Wilmer "Bud" Arthur Wagner
Era: World War II
Military Branch: Army
WAGNER, Wilmer Athuer "Bud"
Wilmer Arthur (Bud) Wagner was born on June 14th 1919 to Henry G. & Elsie A. [Seelig] Wagner in Hermantown, Minnesota. He attended Washington School, and served in the Civilian Conservation Corps.
Mr. Wagner was inducted into the U.S. Army on April 18th 1941 at Fort Snelling in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Home at entry: Duluth, Minnesota.
Mr. Wagner served as a liaison agent with Headquarters Battery of the 34th Infantry Division in Tunisia, North Africa; and Naples-Foggia, Rome-Arno, North Apennines, and Po Valley, Italy. He rose to the rank of Corporal (CPL).
Mr. Wagner shared the following: "Went to Ireland in January 1942 on the first convoy of servicemen to leave the U.S. Took part in the Italian invasion in September 1943 and went all the way to Milan."
"Drove off an LST with a waterproof Jeep onto the beach. Thankfully no wounds but a steady slugging through the mud, rain, cold, and dust, always going at night with high-priority material and lucky enough not to be hit by enemy fire and getting through the mine fields as well...."
CPL Wagner earned the following merits for his service:
- Good Conduct Medal,
- American Defense Service Medal,
- European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal with 5 bronze battle stars,
- World War II Victory Medal,
- six overseas service bars, -and-
- Bronze Arrowhead.
He was honorably discharged on July 20th 1945, at Fort Snelling, Minnesota. After the war he returned home and married Evelyn Mae [Hoad] on March 17th 1948 and they started a family.
Bud died on January 16th 2014 at 94 years of age in Duluth, Minnesota. He is buried at the Hermantown Cemetery.
Source(s): Hometown Heroes: The Saint Louis County World War II Project, 334.
Albert J. Amatuzio Research Center | Veterans Memorial Hall (vets-hall.org)
Page 1 WWII Draft Registration Cards - Fold3
Elsie A Seelig Wagner (1896-1990) - Find a Grave Memorial
Minnesota, U.S., Death Index, 1908-2017 - Ancestry.com
The following information is from an unknown source.
Mr. Wagner served during World War II in the European Theater. He served in the U S. Army. He was assigned to the 151st Field Artillery Battalion of the 34th Infantry Division and served in Tunisia, North Africa; and in Naples-Foggia, Rome-Arno, North Apennines, and Po Valley, Italy.
Mr. Wagner was inducted into the Army on April 17, 1941; he was only the second Minnesotan of German descent to be drafted into World War II. The photograph (above) was taken in May 1941 before a Saturday morning inspection. Mr. Wagner was discharged on June 21, 1945. His rank was Corporal. He served as a battalion agent and motor messenger. Mr. Wagner was born on June 14, 1919, in Hermantown, Minnesota, the son of Henry and Elsie Wagner.
Mr. Wagner was decorated with the: Good Conduct Medal, American Defense Service Medal, European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal with five bronze battle stars, World War II Victory medal, six overseas service bars, and the Bronze Arrowhead.
Mr. Wagner is the author of the book, And There Shall Be Wars: World War II Diaries and Memoirs (Copyright 2000, Twig, MN: Wilmer Wagner and Lloyd Wagner Press). ------ Mr. Wagner also noted: “I was inducted into service, April 17, 1941, sent to Camp Claiborne for field artillery training along with maneuvers. We were on a ship heading for Ireland for more training on the British 25-pounder right after Pearl Harbor by January 16th, 1942. Our first combat was in the spring of 1943, where we helped to chase Hitler out of Africa.
“After a summer of amphibious training in western Africa we were attached to the 36th Division, the only field artillery battalion from the 34th Division to have been chosen to help with the Italian invasion, which took place on September 9, 1943. We secured the beachhead with heavy losses from our gun crews and were almost pushed back into the sea, and if it hadn’t been for General Eisenhower to send the 82nd Airborne Division from Sicily and shellfire from some of our ships, we would have been defeated.
"But we started our long combat north for twenty-one months through everything imaginable. Snow, mud, fording rivers, over pontoon bridges, enemy shellfire, strafing, mined roads, bombing, and working with the Infantry and finally got to the border of Switzerland, where World War II [in Europe] ended early May 1945. My job for the time in combat was that of battalion agent or motorized messenger, on duty twenty-four hours a day and carrying everything from firing orders to anything else that might pertain to a unit in combat—and going through five Jeeps in the process.
“After our twenty-one months of fighting north, they took us back to the Naples area in B-17 bombers in two-and-a-half hours. I was discharged in Minneapolis late in June 1945 after coming home all the way by cargo planes.”
Source: Veterans’ Memorial Hall Veteran History Form --------- Title of article: “Lifetime Hermantown Resident Completes Memoir of World War Two” By L. Edward and Susan Newman “W. A. ‘Bud’ Wagner was the second Minnesotan drafted into the war. Cook, machine gunner and company agent, Wagner had the privilege of being on the first convoy to make its way across the Atlantic for the European theater. And the good fortune of having survived the duration of the war without becoming a casualty in North Africa and Italy, which included beachheads at Anzio and Salerno.
“Just over two years ago Bud Wagner went out and bought a computer. He taught himself to type and proceeded to finish a project that he¹d carried in his heart for most of a lifetime. This summer, at age 80, Wagner has completed his first book, based on his diaries from World War Two. The book, And There Shall Be Wars, is currently under consideration by a leading publisher of military histories.
