North Platte’s conquering World War II heroes got a downtown parade 81 years ago last Thursday.
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Company D of the U.S. Army’s 134th Infantry Regiment poses on the steps of North Platte’s First Evangelical Lutheran Church on Christmas Eve 1940, a day after the homegrown National Guard was federalized for America’s preparations for World War II. 2nd Lt. Dan Craig stands third from right in the front row, with 1st Lt. Denver Wilson, then the company’s executive officer, in the center of the front row in a different uniform from many of the others. The photo was published in Maj. Gen. Butler Miltonberger’s 134th unit history in 1946.
A 32-inch-high granite monument to Nebraska’s World War II 134th Infantry Regiment and Gen. Butler Miltonberger, its North Platte wartime commander, will be placed most likely in September at North Platte’s 20th Century Veterans Memorial at Interstate 80 Exit 177. It’ll sit near the memorial’s tributes to the 1941-46 World War II Canteen (center) and the “Canteen Lady” sculpture of its founder, Rae Wilson. Her brother, Denver, and his fellow North Platte Company D members Miltonberger and Dan and Don Craig all became top 134th officers as the unit helped defeat Nazi Germany in 1944-45.
North Platte Monument Co. office manager Susan Sukraw Friday stands with the royal gray granite marker that will be made into a permanent 134th Infantry Regiment memorial at the 20th Century Veterans Memorial.
The shield of the World War II 134th Infantry Regiment, the two-star flag of North Platte’s late Maj. Gen. Butler Miltonberger and the texts below will be inscribed on the granite marker to be placed at the 20th Century Veterans Memorial. The four-word motto on the shield is Pawnee for “The Strong, The Brave.” The elements above may appear in a different order on the final monument.
ILLUSTRATION BY TODD VON KAMPEN, THE NORTH PLATTE TELEGRAPH
Some 20,000 people packed the streets of downtown North Platte on June 25, 1945, to welcome home Brig. Gen. Butler Miltonberger and Nebraska’s 134th Infantry Regiment from five years of World War II service. Four North Platte men — Miltonberger, Denver Wilson and Dan and Don Craig — rose from the 134th’s North Platte-based Company D to top leadership roles as the regiment liberated St.-Lo, France, in July 1944 and helped beat back Adolf Hitler’s last offensive in the December 1944-January 1945 Battle of the Bulge. In peacetime, Miltonberger would retire a major general, Wilson and Dan Craig as full colonels and Don Craig as a lieutenant colonel.
A 32-inch-high granite monument to Nebraska’s World War II 134th Infantry Regiment and Gen. Butler Miltonberger, its North Platte wartime commander, will be placed most likely in September at North Platte’s 20th Century Veterans Memorial at Interstate 80 Exit 177. It’ll sit near the memorial’s tributes to the 1941-46 World War II Canteen (center) and the “Canteen Lady” sculpture of its founder, Rae Wilson. Her brother, Denver, and his fellow North Platte Company D members Miltonberger and Dan and Don Craig all became top 134th officers as the unit helped defeat Nazi Germany in 1944-45.
North Platte Monument Co. office manager Susan Sukraw Friday stands with the royal gray granite marker that will be made into a permanent 134th Infantry Regiment memorial at the 20th Century Veterans Memorial.
The shield of the World War II 134th Infantry Regiment, the two-star flag of North Platte’s late Maj. Gen. Butler Miltonberger and the texts below will be inscribed on the granite marker to be placed at the 20th Century Veterans Memorial. The four-word motto on the shield is Pawnee for “The Strong, The Brave.” The elements above may appear in a different order on the final monument.
ILLUSTRATION BY TODD VON KAMPEN, THE NORTH PLATTE TELEGRAPH
Company D of the U.S. Army’s 134th Infantry Regiment poses on the steps of North Platte’s First Evangelical Lutheran Church on Christmas Eve 1940, a day after the homegrown National Guard was federalized for America’s preparations for World War II. 2nd Lt. Dan Craig stands third from right in the front row, with 1st Lt. Denver Wilson, then the company’s executive officer, in the center of the front row in a different uniform from many of the others. The photo was published in Maj. Gen. Butler Miltonberger’s 134th unit history in 1946.
Some 20,000 people packed the streets of downtown North Platte on June 25, 1945, to welcome home Brig. Gen. Butler Miltonberger and Nebraska’s 134th Infantry Regiment from five years of World War II service. Four North Platte men — Miltonberger, Denver Wilson and Dan and Don Craig — rose from the 134th’s North Platte-based Company D to top leadership roles as the regiment liberated St.-Lo, France, in July 1944 and helped beat back Adolf Hitler’s last offensive in the December 1944-January 1945 Battle of the Bulge. In peacetime, Miltonberger would retire a major general, Wilson and Dan Craig as full colonels and Don Craig as a lieutenant colonel.
