The Making of a Montanan: A Wwii Veteran’S Journey from Ranch to Hell

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Published by AuthorHouse 05/29/2013

Library of Congress Control Number: 2013909341

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Contents

Introduction

Dedication

Part I—My Roots

Chapter 1. Grandfather

Chapter 2. Grandmother

Chapter 3. Family

Chapter 4. The Homestead

Part II—Growing Up

Chapter 5. My Father

Chapter 6. My Mother

Chapter 7. Missoula School Days

Chapter 8. At The Ranch

Part III—In The Service

Chapter 9. Enlistment

Chapter 10. Boot Camp

Chapter 11. Uss Mckean Assignment

Chapter 12. Mckean In Action

Chapter 13. The Sinking Of The Mckean

Chapter 14. Assigned To Uss Preston

Chapter 15. Preston In Action

Part IV—Aftermath

Chapter 16. Home Again

Chapter 17. On The Ranch

Chapter 18. Catching Up With Old Friends.

INTRODUCTION

Under a three column headline reading: "Local Sailor Longs For Great Day When He Can Be Plain Montana Dirt Farmer", the January 21, 1944 issue of the Daily Missoulian, Missoula, Montana carried the following story:

Navy coxswain Richard Redle, USS McKean survivor, has arrived in the city from the Southwest Pacific, where his ship was torpedoed and lost last November while transporting Marines to battle fronts in the Bougainville area. He’s visiting his father, Herman Redle, and a sister, Josephine, [Clara?] 741 Taylor St., and will leave Sunday for the Pacific coast to report for duty.

Wearing four gold stars for participation in the battles of Guadalcanal, for which two stars were conferred to Bougainville and Georgia Bay, the young sailor has had 18 months of unbroken sea service and hopes now to begin shore duty. He received slight burns and ear injury in the bombardment that sank the McKean, one of the World War I destroyers, which was reconditioned for transport service in the South Pacific. He said that he left the ship a few minutes after it was struck by a [torpedo] in an attack that continued for four hours after the ship went down and while survivors were being rescued. He carried a Marine pack and said that it seemed to him that he sank so deep into the water that he would never come up again. He was so exhausted when he reached the surface he no longer cared whether he survived or not, he said, but added that after he got his breath he started swimming away from the McKean. He was picked up a mile and a half away, he said.

A merchant ship brought him and others of the crew back to the United States. On the 25 day trip he said that he managed to lose 15 pounds. Unless you are mighty hungry, you get tired of mush, he said in a laconic explanation.

Before coming to Missoula, Redle visited his uncles on their farm at Columbus. That farm, he said is where he expects to go when the war is over and, if there are those who will never be happy away from the sea, he is not one of them.

This is Richard Redle’s story, the story behind the Daily Missoulian article. In his own words he describes who he is, his roots and how the events in his growing up years shaped his character and prepared him for the ordeals of action in World War II which he describes in vivid detail.

This story has been gleaned from his own writings over the years, from interviews by reporters, from official Navy archives and from news accounts. Because there was much material recorded at different times that essentially covered the same events, some minor rewriting was required to weave the material together to provide continuity.

There is no attempt to write a history of the two vessels, USS McKean and USS Preston on which Richard served but to capture his own story and the events from his own personal perspective—many histories, both from the Navy’s own files ( especially from the Naval Historical Center) and from works privately published can be readily found. Material from official records that has been added is assumed to be in the public domain but cites have been included.

When significant material was added to fill gaps or provide necessary background information, that material is enclosed in [brackets]. Quoted material is italicized. When the sources of newspaper clippings in Redle’s collection were identified, they are cited in the text. Otherwise, acknowledgement is accorded to the following publications: The Stillwater County News, Columbus, Montana, The Billings Gazette, Billings, Montana, and The Daily Missoulian, Missoula, Montana.

The contribution of Shipmate’s personal diaries and logs is also acknowledged as the source of material, either directly or as stimuli of recollection. They include Bill Hoysradt, Elton Heberg and others.

All photographs are from the Redle family albums with the exception of the two of early day Columbus which are from the Northern Pacific Railroad postcard collection and the pictures of the USS McKean and USS Preston which are from the US Navy archives.

