And There Shall Be Wars
by Bud Wagner
Wilmer Wagner and Lloyd Wagner Press
$24.95
reviewed by Mike Nardine
Originally published in The Reader Weekly
On Wednesday, Oct. 16, 1940, young Bud Wagner, a farmer in the Hermantown area noted in his diary that on that day he had gone to the town hall and dutifully registered for the draft. Less than eight months later he found himself on a train to Fort Snelling and the army. On Saturday, July 21st, 1945 his diary shows him returning to Duluth. Between these two dates he made what must be almost fifteen hundred entries in his diary as he journeyed with the 151st. Field Artillery of the 34th Infantry Division from training at Camp Clairborne Louisiana to Combat in North Africa and Italy.
Some of his entries are as common and ordinary as Monday, July 28, 1941. “Hot today. A letter from Grandma.” Others are pregnant with history. Sunday, December 7, 1941. “There haven’t been any specific radio reports on the Pearl Harbor attack that I’ve heard, but some information comes now and then.” And yet others carry an enormous emotional weight that makes us wonder what might have been…and cognizant of the debt we owe. Sunday, July 25, 1943. “This P.M. Jerry and I went back to where we finished in action close to Hill 609. Saw American graves, about 100, some with dog tags hanging on the crosses, others without…Stumbled on to what might be the Ervin Gulbranson I know. The place is fixed up nice…Took two pictures. The odor is strong.”
As one who has tried and failed numerous times to keep a diary I can only stand in awe of such commitment. Diarists are the unsung heroes of history and literature. What would writers today know about the Civil War, for instance, if thousands of young soldiers hadn’t kept diaries as records of their experiences? Anyone with an interest in World War II and the 34th Infantry Division in particular will be thrilled with the material in this book.