I think this is the perfect time to tell you a story of another of Iowa's WWII veterans that few have ever heard of, John Onken. I went searching for his grave since he is listed as one of Jones Counties veterans and is distantly related to my wife. It took awhile to find he was buried in Illinois, in a graveyard near his brothers home. Before WWI he had a very confusing life, he was born in Illinois to German parents who decided they needed to go back to Germany since they hadn't applied for citizenship here. They faced potential imprisonment as "enemy alliens". if they didn't leave before the war started. So John and his brother who both had been born in the US , followed along. Unfortunately their father was drafted in the service of Germany and was killed during the final weeks of the war in France. After the war ended, Germany was plunged into a very deep recession attempting to pay off the war debt. The boys decided to return to the US since they were citizens , how they ever afforded the passage is still a question! John was the younger of the two and had never learned English, his brother, being somewhat older had a better command of the langeuage and decided to return to Ilinois . John, on the other hand, contacted his uncle John Heyen in Langworthy Iowa to see if he could live with him till he got his "sea legs" under him and be able to speak the language. He had an advantage here because he did speak Platt, or low German, and many of the farmers in and around Langworthy spoke a version of Platt that was much earlier but easy enough to figure out. He was well liked among the farmers and never failed to have work even in the darkest days of the depression here. On a fateful day in December, 1941, he was working on the Henry Jacobs farm on a Sunday, attempting to get a windmill working that had stopped. Henry's wife was a cousin to my father and one day visiting with his daughter, Dorothy Nagel, I heard this very heart felt story from Dorothy. She told me how much she liked John, growing up around him. But this day would always stay in her memory. Her mother had come out on the porch to tell everyone that the Japanese had just bombed Pearl Harbor. Everyone was shocked by the news, but what stuck in Dorothy's mind is what John said, "Well now that there is war, I'll have to go, but I probably won't be coming back." As it turned out, John was soon drafted and ended up in the Dakotas in the horse cavalry, which soon was mechanized and later sent to England. John had been assigned to a "Scout" outfit, and as a result ended up on one ot two boats headed for two Islands off the coast of Normandy proceeding the invasion by literally hours. The Germans had control of these two islands, it was thought that the islands had been abandoned, but fear of command detinated mines on the beaches where the troops would soon be landing made it imparative they make sure there were no Germans left. Two of the Scout outfit were killed that night, one from each boat. I have not discovered who the second one was as he died on the other island. Unfortunately John stepped on a mine and died as a result. No Germans were on either island. John's body was taken back to England and buried there. I put this story on the web and it was picked up by the people in Virginia who had the most people die at Normandy from one small town.. They had built a memorial to all those who died on that first day of the Normandy invasion from the US, but John was not included on the monument. They wanted to invite those related to John to come to Virginia for the dedication of his name on the monument! I Unfortunately had to tell him that we couldn't make it and most of his closest relatives were citizens of Germany! On retrospect, because John was considered to be one of those who died at Normandy and was on this mission before the invasion started, he would likely be considered either the first or the second to die at Normandy during the invasion! Fortunately his brother survived Normandy and returned to Illinois. He too had passed prior to this dedication, but at least he survived the war. By his request, John was brought to Illimois for burial after the war. Two years ago, while in Germany celebrating my birthday with distant relatives, we mentioned that some of ohn Onkens relatives had lived in the area. As it happened a nephew of John's lived only a few houses away and was at home at the time! We showed him a picture of John and the first thing he said was, "Oh, my uncle John!" .
I think this is the perfect time to tell you a story of another of Iowa's WWII veterans that few have ever heard of, John Onken. I went searching for his grave since he is listed as one of Jones Counties veterans and is distantly related to my wife. It took awhile to find he was buried in Illinois, in a graveyard near his brothers home. Before WWI he had a very confusing life, he was born in Illinois to German parents who decided they needed to go back to Germany since they hadn't applied for citizenship here. They faced potential imprisonment as "enemy alliens". if they didn't leave before the war started. So John and his brother who both had been born in the US , followed along. Unfortunately their father was drafted in the service of Germany and was killed during the final weeks of the war in France. After the war ended, Germany was plunged into a very deep recession attempting to pay off the war debt. The boys decided to return to the US since they were citizens , how they ever afforded the passage is still a question! John was the younger of the two and had never learned English, his brother, being somewhat older had a better command of the langeuage and decided to return to Ilinois . John, on the other hand, contacted his uncle John Heyen in Langworthy Iowa to see if he could live with him till he got his "sea legs" under him and be able to speak the language. He had an advantage here because he did speak Platt, or low German, and many of the farmers in and around Langworthy spoke a version of Platt that was much earlier but easy enough to figure out. He was well liked among the farmers and never failed to have work even in the darkest days of the depression here. On a fateful day in December, 1941, he was working on the Henry Jacobs farm on a Sunday, attempting to get a windmill working that had stopped. Henry's wife was a cousin to my father and one day visiting with his daughter, Dorothy Nagel, I heard this very heart felt story from Dorothy. She told me how much she liked John, growing up around him. But this day would always stay in her memory. Her mother had come out on the porch to tell everyone that the Japanese had just bombed Pearl Harbor. Everyone was shocked by the news, but what stuck in Dorothy's mind is what John said, "Well now that there is war, I'll have to go, but I probably won't be coming back." As it turned out, John was soon drafted and ended up in the Dakotas in the horse cavalry, which soon was mechanized and later sent to England. John had been assigned to a "Scout" outfit, and as a result ended up on one ot two boats headed for two Islands off the coast of Normandy proceeding the invasion by literally hours. The Germans had control of these two islands, it was thought that the islands had been abandoned, but fear of command detinated mines on the beaches where the troops would soon be landing made it imparative they make sure there were no Germans left. Two of the Scout outfit were killed that night, one from each boat. I have not discovered who the second one was as he died on the other island. Unfortunately John stepped on a mine and died as a result. No Germans were on either island. John's body was taken back to England and buried there. I put this story on the web and it was picked up by the people in Virginia who had the most people die at Normandy from one small town.. They had built a memorial to all those who died on that first day of the Normandy invasion from the US, but John was not included on the monument. They wanted to invite those related to John to come to Virginia for the dedication of his name on the monument! I Unfortunately had to tell him that we couldn't make it and most of his closest relatives were citizens of Germany! On retrospect, because John was considered to be one of those who died at Normandy and was on this mission before the invasion started, he would likely be considered either the first or the second to die at Normandy during the invasion! Fortunately his brother survived Normandy and returned to Illinois. He too had passed prior to this dedication, but at least he survived the war. By his request, John was brought to Illimois for burial after the war. Two years ago, while in Germany celebrating my birthday with distant relatives, we mentioned that some of ohn Onkens relatives had lived in the area. As it happened a nephew of John's lived only a few houses away and was at home at the time! We showed him a picture of John and the first thing he said was, "Oh, my uncle John!" .
Excellent article. Thank you!
That was very moving. Thank you.
Thanks for a terrific story, Pat, and for honoring your Uncle Adrian and his service.
Oh, Pat, I am sorry you did not get to talk with him. Lovely story.
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