Posted on 05/26/2003 2:57:44 PM PDT by MudPuppy
Walter Knodel of Spotsylvania's Wilburn Gardens is one of 11 brothers who served as soldiers, sailors and airmen
All 11 Knodel brothers served their country
Walter Knodel never saw much point in talking about the wars he fought in or the ways he served his country.
Neither did any of his 10 brothers, who also did their duty as soldiers, sailors or airmen.
"We figured a lot of people already knew what it was like, so there weren't no sense talking about it," Knodel said.
"It weren't no vacation, I'll tell you that."
And that's about all the tight-lipped 82-year-old has to say.
There's a reason he's so reserved. The veteran, who pronounces his name Ka-know-del, grew up in South Dakota and is still a Midwesterner at heart, even though he hasn't been back there in almost 40 years.
He believes there's no need to state the obvious or to go on and on about a hardship.
"That's the way he is," said his friend Betty Lael, who lives in the Chancellor area of Spotsylvania County. "It's nothing to brag about, no big deal."
But anyone else who hears the story of his family would beg to differ, especially on Memorial Day.
Walter now resides at Wilburn Gardens, an assisted-living community off State Route 3 in Spotsylvania. Today, when he looks at the red-white-and-blue bunting on the building or the small flag in his room, he'll go back in time.
"I'll think about my brothers and wish I was home," he said.
Walter was the third child of Mr. and Mrs. Andrew Knodel, who married in 1917 and lived in the small town of Isabel.
The couple had 16 children.
Three of them died young: in a house fire, from illness and in a work-related accident.
That left 11 boys and two girls, and every single Knodel male served his country in the armed forces between 1942 and 1967.
Ten of them went off to war at least once; Walter was the only one who fought in three wars. He rode through Europe with a tank battalion in World War II, discovered Korean winters weren't much colder than South Dakota ones, and rebuilt damaged ports in Vietnamese harbors.
He didn't get so much as a splinter, like the rest of his brothers.
"They never even got a scratch, as far as I know," Walter said.
Six Knodels went into the Army, four into the Air Force and one into the Navy.
All 11 of them were honored in 1967, on their parents' 50th anniversary. The U.S. Department of Defense and the U.S. House of Representatives presented the family a citation "with pride, admiration and grateful hearts," according to former South Dakota congressman E.Y. Berry.
At the time, Berry believed the Knodels were the only couple in America with more than 10 children in the armed services. His speech about the family was entered into the Congressional Record.
"This outstanding record of one family's unfailing service to their country is worthy of recognition and commendation by the nation which they have served honorably over a period of 25 years," Berry told his House colleagues.
Walter Knodel ended up spending 20 years in the Army. He met his wife, Connie, when he was stationed in Germany, and the two settled in the Chancellor area of Spotsylvania when Walter worked at Fort Belvoir.
After he retired from the Army as a sergeant, he worked almost two decades as a security officer with the Library of Congress.
He and Connie never made it back to South Dakota. Times were tough there when he was growing up, and he didn't see much of a future for himself.
"There was nothing out there," he said. "No decent jobs, unless you wanted to be a sheepherder, and I didn't want to be a sheepherder."
The Knodels became good friends with their neighbors, Betty and Sonny Lael. Connie taught Betty how to preserve vegetables and other homemaking skills, and the two had many chats over coffee.
"They were just good people," Betty Lael said. "We looked out for each other."
Connie died from emphysema a few years ago, and Betty, who's 20 years younger than the Knodels, started keeping an eye on Walter. He fell and broke his hip on the way to the mailbox one morning, and she helped him get settled in Wilburn Gardens.
The Knodels never had children, so Betty has Walter's power of attorney. She makes sure his refrigerator is stocked--that's one thing he insists on--and she talked him into sharing his story with a reporter.
He still didn't understand why anyone would be interested in what he had to say, Betty said. "He kept saying he didn't understand what the big deal was."
Date published: 5/26/2003
That was the greatest generation. My mother-in-law was 21, with an 8 month-old baby boy, living at Hickum Field, Dec. 7, 1941. Her husband, my late father-in-law, was a corporal in the Army-Air Force and they lived in base housing, 5 blocks from the air field. They were awakened Dec. 7 by the bombing and shooting. He grabbed his pants and took off to join his outfit, she watched the baby. It was 3 days before she saw her husband again, and then she and other family were shipped back to the West coast. My father-in-law was sent to the Pacific and spent 3 years there, until he was sent home with a stomach disease (they had to remove most of his stomach).
I have tried to get my mother-in-law to tell of her experiences during those times, but she just keeps saying "I didn't do anything!"
But she was there, and from what she has told us, she hid her baby under the kitchen table. She saw an American sailor running down the street with a Japanese plane shooting at him from street light level. She has talked of that, but she feels unworthy, unworthy compared to the ones that died on that day. I guess the real ones always do feel that way. She's as brave as they come.
God bless America and God bless BEER - stock that fridge!
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