The Globe Gazette
Mason City, Cerro Gordo County, Iowa
Thursday, December 6, 2001
by Jan Horgen

MASON CITY - Leafing through the tattered pages of the scrapbook, Gerald WILKE paused, scrutinized a clipping and shook his head.

"He was my best friend," WILKE said pointing to the obituary photograph of a young soldier. "He never made it home. He never made it off the beach that day."

WILKE, a Mason City native and veteran of World War II, was half the world away aboard the USS Iowa when his mother, Alma, wrote of his friend's death.

The clipping, like hundreds of others, was placed in scrapbook Alma WILKE kept during her son's World War II service.

"It will never depreciate and only appreciate and only appreciate to me," WILKE said. "This is one keepsake I never want to lose."

As the 60th anniversary of the Pearl Harbor attack approached, 75-year-old WILKE pulled out the book of news clippings, photographs and war memorabilia. His life from 1944 through 1946 is carefully chronicled in the yellowing pages. Alma WILKE collected news articles from a variety of newspapers and magazines that contained news of the war and any mention of the battleship Iowa.

"She kept everything for me, even the letters I wrote," WILKE said, smiling fondly. "I looked through all these with her after I first came home and then just put it away for years. Lately I've started reading through it again."

As a seaman 2nd class, WILKE worked with the gunnery crew aboard the armor-plated ship. He enlisted and as an 18-year-old was heading toward the Pacific Theater aboard the battleship. As the Iowa prowled the waters with the U.S. Naval fleet, the crew often went 90 days without even a glimpse of land, WILKE said.

From Palau in the Caroline Islands to New Guinea to Saipan, Guam, Okinawa and then Luzon, many of the bloodiest battles in the Pacific during 1944, the USS Iowa moved from battle zone to battle zone.

"I remember the first time those big guns fired when I was aboard," WILKE said. "I was scared. Everyone who's been in battle is scared. There were many times I wanted to be Jesus and walk across the water. But you just put that out of your mind and get busy doing your job, like everyone else."

The ship was first deployed to the Pacific on Jan. 2, 1944, and the crew spent one year aboard, without liberty, according to historical records.

"Our ship was a floating town with doctors, medicines, meals, water, food, laundry service - anything we needed for at least three months," he said.

There were also "doings" held on the Iowa to "keep our spirits up," WILKE said.

Morale boosters included a ship newsletter that was circulated to each of the sometimes 2,500 men onboard, which told of new crew members, promotions, who won the shipboard wrestling matches, snatches of humor and news of the war from the European theater.

The book WILKE'S mother compiled contains many of those newsletters.

Also safe in WILKE'S scrapbook is a playbill of the "Fujiyama Follies" as presented by the "men of the USS Iowa" while the crew was at anchor in Tokyo Bay on Sept. 12, 1945, which details the vocal and orchestral numbers performed.

Even a copy of the celebration in honor of the third birthday of the battleship's commission and the menu that concluded with "cigars and cigarettes" for crew and officers was carefully placed in the fragile scrapbook.

"Didn't realize this would be this valuable to me in terms of memories," WILKE said, with a wistful smile as he gently turned another page. "This is just wonderful, what my mother did. There are so many memories here."

The Globe Gazette
Mason City, Cerro Gordo County, Iowa
Wednesday, November 10, 2004
by Dick Johnson

MASON CITY — Gerald WILKE is as wiry at age 79 as he was when he ran with his "gang" of friends as a boy in Mason City's Midland Heights area.

But WILKE, who weighed less than 120 pounds when he entered the Navy at 17, speaks with authority regarding the Mason City Area Veterans Monument.

His name and that of his son, Kevin, and father-in-law, Frank McCAHEM, are engraved on one of 10 impressive black granite stones in Central Park.

The monument, honoring veterans with Mason City connections, will be dedicated this morning during Mason City's annual Veterans Day ceremonies. It includes 2,338 names.

"I'm so proud of it," said WILKE, a Navy gunner's mate aboard the USS Iowa during World War II. "It's a memento for all veterans. It's one wonderful piece-of-art work."

"It's a great thing," said Doug WAYCHUS, a co-chairman of the Veterans Monument Task Force Committee. "You talk to a lot of the veterans — they've wanted something like this in their hometowns for years and years."

The Task Force Committee began meeting weekly more than a year ago. Mason City's Park Board approved construction of the monument in Central Park in February.

When the City Council voted in June not to approve a final agreement, WAYCHUS expressed his anger at the process. After discussion, approval was granted a week later.

Ground was broken on Aug. 19.

WAYCHUS said the monument was built to raise public awareness of veterans who have served, inspire young people, and help "erase some of the generation gap" between Vietnam-era veterans and those who served in World War II and Korea.

"It's an honor for a Vietnam veteran like me to be able to show them that we're good veterans," he said. "I think it's given them another look at us: 'By God, we can get things done.' But it's a tribute to all veterans."

The monument was designed by Bergland and Cram Architects of Mason City. Larry ELWOOD Construction was the general contractor. BLAZEK Electric and BITKER'S Tree Service also were contracted.

It was paid for by $100 donations from veterans and their families and friends in 34 states. The names of about 300 veterans killed in action were included at no charge.

There are 12 granite stones (including two "dedication" stones), five white granite benches engraved with the five service emblems, and American and POW/MIA flags.

The stones were provided by Braham Monument Co. of Braham, Minn. They are engraved with the veterans' names and service branches, plus patriotic quotes and reflections.

"I'm just awed," WAYCHUS said. "I'm humbled to be in a position to be a part of something that we did for them. When one of those guys comes up and pats me on the back and says, ‘That's beautiful, Doug,' it don't get no better than that."

Transcriptions by Sharon R. Becker, May of 2011