Memories of Edmund Klepps: A Story of War and Family

This book is dedicated to Ed and Alma Klepps, loving parents, grandparents, great grandparents, and great great grandparents.

Both came from poor and humble families who endured the Great Depression. Grampa joined the Navy in 1935 and re-enlisted in 1939. Later in 1939, our grandparents met and became engaged on July 4, 1940. Shortly after, Grampa’s ship, the USS Helena, departed from Brooklyn, New York bound for Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Gramma stayed behind in Connecticut. Then came the attack on Pearl Harbor and World War II. They would not be married until August 28, 1943. Nine months later, Gramma gave birth to their first child while Grampa was in the Pacific again. World War II was not easy for either of them. Grampa witnessed great violence and tragedy. Gramma was alone, not knowing what was happening in the Pacific, and raising a baby.

Despite the hardships they endured during the Depression and World War II, they were kind, gentle, loving people. Their faith in God never faltered; it was unshakable and got them through many difficult situations. Their love and devotion for this country was second only to their love for God. They would do anything for their family and made many personal sacrifices over the years. They were very humble; they never boasted about any personal accomplishments or complained about the sacrifices they made. Like their parents before them, they passed on these traits to their children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren.

They enjoyed more than 68 years of marriage together. Their love started a family that grew to 24 members in their lifetime. Grampa wrote Nothing can make you more happy than to feel the love your kids have for you. There were never two happier people.

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Foreword

By Michael Michaud

I am writing this on a plane. I am somewhere between Salt Lake City, my new home, and Connecticut, where I grew up. This is not a vacation. This is not a trip I planned to make. I am on my way to say goodbye to my great grandfather, Edmund Klepps.

Unfortunately, this is the same path I was on only eight months ago. That trip was to say my final goodbyes to my great grandmother, Alma Klepps.

I was lucky enough to know them for 22 years. But to them, that was only a portion of their lives together. I am sitting here, looking over the vast plains, trying to think of how to describe their lives. The first thought that comes to mind is, how would I describe each of them? And the answer is - I can’t. There is no way for me to describe each of them individually. I have never known them individually. I only know them as my great grandparents. They are a united entity. Just like milk and cookies (my great grandmother’s favorite meal), you cannot have one without the other.

I honestly cannot think of a time when I didn’t see them together. One of the saddest days of my life was not the passing of my great grandmother, or great grandfather, but the first time I had to visit my great grandpa, and he was alone. I regret to say that I only saw him once during those eight months, just days before he passed away. I could tell that he was not doing as well as I had always remembered. He was in a wheelchair for the first time in a nursing home. He gave my sister and me a Christmas card, and I almost broke into tears as soon as I opened it. Instead of the typical Merry Christmas, Love Grandma and Grandpa, it was simply signed Grandpa.

Love is the best word that I can use to define them. They loved each other, they loved their children, they loved their grandchildren, they loved their great grandchildren, and they loved their great great grandchild. But above all, was their love of God. It was the one thing they always had. Whether my great grandpa was away overseas and my great grandma was at home wondering where he was, when they were building their family, building their vacation home, or relaxing in Florida, they always loved each other.

The following story is my tribute to them. Ever since my great grandfather told me he started writing down his stories many years ago, I knew I had to share them with others; this book does just that. Most of the story may be about my great grandfather’s experiences in Pearl Harbor and World War II, but the untold story is just as important. There are only a few times that I remember seeing my great grandmother without a smile on her face. Each time was when my great grandpa was telling us his stories. She would always insist that we didn’t want to hear about them. I always asked to hear more. Only in the last few years did I realize how much it hurt her. I vividly remember looking into her eyes as he told us his stories. For the first time, I didn’t see the love filled eyes that I always saw. Instead, I saw fear. That’s when I realized how her life must have been during those years, not knowing where he was, or whether he would be coming home. She never really talked about her experiences, and what it was like living back home while he was out fighting. Her story is the one that we lost forever.

One of the proudest moments of my life was after reading one of the many stories about my great grandfather in the local paper before he passed away. In the interview, he called me his hero. He wanted people to hear his story. He never wanted people to forget about what happened at Pearl Harbor in 1941. He didn’t want people to forget the lives that were lost during World War II. He considered me his hero because I asked to hear his stories. I invited him to talk to my classmates about what he experienced in the war. He has always been, and always will be, my hero. Not only for the time he served his country, but for the family he started, and the love he shared with us.

