Garret Kleinendorst was born on October 17, 1916 on the family farm near Monroe, Jasper County, Iowa.
"We were living on the farm near Prairie City, Iowa when my mother died. The four boys were then farmed out to aunts and uncles. During the depression my Father decided to move to Grand Rapids, Itasca County, Minnesota to try to make a better living as times were very tough. My three brothers and I went with Dad to help him clear land as he bought 160 acres which was all woods, without buildings. By this time Dad had remarried and there were three additional children. My step mother with the three children lived in Hill City, Aitkin County, Minnesota until the first buildings were complete. A fourth child was born later to the second marriage.
He and his brothers joined the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) in 1936 they were each paid $30.00 dollars a month of which $25 was sent home. He continued with CCC for 21 months. They were stationed at Camp Cutfoot Sioux, Minnesota. He left the CCC in 1937 and returned home and worked at various jobs until World War II broke out. He enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1942. He completed basic training, volunteered for the 82nd Airborne Division was accepted, completed basic airborne training at Camp Toccoa, Georgia and parachute training at Fort Benninig Georgia where he received his Paratroopers Badge. He served in the European theater of war for three years and participated in the following airborne campaigns; Naples-Foggia Italy, Normandy Invasion, Operation Market Garden in the Gelderland Province, Netherlands, the Ardennes, the Battle of the Bulge, Rhineland and Central Europe campaigns. He jumped in with his Regiment landing in the Netherlands 65 miles behind the enemy lines which was part of the Allied operation code named "Market Garden". The objective of this operation was to secure Rhine river bridges for use by the Allied forces to make a quick thrust into the German heartland and end the war early. They remained behind the lines for several days and made their escape when Allied forces under the command of British General Montgomery finally reached them. Montgomery hadfailed to link up by the objective date which allowed the German Army to reinforce the area. He continued in the European theater until the end of the war and was discharged as a Staff Sergeant in 1945.
He then returned to Saint Paul, Ramsey County, Minnesota and found work. He met Betty Wagner, sister of his brother Cecil's wife Louise Wagner. Garret Kleinendorst and Betty Wagner were married on April 13, 1946 in Saint Paul, Ramsey County, Minnesota. Betty Wagner, was the daughter of Frank James Wagner and Myrtle Katherine Johnson,
They moved to White Bear Lake, Ramsey County, Minnesota in 1949. They were members of the First Lutheran Church where Garret served as a trustee, leader of the Sunday School. Both he and Betty taught Sunday School.
He was employed at Hoerner Waldorf Paper Company for 26 years.
We (Lynn & Linda Fischer) visited the 82nd Airborne Museum at Fort Bragg, North Carolina in the spring of 2000. We noticed that cousin Garret was in one of the photographs on display.
"We were living on the farm near Prairie City, Iowa when my mother died. The four boys were then farmed out to aunts and uncles. During the depression my Father decided to move to Grand Rapids, Itasca County, Minnesota to try to make a better living as times were very tough. My three brothers and I went with Dad to help him clear land as he bought 160 acres which was all woods, without buildings. By this time Dad had remarried and there were three additional children. My step mother with the three children lived in Hill City, Aitkin County, Minnesota until the first buildings were complete. A fourth child was born later to the second marriage.
He and his brothers joined the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) in 1936 they were each paid $30.00 dollars a month of which $25 was sent home. He continued with CCC for 21 months. They were stationed at Camp Cutfoot Sioux, Minnesota. He left the CCC in 1937 and returned home and worked at various jobs until World War II broke out. He enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1942. He completed basic training, volunteered for the 82nd Airborne Division was accepted, completed basic airborne training at Camp Toccoa, Georgia and parachute training at Fort Benninig Georgia where he received his Paratroopers Badge. He served in the European theater of war for three years and participated in the following airborne campaigns; Naples-Foggia Italy, Normandy Invasion, Operation Market Garden in the Gelderland Province, Netherlands, the Ardennes, the Battle of the Bulge, Rhineland and Central Europe campaigns. He jumped in with his Regiment landing in the Netherlands 65 miles behind the enemy lines which was part of the Allied operation code named "Market Garden". The objective of this operation was to secure Rhine river bridges for use by the Allied forces to make a quick thrust into the German heartland and end the war early. They remained behind the lines for several days and made their escape when Allied forces under the command of British General Montgomery finally reached them. Montgomery hadfailed to link up by the objective date which allowed the German Army to reinforce the area. He continued in the European theater until the end of the war and was discharged as a Staff Sergeant in 1945.
He then returned to Saint Paul, Ramsey County, Minnesota and found work. He met Betty Wagner, sister of his brother Cecil's wife Louise Wagner. Garret Kleinendorst and Betty Wagner were married on April 13, 1946 in Saint Paul, Ramsey County, Minnesota. Betty Wagner, was the daughter of Frank James Wagner and Myrtle Katherine Johnson,
They moved to White Bear Lake, Ramsey County, Minnesota in 1949. They were members of the First Lutheran Church where Garret served as a trustee, leader of the Sunday School. Both he and Betty taught Sunday School.
He was employed at Hoerner Waldorf Paper Company for 26 years.
We (Lynn & Linda Fischer) visited the 82nd Airborne Museum at Fort Bragg, North Carolina in the spring of 2000. We noticed that cousin Garret was in one of the photographs on display.
