2014 Gate Sentinels

In tribute to all Nebraskans who have defended freedom by serving in the United States military, the Nebraska Athletic Department welcomes nine Nebraska veterans, representing all military branches and conflicts, as Honorary Gate Sentinels for Saturday's Nebraska-Northwestern Big Ten Conference game at Memorial Stadium

To read more about each veteran, please click on their image for a complete bio.

Scott Langan

Nebraska Army National Guard
Lincoln, Nebraska

Sarah Bredthauer

Nebraska Air National Guard
Sterling, Nebraska

Charley Ackerman

United States Army
Milford, Nebraska

Joann Murray Legendre

United States Army / United States Air Force
Omaha, Nebraska

Robert Larkins

United States Navy
Lincoln, Nebraska

Robert H. Cather

United States Army
Lincoln, Nebraska

Reuben Schleifer

United States Army Air Corps / United States Army
Byron, Nebraska

Gerald D. Wortman

United States Marine Corps
Tekamah, Nebraska

Lyle Rogers

United States Marine Corps
North Platte, Nebraska

HONORARY SENTINEL NAME: Scott Langan

CURRENT RANK: Sergeant Major

SERVICE BRANCH: Nebraska Army National Guard

COMBAT ACTIONS: Operation Desert Shield / Desert Storm and Operation Iraqi Freedom

HOME TOWN: Lincoln, Nebraska

MILITARY SPECIALTIES: Flight Medic, Senior Intelligence Sergeant,
Operations Sergeant Major

UNITS: 1267th Medical Company (Air Ambulance), 110th Multifunctional Medical Battalion

DECORATIONS, CITATIONS AND AWARDS: National Defense Service Medal

Sergeant Major Scott Langan is a 31-year veteran of the Nebraska Army National Guard who currently serves as the Operations Sergeant Major for the Lincoln-based 110th Multifunctional Medical Battalion. A native of Lincoln, Sergeant Major Langan is a veteran of Operation Desert Shield / Desert Storm, deploying to the Middle East in November 1990 where he served as a Flight Medic with the Nebraska Army National Guard's 1267th Medical Company (Air Ambulance). He is also a veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom, having deployed to Iraq in 2008 as a Senior Intelligence Sergeant with the Nebraska Army National Guard's 110th Multifunctional Medical Battalion. Sergeant Major Langan is a 1983 graduate of Lincoln Pius High School and a 1992 graduate of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

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HONORARY SENTINEL NAME: Sarah Bredthauer

CURRENT RANK: Master Sergeant

SERVICE BRANCH: Nebraska Air National Guard

COMBAT ACTIONS: Operation Enduring Freedom

HOME TOWN: Sterling, Nebraska

MILITARY SPECIALTIES: Contracting Officer

UNITS: 155th Civil Engineering Squadron

DECORATIONS, CITATIONS AND AWARDS: National Defense Service Medal

Master Sergeant Bredthauer is a native of Sterling, Nebraska and currently serves as the Prime BEEF Man-ager for the Nebraska Air National Guard's 155th Civil Engineering Squadron. Having served 14 years in the Nebraska Air National Guard, Master Sergeant Bredthauer recently returned from a deployment to Kuwait in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. While in Kuwait, Master Sergeant Bredthauer served as a Con-tracting Officer Representative for the Base Services Contracting Office. Master Sergeant Bredthauer is a 2000 graduate of Sterling High School, where she continues to serve as a volunteer assistant track coach. She also attends Southeast Community College with the goal of transferring to the University of Nebraska-Lincoln where she will major in Academic Secondary Education.

