Staff photo by Dick Friedman  
World War II veteran and former Eau Claire social teacher Harold "Diz" Kronenberg has written a book on the history of Chippewa Valley war veterans.

Trapped in the middle of a stream in the Philippines in 1944, Chippewa Falls soldier Charles Mower heard bullets flying all around, some into his body. His squad leader dead, Mower was severely wounded and eventually died, but not before he led his orphaned squad of 200 to safety. 

Eau Claire pilot Dan Doughty spent nearly seven years in hell, forced to live in a North Vietnam prison camp where he was tortured and beaten after his jet was shot down in 1966. 

Roy C. Holtz of Chippewa Falls put his trust in the World War I Armistice by cruising recklessly into Germany on a motorcycle immediately after the war ended, braving the guns and stares of Germans who just had lost the war.

The stories of war — they're full of life and death, heroism and sacrifice. Those that originated from the Chippewa Valley are no exception.

"It's a fabulous history, very full of pride," said Harold "Diz" Kronenberg, a World War II veteran and lifelong Eau Claire resident who just released his book, Honor and Remembrance: The Military Heritage of the Chippewa Valley.

In the works for more than two years, the 59-page book documents in detail the storied history of Eau Claire's fighting men and women, many of whom became famous for their bravery and loyalty.

A lowly private, Clayton Slack of Chetek was the most decorated American soldier in WW I, a winner of 14 medals for bravery, including the Congressional Medal of Honor, the top award a veteran can achieve.

Private Slack is virtually forgotten in the Chippewa Valley, Kronenberg said, throwing up his hands in frustration during an interview Friday,

Kronenberg, a social studies teacher at Memorial High School for 36 years, hopes his book will memorialize the veterans of the Chippewa Valley.

I was just angered at the lack of knowledge local people have of the history of the valley and its people in wars," said Kronenberg, a former golf professional at Hillcrest Country Club.

Once Kronenberg made up his mind to write his book, it was a given the determined historian would finish it. A self-proclaimed "little amateur writer," Kronenberg gathered old letters and yellowed documents and newspaper clippings. He did interviews with veterans and their family members.

Finally, he added his own knowledge of Chippewa Valley history and compiled a book with a stunning level of depth that covers military expeditions from the Revolutionary War up to the Persian Gulf War.

Perhaps the most famous war hero in the history of the Chippewa Valley was a Civil War fighter name Abe. A proud, dignified soldier, he gallantly led the Eighth Wisconsin Regiment from Eau Claire into 22 battles, was a frequent target of the confederates, and is rumored to have saved a man's life with his bare talons.

That's right, his talons. Old Abe, you see, was an eagle, one whose image now appears on all Eau Claire police cars and uniforms and lives in effigy atop Memorial High School.

He's famous now but, during his life in the 1860s, Abe met generals, rode in parades, and eventually was enshrined in the state Capitol in Madison.

The story of Old Abe is one of the dozens contained with in the pages of Honor and Remembrance, a well-organized and picture-laden book, that contains hundreds of names and faces that made history throughout two centuries of war.

It tells the story of Alice J. Robbe of Strum, the only Wisconsin woman to serve through the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Robbe used flashlights to provide light for injured Americans during the attack.

Eau Claire soldiers John Hryn and Cliff Omtvedt survived the infamous Baton Death March and, while in a prison camp, constructed, from parachutes, the first U. S. flag to fly in Japan during the war. For years, the flag was exhibited in the Smithsonian Institute in Washington.

All proceeds from the book, which goes on sale June 1 for $10 at the Chippewa Valley Museum and all Royal Credit Union offices, will go to the museum.