Fred Eggers is our local expert on the historic happenings at Salem Lutheran Church in Farrar. He is still an active member at that congregation. Fred is also one of our local experts on military history. Fred will give evidence of both of those traits as we once again share a blog post that Fred has written. Thanks go out to Fred as he gives me a day off for some re-energizing after a Memorial Day weekend visit with our family in Illinois.

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When Johnny Comes Marching Home Again” is a song from the American Civil War that expressed people’s longing for the return of their friends and relatives who were fighting in the war.  The original lyrics to the first verse are:

When Johnny comes marching home again,
          Hurrah, hurrah!
We’ll give him a hearty welcome then,
    Hurrah, hurrah!
The men will cheer, the boys will shout,
The ladies, they will all turn out,
    And we’ll all feel gay,
When Johnny comes marching home.

Eighty years ago today, May 26, 1946, Salem Lutheran Congregation in Farrar gave their veterans of World War II a hearty welcome home with a Thanksgiving Service.

Salem, which was founded in 1859, already had a significant history of military service.  Several years ago, I studied the Civil War service records and found documentation that ten of the eleven founders of Salem Congregation served for the Union Army in the Civil War.  The eleventh was exempted for medical reasons. Several other early members, including its first schoolteacher, were also veterans of that war.  However, it was sometime later that I discovered that Salem did have a casualty of the war and that he was Salem’s first confirmand.  I told the story of the death of Johann Flamme in a blog on May 26, 2019, entitled A Young Civil War Casualty.

During World War I, fourteen members of Salem served in the U. S. Army, including seven that saw action in France and Germany.  All of them survived the war, but at least a couple of them later suffered from health problems due to being victims of gas attacks while in combat in France.

Prior to the start of World War II, the United States began a large buildup of its military.  During this time Wilhard Rauss volunteered in January 1940 and Fred Versemann from Red Rock joined in November 1940.  The draft began with the first registration on October 16, 1940, and the first men entered military service on November 18.  Most of Perry County’s draft quotas were met by volunteers until March 1941.  Elmer Schuessler and Paul Mahnken were the first draftees from Salem and among the first from Perry County.

Beginning in August 1942, Pastor Dommer posted the addresses of servicemen in the congregation’s monthly newsletter, the Salem Silent Servant. Monthly updates were given in the newsletter of who entered the military, addresses, and changes in location and status throughout the war.

In February 1946 the newsletter announced that a committee had been formed to arrange for a Thanksgiving Celebration for the returning servicemen.

The Honor Roll in the Thanksgiving Program listed 69 members from Salem and 10 members from the Shiloh Mission Congregation with their enlistment or induction date and their discharge date if it was known.  I have added the discharge dates for those who were discharged later.

The Order of Service in the program listed the hymns and other parts of the liturgy.  It also included the Presentation of “Welcome Home” Folders for the veterans.  Thanks to Kathy Steffens Stueve I can display the folder that her father, Norman, received.

In the June 1946 Salem Silent Servant, Pastor Dommer stated that he was confident that the 523 members present at the Thanksgiving Service were much impressed when the returned servicemen marched into church.

The May 30, 1946, edition of the Perry County Republican newspaper contained a front-page article that reported on the service and other activities of that day.

At some time during that day of celebration, a photo was taken of the veterans on the front steps of the church at Salem.  Thanks to the late Jim “JC” Meier who gave me a copy of that photo several years ago, we can display it here.

In studying the available service records for those veterans, primarily from their discharge records that were posted in the county newspapers, I found that they had participated in all of the major battles and campaigns of World War II, including North
Africa, Italy, the Normandy Invasion, the Battle of the Bulge, and the Occupation of Germany in the war against the Nazis.  They also served in the South Pacific front in Hawaii, Iwo Jima, the Philippines, Okinawa, and the Occupation of Japan.  Others saw duty in less known areas such as the Aleutian Islands, Greenland, and a couple that were stationed in Bermuda for almost three years.  Here are a few examples of discharge records.

These veterans returned to a rapidly changing America.  Horses and mules were being replaced on the farms by tractors and threshing by combines.  Those discharged prior to the end of the war had opportunities to work in the defense industry in Saint Louis, but by 1946 jobs were no longer plentiful.  Some took advantage of the G I bill to learn new jobs.  This March 1946 article tells us that Gilbert Cornehlsen was employed at the garage in Farrar under the G I Training Program and that Hubert Lorenz and Leonard Mahnken were employed at Eggers & Company.  I have been told that they both received G I bill benefits.

I did not recognize many of the names of the veterans in the Honor Roll, although the family names were all familiar.  By researching the 1950 census and newspaper articles I found that almost 40% of the Salem members listed were no longer living in Perry County in 1950.  Three were in Cape Girardeau County, 15 in Saint Louis and surrounding areas, two were in Nebraska and Oklahoma, and one each in Kansas City, Iowa, and Ohio.  In addition, three were with the military and were in Illinois, Washington State, and Austria.  Of the nine Shiloh veterans, four were in Perry County, three in the Saint Louis area, and one each in Chaffee and Carbondale.

The Salem and Shiloh Congregations were blessed to have only one fatality among the 79 members that served in the military during World War II.  Robert Wilson Hughey of the Shiloh Mission Congregation died on September 15, 1944, of wounds received in Belgium.  A memorial service was held for him on November 12 of that year at the Shiloh Church.  His remains were returned and a funeral service was held for him on June 12, 1949, and they were buried in the Shiloh Church Cemetery.  Pastor Dommer officiated at both of those services.

America observed Memorial Day yesterday to honor all that lost their lives in service to their country like Johann Flamme and Robert Wilson Hughey.  Only about 6% of the adult population of the United States are veterans and they deserve to be honored and respected for their service to our country. We also need to be like Salem in 1946 and be thankful for those who have returned safely and pray for their continued health and well-being.