Westphal marks 75 years with American Legion

Bruce Westphal is one of the last World War II veterans in Adair County. He recently received a certificate recording that he is a 75-year member of the Carlson American Legion Post 247 of Fontanelle, a feat that few Legionaires reach.

Westphal, 95, said that the American Legion has been an organization very close to his heart during his time of involvement.

“I’m pretty proud to be a Legionaire. I haven’t been as involved as some people have, but for years and years the Legion had a drill team and we went all over the country as a group,” Westphal said, explaining the group was exclusively World War II veterans. “We would be in parades in various cities in the United States. We went to Boston, St. Louis, down on the coast at New Orleans...all different places. We had a good time.”

That group was led by Ron Purdy, and Westphal recalls the drill team lasting at least 25 years. They had navy blue uniforms they wore and were a big hit wherever they went.

Westphal has also served on honor guards of countless veterans’ funerals.

“I can’t quite hold a rifle up anymore, but I’ll still stand with them and salute when the time comes,” Westphal said.

Westphal values the American Legion as an organization for the advocacy they provide at the national level, especially for wounded veterans, for the healthcare Veterans Affairs’ health system provides, and for the camaraderie it gives to veterans.

Enlisting in the Army Air Corps in 1944, Westphal was called to active duty April 1, 1945, toward the tail end of World War II.

Taking on basic training about the time President Theodore Roosevelt passed away, Vice President Harry Truman became president.

“After I got done with basic training, I went to Lowry Air Force Base in Denver and they were training me to be a gunner on a B-29. B-29 gunners sat there and fired the machine guns at the enemy remotely. You saw a picture and fired the guns remotely, so I was learning the systems and how to maintain them,” Westphal said. “I was doing that until the war ended and Truman had the balls to go ahead and drop the A-bombs on the Japanese. I’m really happy that American people and the president helped the Japanese and the Germans get back on their feet.”

Once the war ended, Westphal went to Madison, Wisconsin for clerk/typist school, before he was honorably discharged with roughly nine months of service.

One of the biggest things Westphal says he learned during his time of service was that “there was your way, the Army’s way and another way, but everything was done the Army’s way.”

“They told you when to get up in the morning, when to take a crap, and so on and so forth,” Westphal said. “You were their baby and did whatever you were told.”

Upon returning to Fontanelle, Westphal went to college, then married his best friend Zola on Oct. 12, 1947. He worked at his father-in-law’s Zietlow Toggery, then farmed in several locations near Fontanelle for decades. His two most recent farmsteads were based north of Fontanelle for 18 years, then southeast of Fontanelle, where he has been since 1976. Dick Erbes now farms all of Westphal’s ground. Zola passed away in 2021 after they were married for 73 years.

Over the years, Westphal has enjoyed flying, golfing, and anything outdoors. He has had one hole-in one. He still frequently golfs with friends and family.

Zola was best known for her love for music, having spent more than seven decades playing organ at Emmanuel Lutheran Church.

Westphal said he feels very blessed to receive recognition as a 75-year Legionaire.

“I thank the Lord for the whole thing,” Westphal said.