A real "Band of Brothers"
by Linda Sorenson
My grandma had five of her six sons in World War II. They had all come home on leave for their grandfather Carlson's funeral in 1945 and stood with their nephew, Roger, for this picture. The brothers are (L-R): Jack, Clyde, Gordon, Dale, and Dee Schvaneveldt of Logan, Utah. My dad was the only sailor (fourth from the left).
My grandparents were divorced at that time. My grandfather was Joseph Hyrum Schvaneveldt II. My grandmother -- the lady who gets all the credit for raising this crew and their younger brother, Calder, and their baby sister, Carol -- was Mamie Carlson Schvaneveldt. She was very, very lucky to have all five of those sons return home unharmed!
The oldest brother, Clyde, was career Army and retired in the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. He served in Germany and then went to the Pacific.
Although Jack served during WW II, I don't know where. Later, though, his National Guard unit was called up to fight in Korea (during the Korean Conflict).
Dee served in the Pacific. He was with the group that occupied Japan after WW II ended.
Gordon went in for the "clean-up" in Germany. While there, he suffered badly frozen feet and actually had a disability from that. The last Christmas before they came home, they all had a lot of German Marks that couldn't be taken home. So, they went to the florist shop and had flowers sent home (here in Utah) to everyone they knew. My grandma and Aunt Carol, all my grandma's sisters and the neighbors got beautiful bouquets of flowers. After the local florist ran out of flowers, they were instructed to send beautiful, expensive vases.
My Uncle Jack and Uncle Gordon are still alive. The rest of the brothers, including Calder (who is not in the picture above), have all passed away. My Dad was killed at the age of 42 in an airplane accident near Elko, Nevada.
My grandma was a great woman. She raised seven kids alone during very tough times. They had a milk business. She and the boys milked the cows, bottled it, and then delivered it to their customers. She was also the "Avon Lady" here in Logan (Utah). The whole town was her area. She never learned to drive and didn't have a car - so she took and delivered orders by walking her entire route!
While the boys were in the service, she took Calder and Carol to see the movie that came out about the Sullivan brothers (five brothers who were killed when the ship to which all five were assigned, the USS Juneau (CL-52), was sunk on November 13, 1942). Aunt Carol wrote to my dad once and said that they had liked the movie and that grandma had not cried until they showed the brothers' striped overalls hanging in a row on the clothesline.
She was "MY" grandma. She made all of her grandkids feel that way individually. I am the second to oldest grandchild, and MY grandma and I spent lots of wonderful times together. She left a great legacy.
Here's a photo of my mom and dad,
Dale and Dorothy Maples Schvaneveldt:
My sailor daddy didn't actually get into the war. He graduated from high school in 1944 and immediately joined the Navy. He was training to be a tail gunner, so I'm glad the war ended before he saw action -- or I might not be here now!
To learn more about the Sullivan Brothers, please click here.
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