Arthur W. Beschenbossel
Era: World War II
Military Branch: Air Force
Arthur Beschenbossel
Mr. Beschenbossel was born in Duluth, Minnesota in 1894. He graduated from Duluth Central High School in 1915.
At the age of 18, Mr. Beschenbossel joined the Army National Guard and was assigned to the Mexican border for a year. After his stint on the Mexican border was complete, he returned to Duluth and remained active in the Army National Guard.
Sometime in the 1920s, Mr. Beschenbossel was selected to attend Artillery School at Fort Sill, Oklahoma. Upon graduation from the school, he was commissioned a 2nd Lieutenant.
Lieutenant Beschenbossel was then assigned as the Battery Commander for an artillery unit in Duluth. After some time at that post, he was promoted to captain and continued to serve with the artillery unit until he got his orders to appear at Camp Claiborne, Louisiana in 1939. He was authorized to drive his personal vehicle to Louisiana. Prior to arriving at Camp Claiborne, he stopped at Pine City, Minnesota to pick up Captain Boo. Boo is the father of Benjamin Boo, who was mayor of Duluth from 1967 to 1975.
At Camp Claiborne, Captain Beschenbossel was transferred from his artillery unit to the Army Air Force, where he was trained to be an administration officer. Upon completion of that school, he was promoted to the rank of major.
In the early 1940s, Major Beschenbossel received orders to go to Ogden, Utah, where he was to command and oversee the building of an Army Air Force base. This included the building of an airfield, runways, barracks, administration buildings, class rooms, and hangars to house the bombers and other types of planes that would be housed there. This particular Army Air Force base was to be used as a training base for bomber crews to prepare them for service overseas.
When the Ogden Army Air Base was up and running, Major Beschenbossel was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. He was then transferred to the 8th Air Force and sent to England, where he commanded a bomber maintenance base. After WWII, he returned to Duluth and continued to stay active in the Minnesota Army National Guard until his retirement.
