Tales from the Aisles
By Mickey Thomas
Remembering Veterans
On this Veterans Day we honor the men and women who have served in the military. Those who gave their lives to defend our country are deeply remembered. The American Legion Post in Woodburn, Iowa is named after one of these heroes, Hershel Allen Oehlert, Jr.
Herschel Allen Oehlert, Jr. was one of four sons of Hershel Allen Oehlert Sr. and Emily Cecile Baldwin Oehlert who served in the military during World War II. Allen Oehlert graduated from Osceola High School in 1937 and attended the University of Northern Iowa prior to becoming a Navy air pilot. After receiving his wings at Corpus Christi, Texas, he returned home on furlough to visit friends and family. The Osceola Sentinel printed his picture in uniform, as they did many other area service men and women. The article said, “Like all other young men with colors, Allen Oehlert looks at war seriously, with a firm determination to do his bit toward winning. He has no illusion about an easy victory, knows the road may be long and rough, but is willing and ready to do his part.”
Allen Oehlert first received recognition when his squadron rescued Eddie Rickenbacher, the famous World War I flying ace, from the waters of the Pacific Ocean. Rickenbacher was on a mission for President Roosevelt to visit General Douglas MacArthur, when their B17 Bomber ran out of gas. Afloat in life rafts for 24 days, Rickenbacher and a crew of six were spotted and rescued on November 13, 1942 by Allen Oehlert’s squadron flying PBY patrol planes.
On July 6, 1943, during the Battle of the Solomon Islands, Lt. Jr. Grade, Oehlert volunteered for a single plane night bombing mission from Henderson Field, Guadalcanal. He knew the odds of a safe return were slim.
James Forrestal, Secretary of the Navy, wrote the following citation:
The President of the United States takes pride in presenting the NAVY CROSS Posthumously to LIEUTENANT, JUNIOR GRADE, HERSHEL ALLEN OEHLERT, JR. for extraordinary heroism as Co-Pilot of a Bombing Plane, attached to Bombing Squadron ONE HUNDRED TWO, operating against the enemy on Japanese-held Greenwich Island, during the Battle of the Solomon Islands, on July 6, 1943. Fully aware of the limited chance of surviving an urgent mission, voluntarily undertaken to aid in preventing a surprise Japanese attack against our forces, Lieutenant, Junior Grade Oehlert rendered gallant services throughout the perilous 700-mile flight in total darkness, through treacherous winds, and without escort or support.
Over the target, he remained cool and courageous as his plane, forced lower and lower by pursuing aircraft, executed six bold ground level attacks to annihilate the enemy’s vital radio station, installations, antiaircraft guns and personnel, and to destroy one hostile plane in the air and three on the water. Crashing into the lagoon, off the beach when his plane was caught in its own bomb blast, Lieutenant, Junior Grade, Oehlert had made a decisive contribution to a mission completed despite almost insuperable odds and, by his valiant devotion to duty, had enhanced the finest traditions of the United States Naval Service. He gallantly gave his life of his country.
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