Glenn C. Blakley

Charles Glenn Blakley was a World War I combat veteran, Purple Heart recipient, longtime Stoughton businessman and one of the men who devoted many years to the early development of Otis Sampson Post 59. Known throughout his life as Glenn Blakley, he served Post 59 in numerous positions and twice served as Commander.

Born June 2, 1892, in La Farge, Wisconsin, Blakley was the son of Bert and Ida Carpenter Blakley. He later graduated from Wausau Business College before entering military service during World War I.

Blakley's military service included combat on the Western Front with the 58th Infantry Regiment, 4th Division.

On August 5, 1918, while fighting in the Vesle River Valley in France, Blakley was wounded during operations following the Chateau-Thierry campaign.

Years later, when the Purple Heart was revived as a military decoration, Blakley applied based upon the wounds he had received in combat. In 1933, a Stoughton newspaper announced:

“Purple Heart Medal Awarded Glenn Blakley”

The article reported that his eligibility came from wounds received “while in the front line trenches during the World War.”

His Purple Heart adds an especially important chapter to the history of Post 59: one of its future Commanders had personally experienced the fighting of World War I and returned home to devote decades to veterans and his community.

Blakley's connection with Otis Sampson Post 59 went back many years before he became Commander.

Newspaper records from the early 1930s repeatedly list him as Adjutant, one of the Post's key administrative positions. He was still serving as adjutant when his Purple Heart was announced in 1933.

In June 1935, Blakley was elected Commander of Otis Sampson Post 59, succeeding Harry Halverson. He took office for the 1935–36 term, which is represented in Post 59 records as 1936.

His fellow officers included Frank Jasensky, Edward Amundson, Hans Tronnes, Edor J. Everson, William Anderson, Alvin Loverud, Palmer Henderson, Lawrence Logan, George Scrivens, Ole Cleven and Theodore Rue.

During this period, Post 59 was active in far more than veterans meetings. Among its projects was sponsorship of a Junior Legion baseball team, continuing a tradition of community involvement that would become an important part of the American Legion nationally.

Blakley also spoke publicly on behalf of the Legion. In one newspaper message supporting Stoughton's annual Salvation Army campaign, he recalled the assistance that organization had provided American servicemen during World War I and encouraged the community to support its work.

Blakley's fellow Legionnaires later called upon him to lead Post 59 again.

He was elected Commander in June 1941, beginning the term represented in Post records as 1942.

The timing makes his second command especially significant. Only months after he took office, the United States entered World War II following the attack on Pearl Harbor.

Blakley therefore belonged to the generation of World War I veterans who were leading Post 59 as another generation of Stoughton men and women went off to war.

His involvement with the Post continued after his command. A surviving set of Post 59 minutes dated April 9, 1946 bears Blakley's signature as Acting Adjutant, showing that nearly three decades after his own wartime service, he was still helping conduct the business of Post 59.

One of the most interesting records of Blakley's Legion work concerns an effort to ensure that deceased veterans received proper recognition.

Under Blakley's direction, the Legion compiled a list of veterans buried in Riverside and West Koshkonong cemeteries and checked their graves for government markers. Residents were asked to notify Blakley or Palmer Henderson if they knew of a veteran's grave that lacked a United States marker.

It is a remarkable connection to Post 59's continuing mission of remembering those who served.

Blakley was also well known in Stoughton's business community.

He worked for Brittingham & Hixon Lumber Company, initially as a bookkeeper before being promoted to resident manager. He managed the company's Stoughton operation beginning in 1931 and remained there for many years.

Blakley and his wife, Antonia C. Tesch, whom he married November 10, 1923, lived at 716 Park Street. Their 1935 Dutch Colonial home remains part of Stoughton's architectural history.

His community service extended well beyond the Legion. Blakley served with the organization responsible for Stoughton's Harvest Festival, eventually becoming president of the Festival Association. He also represented the American Legion as vice president of Stoughton's Memorial Association of Patriotic Orders, which coordinated activities such as Decoration Day observances.

Blakley left Stoughton in 1954 and moved to Fort Atkinson. His wife Antonia died in 1964.

Even after leaving Stoughton, his commitment to veterans organizations continued. He became a member of Paul Frank Florine Post No. 166 of the American Legion and the Veterans of World War I, where he served in leadership as well.

Glenn Blakley died January 1, 1966, at Fort Atkinson Memorial Hospital following a heart attack. He was 73.

His funeral included Masonic rites, and he was buried at Pine Grove Cemetery in Wausau, where military rites were conducted by the local American Legion.

Glenn Blakley's connection to Post 59 was much larger than the two years beside his name on the Past Commanders list.

He was a World War I combat veteran wounded in France, a Purple Heart recipient, an Adjutant, a two-time Commander, an Acting Adjutant years later, and a man who worked to make certain other veterans were properly remembered after their deaths.

From the trenches of France in 1918 to signing Post 59 meeting minutes in 1946, his surviving records tell a story spanning nearly three decades of service.