The Palimpsest

Grant, H Roger

Kate Shelley and the North Western Railway

Zieren, Gregory

If You're Union, You Stick Together': Cedar Rapids Packinghouse Workers in the CIO

Monitoring Hitler Stories and Selecting Draft Boards: Excerpts from John D. Zug's Memoirs

Two Iowa Soldiers, 
Two Individual
Stories
A
 world war comprises millions of
individual stories. Many are lost as 
memories fade. Some—often of fa­
mous individuals—are preserved in 
published volumes. Others are tenderly saved 
in family records. A thick scrapbook with 
black covers tells one of those individual sto­
ries—the brief life and tragic death of Robert 
(“Bob") Harwood Shannon, as viewed by his 
parents who compiled the scrapbook.
Like many a scrapbook, this one begins 
with a birth announcement and charming 
boyhood photos of Shannon with his siblings. 
Soon we see his high school graduation an­
nouncement from Washington, Iowa; a fra­
ternity photo; and a 1941 private pilot's li­
cense. We turn a page and suddenly Shannon 
is in uniform as an air corps cadet in Califor­
nia, posed casually with new buddies or 
proudly with his family back home. Another 
page has more pictures of laughing young 
men in uniform, but the captions are sober-
ALL THREE PHOTOS: SHSI (IOWA CITY)
ing: “Bob ('Ox') Johnson, Denison, Iowa, 
killed in Africa while flying in formation with 
Bomber Group." “Roy Oleson, Cedar Falls, 
Iowa, Killed in Pacific Area.”
On another page, a clipping quotes a letter 
from another Washington soldier, John C. 
Jackson: “Will you please convey my thanks to 
Bob Shannon for helping chase the Germans 
up here in Tunisia.. . .  There’s only one thing 
down here that reminds me of home and that 
is that on some days it sounds like an old 4th 
of July in Washington.”
As we leaf through the scrapbook, we see 
photos of planes, distant shots of them lined 
up on an airfield or in the air, or disquieting 
close-ups of flak marks. Official letters of cita­
tions and awards are pasted in neatly, telling 
us that Shannon is building his reputation as 
a pilot.
Only occasionally do we glimpse the home 
front: “Why does it have to take something 
like a World War to let you know how much
you appreciate these brave 
lads who are risking their 
lives, their all, for the 
cause of freedom?” 
Shannon’s brother, Will­
iam, asks in a column in 
the family’s newspaper, 
the Washington Evening 
Journal, on April 1, 1943.
A scrapbook compiled as a 
family tribute to Robert 
Shannon (top left) documents 
his life, from childhood in 
Washington, Iowa, to his 
experiences in the army air 
corps, to a solemn military 
funeral in Iceland.
The question isn't answered, but 
pasted onto the next page is the 
dreaded telegram, and then the cruel 
headlines: "Bob Shannon in Crash 
With General Andrews.”
Fourteen men died on May 3, 1943, 
when their plane crashed in bad 
weather in a remote area of Iceland.
On board was Bob Shannon, and also 
the commanding general of the Euro­
pean Theater of Operations, U.S.
Army Lieut. Gen. Frank M. Andrews.
The crash made national headlines, 
and the following pages are filled with 
dramatic Army Signal Corps photos of
the military funeral and burial in/
Reykjavik. One of the simple wooden 
crosses bears the name “Robert H. Shannon.” 
I he first half of the scrapbook is devoted 
to Shannon 's life; the second half documents 
the aftermath of the crash—through local 
and national clippings; Shannon's father’s in­
terview with the single survivor; lists of the 
"14 ' communications'' received by the family 
as condolences. As the grieving shifts, we be­
gin to see Shannon’s legacy emerge: news of 
the Washington, Iowa, YMCA modernizing 
its community room as a memorial to him; a 
handful of local donations in his name to the 
National Jewish Hospital in Denver from 
people in his hometown; a photo of another 
little boy (the son of Bob’s close friend) 
whose middle name is “Shannon.”
But perhaps the greatest legacy is this 
memory book” itself, compiled by 
Shannon’s family and recently donated to 
the State Historical Society of Iowa so that 
Shannon’s story can be available for the pub­
lic, for researchers, and for posterity. In a fi­
nal few pages of tributes, someone named 
Bye Patterson Laffer of Ft. Dodge remarked 
about Robert Shannon: “He has written his­
tory.” The scrapbook and its permanent
home at the State Historical Society ensure 
that.
A
nother recent donation to the State
Historical Society is a scrapbook 
documenting the Pacific Theater 
from the perspective of Staff Ser­
geant John R. Reilly of Hampton, Iowa. Reilly
From the Reilly scrapbook: Reilly holds headlines of 
Roosevelt’s 1944 re-election ("Again, Again, & Again”).
was a U.S. Marine Corps “combat correspon­
dent.'' “These correspondents are young and 
tried reporters, eager to fight as well as to 
write, who have been selected from the news­
papers, news services and radio stations over 
the nations,” a 1942 clipping explains. “They 
are true Leathernecks, and for them the por­
table typewriter is an auxiliary and special 
weapon.” Most of these “fighter-reporters” 
completed eight weeks of “training and hard­
ening" at Fort Parris and then two weeks of 
policy and procedures training in Washing­
ton, D.C.
The scrapbook is filled with newspaper 
clippings and photos of Guam, Saipan, Tin­
ian, and Reilly’s later work in bond drives. 
His detailed account of the First Marine Bri­
gade taking Orote Peninsula records the dan­
ger step by step: “Our platoon followed tank 
three. We watched the trees for snipers; we 
watched for fire lanes and pillboxes. We were 
clawing at the vitals of enemy opposition.”
The Shannon and Reilly scrapbooks repre­
sent small collections in the State Historical 
Society of Iowa. Yet their portrayal of indi­
vidual lives and ordinary communities 
caught up in World War II helps fill in the 
details and develop broad pictures of an ex­
traordinary time in world history.
— I'he Editor
WINTER 1995 193


