Arlyn Hagen

Arlyn’s Letters Home To Thelma

About Arlyn

Arlyn Hershel Hagen, the son of Bertina (Skogen) and Richard Hagen, was born on August 14, 1920 in Roseau County, Minnesota. He and Thelma (Dahlgren) were married on February 1, 1942 in Wisconsin. Arlyn served in the United States Army from 1942 through 1945 during World War II, serv­ing in France, Germany and Belgium. After his honorable discharge, they moved to a farm one mile east of Roseau. Arlyn worked as a rural mail carri­er for the U.S. Postal Service for 37 years. He also farmed small grains in Spruce and Stafford Township, as well as dairy cows, retiring on February 1, 1980. For a short time, he was a field representative for the PJ Schweitzer flax straw company. Arlyn was active in the First Lutheran Church, the VFW, American Legion, and the Rural Mail Carriers Association. He enjoyed fishing on Lake of the Woods, keeping up his yard with his small trac­tors and spending winters in South Padre Island, Texas. Arlyn Hagen passed away on February 10, 2005 at the Greenbush Nursing Home at the age of 84. He is survived by his wife Thelma of Roseau; children: David (Patty) Hagen of St. Paul, Jon (Bonnie) Hagen of Roseau, Warren (Marsha) Hagen of Roseau and Susan Cummings of Roseau; 6 grandchildren: Jeff, Paula, Todd, Kelly, Kathy and Kari; 8 great-grandchildren; and brothers Kenneth of Cody, WY and Donald of Roseau. He was preceded in death by his parents; four brothers, two sisters, and a son-m-law, Howard.

Arlyn celebrated his 80th birthday in 2000 with 4 generations of Hagen’s in Birchwood, WI. Here’s a couple of testimonials to how well he survived those 4 score years and to how strongly his offspring supported him in his zeal for life:

Four generations of Hagens

Grandpa and the classic ice-cream cake

Arlyn Hagen’s Experience in the ETO (WW II European Theater Operation

Arlyn H Hagen boarded Channel Craft MT204 from Port Berry, England at 9am on June 3rd, 1944.  They were anchored 2 miles off shore for 2 1/2 days and embarked for France at 2pm on June 5th.  While awaiting landing clearance they experienced enemy attack without casualty.   He was a soldier in the 463rd Ordnance Company, assigned to the 177th Battalion in the 2nd Armored Division (code name "Hell On Wheels") as part of V Corps (called 5 Corps code named "Victory") under the direction of Maj Gen Leonard Gerow.   V Corps was in the 1st Army under Gen. Omar Bradley.   His craft transferred all personnel and vehicles to a Landing Craft and disembarked to 'Dog Red' Section of Omaha Beach on June 9th (D-Day +3).  Under enemy air attack, they moved personnel and vehicles to their assigned Assembly Area by 11pm (Weather stormy, Morale Good).  Omaha Beach from West to East was sectioned 'Charlie', 'Dog', 'Easy' and 'Fox'.   These sections were further sub-sectioned so 'Dog' included 'Dog Green', 'Dog Red' and 'Dog White'. By Day 3, crafts were landing close to their assigned beachheads.  This was certainly not the case in the stormy weather at 0530 on D-Day morning itself when chaos ruled the seas and they landed (if that is they precise term to describe being swamped out of your damaged craft into 8 feet of salt water with 60 pounds of gear) at some spot far from their intended mission.  That day on Omaha was pure hell and from everything that I have read, the first 15 minutes of the movie "Saving Private Ryan" are true to history. For 3 weeks, they participated with V Corps in all battle operations at La Cambe, Aure River, Isigny, Vire River, Douve River, Montmartin, Graignes and Tilly-sur-Seulles.   On July 1st the established a camp at Vaubadon to participate in the liberation of St. Lo.   At this encapment, a roll call reported that 22 of their 182 Enlisted Men were "absent".  After St. Lo, they moved their camp to Domjean on August 3rd and then to Mortree on August 14th to clean up a battle fronts, restock inventory and repair equipment for eventual transportation into mainland Europe.   From Mortree, still in Normandy, they set out for a rapid movement to Paris and Bastogne.   When they departed Normandy on August 26th, the "absent" count had grown to 36 Men.   They were in Chevreuse, near Versailles, for the liberation of Paris on August 27th, then on to Lonny in NE France on Sept 9th and Bastogne on Sept. 12th. Here's where Arlyn Hagen was after 12 Sept:   12 Sept:    Bastogne P 526562; 20 Sept:    Holdingen P 777767; 31 Oct:      Camp d'Elsenborn K 9008; xx Nov:      Eupen N 792279 At this point they were major participants in the long winter "Battle Of The Bulge" which was the major battle in the European Campaign and where Arlyn developed his Emphysema while living in fox holes flooded with tank engine exhaust fumes; 25 Dec:     Verviers K6724; xx Feb:      Eupen K 7928;     After that struggle, they moved on the Remangen Bridge to cross the Rhine into German xx Mar:      Heimbach F 8404; 31 Mar:     Marburg G 9651; 3  Apr:      Ehringen B 9910; .   This is when they were transferred from the 1st Army under Bradley and re-assigned to the 3rd Army under Patton.  From this point, they moved to Czechoslovakia where they ended up on V-E Day. 7  Apr:      Medenbach G 6790; 25 Apr:     Weissenfels J 9798; 1 May:    Bischofteinitz, Czechoslovakia P 7616; On 26 May;    The 463rd Ord Co was re-designated the 69th Ord Group, but Dad never returned to the group because he was injured when his Jeep hit a land mine on May 16th in Bischofteinitz (after V-E Day May 8, 1945!) and he was treated in the Military Hospital and finally transferred on Aug. 2, 1945 back to Fort Carson, CO for his final hospital stay and his October 31 discharge.