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HONORARY SENTINEL NAME: Charley Ackerman

CURRENT RANK: Private First Class

SERVICE BRANCH: United States Army

COMBAT ACTIONS: Korea

HOME TOWN: Milford, Nebraska

MILITARY SPECIALTIES: Combat Infantry Rifleman, Automatic Weapons

UNITS: “Charlie” Company, 17th Infantry Regiment

DECORATIONS, CITATIONS AND AWARDS: National Defense Service Medal, Combat Infantryman Badge, Korean Campaign Ribbon, R.O.K. Service Medal

In October of 1952, Charley Ackerman boarded the Military Sea Transport, USS Black, in San Francisco Harbor along with 5,200 other U.S. Army troops bound for Korea. Crossing the Pacific took three weeks, and they disembarked at Inchon. Charley made his way through arrival processing then on to the 17th Infantry Regiment’s command bunker at the battle front, about five “klicks” south of a glorified mound of dirt TOPO designated as “Hill 255,” but more aptly christened by the G.I.s as “Pork Chop Hill.” He was assigned to “C” (for “Charlie”) Company, directed to his tent, handed a .30 caliber machine gun, and told “Use it.” Right away, the “new guy” hazing began with someone telling him that the average life expectancy of a machine gunner was 16 seconds. That gave Charley pause. He didn’t know if it was true or not, but he wasn’t too eager to find out. PFC Ackerman barely had time to get his gear squared away before the platoon sergeant stuck his head in the tent and hollered “Saddle up – prepare to move out!” “Charlie” Company didn’t see much of those tents on a regular basis. They were always in the field, in fox holes and bunkers.

By the time PFC Ackerman arrived, the U.S 7th Infantry Division and the Chinese 141st Military Division had been swapping possession of this worthless hunk of real estate for the better part of a year, with very little to show for it other than body count. These unproductive skirmishes continued for the remainder of the Fall of ’52 and through the Winter of ’53. Each flare-up seemed conveniently timed to press some negotiating issue or another at the peace talks being held in Panmunjom. Then with the Spring, came a major Chinese offensive. In a surprise attack, a battalion-strength Chinese force overran the “Old Baldy” outpost defended by a single Company from the 31st Regiment. The 31st mounted a hastily prepared and disorganized counter-attack, but it failed, losing all but 25 men of the of the original countering force of 450.

The surviving elements of the 31st Regiment were folded into the 17th Regiment and in May, another attempt to re-take the “Old Baldy” outpost was initiated. The battlefield was constant horror. “We were shelled by artillery, and our artillery returned fire,” Charley said. “They threw grenades. We threw grenades. .50-cal. and .30-cal. machine guns fired all night long. With so many parachute flares and artillery explosions, it was like daylight.” Then, during the early days of the Second Battle of Old Baldy, PFC Ackerman took a burst of machine gun fire across his chest and fell, severely wounded. He was carried to a battlefield aid station and medevac’d to Seoul. From Seoul, Charley was airevac’d to Hickam AB, Hawaii and flown on to Denver, where after five hours of surgery, he spent five months in rehabilitation. Sadly, he later learned that six days after he was evacuated from the battlefield, “Charlie” Company had been wiped out, to a man. Charley Ackerman still struggles with feelings of inner conflict between rejoicing at his safe return and mourning the devastating loss of over 100 of his friends and fellow warriors. His wounds clearly qualify for an award of the Purple Heart, but in memory of his fallen comrades, Charley steadfastly refuses to accept any such decoration. “Medals are for heroes,” he insists. “They’re the heroes – not me.”

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HONORARY SENTINEL NAME: Joann Murray Legendre

CURRENT RANK: Lieutenant Colonel

SERVICE BRANCH: United States Army / United States Air Force

COMBAT ACTIONS: Viet Nam

HOME TOWN: Omaha, Nebraska

MILITARY SPECIALTIES: Operating Room Nurse

UNITS: 3rd Field Hospital, Saigon, 27th Surgical Hospital, Chu Lai

DECORATIONS, CITATIONS AND AWARDS: Bronze Star for Service,
National Defense Service Medal,
Viet Nam Service Medal,
Republic of Viet Nam Campaign Medal

– Joann Murray Legendre Lt. Col. USAF [Ret Of the 2.7 million American military personnel who served in Viet Nam, only 7,300 were women. 85% of those women were nurses. Joann Legendre was an Army Operating Room Nurse in Viet Nam.