English

Two Iowa Soldiers, Two Individual Stories

War II, in
in California, while beyond 
Iowa, another soldier ships 
out to Marseilles. Somewhere 
in the Pacific Theater, a 
combat correspondent from 
Iowa scans headlines of FDR s
T
wo Iowa girls send pen 
pal letters to two sisters 
named Margot and 
Anne Frank in Amsterdam, 
and then wait for a response. 
Women from the Clinton
area scrub locomotives and 
operate roundhouses. A 
governor’s assistant scrambles 
to fill draft boards. A young 
man with a passion for planes 
enters air corps flight school
148 THE PALIMPSEST
Left:Two soldiers are silhouetted 
before a window display 
promoting war stamps and bonds 
inYounkers department store in 
Des Moines, September 1942. The 
world war raging beyond Iowa 
reached deep within the state as 
well, affecting lowans in thousands 
of subtle and significant ways.
re-election. In Germany, a
J
young Jewish girl feigns salut­
ing Hitler.
These stories appear in this 
Palimpsest, which is devoted 
entirely to World War II in 
Iowa and beyond—a fitting 
topic as we move beyond the 
fifty-year anniversary of the 
war’s end. Although The Pal­
impsest generally publishes 
only Iowa history, we ex- 
paneled our criteria for select­
ing articles this time. It isn't 
easy to stay within the state’s 
borders when exploring a his­
torical “event" of the magni­
tude of a world war. Because 
of the war, lowans were leav­
ing their home state to serve 
in the armed forces, reading 
about distant places in the Pa­
cific, sending relief packages 
to Russia, rolling bandages 
for the wounded in Africa, 
raising food for the world. 
And newcomers were enter­
ing Iowa—as refugees, as 
prisoners-of-war, as defense- 
plant workers, as enlistees in 
the Women’s Army Auxiliary 
Corps at Fort Des Moines.
We can look at a world war 
historically on an enormous 
scale—of entire nations allied 
for victory, of massive troops 
timed for invasions, of indus­
tries and work forces con­
verted for defense. But we 
can also look at a war on an 
individual scale. Millions of
individuals experienced 
World War II in subtle or life- 
changing ways. Likewise, mil­
lions of individuals affected 
the war in slight or substan­
tial ways. The connections 
and stories are endless, and 
they arc all meaningful.
We encourage you to re­
flect upon and record your 
own connection to World 
War II, either as someone 
who lived through that pe­
riod or as a descendant of the 
World War II generation. Sit 
down with a tape recorder or 
a typewriter or a tablet. Settle 
back with a friend or relative, 
from your generation or an­
other, and talk about the war. 
And don’t stop with the war’s 
end in 1945. Some of our au­
thors in this issue reflect on 
the war’s influence on their 
personal ideologies. What was 
the war's lasting effect on
you—on how you have lived,
/  /  1
and how you have viewed the 
world?
W
e’re grateful to many 
for their contribu­
tions to this issue. 
Our thanks to an Iowa 
teacher, Shelby Myers- 
Verhage, who was eager to ex­
plore Anne Frank's Iowa con­
nection. Thanks to University 
of Iowa history professor 
David Schoenbaum, who 
alerted us to two compelling 
manuscripts, by Alan Spitzer 
and Tamara Schoenbaum, 
about the war beyond Iowa’s 
borders. Thanks to my co- 
workers at the State I listori- 
cal of Iowa, particularly Ellen 
Sulser and Vicki Schipul, who 
helped gather photos docu­
menting wartime Iowa for 
this issue.
We are also gratef ul to sev­
eral people who have realized 
that history is composed of 
the individual stories of ordi­
nary people, sometimes 
caught up in extraordinary 
events. The families of Iowa 
soldiers Robert Harwood 
Shannon and John R. Reilly 
recently donated war-related 
scrapbooks to the State I lis- 
torical Society of Iowa. Rela- 
tives of teacher Birdie 
Mathews have donated her 
voluminous diaries. Only 
months before he died, John 
I). Zug donated photos and 
memoirs of his journalism ca­
reer. These new collections 
are featured in this issue.
Over time, historians will be­
gin to study how the indi­
vidual stories of Shannon, 
Reilly, Mathews, and Zug ex­
pand our understanding of 
the war.
Our mandate at the State
Historical Society of Iowa is✓
to gather, preserve, interpret, 
and disseminate the history 
of Iowa for the public and for 
posterity. We disseminate that 
history through our collec­
tions, publications, and mu­
seum exhibits (such as 
“Working for Victory: World 
War II and the I lome Front”; 
details on inside back cover). 
But we need your help. After 
you’ve read the compelling 
stories in this issue, please 
read “Help Us Save the Sto­
ries" on the inside back cover 
to find out how you can help 
preserve Iowa’s past.
— The Editor
WINTER 1995 149


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Kate Shelley and the North Western Railway

If You're Union, You Stick Together': Cedar Rapids Packinghouse Workers in the CIO

Monitoring Hitler Stories and Selecting Draft Boards: Excerpts from John D. Zug's Memoirs

Two Iowa Soldiers, Two Individual Stories

World War II, in Iowa and Beyond

The Palimpsest, vol.76 no.4, Winter 1995

Her Honor the Mayor: Iowa City's Emma Harvat

The Palimpsest, vol.76 no.3, Fall 1995

In the Full Light of Day: The Ku Klux Klan in 1920s Iowa

The Palimpsest, vol.76 no.2, Summer 1995

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