World War II, Wilbert Hilgedick

Wilbert Hilgedick discovered he liked using his muscles more than his brain in the service.

He was drafted into the Army when he was about 20 years old. He did his basic training at North Camp Polk, La. He wasn’t informed what his specialty was until he got to the Philippines. The Army decided he was best suited to be the company clerk of H&S Company, 233rd Engineer Combat Battalion.

“I didn’t go through hell and high water because I could type. Therefore, I didn’t go on the front lines ... It just so happened, I lucked out,” he said.

He was in charge of the morning report. He documented where everyone was, including men who were on temporary duty assignments. He worked at an engineer depot called Base M, located about 180 miles north of Manila. He did this for eight months.

“My commander took a liking to me for some reason. He tried his best to get me to stay there when the time came to go back to the United States. I didn’t know what the situation was back at home with my family. I couldn’t find out through letters so I came on back,” Hilgedick said.

When he finally caught up with his father, he asked him what his plans were.
He told his son, “I’m going to live here, work here and die here.”

So, Hilgedick decided to re-enlist and requested to return to the Philippines.

Instead, he was sent to Korea, just before the war broke out. He was a personnel sergeant for four months. He handled personnel records and payroll for the company. Then he was shipped to Japan. He was the chief clerk of Supply Division, Engineer Section, Headquarters 8th Army. He worked there for 39 months, before he returned to the States.

He then got a job in the ROTC program at the University of Missouri. He worked there for two years. Then he was sent to Fort Riley, Kan., and was selected for G2.

“What’s G2? That’s intelligence,” he said. “I said, ‘What in the world am I doing in intelligence? I’m not a smart man.’ ”

He worked for a master sergeant who was the most efficient man in the office he’d ever seen. Hilgedick learned the technique of handling classified material. He worked there for a few months, before he was told the Army wanted to set up a company of 230 men and eight officers to go on a classified mission at White Sands Proving Ground in New Mexico.

He was chosen to interview the men, send in the proper forms and do the background checks. They convoyed to New Mexico. He was the personnel sergeant of the personnel section. He maintained the records of the officers and the enlisted men. He had a payroll clerk and four others working for him. He never went out in the field. He was there six months. After the mission was complete, he returned to Fort Riley.

Later he was sent to Verdun, France, for two years. He was tired of administrative work, so he asked if he could work in the warehouse. He wanted to use his muscles instead of his head. He was put with European Command Property 867. He went to station property accountability school in Germany for six weeks.

“I ate that subject up like a child eats ice cream. I loved it,” he said. He graduated second in his class.

He returned to the States and was sent to Mead, Neb. They had a property book there with $3.5 million on it, but they had no one to take care of it. A lot of people took the job, but quit because they couldn’t handle it.

He found it to be a challenge. If he wasn’t there when the property came in, he didn’t know how many different pieces were part of that item. He did that job for three and a half years.

During that time, he bought a miniature rat terrier dog.

“You’re not supposed to have dogs in the military, but we got by with a lot of things up there at Mead because we were out in the middle of a corn field,” he said.

Back then they wore their shirts on the inside of their trousers. He would tuck the dog into his jacket and take him to the office. When it got cold in the winter time, he made a little jacket for him. Since Hilgedick was a sergeant first class, he’d tie some of the stripes on the dog’s coat for added flare.

At one point, he was told he was being sent to Vietnam. But then his commander decided Hilgedick was more valuable right there at Mead. A couple of months later, Hilgedick had his 20 years in and put in for retirement. He got it in June 1966.

He started farming and decided to raise draft horses. A pair of Belgian draft horses were his primary team. He broke no less than 100 head. He raised and trained six to eight colts a year. He worked from daylight to dark.

Now he is a resident of the Missouri Veterans Home in Warrensburg.