Bio: Howard, James - Lt. Col. (Memories - 2022)

Contact: Dolores (Mohr) Kenyon
E-mail: dolores@wiclarkcountyhistory.org 

Surnames: Howard, Heil

----Source: Clark County Press (Neillsville, Clark Co., WI) 1/11/2023

Lt. Col. James Howard (Memories - 2022)

Memories of the good old days inspire a life’s story

By Stephanie Dayton

Memories can both remind and inspire us, at least that’s the case for Lieutenant Colonel James Howard. In Dec. 2022, Howard was touched by an old article he received, and became inspired to reach out.

The Nov. 16, 2022, issue of the Clark County Press newspaper featured the following article titled “Grant Boys combine junk, spunk, make money grow”, found under the headline “The Good Old Days”:

“Vern and Jim Howard show what a couple of boys can do to help

Two town of Grant boys are showing what can be done with a little junk and a little spunk.

Last spring Vern Howard, 10, and Jim Howard, 8, sons of Mr. and Mrs. Verne Howard, entered the scrap collection campaign conducted through the schools. The prize was a $18.75 war bond, offered by Gov. Julius P. Heil.

The boys did not win that first prize; but because of their splendid showing, members of the county salvage committee put up a prize of $5.

Since that time, Vern and Jim have made it grow by leaps and bounds. They put the $5, along with some other money they had, into 240-day old chicks. This was a good way to help the egg production problem, they figured.

They ran into some tough luck during the early part of the summer, for rats killed all exempting about 90 of their flock. But the others came along, and Vern and Jim sold the 54 cockerels in the flock and put the money into war savings stamps.

“We got almost enough for a $50 bond,” said Vern. “Now we’re going to see if we can earn the rest for that bond.

How? Well, they are planning to hire out to dad.

“He can’t get a hired man,” Vern explained. “And we’ll be as good as some he had this spring.”

Now that all the cockerels are gone from the “Victory” flock the boys have turned the pullets over to Mrs. Howard. She takes their eggs and sells them. In this way Vern and Jim figure they reimburse their parents for the feed they used in raising the chickens during the summer.

When the hens are sold, the money will go to the boys, and they plan to use it to raise another flock next year. And thus the cycle will go.

Vern and Jim are proud of the fact that they already own a $50 war bond–in addition to the one they plan soon to purchase. The best part of it is that they have earned the money by themselves.”

Within the months that followed November, this article made its way to one of the young boys mentioned in it.



Lieutenant Colonel James W. Howard started out as a young boy trying to earn enough money to buy chickens for his family farm, and grew to become an accomplished and honorary Commander of the U.S. Army St. Louis Area Support Center. Submitted photo

James Howard, now a grown man living in Tennessee, received this article from his brother William. After reminiscing the memories of the good old days, Howard was inspired to share the story of his life, and what became of those two spunky young men.

Growing up, Howard’s parents raised him and his two brothers with the willingness to serve. The family was no stranger to service. Howard’s father, Vernie, answered the call for WW1 and had just completed his training when the war ended. His mother, Bernadine, had a cousin who enlisted in WWI and endured it until the end. After the war, the cousin was with the Expeditionary Force and had the honor of being at the celebration event in Paris that spawned the American Legion.

This led the three brothers to answer the call to serve in the U.S. Army. Vern was drafted and was led to serve in an artillery in Germany, and sadly passed away in 2001. James made a career of the U.S. Army after attending Ripon College and being commissioned a 2nd Lieutenant through ROTC.

Howard went on to serve over 10 tours of duty, including: QM/Signal School, Lenggries, Germany from 1957-1961. Fort Benning, Georgia from May-July of 1961. Fort Lewis, WA from July of 1961 to Dec. 1963, with 6 months in Berlin on temporary duty. Fort Lee, VA from Dec. 1963 to Aug. 1964. Go Cong Province, Vietnam from Aug. 1964 to Aug. 1965. Fort Meade, MD from Aug. 1965 to Dec. 1967. Ankara, Turkey, from Jan. 1968 to Sept. 1969. Long Binh, Vietnam, from Dec. 1969 to Dec. 1970. Fort Holabird, MD, from Dec. 1970 to Dec. 1973. USAREUR HQ, Heidelberg, Germany, from Jan. 1974 to July 1977. US Army Support Center, Granite City, IL, from July 1977 to Nov. 1978. Howard decided to finally retire in Nov. of 1978.

In his free time, Howard spent summers working at the American Legion Badger Boys State in the Ripon College Dining Hall, as well as built a new dairy barn for his family back home.

After the QM Basic Course, Howard was on to a four-year tour in Southern Bavaria, Germany, where he found the missing piece to his life’s puzzle.

“There, my most precious discovery was without a doubt my wife, Renate.” said Howard. “Together we explored Germany, Austria, Italy, France, Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg, Denmark, Switzerland, Yugoslavia, Bulgaria, Greece, Turkey, Hong Kong, Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, Mexico and Canada” continued Howard. They have also travelled throughout the U.S., including Maine, New York, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Kansas, Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, California, Nevada, and Oregon. “Each tour offered unique challenges and different job titles, so it was always a learning process and never boring” stated Howard.

Since retiring from the Army, Howard has continued to be active through local American Legion Posts. After moving to TN in 1992, Howard serves as Commander of American Legion Post No. 22. He also serves as Boy/Girls State Coordinator, and hosts a pancake supper fundraiser every year for Boy’s State. In early 2022, Howard and his wife decided to sell their house and move to an apartment complex in downtown Franklin.

Howard and his wife don’t plan on slowing down any time soon, “when I wrote this letter, my brother Bill said it sounded like an obituary!” laughed Howard, “I’m far too busy for that anyway!”