Earl Nermoe

Name included on the All Veterans Memorial at the state Capital Bismarck North Dakota under Bottnieau/McHenry counties. Information found on page 1063 of the registry of ND Veterans World War II and Korea: NERMOE EARL T. SN 328 83 26; born Upham. NDak 1 Jun 19; resident McHenry County, NDak; entered US Navy Mpls, Minn 9 Jan 41; served Asiatic Pacific Theater; KIA 7 Dec 41 Pearl Harbor, Hawaii; SN1; buried in Plot B, Grave 352-N Ft Snelling National Cemetery, Mpls, Minn. Information compiled by Dale G. Niewoehner of McHenry County: It was a beautiful Sunday morning with a temperature of 73 with some clouds over the mountains, but generally excellent visibility with clear sunny skies. Being Sunday, many had plans to relax and visit friends at different locations on the island. Many had friends from back home that they could visit on Sunday. However, a little before 8 o€™clock in the morning the world changed. We would soon be at war. I am getting ahead of myself, so let us go back to the beginning of our topic today, our local war hero, Earl Nermoe. Earl Tilman Nermoe was born the son of Peter J. Nermoe and his wife, Hilda Johnson Nermoe on June 1, 1919 at Deep, North Dakota. He lived on the family farm and ranch in Tacoma Township €“ Bottineau County, North Dakota. He was baptized and confirmed at the Deep River Scandinavian Lutheran Church. Earl attended school in Deep and high school in Kramer. In January, 1941, as reported by the Bismarck Tribune, he joined the United States Navy - to see the world - and received his basic training at the Great Lakes Naval Training Center in North Chicago, Illinois. While there he was a member of the Recruit Chapel Choir. After graduation, he was stationed on the Colorado class battleship USS West Virginia (BB-48) as a gunner, moored in Battleship Row at Pearl Harbor, Honolulu County, Hawaii. Earl had always enjoyed sports and took an active part in the ship€™s athletic activities. He was chosen as one of the twenty sailors given special training to take part in some of the athletic events of the ship when they participated with other ships of the Pacific fleet. In November he wrote home telling his family that €œWe€™ve been practicing mock attacks. They think the Japs may attack€. After receiving two promotions, Seaman Nermoe was looking forward to coming home for Christmas, his sister Marian recalled. Around 8 o€™clock in the morning on December 7, 1941, the Empire of Japan waged an act of war by attacking the ships in Pearl Harbor. The USS West Virginia was struck by several Japanese torpedoes and began to sink in the harbor. 106 sailors died on the USS West Virginia. The ship was later repaired and served during World War II, in fact she was present in Tokyo Bay for the Japanese final surrender on September 2, 1945. Soon after the attack at least 5 sailors, including Seaman First Class Nermoe, were transferred to the USS Tennessee. The USS Tennessee was not severely damaged but was trapped between other severely damaged ships such as the USS Arizona and the USS West Virginia. The sailors transferred to the USS Tennessee were listed as €œconsidered seriously injured€ and soon transferred to the US Naval Hospital at Pearl Harbor. Without saying, the need for medical care that morning was overwhelming. Naval medicine was represented at Pearl Harbor by this naval hospital which was a partially assembled mobile hospital and a hospital ship moored at Ford Island. The hospital was damaged in the Japanese attack as well. Within the first three hours the hospital received 546 casualties and 313 dead and by the end of the day the number had risen to 960. In the first hours of America's Pacific war, the nation suffered one of her worst wartime losses: 2,388 men, women, and children were killed in the attack. Sadly, during the course of the day, Seaman Earl Tilman Nermoe died in the Naval Hospital at the age of 22 years and became one of the first serviceman from McHenry County to be killed in World War Two. Another sailor, Seaman Second Class Oscar Wohl €“ Anamoose, who was stationed on the light cruiser USS Helena, also died on December 7, 1941. All recovered deceased personnel were identified by pathologists, dentists and other medical technicians and prepared for burial. The first burials began on December 8th in the Oahu Cemetery and later in the Halawa Cemetery for the overflow of dead service personnel. It was from these cemeteries that dis-interments were made for repatriation to their destination place of burial after the war ended. The next of kin was given an option of leaving the remains in Hawaii or returning them to the mainland and local area for re-burial. Since Seaman Nermoe had an older brother Lloyd, who lived in the Minneapolis area , the family requested that he be buried in Fort Snelling National Cemetery. At the time of his death, services were held at the Deep River Lutheran Church €“ Upham, with Rev. Amundsen officiating. In mid October of 1947 the remains of Seaman Earl Nermoe arrived aboard ship in San Francisco and placed on a train to the Chicago quartermaster depot for shipment to Minnesota. On October 28, 1947, his remains were received at Union Station in St. Paul, Minnesota. These remains were transferred by Chief Petty Officer G.W. Anderson to Fort Snelling National Cemetery €“ Minneapolis, Minnesota by Dwight and Milton Thomson of the Thomson Mortuary which was the contracting mortuary for war dead scheduled for Fort Snelling re-burial and were interred in Section B-1, site 352N. As the Minneapolis Star wrote on Tuesday, October 28, 1947 €œOperation Taps€ Moves to close for 3 war dead€€¦.the story continued to say: Operation Taps moved solemnly to a close for three upper Midwest service men today. They arrived to a €œhero€™s welcome€ accorded by their loved ones and started a two year procession of 10,000 forever silent war dead who are to be re-buried in Minnesota soil.€ Military honors and taps were provided by the Russell Gaylord Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 159 at Fort Snelling National Cemetery. In 1961, the Star Tribune published a front page feature story about Nermoe on the 20th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor. He was awarded, posthumously, the Purple Heart, the American Defense Service Medal, the World War II Victory Medal, the Asiatic Pacific Campaign Medal for his service to the nation. In April, 1946 an organizational meeting was held in Upham with the local veterans for the purpose of organizing an American Legion post . At this meeting a decision was made that the post would be named for local war hero Earl T. Nermoe. The permanent charter for post number 269 was granted on August 7, 1947. To this day the Earl Nermoe Post 269 American Legion provides military honors to all who have served this country. In closing it is my honor to thank the Nermoe family for the privilege of serving as their funeral director for several members of the Nermoe family.