Garret Kleinendorst was born on October 17, 1916 on the family farm near Monroe, Jasper County, Iowa.
"We were living on the farm near Prairie City, Iowa when my mother died. The four boys were then farmed out to aunts and uncles. During the depression my Father decided to move to Grand Rapids, Itasca County, Minnesota to try to make a better living as times were very tough. My three brothers and I went with Dad to help him clear land as he bought 160 acres which was all woods, without buildings. By this time Dad had remarried and there were three additional children. My step mother with the three children lived in Hill City, Aitkin County, Minnesota until the first buildings were complete. A fourth child was born later to the second marriage.
He and his brothers joined the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) in 1936 they were each paid $30.00 dollars a month of which $25 was sent home. He continued with CCC for 21 months. They were stationed at Camp Cutfoot Sioux, Minnesota. He left the CCC in 1937 and returned home and worked at various jobs until World War II broke out. He enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1942. He completed basic training, volunteered for the 82nd Airborne Division was accepted, completed basic airborne training at Camp Toccoa, Georgia and parachute training at Fort Benninig Georgia where he received his Paratroopers Badge. He served in the European theater of war for three years and participated in the following airborne campaigns; Naples-Foggia Italy, Normandy Invasion, Operation Market Garden in the Gelderland Province, Netherlands, the Ardennes, the Battle of the Bulge, Rhineland and Central Europe campaigns. He jumped in with his Regiment landing in the Netherlands 65 miles behind the enemy lines which was part of the Allied operation code named "Market Garden". The objective of this operation was to secure Rhine river bridges for use by the Allied forces to make a quick thrust into the German heartland and end the war early. They remained behind the lines for several days and made their escape when Allied forces under the command of British General Montgomery finally reached them. Montgomery hadfailed to link up by the objective date which allowed the German Army to reinforce the area. He continued in the European theater until the end of the war and was discharged as a Staff Sergeant in 1945.
He then returned to Saint Paul, Ramsey County, Minnesota and found work. He met Betty Wagner, sister of his brother Cecil's wife Louise Wagner. Garret Kleinendorst and Betty Wagner were married on April 13, 1946 in Saint Paul, Ramsey County, Minnesota. Betty Wagner, was the daughter of Frank James Wagner and Myrtle Katherine Johnson,
They moved to White Bear Lake, Ramsey County, Minnesota in 1949. They were members of the First Lutheran Church where Garret served as a trustee, leader of the Sunday School. Both he and Betty taught Sunday School.
He was employed at Hoerner Waldorf Paper Company for 26 years.
We (Lynn & Linda Fischer) visited the 82nd Airborne Museum at Fort Bragg, North Carolina in the spring of 2000. We noticed that cousin Garret was in one of the photographs on display.
"We were living on the farm near Prairie City, Iowa when my mother died. The four boys were then farmed out to aunts and uncles. During the depression my Father decided to move to Grand Rapids, Itasca County, Minnesota to try to make a better living as times were very tough. My three brothers and I went with Dad to help him clear land as he bought 160 acres which was all woods, without buildings. By this time Dad had remarried and there were three additional children. My step mother with the three children lived in Hill City, Aitkin County, Minnesota until the first buildings were complete. A fourth child was born later to the second marriage.
He and his brothers joined the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) in 1936 they were each paid $30.00 dollars a month of which $25 was sent home. He continued with CCC for 21 months. They were stationed at Camp Cutfoot Sioux, Minnesota. He left the CCC in 1937 and returned home and worked at various jobs until World War II broke out. He enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1942. He completed basic training, volunteered for the 82nd Airborne Division was accepted, completed basic airborne training at Camp Toccoa, Georgia and parachute training at Fort Benninig Georgia where he received his Paratroopers Badge. He served in the European theater of war for three years and participated in the following airborne campaigns; Naples-Foggia Italy, Normandy Invasion, Operation Market Garden in the Gelderland Province, Netherlands, the Ardennes, the Battle of the Bulge, Rhineland and Central Europe campaigns. He jumped in with his Regiment landing in the Netherlands 65 miles behind the enemy lines which was part of the Allied operation code named "Market Garden". The objective of this operation was to secure Rhine river bridges for use by the Allied forces to make a quick thrust into the German heartland and end the war early. They remained behind the lines for several days and made their escape when Allied forces under the command of British General Montgomery finally reached them. Montgomery hadfailed to link up by the objective date which allowed the German Army to reinforce the area. He continued in the European theater until the end of the war and was discharged as a Staff Sergeant in 1945.
He then returned to Saint Paul, Ramsey County, Minnesota and found work. He met Betty Wagner, sister of his brother Cecil's wife Louise Wagner. Garret Kleinendorst and Betty Wagner were married on April 13, 1946 in Saint Paul, Ramsey County, Minnesota. Betty Wagner, was the daughter of Frank James Wagner and Myrtle Katherine Johnson,
They moved to White Bear Lake, Ramsey County, Minnesota in 1949. They were members of the First Lutheran Church where Garret served as a trustee, leader of the Sunday School. Both he and Betty taught Sunday School.
He was employed at Hoerner Waldorf Paper Company for 26 years.
We (Lynn & Linda Fischer) visited the 82nd Airborne Museum at Fort Bragg, North Carolina in the spring of 2000. We noticed that cousin Garret was in one of the photographs on display.
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