Contact: Dolores (Mohr) Kenyon
E-mail: dolores@wiclarkcountyhistory.org
----Surnames: Spiegel, Laufenburg, Opelt, Mackeprang
----Source: Clark County Press (Neillsville, Clark, Co) 12/14/2016
Bruce Spiegel Proud of U.S. Army Service (December 2016)
Spiegel Proud of U. S. Army Service to Country
Bruce Spiegel, 94, of the Town of Washburn, displays a thick photo album Friday which chronicles his 4-year hitch in the U. S. Army and a colorful and diverse life. (Photo by Todd Schmidt/Clark County Press)
By Todd Schmidt
Bruce Spiegel, 94, of the Town of Washburn, spent the anniversary of Pearl Harbor Day reminiscing about his military career in the U. S. Army and a colorful and diverse life.
Also, participating in the discussion around the kitchen table of the modest dwelling originally built as a log home in the 1860s were his wife of 66 years Teresa (Laufenberg), 84, and longtime family friend Bob Opelt, 94.
Much of Bruce’s colorful life is depicted in a huge photo album and a thick military archive book, which he was eager to share.
Bruce was born at home, Oct. 30, 1922, to Alfred and Helga (Mackeprang) Spiegel. He had three siblings, Edgar, Alfred, and Robert. Their father was a famer and a blacksmith by trade.
Bruce went to school at Cunningham and Cannonville, graduating from the 8th grade at Cannonville School. At age 14, he helped his father build a new barn on the family farm.
His first job away from home was working for a neighbor, milking cows and cutting trees with a crosscut saw. In 1941, he went to work for his uncle as a carpenter apprentice, helping him build a house and a barn.
Bruce graduated from the Marshfield Vocational Technical School in February 1942 with a certificate in welding. He then worked in welding jobs for Harischfeger Corporation in Milwaukee and the Walter Butler Shipyards in Superior.
Bruce Spiegel enlisted in the U. S. Army on his 20th birthday, Oct. 30, 1942, serving with the 12th Armored Division in the European Theater of Operations until his honorable discharge Jan. 27, 1946. (Contributed Photo)
On Oct. 30, 1942, (his 20th birthday), Bruce enlisted in the Army.
He went to field experience school during basic training at Camp Campbell, KY, and Ft. Sheridan, IL. His unit was brand new and was fine-tuned at Camp Barkley, TX.
“I wanted to learn to be a mechanic,” he said. “Going to war didn’t worry me one bit. I was more focused on getting an education and doing my job. That school was the best in the country.”
They conducted many maneuvers during training, which was hard and at times monotonous. Camp Campbell was probably the only training camp in the world where a man could sink down in mud to his neck and still get dust blown into his eyes.
“I caught hell a few times for not marching very well,” he smiled. “I guess I didn’t know my right from my left. I had no trouble with target practice, because I was a good deer hunter.”
He served with the 12th Armored Division in the European Theater of Operations. He was a Technician 4th Class, working on armored vehicles under General Patton, “Old Blood and Guts.”
Bruce and many of his fellow soldiers suffered through severe weather condition s in Europe. He and others froze their feet, wearing combat shoes that weren’t insulated and clothing that wasn’t warm enough.
They lived on K rations. He recalls being invited one time to have a nice hot meal at a local residence.
A German shell came in and blew up the building, along with the meal we were about to have,” he said.
Bruce Spiegel is shown at the wheel of a half-track unit during his stint in the U. S. Army during WWII.
(Contributed Photo)
Bruce carried a wrench more than he carried a gun, trying to keep half-tracks, tanks and other equipment running.
He recalls a time that a bullet severed a gas line on one of the half-tracks. He used his savvy to cut a 3-inch piece out of a windshield wiper fluid line and splice it into the fuel line, allowing the vehicle to move on.
“They taught us that in school,” he said. “That saved about 10 guys that day.”
The unit dubbed “The Hellcats” forged a brilliant record during 151 days of continuous action in places including Herrlisheim, Colmar, Rhineland, Dillingen, Starnberg, Pfraundorf, and into Austria.
They watched the board every day at meal times to see who was going to ship out back to the states. Bruce and a few others had a two-week wait.
“We came home on a troop ship, and we hit some pretty severe weather,” he said. “The waves were about 40 feet high, and the propeller would come right out of the water. Everybody was seasick.”
Bruce said, “it was quite a feeling’ sailing past the Statue of Liberty in New York.
He got back to Clark County using a combination of train travel and hitchhiking.
“It was during gas rationing time,” Bruce said. “It didn’t matter. If you had a uniform on, someone would always pick you up and take you home.”
After his honorable discharge, Jan. 27, 1946, Bruce worked with his brother Edgar in the trucking business. In 1947, Bruce and his younger brother Alfred went into partnership, buying two milk routes, and building a service and repair shop known as Spiegel’s Garage. Alfred drove one milk truck, while a hired man drove the other one. Bruce worked in the garage, doing welding, and repairing customers’ trucks, tractors, and cars.
The Spiegel Garage is shown circa 1975 with cars parked in front that participated in the Granton Fall Festival. Bruce Spiegel and his brother Alfred built the garage in 1947. They operated the repair shop until 1968.
(Contributed Photo)
“Originally, we built the garage to service our own milk trucks,” Bruce explained. “Neighbors began coming in to get things fixed.”
The garage closed in 1968 after Alfred passed away.
In 1946, Bruce began a 37-year stint as a school bus driver. He used his own personal vehicle to bring the children to the Cannonville School located across from the garage.
When the country school closed, he got the job of driving a large bus going first to a consolidated school located on STH 73. When that school closed, he began transporting children into Neillsville.
In his entire bus driving career, he only missed two days of work.
Bruce Spiegel and seven of his children strike a pose in 1967 in front of his school bus. At the height of his 37-year stint as a bus driver, Spiegel ran two trips per day, logging about 100 miles each day. (Contributed Photo)
In July 1950, Bruce purchased a farm from Chris and Ethel Feutz, located a half-mile east of the garage. He retired from farming in 2005.
“Of all the jobs, I had, I sat down and cried when the cows left,” Bruce said.
He met Theresa in 1948 at the Inwood Roller Rink in Hatfield. They courted for two years, and were married in 1950 at the Immaculate Conception Catholic Church in Alma Center when Teresa turned 18.
They took a honeymoon trip heading to California via Route 66 through Texas. They were gone about a week before they took an unscheduled detour. Teresa is one of eight children.
“I had never really been away from home,” Teresa chuckled. “I got so homesick I started bawling. Bruce was so good about it; he just turned around and we returned home.”
In 1950, they joined St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Neillsville. Bruce served as an usher for many years. Teresa was treasurer of the Town of Washburn for 14 years.
Bruce and Teresa raised 10 children, Bernard, David, Bruce Jr., John, Mary Ann, Joseph, Diane, Marilyn, Lynette, and Lorie. They are blessed with 27 grandchildren and 7 great-grandchildren.
Bruce is slowed down by glaucoma. He takes eye drops all day, and he said his vision clears up about 4 p.m. each day. Otherwise, he takes no medication.
“When you get to be age 90, you better slow down,” he advised.
In his opinion, the world is in trouble today. He said he is not in favor of a military draft, but that everyone serving would benefit from the education.
Bruce did not dwell much on current affairs before he enlisted in the Army.
“It was a different world back then,” he said. “When I lived with my aunt and uncle, they didn’t even have a radio.”
He said he was proud of his service to his country.
“Somebody had to do it,” he said. “I can’t complain, the military treated me all right. I was just a young kid, and I looked at it as an adventure and a good education. I lived through it. Looking back, I would certainly do it again.”
