Not shackled by wounds

Former Jefferson City jeweler severely wounded in World War II

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Arkansas Democrat Gazette/MELISSA SUE GERRITS - 6/03/13 - Courtney and Debra Sheppard, co-chairs with Hunger Alliance's Serving Up Solutions Dinner pose at the senate floor June 3, 2013.

More than 565,000 members of the U.S. Army and Air Force were wounded during World War II, according to statistics accessed through the National World War II Museum. Many of these servicemembers returned home with missing limbs and other serious injuries, only to demonstrate to those in their local communities they would not allow their lives to be defined by their unexpected wounds.

Raised on his family's farm in St. Martins, Marvin Kaiser later moved to Jefferson City, where he worked for the former Tweedie Shoe Factory. But on Dec.1, 1942, the 20-year-old was drafted into the U.S. Army and thrust into a situation resulting in serious consequences.

"We have never really known too much about Dad's service because he wasn't the type to ever talk about what happened," said Judy Kaiser Cadice, the second-oldest of Kaiser's four children.

His discharge papers indicate he was inducted into the service at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, and assigned to a medical detachment of the 20th Infantry Regiment of the 6th Infantry Division as a medical aidman, learning to treat injuries and wounds soldiers incurred under combat conditions.
Kaiser, according to the July 6, 1943, edition of the Jefferson City Post-Tribune, returned to Jefferson City on a 15-day furlough to visit with his parents.

At the time, he was stationed at Camp San Luis Obispo, California, where the 6th Division spent several months engaged in training designed to prepare them for jungle warfare.

Shortly after Kaiser's return to duty, the division moved to Hawaii and was given the mission of defending Oahu, which included "active patrolling of beach areas as a defense against submarine attacks and the landing of small parties trained for espionage and sabotage," as noted in the book "The 6th Infantry Division in World War II: 1939-1945."

While in Hawaii, the division continued its amphibious and jungle warfare training until January 1944, when it left the island and sailed for Milne Bay, New Guinea, where troops would not only contend with Japanese artillery and snipers but deadly diseases such as yellow fever, typhus and malaria.

Kaiser was soon in combat alongside the soldiers of the division, focused on treating the wounded from the Battle of Lone Tree Hill - an engagement that began during June 22, 1944, and involved more than 8,000 Japanese troops.

The discharge papers for Kaiser indicate he received his first Purple Heart when he incurred an unidentified wound on July 15, 1944. He soon recovered from his injury and returned to the division.

The campaign against the Japanese forces continued along the northern coast of New Guinea and eventually landed the division on the Philippine island of Luzon in early 1945 to face "General Yamashita and 250,000 combat-hardened troops who were well fed and well armed," according to the website of the National Association of the 6th Infantry Division.

The ensuing battles resulted in a second wound for Kaiser on March 16, 1945 - this time in a more serious and permanent manner.

"Technician Fifth Grade Marvin Kaiser has had part of his leg amputated as a result of a wound received on Luzon in March," stated the May 27, 1945, edition of the Sunday News and Tribune. "The wound was caused by shrapnel."

In a handwritten letter dated May 25, 1945, a friend of Kaiser (who identified himself simply as "Luke") wrote, "Remember when you asked me how bad it was? It didn't look bad then, but you had bled terrible. Then I thought it might have hit an artery. Sure enough that is what happened."

Ultimately, Kaiser was evacuated stateside and received treatment, including amputation of his right leg at McCloskey General Hospital in Temple, Texas. He was awarded a Silver Star for gallantry when he was wounded leaving "his foxhole during an intense enemy mortar barrage to treat a casualty." His service also earned him a Bronze Star and two Purple Hearts.

Receiving his discharge on Feb. 25, 1946, the combat veteran married Berniece Prenger in December the same year, and the couple purchased a home on St. Louis Road in Jefferson City.

"Because of his injury,"Cadice said, "he walked with the assistance of a wooden leg and needed to find a desk type of job. He decided to get into the jewelry business."

In the years after the war, Kaiser attended watch-making school in Southwest Missouri and, in the evenings, learned to become an engraver. He also became a gemologist and jeweler and "consistently bettered himself," his daughter said.

The veteran was employed by local jeweler Phil Dallmeyer Sr. - a WWI veteran and proprietor of Dallmeyer's Jewelry - before working for Warren Duncan, owner of Duncan Jewelry. Eventually, Kaiser purchased Duncan Jewelry and operated the company under that name for several years. He changed the company name to Kaiser Jewelry in the late 1960s.

Kaiser passed away March 28, 1976, at 53 years of age, survived by his wife and four children. The family continued to operate their father's business following Kaiser's death, but it closed a few years later.

Cadice explained when it came to her father's military disability, he was always "a very private man," never sharing with his family the details of his service overseas or the traumatic injury that abruptly ended his military career.

"He was a true hero," she said. "I mean, I considered him a hero in everything he did - so kind, humble and always considerate of other people. But because he died at such a young age, we never had the opportunity to learn about what he went through in the service."

She solemnly added, "I believe it is important to thank all of our veterans because they have endured so much that many of us know nothing about. I never had the chance to say 'thank you' to my father because I never knew anything about what he went through, but I want to make sure his grandchildren know all that he sacrificed on our behalf."

Jeremy P. Amick writes on behalf of the Silver Star Families of America.