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Born: May 26, 1917
Place: Le Center, Minnesota
Parents: George Alphonse DeGonda
Mary Ann Weber
Married: July 26, 1941
Age: 24
Wife: Luciel Stanek
Children: 3
Death: January 12, 1991
Age: 73
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After attending business college, George worked for the FordMotor Company. It was during this time, in 1941, that he and Luciel were married. Following their marriage, George worked for the Twin Cities Federal Ammunition Plant in Rosemont.
During WWII, George was called into the Army in 1943, leaving his wife and baby daughter who was only three months old. He was assigned to the 508th Ordinance Heavy Maintenance Company (field Army), attaining the rank of Technician 5th Class (Corporal). George’s job was to maintain military weapons. He served in the Pacific theater, stationed at Oro Bay, Papua, New Guinea, and in Leyte, Guam, Philippines. While being restationed by ship, George showed a bit of his humor by writing, Sea sickness was a problem with many, especially after having beans for breakfast! About their landing in the Philippines, he wrote, Our landing was made by amphibian trucks called “ducks” amid a bombing and strafing attack. I will not mention numbers of fatalities or others wounded. At the end of the war and after serving for nearly three years, George received an honorable discharge. He observed, My experience in the war showed me that in a war there is no winner—alllosers.
George then attended Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter, Minnesota, were he studied to be a pharmacist. Because of his growing family, he left Gustavus and joined the Green Giant Company. The company placed him in Cokato and Montgomery before moving him and his family to Le Sueur, Minnesota, in 1952. It was there where they remained for the duration of George and Luciel’s lives. George continued working with Green Giant, culminating in the position of Manager of Distribution, until his retirement in 1977.
Inhis leisure time, because he was an avid sports fan, George attended as many sporting events as he could (was a season ticket holder for the University of Minnesota football team), and watched any and all sports on television. His wife often joked that he would evenbe happy to watch Henderson and Ottawa (small villages inthe area), play Tiddly Winks! As a golfer and a member of the Le Sueur Country Club, he rarely missed a “Men’s Night.” He also was a long-time bowler. In testament to his Catholic faith, George was a member of the Knights of Columbus and the Catholic Order of Foresters. He and Luciel enjoyed traveling in the United States as well as in Europe and Mexico. They spent parts of many winters ineither Majorca, Spain, or in Mazatlan, Mexico.
George died suddenly from a heart condition in 1991, just six months shy of his and Luciel’s 50th wedding anniversary. The two are buried together in Fort Snelling National Cemetery, Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Oro Bay, Papua, New Guinea, 1944Thefollowing letter was sent by George to his wife on the day WWII ended:
The Philippines
August 15, 1945
My darling wife and daughter:
Thisis the day we’ve been waiting for, for such a long, long time. We received the news this morning at the shop at about 9:00 that the Japanese had accepted our terms—of course at that time it could have been a rumor because it was just being passed from one guy to another. This noon, at12:15, the news hour, the day room was packed with fellows listening to theradio! When the words “thefighting is over” came over the airways, the guys let out a yell so loud thatyou should have been able to hear it, started hugging each other, and literallywent wild!
Afterthe news was over, I went back to the tent and laid on my bunk. I started praying thanks to God andbefore I knew it, tears started coming to my eyes—I was so happy for myselfthat I just couldn’t help it! Mydarlings, I can’t help but tell you that I’ve been like a baby most of theafternoon—I caught myself day dreaming of you and home several times andcouldn’t seem to be able to get my mind on my work. I’ll have to snap out of that or I won’t be doing my shareto get the work cleaned up so I can come home! I hope you won’t be expecting me to step off the boat one ofthese days because as you probably know, I’m a member of the service forces,and it will now be our job to clean up the place, process, and prepare for storage of all equipment! Of course I won’t be here ‘til the jobis done, but I know I’ll have to help for a while—so just keep hoping and praying that the Lord sees fit for me to come back to you as soon as possible,my angels. I know it won’t be sovery many months!
I suppose soon censorship will be lifted and then I’ll be able to tell you al labout everything that happened to me since I pulled out of San Francisco over19 months ago—or would you like me to wait till I get back to you to tell you my story? I think maybe it wouldbe more interesting to tell you in person!
Ididn’t receive a single letter from you for the past two days, my angels, so Idon’t have anything to answer—but even if I did, I doubt if I could write about anything except in this one train of thought—the end of the war!
Think I’ll go to the show tonight to sorta’ celebrate a little. I haven’t any beer and I won’t drink any of this rotten Filipino whiskey! I’ll have my real celebration when I get back to you sooner than soon—I hope and pray!
I love you, my darlings, with all my heart and soul. I just can’t wait for the day to come when I will be back to you and tell you in person. Good-nite, my angels! Your most loving hubby and daddy—George.
