 |
| Matt Hinshaw/
The Daily Courier
Brothers, from right, Lui F. Thieme, Charles Thieme, and Johnny Thieme reminisce about their experiences during World War II Friday morning at the Bob Stump VA Medical Center in Prescott.
|
|
The Thieme brothers - Lui, Charles and Johnny - celebrated Labor Day a little early Aug. 29.
"I just knew if they didn't get together now they'd not see each other, so I called Uncle Johnny and got him to come down (from Hermiston, Ore.)," said Linda Essex, Lui's daughter, and Charles and Johnny's niece, who co-ordinated the get-together.
Why? The three brothers are in their 80s, Charles was in Hospice at the Bob Stump Veterans Affairs Medical Center and Lui lives in Prescott.
Linda's fears proved correct; Charles died at 10 p.m. Monday, Sept. 1.
The brothers, who grew up in Gallup, N.M., reminisced about the action they saw in World War II, scrapes they got into in their youth, and things they have done since last seeing each other eight years ago.
Lui recalled the time he escaped from an attacking mountain lion near Cedar Hill, Utah, by diving under water in a canal and drifting downstream.
"At times, I can still hear that mountain lion screaming," he said.
Charles, 84, who is the oldest, entered the U.S. Army in 1942. He was one of two members of his infantry unit to come out of the Normandy invasion uninjured.
However, during that campaign, Charles suffered injuries when a German grenade he caught went off in his hands. It sprayed shrapnel in his hands, feet, legs and lungs. The doctors told him the shrapnel missed all his vital organs. However, they did take 36 pieces of shrapnel out of his lungs.
After the grenade went off in his hands Charles escaped German machine gun fire and crawled about a block back to safety in the American line.
He received a Purple Heart for the wounds he suffered in action.
Johnny, 82, and Lui, 81, said they both entered the armed forces in 1944, and saw action in the Pacific Theater.
Lui, who served as a Navy corpsman attached to the Marines, said he made every landing the Marines did in the Pacific. His job was to help get the corpses of American soldiers.
"When we landed in Guam there were so many bodies on the beaches the Marines had to take bulldozers to push the bodies aside before we could get ashore," he said.
Lui said it took the Marines three attempts to get ashore on Saipan.
"They finally doubled up to get ashore successfully," he said.
The invasion of Okinawa was the worst, according to Lui.
"Nine out of every 10 Marines were killed," he said.
Johnny, who was in the Army artillery, trained for action in Japan; however, that never materialized. Instead, he spent most of his time in the occupation of Korea.
After the war, all three brothers reunited in Gallup, N.M.
Charlie worked for their father in his Indian trading post. In 1952, he bought a ranch in Durango, Colo., and operated it until four years ago. He then moved to Prescott to be near Lui and his family.
Johnny worked on his mother's ranch in Colorado for a couple of years before going to Arkansas with a friend who bought a ranch there. He stayed there for about a year. During that time, he met his wife.
From Arkansas, he moved to Mitchell, Ore., where he worked in a sawmill. Next, he moved to Eureka, Calif. Johnny said the weather did not suit him so after a year he moved to Stanfield, Ore.
From 1957-1966, he worked on a planer in a sawmill in Kinzna, Ore.
In 1966, Johnny moved to Hermiston to work in Marlette's trailer factory. He worked there for 25 years before retiring. Three years later he went back to work as a night watchman. After a decade, he retired for the second time.
After the war, Lui tried his luck in the clay mines outside of Gallup. Not liking that work, he went to work for Sears & Roebuck in shipping and receiving. A few years later, he went to ranching in Fence Lake, N.M.
In 1948, Lui moved to Prescott to work for the Santa Fe Railroad. He was a lineman for the railroad in Arizona and southern California for 16 years.
After their father died in 1963, Lui sold jewelry and Indian artifacts until 1984 in Black Canyon City, Bakersfield, Calif., and on the Queen Mary. Lui said he got sick in 1984, and sold the business.
He said he has had 13 surgeries on his stomach since.
The brothers said this was the fifth time they had gotten together over the years. The first time was in 1963, when their father died. The second time was in 1972, when their mother died.
Their third reunion was in 1993, when they took a trip to Florida to see their surviving sister, Elizabeth Hawkins.
In 2000, Johnny brought Charles down to see Lui. That was their last reunion until now.
Contact the reporter at jeherrmann@prescottaz.com
|