“I was confident that I was prepared for what I would encounter when I went to Viet Nam. Nothing could have been farther from the truth. No amount of training could have prepared me for what I would see or for the level of medical skill that I would be expected to contribute. Direct, immediate air evacuation of the wounded from the battle zone to the surgical hospital cut the treatment response time. We treated soldiers with wounds so severe that in earlier wars, they would have been fatal. The bloodiest no longer died on the battlefield. More survivable amputations resulted from the Viet Nam War than from any previous U.S. combat action…including the Civil War.

”When a large-scale military operation was under way, we would receive casualties in massive numbers with massive wounds. [As I read this, I realize that I keep repeating the word “wounds” over and over, but that was what we faced, constantly…wounds…wounds…wounds…terrible, horrible, gaping wounds.] Triage was a crucible of life or death. Nurses and doctors were forced to make quick decisions. Each case was unique, requiring specific treatment for specific wounds in the hope of saving life and limb…putting bodies back together as best we could.

“It was amazing how quickly nurses and doctors adapted to and met the extreme demands made of them – always doing everything they could for the wounded soldiers. Fortunately, rotation schedules were such that there were those who had been in-country for a while and who would help the “newbies,” like me, adjust to the pace and to the intensely shocking surroundings. Time passed, and my turn to help someone new came, soon enough. “Equally amazing was the courage of our soldiers. Their strength of character – their persistence and determination to survive was truly inspiring. I remember so many of them, and I often wonder how they are doing, today.

“Finally, I remember my comrades, the men and women – doctors, nurses, corpsmen – with whom I served. Those working conditions forged some of the strongest interpersonal bonds that I’ve ever known. There was an intimacy – not a physical or an emotional intimacy – but the tightly woven intimacy that spreads through a team of committed professionals – where you’re in their heads and they’re in yours, and everyone knows what to do, with hardly a word being spoken. Our victories were in the lives we saved, and when we “won” one, that camaraderie – that Esprit du Corps – was the greatest feeling that I have ever known. I’ll never forget those feelings, and I’ll never forget those people.”

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HONORARY SENTINEL NAME: Robert Larkins

CURRENT RANK: Seaman

SERVICE BRANCH: United States Navy

COMBAT ACTIONS: Cold War

HOME TOWN: Lincoln, Nebraska

MILITARY SPECIALTIES: Engine Room Fireman

UNITS: USS Missouri

DECORATIONS, CITATIONS AND AWARDS: Honorable Service Lapel Pin

Seaman Robert Larkins first boarded the USS Missouri in New York harbor right after her historic voyage to Tokyo. As a Fireman in the #1 Engine Room, his duty station was well below deck. He spent his watches ensuring that the furnaces were properly fired and that the boilers maintained adequate pressure to safely generate steam without red-lining. He also spent time studying for his Fireman’s rating. Although he did not serve during any of the ship’s combat operations, there were regular and frequent combat exercises. The Soviet Union was no longer an ally, but an adversary, and America was becoming engaged in a new kind of war – a Cold War. Robert’s battle station was on the 40-mm anti-aircraft gun on Missouri’s fantail. Robert was standing his watch in the Engine Room, one day, when the General Quarters klaxon sounded. From his duty station to his battle station, he passed the #2 battery of 16“ guns. Just as Robert was rushing by the battery, all three guns fired broadside. The concussion knocked him to the deck, and the ship rolled violently, reacting to the force of the blast. Dazed by the concussion and unsteady from the rolling deck, it took Robert a few minutes to regain his feet. By the time he got to his battle station, the exercise was over. Robert was glad to get back to the #1 Engine Room and his Fireman duties. His ears rang for a month.

