A hometown newspaper with a local office, local owners & lots of local news
A hometown newspaper with a local office, local owners & lots of local news
Cloquet VFW Post 3979 Commander Ron Stigers, right, and VFW Post Adjutant and Chaplain Troy Smith, left, pose for a photo with Edward Kennedy's grandchildren Mary Vergin and David Brower, Sunday afternoon. The Hebert-Kennedy VFW Post 3979 in Cloquet is named after Wallace and Jack Kennedy, two Cloquet brothers who died in WWII. The VFW is paying to add a stone to the Kennedy family gravesite honoring Wallace Kennedy, who was interred in North Africa.
Last Saturday a small group gathered in Hillcrest Cemetery to recognize a family of heroes: the Edward and Mabel Kennedy family of Cloquet.
The Hebert-Kennedy VFW Post 3979 in Cloquet is named after the family's two sons, John
"Jack" and Wallace "Bud" Kennedy. The brothers died within two months of each other in 1943, in Air Force battles over Sicily. Jack, 20, was a tailgunner and went missing after his plane was hit over the Mediterranean Sea on May 25. Wallace, 23, piloted a P-38. He died when his plane was hit and crashed on July 9. He is buried in a military cemetery in Tunisia, North Africa.
Edward Angus Kennedy was employed by Northwest Paper Company. In July 1943 he was given the task of compiling the addresses of the more than 300 employees in the Brainerd and Cloquet paper mills who were serving in the military. The company planned to send a gift of playing cards and a subscription to Time magazine to each soldier.
Kennedy's first letter was dated July 27, 1943.
On Aug. 8, Edward's family, including wife Mabel and daughter Barbara Kennedy Brower, learned of Wallace's death. The Kennedys were the first Cloquet family to lose two sons to World War II.
In spite of what must have been immense grief, Ed wrote another letter, telling matter of factly that the first gold star for Northwest Paper Company was for the death of his son.
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August 18, 1943
The first gold star in our flag will represent the death of my son, Wallace E. Kennedy in action in the Mediterranean Area. According to the report from the War Department, this occurred on July 9. There were no other details. ... We received a letter from him dated June 30th and he advised us that he had received the Air Medal with the Oak Leaf Cluster, which I believe designated the amount of action he had seen.
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He then continued in sharing news of the employees serving in the war effort.
Ed's correspondence consists of 54 four-page letters, ending in January 1946. His tone always upbeat and positive, the first few paragraphs of each letter began with reports of the weather, high school sports, and day-to-day life in Cloquet. A staff of four employees prepared the mailing twice every month.
The recipients kept Ed updated by responding with news of address changes, training, and experiences of their deployment. Ed included references to every message he received.
The Carlton County Historical Society has a complete collection of the letters, donated by the late Ellen Cox, the appointed chairwoman of Carlton County's War History Committee. This collection of letters describes the war experience of residents and of men and women who served in the military.
Although the historical society had the letters, it had no photos of the Kennedy family on file. An internet search led to an obituary of the Kennedys' daughter, Barbara, which pointed them to a granddaughter, Mary Vergin, of Grand Rapids. She agreed to meet, and generously shared photos of her grandparents and uncles.
Kirk Bergeron, a historical society volunteer, was moved by the story of the Kennedys and began caring for the family gravesite in Hillcrest Cemetery. He found that the plot has markers for Ed, Mabel, and Jack, but not for Wallace. He searched military records and found that Wallace was interred in North Africa. Mary Vergin said Ed and Mabel tried unsuccessfully to have Wallace's remains moved to Cloquet.
We contacted Ron Stigers, commander of VFW Post 3979, about the need for a marker for Wallace. Through his efforts, his post is paying for the installation of a granite marker, which will be done later this summer.
Stigers said VFW members were enthused about the idea.
"He's a guiding leader for us," Stiger told the Pine Knot. "He showed us how to just get it done. We do this not just in his memory, but also as something meaningful for us, to tie the Post and those here now."
Writer Carol Klitzke is executive co-director of Carlton County Historical Society.
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More letters
The historical society plans to publish a book containing all 56 of Kennedy's letters later this year. Letters written by those in the armed services give immediate and personal accounts of wars in which they serve. The Historical Society is always interested in collecting these letters. If you have some, bring them by the Historical Society at 406 Cloquet Avenue. They can make photocopies if you prefer to keep the originals.
