Richard (Dick) Young was a married, father of one at the time, working at Minneapolis Moline, which had become a defense plant, supporting the WWII effort, when he entered his service time. He was trained in the armor division of the US Army at Ft. Knox, Kentucky and arrived in the war zone at Le Havre, France after extensive training on various tanks. He became a tank commander after entering Germany. While serving in war is not pleasant, Dick had one experience that forever stood out in his mind. He was in the lead tank as a commander, in a parade, where he was able to salute General Patton when Nuremberg was liberated. He often proudly displayed a photo of that parade, which is included in this book. Dick was a young man of 27 years, when he returned to his family at the end of the war. He was of German heritage, and as a young teenager, learned from his father about the properties of metal and what could be made, in the small family workshop using a metal turning lathe. Those experiences early in his life, shaped him as he became a machinist and tool and die maker. Along with his two brothers, they opened a small repair shop in their hometown of Grand Forks, North Dakota. They had to put equipment into storage and close the repair shop at the outbreak of the Korean War when Dick and one brother were shipped to Korea. Upon returning from that conflict, Dick and his brother found other employment, but were eventually encouraged to work at a contract manufacturing shop. Andrew Freeman, a local businessman and inventor sought the help of Dick to develop a head bolt heater to ease automobile starts in the cold upper Midwest winters. Eventually, Dick and his brother Roland, purchased a quonset building with a dirt floor (used for horse training) and that began a career for them in contract manufacturing. As snowmobiles were beginning to emerge, the brothers were able to solve a metal cleat problem for the Arctic Cat manufacturer and soon other metal products came their way to produce in a shop building that soon needed an addition. Dick's Christian faith was evident in whatever he seemed to find interest in doing with his life. He was involved with the Gideon's, Child Evangelism Fellowship, his church and other community activities. Dick loved to tell 'stories' - many of them about his time serving in WWII. He also wrote poetry and newsy letters to family and friends at Christmas time. His family and friends encouraged him to put the memories into print. Dick used an old manual typewriter to type a few of his WWII memories and would staple a few pages together to give to folks to read, as long ago as 2006. When Judy learned that Dick had written many more stories in spiral notebooks, and on other scraps of paper, she coaxed Dick to let her type everything into a computer. Dick was approached in June, 2006 to allow his WWII memories be put into a book. Dick was excited to have this task done for him, but in 2014 the manuscript was returned to Judy to complete. While working on the WWII memories for this book, Judy also found an abundance of other family 'treasures' in Dick's files after he passed away. Those items would be forever lost unless preserved in one place. This talented man had much to share with his family, friends and future generations. The family desires to keep alive the special memories from two of Dick's granddaughters and share a very special letter from Dick's long time friend at the end of the book. We believe the additional writings in this book that began as a WWII memory, really round out the very full life of Dick Young.
About the Author: Richard (Dick) Young was born to German parents and his father insisted, at an early age, that he learn many skills working with his hands. In his teenage years, he fell in love with the properties of metal and what he could make with it. His fierce love of trains, caused him to begin making model train pieces and tracks, with the help of his father. Other skills were carried into his adult life, including "work ethic", which is also evident in the telling of his WWII memories, writing poetry and stories, and in the business world. After his U.S. Army service, he opened a machine shop with his two brothers. It was temporarily closed while Dick and one brother served in Korea. He returned to begin a career as a tool and die maker and operated his own company, metal stampings contract manufacturing. He remained active in his business until he retired, well into his eighties. His Christian faith was very important to him. He was a member of Gideons International, the group that places Bibles in many places and gave away many Bibles to students. He was also a long serving board member of Child Evangelism Fellowship. Dick loved music, sang solos and duets with daughter Judy, played the piano and organ at his church.