Robert was keenly aware of “Mighty Mo’s“ place in history. As the U.S. Atlantic Fleet Commander, Admiral Jonas Ingram’s Flagship, “Spit-and-Polish” was the Order of the Day. There is a lot of brass in an Iowa Class Battleship Engine Room, and nobody gets to spend more time polishing all that brass than an unrated Fireman. By the end of his first month at sea, Robert had a close, personal relationship with every brass fitting, casing, handle, and plate.

Once, when a steam fitting in the Admiral’s Ward Room was leaking, Robert was sent to help a Machinist’s Mate make repairs. Wow! Not only was the huge compartment impressive in its appointment and furnishing, but on the walls hung genuine museum pieces – exquisitely framed memorabilia of Missouri’s short but illustrious career: an original copy of the Signature Page from the Japanese Instrument of Unconditional Surrender, complete with signatures and ceremonial pen; the Land of the Rising Sun war flag of the Japanese military, taken down and furled during the surrender ceremony to signify Japan’s complete capitulation; a replica of Commodore Matthew Perry’s 31-star American flag taken ashore in 1853 as Perry forced Japan to open its ports to foreign trade, the actual flag being displayed during the surrender ceremony then returned to the Naval Academy Museum; Battle Stars awarded to Missouri’s crew for the ship’s participation in the naval bombardments of Iwo Jima, Okinawa, and the main Japanese island of Honshu; a piece of the Kamikaze aircraft that slammed into Missouri’s starboard side during the Battle of Okinawa, doing only superficial damage; and so much more.

The USS Missouri was a favorite of President Harry S. Truman, a native of Independence, Missouri. His daughter, Margaret, christened the vessel. The President and his family visited the ship several times. On each occasion, her big 16-inchers would “BOOM” 21 times in salute. Each “BOOM” brought back not-so-fond memories of that day when Robert was knocked off his feet. Because of his personal attachments to the Missouri and because of her prominence in American history, President Truman refused to let the ship be de-commissioned, countermanding orders from the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of the Navy, and the Chief of Naval Operations.

During his last voyage aboard USS Missouri, Robert was standing watch at his duty station when, once again, he was slammed to the floor. The Missouri had run aground. It took seven tugboats, innumerable pontoons, several high tides, and 15 days of 18/6 duty watches by all hands to refloat her. She limped back to Norfolk Naval Shipyard in Portsmouth, Virginia for repairs. By the time those repairs were completed, Robert Larkins had been Honorably Discharged.

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HONORARY SENTINEL NAME: Robert H. Cather

CURRENT RANK: Sergeant

SERVICE BRANCH: United States Army

COMBAT ACTIONS: World War II – Pacific

HOME TOWN: Lincoln, Nebraska

MILITARY SPECIALTIES: Platoon Scout

UNITS: 32nd Infantry Division

DECORATIONS, CITATIONS AND AWARDS: Bronze Star (Meritorious Service in Combat),
Combat Infantryman Badge,
Good Conduct Medal,
Expert Marksman Badge,
National Defense Service Medal,
Asia-Pacific Campaign Medal (2 Battle Stars),
Philip-pine Liberation Ribbon (Battle Star),
World War II Victory Medal,
Honorable Service Lapel Pin

The landing at Saidor on January 2, 1944 was not without incident. Twice Bob's leadership came to the fore. The landing craft that he was on capsized, and the officer was lost. Bob had to rally the other soldiers to keep them organized and focused on getting ashore and ready for combat. Once ashore, Bob was "on the point,"? and he encountered a Japanese soldier. Without hesitation, Bob shot the man and thereby kept him from alerting others to the Americans' presence. That allowed the men in Bob's unit to regroup and move on. For his quick thinking and decisive action, Bob was awarded the Bronze Star, but the Army took 70 years to bestow the award.

