The Greatest Generation

They’re called ‘The greatest generation’ and one of its members, Richard Staub, became a farmer in West Concord after participating in the Battle of the Bulge in World War II. 
However, his service supporting the war started even before he was drafted as he worked in a defense plant.
“When I got out of high school, I was going to be a tool and die maker, that’s what I was figuring on. I worked in a defense plant and we made what they called a yoke for the 105 Howitzer. When we had enough of them built, they drafted me,” he said.
After that, he was inducted at Fort Sheridan in Illinois and then he spent his basic training at Fort Landing by Jacksonville, Fla.
Once basic training was done, Staub was sent overseas.
“I was sent to Italy first, and then when the Bulge started they sent us from Italy to France and up into Belgium where the Bulge was. I was in the Bulge and then from there we went through Belgium and Germany so I ended up in Germany,” he said.
His advance into Germany brought him back to his native country as he originally immigrated to the United States from Germany when he was a young child.
“After the Bulge was over, we rested. It was in March, and pretty muddy and you couldn’t move tanks. I was in the armored infantry so we had to rest for two weeks,” he said. “After that, we took off and we went up to Strasbourg and Colmar by the Rhine [River]. My grandparents lived right across the river from Strasbourg. I remember as a kid going from where my grandparents lived down to Strasbourg, across the river and into France.”
By the time that happened, the war was nearing its end.
“After the war, we ended up by Munich towards the end, and then we went to a town to wait to go to Japan. In the meantime, I was transferred to a 6870 special service battalion and that job was just like heaven compared to the army, it was driving USO people around,” he said.
Staub recalled that his new USO job also including building stages in Reims, France.
“That’s where thousands of GI’s were waiting to go back home. It was a redeployment center. They had different camps all around and we put on plays there for a whole month,” he said. “After that month, we started going through Germany. We drove to Karlsruhe and stayed there overnight. My job was driving a ventriloquist and his wife, a dancer and his wife, a drum act, and two singers.”
After the USO tour, Staub was transporting equipment, such as typewriters, from Paris to their new headquarters in Baesweiler when he saw a young lady on the side of the road who needed a ride and he gave her one on his truck.
“That’s where it all started and I ended up marrying her. At that time, you weren’t supposed to talk to the people, but you know how love is, so we got married secretly,” he said. “I was ready to go home, but I didn’t want to go home because I wanted to get the papers and everything ready to bring my wife home with me. I got a job with what they called the army exchange service. My job was in the warehouse and we distributed supplies to different PX’s [Post Exchanges] all through Germany. Finally, we got our papers, came home and started farming.”
He started farming chicken, dairy, and pigs in West Concord in 1947. However, towards the end of his farming career, he quit dairy and started raising beef cattle.
“Then, my son took over and he raised cattle for about five years and then he quit that and just went to corn and soybeans and that’s the way it is now. The grandson is farming now and that’s all he’s got is corn and soybeans,” he said.
After his service in World War II and years of farming, Staub is resting in a nursing home in Rochester now, but he’s looking forward to Veteran’s Day this week.