As we continue our journey through the history of Post 59's past Commanders, I would like to spotlight another remarkable leader this week: Leonard “Lennie” Swingen. Lennie served as our 27th Commander in 1950 and was a member of Post 59 for an impressive 76 years, a record that will be difficult to surpass.

Much of the information compiled for our history page comes from Lennie’s time as Post 59 historian. In the not-too-distant future, we hope to feature Lennie’s “Reflections and Comments on Post 59” on our website. This personal account not only chronicles the past Commanders but also details the history of Post 59 itself. It was handwritten by Lennie and later organized by his daughter, Lynn. Our longtime historian, Steve Grady, then edited the document. While researching Post 59's history, we discovered and added a wealth of new information, enriching our understanding of Lennie’s contributions and our Post as a whole. Lennie, as he was affectionately known by all Stoughton residents, was born on August 7, 1916, in Stoughton. He graduated from Stoughton High School in 1935 and immediately began working full-time at the Courier Hub, the local newspaper, while also maintaining a paper route that he delivered daily after school. After working at the Courier Hub for a while, Lennie attempted to enlist in the Air Corps but did not pass the entrance exam. He received another opportunity to take the exam, but before he could, he was drafted into the military. In March 1945, at the age of 25, he entered the service and served his country during World War II. Lennie was discharged in April 1946 at Great Lakes after serving for one year, holding the rank of Seaman 2nd Class. During his service, he earned the WWII Medal and the South Pacific Area Award. Following his discharge, Lennie returned to work at the Courier Hub and continued there for another 20 years until 1955. He then joined Strauss Printing in Madison, where he worked until his retirement in 1983. Lennie married his wife in June, in 1941, and they had one daughter named Lynn. Lennie passed away on July 27th, 2020, just shy of his 104th birthday.

We recently discovered an article written by Evelyn Kahl about Lennie Swingen. In part of the article, Lennie humorously remarks, “I keep telling Evelyn Kahl that my time in the service was more or less uneventful, but she is a very persistent lady, so be prepared to be bored to death.”

The following is an account of Lennie’s experiences taken from a diary in which he recorded daily his memories while serving his time in the Navy. His story begins with: Dear Readers: by Leonard Swingen

Before I go any further, I want to give a great big thank you to all the ladies, men, and school children who gave us service men and ladies treats like candy, fruits, and other goodies when our troop train stopped in their area. On the way to Seattle, WA. We stopped occasionally to get out and stretch our legs. This “thank you” is to all of you wherever you are. But now I’m ahead of my story of time in the service, so let’s go back and start at the beginning.

I was one of seven brothers serving in WWII and now belong to both the VFW and American Legion. On the train leaving Madison for the Milwaukee induction center I met several fellows from the Stoughton area and among them was Orin Kaupanger, Rufus Swerig, Berge and others. Orin Kaupanger and I were sworn into the Navy that very afternoon and boarded the North Shore train for the Great Lakes Naval Training Center. After receiving our moth ball smelling gear, can you imagine us sleeping on the floor on thin sleeping bags among a bunch of other recruits? As all service personnel know, that is only the start of forever standing in lines up to the day of discharge! After ten weeks of boot camp training at the Great Lakes Naval Center, we had 9 days’ leave and those days went awfully fast.

On July 2nd, 1945, we left Milwaukee on a troop train and arrived at the receiving station in Seattle on July 5th. We got out stretching our legs several times along the way and that is when we received those much-appreciated treats. For meals on the troop train, the kitchen cars were located in the center of the train, so we had to line up and file through the train kitchen, then about faced and picked up our own meals on the way back. We slept in triple berths.

After spending about 20 days at the receiving station in Seattle where the food was terrific, pork chops the size of a plate; we were transferred to Bremerton, WA. This was the Puget Sound Navy Yard. They would repair large battleships, aircraft carriers, cruisers, destroyers, L5T and all other Navy crafts. After spending about a week there, we moved our gear above the aircraft carrier, Bunker Hill. Here again, it was a little difficult to get used to sleeping in such close and compact sleeping quarters. After the workmen finished the repairs on the ship, we went on a shakedown cruise up and down the Puget Sound to check everything out since they had added several new gun pods on the sides of the ships. We also tested our guns. I was a loader on the 20MM guns.