“Wagner had several motivations for writing the book. ‘I wanted to put my diary in a concise journal form for the family,’ Wagner said recently. ‘I’ve kept a diary out of habit since I was a young kid. During the war nobody else did it and I wanted to have it as part of my life experience.’ “Diary writing was rare not only because few soldiers did it, but also because the army had rules against it. When citing the value of diaries Wagner fondly quotes the Chinese proverb, ‘The faintest ink is stronger than the strongest memory.’
“The journal entries were usually quite brief. The book, however, is voluminous, more than 186,000 words (400 pages) because Wagner spent years annotating his notes and writing sometimes elaborate explanations of the meanings of events and their broader implications. It is this added commentary that gives the book its value. The modest Hermantown market gardener and school bus driver spent a lifetime assembling resources from which to gain understanding of the war and his small part in it.
“The book has other features which make it more than a family archive. Wagner has assembled maps, war stationery, military documents, citations and nearly 200 original photos which the author captured in the various regions of his service. The camera, which he also concealed on his person, was supposed to have been turned in when the soldiers left boot camp for foreign service.
“‘The book is currently under consideration for publication by a major publisher. But even if it is turned down, the book will be published. We have the funds to publish it ourselves and have full intention of seeing the project go into print sometime in the next year,’ Wagner asserted.
How the Book Came to Be: “The idea of putting his diaries into book form may have originated with his son-in-law back in the early 1980s. Everyone in the family agreed that the diaries were fascinating and should be made into a book. Several years later, in 1985, Wagner saw something in the paper about a writing class offered by Carol Bly, a nationally known author with Northland roots. ‘She was going to have a writing class by mail on journal writing. I sent a page of my diary. I asked if I should write my diary into a book. She wrote back, ‘Of course you should write it. There’s no question.
"She also gave suggestions about putting down specific details to help readers feel the accuracy and non-generalness of the writing. Even though more than a decade passed before the project was undertaken with earnestness, this advice from Ms. Bly helped considerably.
“In 1997, at age 78, Wagner bought a used computer at Renaissance Computer in Burning Tree Plaza here in Duluth and doggedly learned how to type, create files, save his work and find it again. Occasionally there were calls for help finding saved files. Over time the use of the computer was mastered and the diary entries, amplified by commentary, became bits and bytes of disk space.
“The next task in the project was the editing. Son Lloyd Wagner, of Saginaw, was the able editor, bringing many assets to the project. With a Masters Degree in Literature and a period of service in Southeast Asia during the Viet Nam War, Lloyd ably groomed the manuscript for clarity and proper grammar without compromising the integrity of the author’s own voice.
“‘The biggest challenge was trying to put it into understandable English because so much of it was abbreviations,’ said the younger Wagner who now resides in Laos. ‘The book interested me. The book is written in a way that you feel like you’re there.’
“Lloyd asserts that he left the diary portion of the book pretty much as he found it. ‘The diary itself is pretty much the same. I didn’t change much. But the commentary I changed quite a bit, putting it in paragraph order, changing sentence order, adding sentences at times or sometimes take them out.’ Others who have read the manuscript say that the editing was true to the author’s voice and did not in any way alter what was essentially Bud’s personal life work.
Overview: “Charlie Jurvolin and Bud Wagner were the first two men to be drafted from Local Draft Board No. 5 in Proctor. April 17, 1941 they were sent to Camp Claiborne, Louisiana, and put in the 151st Field Artillery Battalion of the 34th Infantry Division.
“The two Northlanders were on the first transport of soldiers to go overseas in World War Two. They landed in Ireland in January of 1942, shortly after Pearl Harbor. “Though in different battalions, both Jurvolin from Floodwood and Wagner from Hermantown saw action in Africa and Italy. Wagner’s outfit was attached to the 36th Division and took an active part in the invasion of Italy just south of Naples. “During his four years and three months in the service, Wagner was a cook, an ack ack gunner on a mobile 50 caliber machine gun, and finally a company agent or motorized messenger. Wagner is quick to point out that he had an easier job as a motorized messenger than other foot soldiers in the infantry that he closely followed. All this and much more was recorded daily in Wagner’s diary.
The book, when published, will stand as a contribution to both literature and history.” [SIDEBAR:] “After completion of his military service, Wagner received the following citation from Major General Charles L. Bolte: “‘Wilmer A. Wagner (37026777), Corporal, Field Artillery, Headquarters Battery, 151st Field Artillery Battalion. For exceptionally meritorious conduct from 9 May 1943 to 2 May 1945, in North Africa and Italy. During this period Cpl Wagner served as battery agent for Headquarters Battery, 151st Field Artillery Battalion. Cpl Wagner continually drove blackout over unfamiliar roads that were often almost impassable due to rainfall. Cpl Wagner furnished valuable information as to the condition of the roads and the location and use of short cuts. Frequently the roads traversed by Cpl Wagner were subjected to heavy enemy harassing fires and information regarding minefields was lacking, but Cpl Wagner never failed to reach his destination in time for operational changes and new plans to be effected. Cpl Wagner’s courage and devotion to duty reflect great credit upon himself and the military service.’
“After the war, Wagner returned to Minnesota, resumed his occupation market gardener and developed a greenhouse business, married, built a home and raised a son and two daughters. To supplement his income he drove school bus. “An avid reader, Wagner has remained an active student of World War Two and military history throughout his lifetime.”
Source: Hermantown Star, date unknown, 1999 ---------- In addition, Mr. Wagner recalled: “Went to Ireland in January 1942 on the first convoy of servicemen to leave the U.S. Took part in the Italian invasion in September 1943 and went all the way to Milan. Drove off an LST [landing ship, tank] with a waterproofed jeep onto the beach. Thankfully no wounds but a steady slugging through the mud, rain, cold, and dust, always going at night with high-priority material and lucky enough not to be hit by enemy fire and getting through the mine fields as well . . . “ Source: unknown