From that point, the 32nd I D encountered little resistance as it advanced toward Madang to cut off 6,000 Japanese fleeing their defeat at Sio. The Red Arrow Division was one half of a pincer maneuver complemented by the Aussie 9th Division moving out of Finschhafen. The maneuver was designed to contain and eliminate the Japanese in General Douglas MacArthur’s Huon Peninsula Campaign. Facing Allied forces on both flanks, the Japanese had two options – surrender or flee into the rugged Finisterre Range. Adverse weather, treacherous terrain, and uncoordinated command communications thwarted the Allies, and most of the enemy slipped through to safety. Bob Cather and the rest of the 32nd would meet these same Japanese soldiers, six months later, at the Driniumor River.

After another amphibious landing near Aitape, Papua New Guinea in April of 1944, the 32nd was ordered to help protect the City’s western approach as part of a covering position along the east side of the Driniumor, located 20 miles west of Aitape. Reliable intelligence indicated that the Japanese 18th Infantry was staging a force of 20,00 soldiers for an all-out assault in an effort to retake Aitape. Bob Cather and the men of Red Arrow dug in, entrenched their heavy weapons, and waited…and waited. They waited for an attack that they began to doubt was coming. Bob was familiar with the old Army adage “Hurry up and wait,” but this was nerve wracking. The better part of two months passed, and in a moment of complacency by the Americans, 10,000 Japanese tried a surprise attack on the Divisions position. The men of the 32nd held their line, but at one point the dead Japanese were stacked too high for the guns to fire over them. The gunners had to leave their foxholes to clear the bodies out of the line of fire. Ultimately, the Japanese capitulated and abandoned their position in New Guinea.

Bob also saw combat in the Philippine campaigns at Leyte and Luzon. All in all, during a continuous twenty-month period, Bob Cather spent 165 days under fire, more than triple the average for a WWII combat infantryman.

After initial gains resulting from their conquest of the Pacific islands and territories in southeast Asia, the Japanese advance began to stall. Allied victories at Guadalcanal, the Coral Sea, and Midway Island had stymied the Imperial War Machine, delaying plans to expand Japan’s presence in New Guinea and their occupation of Port Moresby. Bob Cather was among the 32nd Infantry Division’s replacements, training along the Queensland east coast, north of Brisbane, preparing for amphibious assaults on New Guinea aimed at removing the Japanese from that island nation.

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HONORARY SENTINEL NAME: Reuben Schleifer

CURRENT RANK: Staff Sergeant

SERVICE BRANCH: United States Army Air Corps / United States Army

COMBAT ACTIONS: World War II – Europe

HOME TOWN: Byron, Nebraska

MILITARY SPECIALTIES: Reconnaissance Pilot / War Crimes Investigation Analyst

UNITS: USFET

DECORATIONS, CITATIONS AND AWARDS: National Defense Service Medal,
Europe – Middle East – Africa Campaign Medal,
World War II Victory Medal

Reuben Schleifer originally enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Corps, training to be a Reconnaissance Pilot. When they learned that he spoke German, the Army quickly transferred him to Army Intelligence to be trained as a translator.

Having studied German for four years while attending Doane College, Reuben was well suited to translate the captured documents, official correspondence, and myriad records that came to his desk, located in the same building as General Dwight Eisenhower's Allied headquarters, in Frankfurt. His mission: track paper trails leading to war crimes.

Reuben didn’t pursue his course of linguistic study because of a burning desire to bring Nazi criminals to Justice in Nuremberg’s world court of retribution. Sure, he had a passing interest in his grandparents’ native tongue, but his foreign language curriculum choice was more practical than political. His land-lady was Doane's only German instruc¬tor. In exchange for lawn-mowing, snow-shoveling, and other manual-labor odd jobs, she bartered living space in her basement for Reuben and a fellow student…a “win-win-win.” Speaking German in her household was a bonus. From a third-floor window near his translator’s desk. Sergeant Schleifer was able to watch “Ike’s” staff car pull up and see the General walk into the building followed by his ever-present retinue of pomp and ceremony. Although they never met (let alone, spoke), Reuben felt a kind of bond – a kinship with General Eisenhower – a “Nebraska-farm-boy-to-Kansas-farm-boy” sort of feeling.