Patty & Dave visited the Normandy Beach, Hedgerow and Village area where Arlyn fought in 1944. Here is Dave’s trip report to the Roseau VFW:

> Roseau native Arlyn Hagen played a significant role in the Invasion of Normandy and the eventual defeat of the Nazi Army in Europe in WW II. But, because of the severe trauma that he endured and injury and illness that he sustained, he never talked about it after his return to ‘Civilization’. Instead, he simply set out to make a life for his family on his dairy and grain farm supplemented with a career as a rural mail carrier. As his children, we would occasionally pick up a comment from others that mentioned that he had landed on the notorious Omaha Beach and fought in the famous Battle of the Bulge that were sanctified in films and documentaries. But we knew few details to give substance to his Army career. After his death in 2004, it slowly began to dawn on me that I had not captured this extraordinary family history for perpetuity, as it definitely deserved to be. So I brought my Son along on a business trip to Belgium and we visited the Bastogne memorial to the Battle of the Bulge. It was a heart-rending Gettysburg-like experience for us and it set up a craving for more knowledge of the super-human courage, strength and endurance that these young men had demonstrated during this most extra-ordinary military campaign. It was troubling to me to realize that the COPD that finally causes Arlyn’s death at age 84 had plagued him throughout his life from its origins as Emphysema caused by living in Fox Holes during the Battle of the Bulge (Dec 44/Jan 45) and breathing exhaust from vehicle engines that could not be shut off in cold weather. I hired a military historian to research Arlyn’s Army career and was surprised when he produced dozens of Company Reports that followed Dad from Enlistment in Milwaukee (Sep 1942) through to his passage to England, his crossing of the English Chanel to Normandy, his campaign across France through Paris to Belgium, his entry into Germany, his final (Post VE Day) assignment in Czechoslovakia, and his injury-caused return to a hospital in Colorado before being discharged (Oct 1945). It was a chilling and surreal sensation to read the details of those reports, particularly the sacred passages describing the Channel crossing and the Normandy landing, always with images of ‘The Longest Day’ and ‘Saving Private Ryan’ spooking you as you read: “June 3 Departed Margam Castle at 0300 for Fort Berry; Embarked for English Channel on Craft MT204 at 0930; Aboard MT204 approx. 2 miles off England awaiting crossing orders; June 5 started sailing for France at 1400 weather fair morale good; June 7 Aboard MT204 enroute to France with Enemy Attack at 2345 minor casualties weather fair morale good. June 9 All Personnel and Vehicles loaded onto landing craft, landed on French Coast, proceeded to Omaha Beach ‘Dog Red’, Enemy Air Attack 2300 minor casualties weather stormy morale good. Every time I read these reports I have to sit down, swallow hard and catch my breath! Omaha Beach was divided into sections labeled ‘Charlie’, ‘Dog’, ‘Easy’ and ‘Fox’ and each section was sub-divided ( as ‘Dog Green’, ‘Dog White’ and ‘Dog Red’). The ‘Dog Red’ section of Omaha Beach where Dad landed on June 9th was the stretch called ‘Dog One’ in the movie “Saving Private Ryan” because that sounded better for the movie lingo. But one can easily manage the Carnage and Hell that awaited them as they waded ashore and unloaded their vehicles. The enormous magnitude of this history compels one to visit Normandy and my wife and I did so this past September, hiring a private historian to guide us to the places where Arlyn and his company (463rd Ordnance--who operated, repaired and modified Tanks & Heavy Eqpt) had fought. In addition to the full Beach exploration we focused on the Colleville hedgerows, Point du Hoc, La Cambe, Isigny, Aure River, Vaubadon, St. Lo, Domjean and Mortree. We also explored nearby battlesites at St. Mer Eglise, Carantan and Graignes. When we stood at Omaha ‘Dog Red’ with our private guide we attracted the attention of local Frenchmen who were curious because they were used to seeing this guide with large groups of a dozen people. When he told them that my Father had landed here during the Liberation of France they were humbled by our presence and offered us copious thanks to take back to family members from their families and countrymen. Although they were younger than me, they knew the history precisely to the minute as it’s passed down from generation to generation among the local families who were so oppressed by the Nazis until the Yanks arrived like Saviors from the Heavens. The American Cemetery at Normandy, which is situated near Colleville-sul-Mer and just inland from Omaha Beach ‘Dog’ section, is the most sacred ground that I have ever stood on in my life. I challenge any American to remain dry-eyed, tight-jawed and to utter a meaningful word while standing among the rows of White Crosses (and an occasional Star of David). You find yourself so humble, speechless and insignificant and you truly understand President Lincoln’s admission that mortals cannot possibly ‘hallow or sanctify’ these sacred grounds any more than the soldiers who are buried there have already done! Next June is the 70th anniversary of that Liberation and many people will get the chance to experience this feeling themselves. I have found it meaningful to re-create a display of Dad’s Army medals and ribbons for all of us to remember him by. I had to get replacements by virtue of his Discharge Papers because he did not collect or save the originals that he was awarded. We have them on display in Thelma’s room at Roseau Manor if any Veterans are interested in viewing them. They include Good Conduct, American Campaign, Europe-Africa-Middle East Campaign, WW II Victory, and Occupation Medals as well as Bronze Arrowhead, Star of Valor, Marksmanship, Presidential Seal, Normandy Invasion and Battle of the Bulge Medals.