“Sky full of airplanes. Hear enemy guns roar. Just pulverized entire field.” — July 25, 1944

Looking back at that diary entry, Gene Kleindl admits he had no idea what he was getting into when he walked into Rockford’s Camp Grant with his older brother, Cliff, and volunteered for the military in the middle of World War II. This was in 1942, when he was 20 years old.

“Everybody wanted to be in the service at that time,” Kleindl, now 85 and living in rural Capron, said. “There was excitement about the war, a sense of not being sure what was going on.”

Kleindl’s journey as an Army medic took him from Camp Grant to training in Texas and New Jersey and eventually to Normandy, France, where he landed on Utah Beach on D-Day, and then Bastogne, Belgium, for the Battle of the Bulge.

On May 26, Kleindl will serve as the honorary marshal of the Winnebago County Veterans Memorial Day parade. Kleindl has been marching in local parades since the 1950s. This year, he’ll also be representing “all the medics who served during wars,” parade Chairman Jeffrey Schroeder said.

Kleindl was in Europe for 17 months and saw 311 days of combat, by his count. He was a litter bearer with the 90th Infantry Division, nicknamed the “Tough ’Ombres,” primarily responsible for evacuating wounded soldiers and carrying them to medical stations.

Often, that included search missions under the cover of night or after fighting had ceased, looking for wounded who had been hidden by fellow soldiers making a hasty retreat. Other times, Kleindl performed routine medical checkups or dental work on soldiers if doctors were preoccupied.

In World War II, each Army company was assigned its own litter bearers, aid men, doctors, jeeps and other medical equipment. Aid men were in the thick of battles, tending to wounded soldiers immediately. The peril was so great that Kleindl often didn’t have a chance to learn an aid man’s name before someone else replaced him.

“I almost got asked to be an aid man once,” Kleindl said. “I thought that would be the end of me, but replacements came at the last minute.”

German troops generally respected the Red Cross patch that medics wore on their left sleeve and wouldn’t fire at them, Kleindl said. Some medics carried weapons, but not very often, Kleindl said.

Kleindl discovered an abandoned pistol at some point and carried it with him through the end of the war, though he never shot it. Years later, he took the gun out in his backyard for target practice, only to find it wouldn’t fire.

“I felt so brave carrying that pistol around, and it didn’t even work,” Kleindl said.

Kleindl was never gravely wounded but still had his share of close calls and saw the brutal effects of war: soldiers paralyzed by fear, unable or unwilling to move on the battlefield, and men shooting themselves in the foot to get a few days reprieve from combat.

“As a medic, all you’re trying to figure out is, ‘Is that one ours or theirs?’ and try not to get hit,” Kleindl said. “I did think sometimes, ‘Is this ever going to end? Am I ever going to get out of this place?’ ”

The memories are sharp and clear and come easily to Kleindl, at least the early years, before the “slow, hardening process of war” prompted his mind to gloss over some of the later, more horrific details. The relics of Kleindl’s service are confined mostly to his basement, which is lined wall to wall with uniforms, helmets, guns and photographs.

Kleindl collected a good portion of the souvenirs during his service, often when he searched or treated prisoners. He also kept a diary from the time he arrived in England to his discharge in fall 1945, the contents of which he transcribed and arranged in a three-ring binder, along with articles and photographs depicting other aspects of the war.

The entries chronicle everything from a day he spent playing the guitar and writing letters to his mother to the day he “kissed a nice gal on her cheek” while passing through a German village to the day in April 1945 when he saw his first concentration camp in Czechoslovakia.

Included among the accounts is an October 1945 Rockford Morning Star article heralding the Kleindl brothers’ return to Rockford. Kleindl found a job at JL Clark Corp., where he worked for 35 years, and ran a small printing business out of his home. He married the friend of his high school girlfriend and together they raised four children.

In retirement, Kleindl has kept busy with gardening and reconnecting with fellow World War II veterans, including those who remain from the 90th.

“When people talk about patriotism today and dying for the flag, that’s not really it,” Kleindl said. “You’re dying for your buddies that you bonded with back in basic training. Whatever you’re doing, you’re doing for them.”

Kleindl is scheduled to ride in a jeep for the parade on May 26, but if he has his way, he’ll be marching, joined by two of his grandchildren. Either way, he will be shedding light on an overlooked but crucial occupation, organizers say.

“Medics played a vital role, and the farther back you go, they played an even more vital role,” Schroeder said. “Many of them lost their lives, too. They’re very much unsung heroes.”

Kleindl doesn’t quite see it that way.

“I don’t feel qualified (to be parade marshal),” he said. “The dead people should be honored more than the living. I haven’t done anything in my opinion to be called a hero or get a special honor. I do appreciate it, though, when people seem to be interested in what I did.”

Staff writer Sarah Roberts can be reached at 815-987-1354 or smrobert@rrstar.com.

About Gene Kleindl
Age: 85

Hometown: Rockford. Moved to Capron in 1987

Education: Graduated East High School in 1942

Military service: Joined the Army in October 1942 and was discharged in 1945

Family: Wife, Joanne, four children and eight grandchildren

Hobbies: Gardening

Groups/organizations: Daniel Post 864, has marched in local Memorial Day parades since the 1950s

If you go
What: Winnebago County Veterans Memorial Day Parade and Memoriam Service.

Where: Downtown Rockford. Parade starts at Seventh Street and Third Avenue and ends at Beattie Park. The memorial service will be held on the banks of the Rock River behind the Rockford Public Library immediately after the parade ends.

When: 9 a.m. Monday, May 26

Cost: Free

Info: No rain date is scheduled. For more information, contact Jeffrey Schroeder at 815-963-6003.