Veterans of Kittson County

Comment by Marcy Johnson on June 26, 2009 at 8:47am

Arthur Kraulik - Donaldson WWI

Arthur Kraulik-Corporal, Aerial Service; home at Donaldson, MN; entered the service 16 March 1918. He went to an Aviation Field in Texas and later to an aerial school in St. Paul. He was then sent to Mather Field in California and discharged at Camp Grant, IL on 14 Feb 1919.
Arthur Kraulik's World War I draft registration card

Comment by Marcy Johnson on June 26, 2009 at 9:06pm

Aloysius K. Malinski - Orleans WW I

Aloysius K. Malinski of Orleans, MN was inducted into service on the 5 Febuary 1918 and entrained from Hallock for Camp Dodge. Rank private. Assigned to Co. H 131st Div. Sailed from Camp Mills in May and landed in Brest. Served as a bugler at the front. Was killed 9 August 1918 at the Somme front with a machine gun bullet. Born 19 December 1892 at St. Louis, MO.
Aloysius K. Malinski WW I draft registration card

Comment by Skip Smolak Rither on November 28, 2013 at 1:28pm

+Raymond Frederick Smolak, Lancaster MN, 10 Sept. 1917 - 14 Nov. 2003.  Raymond was the son of George Francis and Mary Florence Larter Smolak.  Raymond or "Pine" as he was known by everyone who knew him, graduated from Lancaster High School in 1935.  He served as a Staff Sergeant, U. S. Army, 306th Infantry Regiment, 77th Infantry Division, in the Philippine Islands during World War II.  Sgt. Smolak was wounded in action and was awarded the Purple Heart.  He was evacuated to a hospital in Hawaii.  As with most war veterans, he said scant little about his experiences in battle.  However, he often recounted how exhilarating it felt to have a hot shower after several months of living with dirt, mud, heat and oppressive humidity in the Phillipine Islands.  Raymond also said that the fresh pineapple he was served at the hospital in Hawaii was the most wonderful food he had ever eaten.  The photo on the right was taken Marach 22, 1943.  The dates and locations of the other photos are unknown.  My Uncle Raymond is buried at Fort Snelling National Cemetery in Minneapolis MN.  Plot: Section L Site 4361.  Vecnaja Pamjat.

Comment by Skip Smolak Rither on November 28, 2013 at 9:32pm

Copy of the discharge paper for Private First Class George Smocknck who lived in Orleans.  This document was found amongst the documents of my grandmother, Mary Florence Larter Smolak, wife of George Francis Smolak.  My uncle Raymond Smolak said that he remembered the name Smocknck but could not recall any other details.  In field 9, Permanent Address for Mailing Purposes, Pvt Smocknck lists Verna Smolak, Orleans, Minn.  Verna Prady Smolak was married to Kasmir Smolak, brother of my grandfather George Francis Smolak.  It cannot be explained why my family came into possession of this document.

Comment by Skip Smolak Rither on November 29, 2013 at 4:30pm

  The U. S. Cadet Nurse Corps was established by Congress in 1943 under the Bolton Act.  The objective was to train nursers and relieve the shortage of nurses on the home front and to provide additional nurses for the war effort.

  Eunice Elaine Smolak was a member of the Cadet Nurse Corps.  She graduated from Lancaster High School in 1941.  Following graduation, she entered nurses training at the Grand Forks Deaconess Hospital School of Nursing, in Grand Forks, North Dakota graduating on February 23, 1945

Eunice Smolak, Deaconess School of Nursing graduation photo, 1945

  Ms Smolak enlisted in the U. S. Cadet Nurse Corps and was assigned to the Bushnell General Hospital (also known as the Army and Navy Masonic Service Center), a 1,500-bed military hospital on a 235-acre site a mile and a half south of Brigham City, Utah.

Bushnell General Hospital Quadrangle at retreat.  Note those who are standing at attention and saluting the flag as it is lowered.

Cadet Nurse Corps friends pose for a candid shot in a photo booth.  They are dressed in their grey and red trimmed uniforms and wearing their distinctive Cadet General Montgomery berets at a jaunty slant.

A group of Cadets pose for a picture at Bushnell General Hospital near Brigham, Utah.  They are sporting their summer uniform replete with matching hat and white gloves.  Pretty classy ladies!  Eunice Smolak is in the second row, fourth from the left.

Bushnell nurses take time out to have a little fun in front of the camera.  Eunice Smolak is in the center, dressed in the Cadet winter uniform.

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