Donald Krueger (or Kruger)
- F.W. Minninger received a letter from Pvt. Donald Kruger this week in which he related some of his experieinces and conditions in New Caledonia, which is off the coast of Australia. Pvt. Kruger is a grandson of the Jake Hermans.
This Lowell Tribune article was found in the May 4, 1944, issue (page 2, column 2):
- Word received by parents at Grant Park says that Pfc. Donald Krueger, who has been serving with his outfit in the south Pacific for over two years, was wounded in action a short time ago. Letters received from the chaplain of the regiment and a buddy in his company state that he was wounded in one hand, and would be evacuated to this country as soon as possible. Don is well known here, where he worked before enlisting three years ago. He is a grandson of the Jacob Hermans.
- On Monday his parents received a cablegram from him saying he was not too badly injured and was getting along O.K. They also received a government telegram that day informing them he had been wounded on April 7th on Bougainville.
The following June 1, 1944, Lowell Tribune article was found on page 2, column 1:
Picture Published of Soldier Known Here
The Kankakee Daily Republican last Wednesday published a picture of Pfc. Donald Kruger of Grant Park, a grandson of the Jake Hermans of Lowell, on his hospital cot, after suffering wounds in the Bougainville campaign in the Solomons. Also in the picture was Sgt. Leo Buck of Route 2, Kankakee. The two Kankakee county men who knew each other before the war and who have been in the same outfit since they were inducted into military service, met in a base hospital on Bougainville island after each had been wounded. Pfc. Kruger killed a Jap in a hand-to-hand fight in battle. He and his buddy also went through the battle of Guadalcanal together a year ago. They are members of the Americal division.The following article was found in the June 22, 1944, Lowell Tribune on page 3, column 2:
Grant Park Boy Escapes Jap Ambush
For the rest of his life, Pfc. Donald Kruger of Grant Park, a grandson of Jake Hermans, Lowell, will be "living on borrowed time."Kruger, a 27-year-old poultry raiser, and Pvt. Earl Duggins, of Glen Dean, Ky., were the only members of their 14-man patrol to escape alive when the Japs ambushed them at the foot of a hill on Bouganville Island, the War Department reported.
"It was an ambush and all hell broke loose," Kruger said. "Some of the fellows went down right away. The Japs must have had a whole company. They blasted us with knee mortars, grenades, machine guns and sniper fire. I found cover behind a log and got one Jap with my Browning automatic."
Duggins said a Jap grenade exploded nearby, killing two men and then a Jap sneaked around their flank when Kruger spotted him.
"Then Kruger did one of the damndest things," Duggins reported. "He crawled from his log and made for the Jap. The Jap, who was a few feet from another guy in a hole, didn't see Kruger until he jumped him.
"That Jap didn't even have time to level his gun. He did fire however, striking Kruger in the thumb. Then Kruger was on him. They went down wrestling for the Jap's gun. Suddenly Kruger got the gun and cracked the butt into the Jap's teeth. He has broken his neck."
By this time, it was dusk and only four of the men were left. Duggins suggested that they make a break for safety after dark. The two other men disagreed, preferring to wait for reinforcements, Kruger and Duggins never saw them again.
"I don't know if there is a feeling in the world to match the feeling a guy has when he figures he's going to be killed sure, and then gets out of it," Kruger said.
"All we knew," he added, "was that we had been living on borrowed time and it never ran out. I know God was watching over us. How else could we have gotten back?"
The following July 13, 1944, Lowell Tribune article was found on page 2, column 2:
In California Hospital
Pfc. Donald Krueger, who was wounded in action fighting the Japs in the South Pacific, arrived in the United States early this month and is now a patient at a hospital in California. His niece, Mrs. Dorothy Gruenwald, has visited him and found him slowly recovering from his wounds. It is hoped he will soon be able to come to his home.Return to World War II Veterans
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