Oswald H. Kisgen

World War II

Oz Kisgen was born in Templeton on March 22, 1919, to John and Elizabeth (Pille) Kisgen. He attended Sacred Heart School in Templeton. On August 18, 1940, he was married to Ruth Lechtenberg at Sacred Heart Church in Templeton.

Oz registered for the military draft on October 16, 1940. At that time, he was employed by his father in the gas business. Starting in early 1942, he was employed by Phil Neu at his general store.

In 1941, Oz and Ruth welcomed their daughter Sharon. When the war started with the Pearl Harbor attack on December 7, 1941, Oz was exempt from the draft as he was married and had a child born before the Pearl Harbor attack. However, by 1944, manpower needs had changed and he became draft-eligible. He was inducted into the US Army on March 10, 1944, at Camp Dodge near Des Moines, IA. He was assigned serial number 37 691 879. From there, he was transported to Camp Barkeley near Abilene, TX for basic training. There were now four Kisgen brothers in the military.

After completion of initial training, Oz was sent to Camp Beale north of Sacramento, CA for additional training and preparation to be sent overseas. Camp Beale was a training facility that included the Army Chemical Warfare School. It is unknown if Oz received any training for that activity.

By November 19, 1944, Oz left the United States for the South Pacific. Little has been found about his movement or the activities he was engaged in. He apparently was stationed on New Guinea, which would have been in its final stages of fighting at this time, as well as the northern island of the Philippines, Luzon. Luzon would have been the site of heavy fighting when Oz arrived and, in fact, was not totally captured by the end of the war. It is known that he was assigned to the Headquarters Company of USAFWESPAC (US Army Forces in the Western Pacific).

By early 1945, the Japanese were being steadily pushed back and the area of conflict greatly reduced. US commanders were in the process of formulating their final attack on the Japanese homeland which was known as “Operation Olympic.” A reorganization of command in early 1945 created the USAFWESPAC. This unit took over all supply and logistical support functions and controlled all American Army forces in this area other than the major combat commands and some supply activities related to US Army Air Forces.

Oz would have likely been a part of preparing for the invasion of Japan which was projected to cost as many as one million American lives. However, the atomic bomb attacks on Japan in early August, 1945, resulted in the surrender of Japan and made the planned invasion unnecessary. The surrender was effective August 15, 1945, although some Japanese soldiers held out in remote Philippine areas until 1974.

Oz returned to the US on January 11, 1946, and was discharged from the US Army on January 19, 1946, at Fort Leavenworth, KS as a Tec 5 (corporal equivalent). He returned to Templeton where he lived for the remainder of his life. In 1959, he took over his father’s business and was an independent jobber for Phillips 66 Petroleum until retiring in 1988. Oz died on December 17, 1998, at Carroll, IA at age 79. He was buried in Sacred Heart Cemetery in Templeton.