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For World War II veteran brothers, a lifetime of service
How West Liberty brothers served their country and their communities
May. 28, 2023 6:00 am
When the Lehman brothers of West Liberty joined the service eight decades ago, they didn’t need any enticement.
Bob tried to enlist in the Marines in 1943, at age 17, but was told he’d have a wait a bit. Despite his family’s objections, he followed through, starting his service in March 1944.
The following autumn, his older brother, Walt, joined the Army.
By January 1945, their oldest brother, Fred, relinquished his agricultural deferments on the family farm to serve, too. After enlisting in the Army, he switched to the Marines on a whim.
“Someone came in with a clipboard and said, ‘I have room for two Marines,’” explained Fred, now 100. With a quick glance at his friend from Muscatine County, they took the man up on the offer.
“I liked a challenge,” Fred said.
Like many from the Greatest Generation during World War II, the two teenagers and their older 20-something brother didn’t think anything of putting their lives on hold to serve in countries they had barely had time to learn about in school.
Fred received engineering training; Walt earned a Purple Heart for saving others’ lives in the Philippines while injured himself; and Bob trained in amphibian tanks to serve on the southern coast of Japan as the U.S. dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Now some 80 years later, after being celebrated at Iowa football games and by parades thrown in their honor, they’re still not sure what all the fuss is about. Because for these three brothers, the war was only the beginning of their service to their country — and their communities — over their long lives.
Bob and Walt Lehman maintain a legacy for future generations
For the youngest brother, the celebrations of their service always came with nuanced feelings.
“We enjoyed every bit of them, but our thoughts go back to the ones who never got home,” said Bob, now 97. “We’re getting the praise, and the ones who got killed don’t get nothing.”
Every year for decades, the three brothers were involved in their local American Legion posts — Bob and Walt at Post 509 in West Liberty and Fred at Post 480 in Mount Vernon — heading up, or at least bolstering, annual Memorial Day celebrations.
The brothers were involved in their posts for a length of time that was unusual even for veterans of their generation. In West Liberty, the 77 years of service from Walt and Bob made them two of only three people to ever reach the 75-year mark in the post’s history of just over 100 years.
Even before surviving World War II veterans become scarcer and scarcer, the pair were there for all of the post’s functions, said Commander Ken Riley. In recent years, the post has struggled with membership numbers and finding leaders to keep it running.
“They did everything they could to keep it open,” Riley said.
Walt helped start the post’s Avenue of Flags decades ago — a Memorial Day event that now produces 300 star-spangled banners waving each May — and served as the post’s chaplain until he physically couldn’t stand up to say the prayers at events. Meanwhile, Bob helped with the rifle work.
When Walt died in December at age 98, he left a part of his estate to the organization he dedicated a substantial part of his life to. Thanks to him, the post started giving scholarships away again this month after a long pause.
“I’m proud of them both for what they did. It kept the post together so younger generations could come in and take over,” said Riley. “It would’ve never been there without them, I can tell you that.”
The three brothers, 4-Hers as children, all served as presidents on the Muscatine County Fair Board, shaping generations of agriculture in the community as they created a legacy for service through farming — all three have been farmers, although Bob drove a truck and Fred was in sales. Subsequently, Bob and Fred’s sons served as presidents of the Fair Board.
For some of them, it was simply the Golden Rule in action.
“I probably didn’t do as much of others, but I did what I could,” Bob said, maintaining a sense of humility. “We did our thing for the country and just kept it up.”
Fred becomes a touchstone of the Mount Vernon community
For Fred, the only brother who wasn’t shipped overseas during the war, stateside service after training for combat set him up for a lifetime of service on the homefront in Iowa.
After basic training, Fred attended engineer training in Camp Lejeune, N.C., before being placed into the 82nd Replacement Draft in California. But by the time he could be shipped to the Pacific front like his brothers, the draft broke up stateside, and he was sent to the Great Lakes Naval Training Station in Chicago.
He served in mess halls to feed the troops. And with typing experience from high school, he ended up writing up their discharge papers, too — including Bob’s.
“I ended up being a discharged typist, which is top of the line,” he said with a laugh. “I had my MOS (Military Occupational Specialties), but nothing to do. Nothing I was there for.”
Over the next 75 years, he endeavored to make up for it. Whether it was with the Legion, the Lions Club, the school board or the Farm Bureau, Fred left an impression greater than the sum of the physical projects he contributed to.
He didn’t seek out leaderships — others elevated him to them.
After not going overseas like others, it was he way of fulfilling the responsibility that his service helped him realize. As it turned out, being a typist and training as an engineer prepared him to use his life for service to people who were more than names on paper.
A commander of his American Legion post for 12 years, Fred helped maintain continuity of traditions and pass the baton by mentoring current Commander Mike Woods. More than performing ceremonies at cemeteries, Fred kept patriotism alive and passed a sense of appreciation on to the next generations in Mount Vernon.
“He was a historical knowledge of the organization. Not just of the local chapter, but also how the American Legion works,” said Woods.
The special forces retiree still holds Fred’s mentorship close to his heart.
A touchstone of the Mount Vernon community, the man now some call “the grandpa of Mount Vernon” has become the person everyone makes a point to see at events. Though his physical attendance at some organizations has slowed in recent years, his presence still is savored.
His contributions to the Veteran’s Memorial at the Mount Vernon Cemetery, finished six years ago, was his favorite project. His Facebook joke page, started at the height of the pandemic to tell jokes every day, embodied the natural talent that helped him bond with so many over the years.
“He always has a smile on his face and a joke in his heart,” said Mount Vernon Mayor Tom Wieseler. “(Community members) not only respect what he’s given to his country, but to his community.”
Fred pondered what he’s gotten out of his service to the community.
“You walk into a room and 20 people get up from their chairs,” he said as his voice broke and his eyes welled up. After all these years being there for others, they’re there for him.
After sowing an immeasurable impact, that’s perhaps worth more than a 21-gun salute.
The Lehman brothers pose in an undated photo around their service in World War II. (Ann Lehman Currie)
The Lehman brothers pose with cattle projects in an undated photo taken during their childhoods, likely in the 1930s. (Ann Lehman Currie)
The Lehman brothers are honored for their service during World War II at a Hawkeye game in Iowa City on Saturday, Sept. 17, 2022. From right to left: Bob Lehman, Walt Lehman, Fred Lehman. (Ann Lehman Currie)
Fred Lehman was a staple of Memorial Day services held by the American Legion in Mount Vernon for decades. (Ann Lehman Currie)
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