Also acknowledged is the participation of family and friends who participated in the assembly of the data. They wish to remain anonymous.

DEDICATION

This book is dedicated to friends, family, fellow Montanans, and Shipmates on the USS McKean and USS Preston. And it is especially dedicated to those young sailors we pulled from the water and off battle damaged sister ships, laid in rows on our deck, sewed in canvas shrouds with five-inch shells between their knees for weight and then slipped silently into the sea. They journeyed with us but did not come back to the land they gave their lives for.

PART I—MY ROOTS

I am a true Montana native. I was born in Columbus, Stillwater County in 1922 and have lived most of my life there except when I was going to school and during my years in the service. I was seven years old and staying with my Grandmother and Uncles on their ranch on Whitebird Creek when my mother died. After that, I spent every school vacation I had on the ranch. I went to school in Missoula as my Dad worked there as a machinist for the Northern Pacific Railroad. He was on strike when I was born

I am a first generation American on my mother’s side and second generation on my father’s side. My mother and both my father’s parents were born in Germany. I’m proud of my heritage. My story is their story; the story of our investment in life, liberty, God and country.

Chapter 1. Grandfather

Grandfather,

Herman Redle, Sr.

My Grandfather, Herman Redle, Sr., was born March 26, 1863 in Gottenheim, Germany. His father’s name was Richard so I guess I inherited my name from him. Herman served in the German Navy as a young man. His life work was devoted to making beer, and he came to Buffalo, New York, about 1890. On May 20, 1892 he married my Grandmother in Buffalo, New York and had four children (my father Herman Jr., Richard, Josephine, and Ottman). My Aunt Carolyn was born after they moved to Missoula.

They came to Montana in 1900 and built a house in Missoula. They came to Missoula because my granddad had a relative there. My dad always called him Uncle Joe but I’m not sure of the relationship. He was a Redle and he had some connection with the ownership of the brewery in Missoula for a number of years. [Per his obituary in the December 30, 1948 edition of The Daily Missoulian, Joseph Redle, a native of Louisville, Kentucky was born 1869 and came to Missoula around 1898 as Brewmaster and part owner of the Missoula Brewing Company. According to the Highlander Brewery website, the brewery dates back to 1874 by some accounts. By 1900, it was known as The Garden City Brewery and by 1910, the product was known as Highlander Beer. For the original launch of Highlander, the owner wrote to the baseball team based in New York City, known then as The New York Highlanders. The request was for consent to use the name HIGHLANDER. The response from the team was sure, go ahead, because we are changing our name soon anyway. By 1912, the New York Highlanders had become the Yankees.]

Grandmother,

Josephine (Jung) Redle.

I even know the house in Missoula where my granddad lived while he was there. Dad kind of talked about it, he never said a lot about Uncle Joe but I think it was why my grandparents came to this country. My granddad was a brewer by trade but they always had a couple of milk cows no matter where they went. My dad told about how the Indians went through by their house up through Rattlesnake Canyon; there wasn’t near the houses and stuff you see now. The Indians went through there on their way to and from their summer retreat and my grandparents had a fenced garden where they grew cabbages. Well these Indians would go by and use a wire hook to reach in and take the cabbages.

Missoula House c.a. 1910. From left, Herman, Jr., Ott, Grandmother Josephine, Grandfather Herman, Uncle Dick, Aunt Caroline below and Aunt Josephine.

Grandfather hunting c.a. 1905.

The family moved to Anaconda about 1905, I’m not exactly sure of the date but they moved to Bozeman about 1907 so it had to have been about then. My grandpa worked over at the brewery in Anaconda at the time and the boys, Herman, Dick and Ott, used to go up in the hills and get firewood from the smelter there. They burned a lot of wood at the smelter as it was the main source of heat. The fumes and stuff from the smelter killed all the trees in the area so they would go up and get the dead trees for firewood.

In Anaconda, I went to the brewery there some years ago and took pictures of it. I have pictures of grandpa working in that brewery showing him assembling wooden barrels.