torn
down in 1938. As a young boy I have many memories of a sad time in
my country. In May 1940, the Germans overran the Netherlands, occupying
the country for about 5 years. During this time I remember German
soldiers patrolling the streets: one man was an SS soldier; he was in control.
In my opinion, the biggest threat of that time was the Dutch people who
were sympathizing with the Germans. They went after the young men
who didn't want to go to Germany and work, and they tried to find the Jews
to turn them over to the Whermacht (military). I remember seeing
a young man running away from a Dutch sympathizer who was shooting his
gun at him. The young man got away. He was not hit and
they never found him. He was one of the lucky ones.
Another thing I will never forget is the time when we were actually close to being liberated, but the Germans were still able to hit my town with big guns they had on the island of Borkum. The first shot landed close to my home, but the second shot fell on a woodshed where seven girls had found shelter after hearing the first shot. All seven were my age.
During the war I did some scroll sawing in a tiny room where I had a little table and a fretsaw frame. It was difficult to get blades as well as wood. Unfortunately, with the turmoil during the ending of the war, I got away from woodworking. Meanwhile, my father had gotten interested in flour milling and I had the opportunity to go to milling school in Wageningen (The Netherlands). I then went on to apprentice in mills in Holland, Germany and Sweden, and eventually worked in my father's mill.
When friends of my folks from America came to visit, I asked them if they would sponsor me, thereby enabling me to come to the USA. I waited two years for my number to come up, and after a physical and waiting a few more weeks, I got my papers and a green card. I booked passage on the Ryndam and sailed December 27, 1956, for New York. I remember that the weather was awful and most people experienced sea sickness. I was up and around to celebrate New Year's on the Atlantic with a liquid diet. Speaking of diet, after finally arriving in New York it wasn't until the next day that I had something to eat (apple pie). I boarded a plane for Billings, Montana, but had to change planes in Minneapolis and wait three hours. I was hungry and didn't know how to order, but I remembered apple pie, so I got apple pie (again) and coffee! Finally, when friends of my sponsor met the plane in Billings and spoke Dutch, the very first thing we did was go for some food.
I worked as a miller at a flour mill for four years in Fergus Falls, Minnesota, where I met my future wife, Marilyn. She was in nurse's training in the state hospital. We married in September, 1961, and returned to the Netherlands in January, 1962, to rejoin my family corporation. I had hopes of taking my father's place one day. But, unfortunately, things didn't work out exactly as we had hoped, so five years later we decided to return to America. It wasn't an easy thing to do because we had three sons by then but I feel confident after all these years that we made the right decision. We had one more son here. Our oldest son is attending Drake Law School, while our second son is a minister with the United Methodist Church. Son number three is Vice President and Lease Rep for Fifth Third Bank in Indianapolis and the fourth is a special education teacher in Minnesota. Marilyn is a registered nurse at Avera McKennan hospital in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
After returning to America I found work as a salesman, primarily in the ware washing field: calling on restaurants, hospitals, nursing homes and schools. I also serviced dishwashers. Due to this work my family and I moved around frequently until we eventually settled in Valley Springs, South Dakota.
A friend and I then started a lawn service business which I had to get out of when I got cancer.
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