SOLDIERS COMING HOME

I was three years old when World War Two ended, but I remember it well. I remember the celebration and the commotion of the college boys racing up and down Seerley Boulevard hanging on to the running boards of their old jalopies, blowing their horns and cranking up air raid sirens. It scared me because I didn't understand what was happening. But I knew it was something big. My mother finally caught up with me as I ran toward the spectacle on Seerley Boulevard and we both stood on the curb and watched it all.

The boys were coming home! Everything was going to be all right. But as the boys came home, what were they going to do then? Many went to college.

Cedar Falls, Iowa, a quiet community of about fifteen thousand residents, was home to Iowa State Teachers' College, and it became the home of hundreds of men returning from the war.

Prior to then most of the students at the college were young women. But now, many students were men. These men were more mature than the college boys of the past. Many were married with families, which created a big problem. Where were they going to live?

My family had a basement apartment in our house, and we rented it out to a number of young couples who were students at the college. It was clean and comfortable with a backyard private entrance so we wouldn't run into each other. While the apartment had a toilet and laundry, the renters had to go upstairs to bathe. No one seemed to mind.

The first couple who lived in our apartment were Jim and Onalae Jenson. Jim had been a student at I.S.T.C, but he was drafted into the Army Air Corps and served in Europe. As a bomber pilot he flew numerous missions, was shot down and captured. But he was able to escape with the assistance of the French Underground. Later Jim was shot down a second time and held for two and a half years. He was given a garbage disposal assignment under heavy guard. As the war wore down security was loosened somewhat. Jim drove a horse wagon of garbage out of the camp and just kept going until he was rescued by the French once again.

Jim finished his studies at I.S.T.C and decided to become a veterinarian. He finished his degree at Iowa State College in Ames, Iowa, and started his practice specializing in large animals in southern California. Jim cared for many of the horses used in Hollywood.

I recently heard from Onalae. Jim has passed away. It was Onalae who told me Jim's stories.

Bob Siddens, the renowned wrestling coach, and his wife Jo, also lived in our basement apartment. Bob used to take me up to the wrestling room on Saturday mornings and show me how to wrestle. He also showed me how to stand on my head. Over the years there were at least ten couples who lived downstairs.

Many other homeowners were doing the same, but the housing was very tight. More housing was needed to meet the demand.

When the war was over the military was loaded with surpluses, especially Quonset buildings. One by one, Quonset by Quonset, Sunset Village emerged from a field south of the I.S.TC. campus. Sunset Village served the housing needs of hundreds of students and their families from 1947 until 1972 when it was demolished, and replaced by apartments facilities.

Many of my friends and classmates lived in Sunset Village. Even a number of faculty members lived in Sunset Village.

I used to go with some of my friends to deliver the local newspapers. It gave me an opportunity to take a look inside a Quonset hut. The Quonset was split into two apartments, making a small facility even smaller. It was tight and hard to keep clean depending on the weather. The roads were not well surfaced. The rent was affordable and the demand was high. They took what they could get. Hot in the summer and cold in the winter. There was no insulation.

I'm going back to Cedar Falls this summer, just for a short time. But I think I'll drive down Seerley Boulevard after I drive past my old home on Walnut Street.

I'm going to take some pictures of College Hill. More to come.




My Teachers were Heroes Too!

The mission at Iowa State Teachers College was to train the best teachers for the children in the state of Iowa, and that mission has been upheld.

To accomplish that mission there had to be a tremendous effort on the part of the instructors and professors who taught their student how to teach. Among those special people there were those who also served gallantly during World War Two:

1: Dr. Howard Vander Beek guided assault landing crafts onto the beaches at Normandy. He taught English at the Price Laboratory School and was a professor at the college.

2: Dr. Randall Bebb, who taught at the Lab School, flew supplies over the "hump" from India into China. He also was a professor at the college.

3: Dr. Ross Nielson served a combat information officer on a Navy destroyer. He, also was teacher at the Lab School and at the college.

4: Dr. William Happ's engine failed on a training flight over Lake Michigan. He dreaded water for nearly two days before he was rescued. As a result he insisted on building a indoor swimming pool at the Lab School. He taught hundreds of children how to swim.