

Approximately 1600 troops boarded a troop train and headed to Fort Ord. The trip lasted four days and five nights. Each day the train made two stops for training and exercises in the hot desert.

When they finally arrived at their destination, they learned that the President of the United States was in California. Four Army Troop Units were needed for a parade in San Francisco, California. The troops were hauled to the parade in the back of 4x4 Army trucks. It was a long, hot day for the parade and six or seven of the men passed out and were picked up by medics. Several days later they began their overseas training.

Marvin could read, write and speak German and was very excited about being sent to Germany as an Interpreter. Then two days before they were to board the ship, sixteen men were told that they needed clerk/typists at the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York. In the military, they were trained never to question orders, and although disappointed about not going to Germany, Marvin and the 15 others packed their bags and boarded the train for West Point.

Marvin felt this was a good promotion because he made and typed the military records for the Cadets. The records included daily activities of the cadets, leave of absence records, pay schedules, promotion records, all medical and shot records, and special military training records for each individual cadet.

Marvin said that the Army Cadet training was tough and the demands on the Cadets were great at all times. These men were considered to be the best in the world and were trained to succeed.

During Marvin’s time at West Point the Army had the best football team in the country. Glen Davis and Doc Blanchard were a part of the best team that West Point ever fielded. They were unbeatable and Marvin was able to attend nearly all of their games.

PFC Marvin T. Wegenast completed his work at West Point Military Academy in August 1946. He received an Honorable Discharge from the U.S. Army and headed back home to Edgeley, North Dakota.

As Marvin looked back upon his time in the service, he said that he had made friends from every state in the union during those years. He said he also realized what an advantage he had by growing up in rural North Dakota. He’d seen some men come from places like New York and New Jersey who had no idea which end of the gun to place upon their shoulder. These men had never seen a gun before. They came into the Army totally inexperienced but most learned fast and did a good job. These were things that Marvin had taken for granted with growing up on a farm and having the experience with the Edgeley National Guard before joining the Army.

Marvin said, "Many people take the United States National Guard too lightly. I feel they are an important and vital part of our community and our National Defense. Even 50 years later, I still have a real sense of pride from being a member of the National Guard."

After arriving back home, he enrolled in college at Ellendale Normal and Industrial School to get a teaching degree. He married Karolina Welder on October 15, 1946. He taught at the Ray Township #4 and #2 schools. They then farmed for 33 years and later owned the Edgeley Tastee Freez for five years. They raised 4 daughters, Theresa Paul, Clara Sylvester, Patricia Holt, and Bonita Dorhman. They continue to live in Edgeley where Marvin enjoys woodworking in his spare time and is an active member of the Edgeley American Legion Henry Parthie Post No. 146.