The work was tedious, laboring through endless innocuous documents, the vast majority of which were irrelevant to Nazi policy, practice, or protocol. Every now and then, however, Reuben would glean a sliver of substance, and he was off…forging links in a chain of evidence that would lead to an obscure alias or some secluded South American hide-away. Like Holmes tracking Moriarty, he was persistent and determined. There was a tremendous feeling of accomplishment when he was able to contribute something that could be used to bring the guilty to Justice. Even when the trail came to a “dead” end, “presumed dead” was not acceptable. Death had to be substantiated by multiple sources, including a valid, authentic death certificate issued by an recognized medical authority. Forgeries proliferated, and the translators had to learn to spot them.

Sergeant Schleifer was allowed to attend the trial of a Nazi war crime defendant in Wiesbaden, Germany – a nurse who had administered lethal injections in the death camps. The direct- and cross-examination procedure involved posing a question in one language, translating it for the witness into a second language, the witness responding in the second language, and finally, translating the response into the first language. Every question was asked twice and answered twice. Since the two languages were usually English and German, Reuben clearly understood both questions and both answers in both languages. "She kept justifying her actions, saying 'I was only following orders.' That sounded so much like the Light Brigade’s 600: 'Theirs not to reason why...' She just blindly followed unlawful orders, without question."

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HONORARY SENTINEL NAME: Gerald D. Wortman

CURRENT RANK: Corporal

SERVICE BRANCH: United States Marine Corps

COMBAT ACTIONS: World War II – Pacific

HOME TOWN: Tekamah, Nebraska

MILITARY SPECIALTIES: Combat Sharpshooter and Squad, Automatic Weapon

UNITS: "G" Company, 3rd Battalion, 29th Marines, 6th Mar. Div

DECORATIONS, CITATIONS AND AWARDS: National Defense Service Medal,
Expert Marksman Ribbon,
Asia-Pacific Campaign Medal (Battle Star),
World War II Victory Medal,
Presidential Unit Citation (Battle Star)

Ask any U.S. Marine who fought in the Pacific during WWII about Easter Sunday, 1945, and they all have the same one-word reply: "Okinawa." Their eyes glaze over and suddenly, they're back there – under fire with almost the entire Fleet Marine Force, Pacific – hugging Hagushi Beach or slogging up Sugar Loaf Ridge while the bloodiest battle in either Theater of World War II rages all around them. Gerald Wortman is one of those Marines. He was a machine gunner and Marine sharpshooter in "G" Co. 3rd/29th, 6th Marine Division. The 6th was tasked with neutralizing a ragtag mixed force of brigade strength under the command of Colonel Takehiko Udo on Mt. Yae-Take on the Motobu Peninsula. They did so quickly and effectively, capturing most of northern Okinawa, and earning praise for their rapid response and decisive action.

The Division was then moved to the island's western flank and ordered to advance south to join the assault against the fortified Japanese defensive position, known as the Shuri Line, which defended the southern coastline and consisted of a valley encircled by three ridges honeycombed with caves from which the Japanese were firing heavy artillery. On their assault on the first ridge – Sugar Loaf Hill, the Marines were caught in a deadly crossfire, both from the high ground above them and from the opposite ridge. The Striking 6th suffered heavy losses of more than "…a few good men:" 1,600+ killed – x5 wounded. They renamed it “Death Valley.” Somehow, Gerald was able to survive.

From that point on, caution prevailed. Systematically, each artillery cave was eliminated by skillful detonation of well-placed explosive charges that collapsed and sealed the cave from outside. Hundreds of Japanese soldiers were buried alive. In some cases, if the crew and the gun survived the initial blast, they tried to open the cave by firing the weapon. Not only was this tactic futile, but it was a far more gruesome death than for those killed by the Marines' detonation. Methodical elimination of artillery caves continued on the other two ridges – Half Moon Hill and Shuri Heights – and after 12 days of horror, misery, and destruction, the deadly Shuri Line was finally silenced.

