Native son who commanded in Pacific was an example of leadership to the nation
The big news in Fredericksburg the week of Dec. 4, 1941 was that new traffic lights were being added to the city’s electric grid. The sheep and goat raisers were prepping for their convention in Del Rio, and the reading and sewing clubs were holding their monthly meetings.
But the morning of Dec. 7 changed everything for this sleepy hamlet. With Japan’s act of war, President Roosevelt responded with his own declaration of war the following day. Germany and Italy followed, declaring war on the U.S. as they sought to take advantage of what they believed was a weakened country.
Information was not instantaneous in those days, so four days after the attacks, the Fredericksburg Standard had a list of all who were thought to have been stationed in the Pacific at that time.
Once hometown hero Admiral Chester W. Nimitz was named to command the Pacific fleet, writers flocked here from Time Magazine and newspapers throughout the Southwest to learn about the native son’s family history.
An editorial in the Standard’s Dec. 11 edition stated the turn of events in the Pacific “had made a former Fredericksburg lad, now very, very much a man, one of the most important figures in the world and one upon whose very able shoulders rests a great portion of the task of keeping the flag of the United States riding high over the waves of a boiling ocean.
“This man, who many around here still know as ‘Ches,’ has been placed in command of the U.S. Fleet in the Pacific Ocean — a position bereft with danger and calling for the utmost in acumen and action.
“Admiral Nimitz’s appointment to this high position is a credit to Fredericksburg, the Hill Country, Texas and the entire nation. It goes without saying that the people of his native city are proud of him and that if their prayers, and their sons who will fight beside him in the Pacific, can in any measure assist him in his task, he shall become one of this nation’s sea immortals.”
Survivors of Pearl Harbor were later identified as Johnny Land, Rudy Kiehne, George Grobe, Francis Walch and William Bierschwale.
Those five high school friends had been inspired by a Navy recruiter’s visit. All enlisted and requested to serve together, and all were assigned to serve on the USS Maryland. The ship was sunk during the attack, but the five survived and helped defend it during the attack.
“Remember Pearl Harbor” became the new battle cry of all U.S. citizens.
Today, we note that 84 years later, this horrible event brought out the best in a local “lad,” thrust him into the nation’s spotlight and gave a shining exemplar of courage, skill, diplomacy and tenacity.
This week, 84 years later, we were pleased to witness the reopening of the George H.W. Bush Gallery at the National Museum of the Pacific War. It contains vital information on the hometown son who was thrust into the effort to control the Pacific.
We remain grateful for our heroes — local and from around the nation — who answered the call to win World War II.
PACIFIC FIGHTERS
Locals who served in the Pacific during the Pearl Harbor attacks: Winifred Berg, G.A. Sembritzky, Marvin Knopp, Rudy Kiehne, Francis Walch, William Bierschwale, George Henry Grobe, Werner J. Land, Albert B. Moehle, Louis Wahrmund, Emil Schlaudt Jr. and Noah Riba.
Also, Leroy Nixon, Elmer Kneese, Martin Bruns, Marvin Durst, E.J. Hagel and Lawrence Schandua.
John Wolfgang Braeutigam was at a land station on the Pacific Coast.
(The Standard noted that “some 30 boys from this community are in the Navy.”)