I have to mention at this time; this was after the Bunker Hill had been hit by two Japanese suicide Kamikaze pilot attacks. Several hundred lives were lost, and a lot of damage was done. The ship limped back to Bremerton. The Bunker Hill carried about 80 planes and 60-70 pilots besides crew on the ship of over three thousand. The planes were corsair fighter planes. After our shakedown cruise, we went back to the Sound and four planes landed on our flight deck. Our full complement of planes and pilots were picked up later in Alameda, CA.

By a strange coincidence, it was at this time that I met an officer on board the Bunker Hill by the name of Stan Gabert. When Stan went into service, his wife, Marion Quirt Gabert was working at the Hub office the same time I was. Her Dad was Harold Quirt, publisher of the Hub. Stan had been on the ship when it was hit and later opted for land duty. I kept sailing down the coast and enjoying the beautiful sun rising and setting. We were in sight of land all the time and I saw little villages, curls of smoke, ships in the coves, and lighthouses. When we picked up our pilot to bring us into port, it was foggy. We had lookouts on the bow as well as foghorns blasting away.

One incident I won’t ever forget was the fairly close call we had there. I was standing in the bow of the ship when another ship appeared to my left side. It was probably 100 yards to the side, but close enough to see it was a C.V.E. carrier loaded with TBY planes. That was close enough for me and I would have hated to have been a wartime casualty in friendly territory. No problem as all the ships had radar. Then a short time later, the Golden Gate Bridge appeared, and it looked like it wasn’t high enough to clear our superstructure, but there was plenty of room to spare. After that, it cleared up and the sun shone brightly. The tugs then gave us their welcoming blasts. We tied up alongside the USS Saratoga Carrier and the Hornet. After three days of loading supplies and planes, we headed for Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. On the way over, we had gunnery practice and flight operations for four days. Two corsairs collided in midair. A wing was broken off one of them, so it fell and hit the sea like it hit a brick wall. Obviously, the pilot died. The other plane managed to make a fair landing and was picked up by the destroyer that was with us. He was later transferred onto our ship. The flight operations included two night-time landings for each plane. There were several wave offs, but most of the landings were pretty good except this plane which caught a cable kind of crossways, and it threw the plane against the five-inch gun turret. The plane split right in half just ahead of the cockpit. The pilot climbed out by himself unhurt but was taken to sick bay for a checkup. After some important parts were taken off the plane, it went over the side the next morning. The gun turret had only a few minor scratches. The war was over with the Japanese by the time we got to Pearl Harbor, so after leaving off some of the pilots and personnel plus taking 1500 soldiers back to Seattle, WA. My station was in the 20MM gun pod just off and alongside the flight deck, so I could see the planes taking off and landing. I could also see when we left land and approached land. It took 6 hours to reach the Puget Sound Straits. They are 90 miles long and it took us 6 hours to get back to Seattle. It did not take long to trim the ship crew down to a skeleton crew. My luck ran out as they ran down the alphabet and my name was picked to stay on the ship for two more trips to Guam and Saigon to return service personnel to the states. In the meantime, we went back up the straits so that the 90 planes could fly off. The workmen proceeded to put the bunks five and six high in the hangar deck so between these bunks and the ship compartment we had room for over 3,000 soldiers a trip. It took 17 days to get to Guam and then on to Saipen another 17 days to get back plus time loading and unloading Navy and soldier personnel and supplies. One of the trips, we ran into a huge storm. Now the Bunker Hill is a large ship, and it takes a big wave to rock the ship, but it was certainly rocking that night! As my luck, it seems is always bad, I drew into the boat duty that night. If anyone had fallen overboard that night and would have to put the boat out, there would have been a whole boatload of casualties.

 One of my trips back from Guam, I was going to our ships store I walked past a couple of fellows sitting on the ship’s bunkers, I took two steps and then stopped, look back and sure as heck, I know them!! It was Sammy Martin, an aviation mechanic in Guam and originally from Stoughton and Charlie Root who was on tugboat duty in Saigon. He was also from Stoughton. Sammy and I see each other once a month at the VFW for lunch with some old high school graduates and we reminisce about that trip.

Now this memory has gone on quite long but blame it on the persistence of Evelyn Kahl! I will end the article with a quote, not mine – “Being a survivor at war’s end was a gift to be treasured.”