After Okinawa, Gerald and the 6th Mar. Div. were sent to Guam to rest, regroup, train, and prepare to invade the main island of Japan, just north of Tokyo. To the Marines’ happy surprise, the invasion was canceled because a couple of guys named “Fat Man” and “Little Boy” beat ‘em to the punch.

The 6th Marine Division provided security and supporting protocol to the dignitaries executing Japan's surrender of the Chinese mainland to American and Chinese Nationalist forces on October 25, 1945. Gerald was present at those ceremonies. For the next eight months, he served in the Army of Occupation in China repatriating Japanese and Russian prisoners to their respective homelands. During this time, he was promoted to Corporal. His process of separation from the Marine Corps began aboard the troop ship, USS Randall, as he headed for home. Gerald received his Honorable Discharge on August 24, 1946 in Thurston County, Nebraska.

He married his wife, JoAnne, on September 10, 1947. He purchased the Standard Station in Tekamah in 1968 and sold it in 1983. Gerald and JoAnne are the parents of three children, with nine grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren. Gerald went on the Heartland Honor Flight Operation Airlift in April 2009.

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HONORARY SENTINEL NAME: Scott Langan CURRENT RANK: Sergeant Major SERVICE BRANCH: Nebraska Army National Guard COMBAT ACTIONS: Operation Desert Shield / Desert Storm and Operation Iraqi Freedom HOME TOWN: Lincoln, Nebraska MILITARY SPECIALTIES: Flight Medic, Senior Intelligence Sergeant,
Operations Sergeant Major UNITS: 1267th Medical Company (Air Ambulance), 110th Multifunctional Medical Battalion DECORATIONS, CITATIONS AND AWARDS: National Defense Service Medal -->

Lifelong Nebraskan and WWII Army Ranger Lysle Rogers lived his youth in the North Platte area on family farms and ranches. Along with farm and ranch work, Lysle broke horses for others in the area.

At the age of 16 Lysle joined the National Guard with his brother Bernard, while WWII was building in Europe. He continued to work his family’s ranch North of North Platte and trained in the Guard. When his unit was activated for WWII, they trained in the US for some time. The Army asked for volunteers for the Rangers, a unit that would lead men into battle and take on the most challenging missions. Lysle volunteered.

He trained to be a ranger in the Southeast US. Lysle was there for several months prior to being deployed to Europe. SSG Rogers was assigned to the 5th Rangers, F Company. He trained for several months in England and Scotland. This training was to prepare them for the landing on D-Day. The training ended and June 6, 1944 arrived.

Lysle’s unit, the 5th rangers were to assault Pointe Du Hoc behind the 2nd Rangers. However due to delays caused by rough seas, the 2nd Rangers did not reach the beach within the allotted time, so there signal to the 5th to come ashore behind them never came. Because of this the 5th Rangers were sent to their secondary mission a couple miles away on Omaha Beach.

The 5th Rangers on their secondary mission were behind other army units assaulting the beach. It was on this beach landing that the modern rangers got their motto “Rangers Lead the Way”. http://www.ranger.org/page-593596.

Lysle was injured in August 1944 when another soldier stepped on a land mine. He took shrapnel to the knee and lower back. While this took him out of battle it did not take him out of the war. Lysle remained in France and trained US Army Aircorps personnel.

On June 6, 1945 Lysle’s brother Bernard Roger became the last US Army Ranger killed in the European theater of WWII when he was killed in a friendly fire accident after the war had ended.

In July 1945, still in France he married his wife Anne. They returned to Nebraska and settled in the Ravenna area. They raised four children on their farm/ranch. Lysle farmed, ranched, was a heavy equipment operator and drove a truck until his retirement.

Lysle died peacefully on July 16, 2014 surrounded by his family.

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