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Local WWII Veterans Receive Bronze Medal
2 July 2002
Elma Rogers received the medal on behalf of her late husband, Elmer Peal. Elmer Peal was drafted into the Army in 1944, and became part of the Luzon Campaign to take back the Philippines from the Japanese forces. He was wounded early in the year, returned to continue his service, and was killed in battle in 1945. Mr. Peal left a widow and three young children.
P.F. C. Elmer H. Peal, killed in action on April 23, 1945.
Pictured here are Charles Iffland and his buddies in Naples in 1944.Iffland served in Europe and N. Africa as an Anti-tank gun crewman; he appears on the far right.Photo courtesy of his son, John Iffland.
Harold Enger from Snohomish County fought briefly at the Battle of the Bulge, and later in the French Alps. Anders was in the infantry, and he remembers enduring the cold winters sleeping in foxholes, saying that the "trenchfoot was terrible."
James Elmar Owens was inducted into the Army in 1943. Mr. Owens served as a rifleman with Company C, in the 18th Infantry Regiment. Elmar fought in the frontlines in the battle on Crucifix Hill, a pillbox-studded position key to the defense of Aachen Germany. Mr. Owens was the only survivor in his platoon on one occasion and the only one of two survivors on two other occasions. For this he received the Distinguished Unit Badge. Elmar married his wife Frances in 1948-- they have been married 54 years, have four children and eight grandchildren.
Robert Zappone volunteered for service in the Army and was a machine-gunner in the 407th Infantry Regimen of the 102nd Division. Robert fought in France and Germany, and later became part of the Army of Occupation following the German defeat. Throughout his service, Robert played the trumpet in a number of bands that he helped to organize, and during his time in Germany, he became the entertainment director for his musical work and publication of a servicemen newspaper. Upon his return to the United States in April, 1946, Robert attended Gonzaga University, married, and had five children.
Ernest Schear, Jr. of Kirkland received the medal for his service in the Pacific.
Students from the Maplewood Coop School in Edmonds presented their Memorial Flag Quilt, which represents the lives of eighty American veterans as seen through the eyes of their children and grandchildren.
The Fort Lewis Colorguard participated in the ceremony.