Memorial Day in Owen-Withee has always meant more than flags, flowers, and a few solemn musical notes carried in the wind. It is a day for memory — a day to pause, look back, and ask whether we still know the stories behind the names, and whether “gone but not forgotten” is a promise we are truly keeping. How many names of the 19 Owen-Withee natives who died in wartime combat on foreign soil can you name?
Memorial Day is an invitation to learn anew. I have compiled the stories of 19 men with ancestral roots in the Owen-Withee area who left home to serve in the nation’s military, trained for war, crossed an ocean, and gave their lives on foreign soil. Some were brought home for burial. Some remain buried overseas. Some were never recovered. All deserve to be remembered.
Nineteen from Owen-Withee who died on foreign soil in service to the United States of America
ROLL OF HONOR
Baker, Earl
Barrett, Bryce
Beck, Helmer
Biddle, Raymond
Braun, Neal
Buss, Friedrich “Fred”
Cegielnik, Raymond
Erickson, Howard
Fahrenbach, Elroy
Frese, Harry
Laski, Anthony
Matson, Neils
Paul, Norman
Peterson, Lorin
Picus, Samuel
Romanczuk, Walter
Sillars, Peter
Thomson, Carl
Van Huizen, Albert
One name especially deserving to be spoken aloud is Sergeant Helmer Beck. He was born December 12, 1909, in the Town of Hoard, Clark County, and soon thereafter moved with his family to the Town of Hixon. He grew up in the Withee area, where he attended local schools. His life reflected both the hardships and the quiet determination of his generation. In 1935 and 1936, he spent time at CCC Camp New Wood near Merrill. Later, he entered the U.S. Army Air Force and served from 1942 to 1944 with the 751st Bomber Squadron, 457th Bomber Group, as a turret gunner aboard a B-17 heavy bomber. On April 20, 1944, his aircraft was shot down by German anti-aircraft fire over occupied France near Abbeville. Today, Sgt. Beck is buried at the Normandy American Cemetery in France.
I must admit that I did not know Sgt. Beck’s full story until it was brought to my attention by Mr. Antoine Rochereau, president of the Historical and Memory Capsule organization in France. He contacted me seeking more background, photographs, and details about Beck’s life before he entered the Army in 1942. That should give all of us pause. It is both humbling and unsettling to realize that a historical organization in France may know more about a Withee native’s sacrifice than many of us here at home. That is not so much a criticism as it is a challenge—a reminder that local history must be gathered, protected, and passed on before it slips away.
The encouraging truth is that remembrance can be renewed. Memorial Day gives us that chance. Every flag placed by a grave, every child who asks, “Who was he?”, every family story retold at a kitchen table helps hold the line against forgetting. If this year’s observance teaches us anything, it is that honoring the fallen is not only about ceremony. It is about curiosity, stewardship, gratitude, and the willingness to say their names. The men from Owen-Withee who never came home gave all they had for a world they hoped would be freer and safer. The least we can do is remember them, learn their stories, and pass them on. Then “gone but not forgotten” becomes more than a phrase. It becomes a responsibility.
Thank you, readers, for following my History Series. I receive a lot of feedback from readers, including my Mennonite and Amish friends, and I am grateful for it. Don’t hesitate to call or write to me or catch me in person at activities and events around Clark County when I’m in the area. You can find me on Facebook as Allan Hodnett, email me at ahodnett@aol.com, or call or text me at 414-840-0846.