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Preface

By Kenneth Finger

On January 8, 2013, Edmund G. Klepps, my grandfather, passed away at the age of 98. He served in the United States Navy from 1935 to 1946. He witnessed both the start and end of World War II. On December 7, 1941, he was aboard the light cruiser USS Helena at Pearl Harbor when it was struck by one of the first torpedoes dropped during the Japanese attack. On September 2, 1945, he was aboard the light cruiser USS Detroit, anchored in Tokyo Bay alongside the USS Missouri, when the peace terms were signed bringing World War II to an end.

For many years, my grandfather did not openly discuss his experiences in World War II, and he very seldom discussed growing up during the Great Depression. If his children or grandchildren asked questions about the war, he would answer, but it seldom went beyond that. Later, two things changed his perspective. First, Michael Michaud, his oldest great grandson, began to ask questions about his World War II service. Then he started to discuss it more openly with family. Enough time had passed where he started to be comfortable talking about those events. The second was the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. Grampa was a member of the Pearl Harbor Attack Veterans Association and the Pearl Harbor Survivors Association. One of the stated purposes of both groups was to make sure that the lessons of the attack would never be forgotten – that our nation would never again be caught with our pants down. Following the 2011 attacks, Grampa felt that his associations had failed and the government forgot the lessons of Pearl Harbor. So he took it upon himself to start reminding people. He had interviews annually with local papers on the anniversary of the Pearl Harbor attack, and gave several presentations to the classes of his great grandchildren and grandniece.

After my grandfather’s passing, I went through the various papers he collected over the years. He had saved nearly every document during his years in the Navy. Also, I found two manuscripts that he had written. One he had titled From Pearl Harbor to Tokyo Bay: My Ten Years In the Navy. The other was simply labeled as My Memories and spanned his entire life. He did not start writing either document until 2002, at the age of 88. My Memories was approximately 150 handwritten pages. The first 125 pages were written as a manuscript, started in 2002 and completed in 2003. The final pages, starting in 2004 and concluding in 2012, were written in diary form. From Pearl Harbor to Tokyo Bay is a nine-page reflection on his Navy experience, written in 2004, which was printed in the Bristol Memorial Military Museum newsletter.

I am not an aspiring writer working on my first book. I just love and respect my grandfather. I never had any intention or desire to write a book, but I know how important it was to Grampa to share his story. And it is a great story that deserves to be told. So, on the night before Grampa’s funeral, while looking through his papers, I decided to take on this challenge.

This book combines From Pearl Harbor to Tokyo Bay and My Memories to give the story of Grampa’s life. Most of this story through the early 1950s is in my grandfather’s own words. After all, the best person to tell the story is the man who lived it. However, because he waited until late in life to start writing, there were many details that were left out. We, his family, have filled in the details to the best of our memories.

The title of the book, Memories of Edmund Klepps, can have two possible interpretations. First, it can refer to Grampa’s own memories. Second, it can mean the memories other people have of him. In the case of this book, both meanings apply. The first part, through 2003, is my grandfather’s autobiography. The next two chapters are a biography, written from my perspective, of the last 10 years of his life. Part III is a collection of short stories and remembrances from members of the family.

My daughters were the only two of Grampa’s eight great grandchildren who were too young at the time of his passing to really know him. I look forward to the day when I can share this book with them, and let them know what wonderful people their great grandparents were.

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Acknowledgments

Our greatest thanks to the entire family for their help and support, without which this book would not have been completed.

Special thanks to James Ralston for the cover design and general formatting.

Thanks to Dave Brouchoud and the USS Helena Organization (http://www.usshelena.org) for adding a page on their website dedicated to our grandfather’s experiences on the USS Helena.

Thanks to Christie Wall and Madison Dudley for helping with editing and proofreading.

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PART I: Autobiography (1914-2003)

Written by Edmund Klepps

Chapter 1 – The Early Years

I shall attempt to write this story to the best of my memories at age 88. According to what my parents told me, I was born in a raging snowstorm at home at 56 Beach Avenue in Terryville, Connecticut on February 5, 1914. Because of an incompatibility between my mother’s blood type and mine, I was born a blue baby; old Doc Wellington said I would not live to see six months. I guess doctors don’t know everything. However, according to my father’s record, I was baptized just three days later.

I was the youngest of nine children born to Adolph and Caroline (Miller) Klepps. My parents were born in Europe. They were of German descent and spoke the language. There was a lot of turmoil in Europe at that time, and borders fluctuated. They lived on the Russia/Poland border; my father said it all depended on who had the stronger armies in that area. They