Better late than never

Cordes gets

WWII medals

56 years late

By FRITZ BUSCH

Journal Staff Writer

NEW ULM -- Better late than never.

For 78-year-old New Ulm native Clifford Cordes, getting what he feels is rightfully his from the government has been a long, uphill battle.

Friday, Cordes got at least some of his World War II hardware -- medals for Marksmanship, serving in the Asiatic Pacific Campaign, WWII Victory and Good Conduct at the Brown County Courthouse.

Last fall, Cordes received an honorary high school diploma.

Drafted into the Army during World War II at age 18, Cordes served with the Port Battalion, loading and unloading ships. He served in New Guinea and was in the Leyte Gulf near the Philippine Islands as General Douglas McArthur and Allied forces returned to that country and drove out the Japanese.

His Army company was divided up and ordered to ride two LST (Landing Ship Tank) Navy ships to the Philippines. LSTs were designed to transport and deploy troops, vehicles, and supplies to foreign shores to conduct offensive military operations.

An LST could carry a small LCT ship, 18 Sherman tanks and 160 troops. They were also known as a "large, slow, target" due to their slow speed and cargo of troops, tanks and ammunition.

The ships had only one big gun and were defenseless on shallow shores when their destroyer escorts couldn't be near them. During WWII, 26 LSTs were lost in action. Another 13 were lost in accidents and rough seas.

One of the positive things about LSTs where that they had such shallow drafts that many torpedoes that were fired at them missed. The ships were used in the invasions of Sicily, Italy, Normandy and southern France.

There was some confusion with the Army about what ship Cordes was on in the Pacific.

"The government tried to tell me I wasn't on a ship," Cordes said. "Out of 250 men I served with, I only remembered three of them. One of them, Sergeant Stokes told me I was on a ship that was hit by a Japanese kamikaze pilot. Twelve of us, including myself, were so badly hurt, we were sent to hospitals, then discharged and sent home. Some of them were badly burned. You think can handle it, but when it really happened, it was a different story."

After the war, Cordes said he wouldn't eat, talk or do much of anything. He was placed in a secure hospital ward and underwent 20 shock therapy treatments at the Veterans Administration Hospital in St. Cloud.

He claimed a nurse did more for him than the rest of the hospital staff.

"She took an interest in me and was really dedicated to helping people. She snapped me out of what was bothering me," Cordes said. "I don't know how, but she got me to talk."

When Cordes came home to New Ulm, he worked at the Eagle Roller Mill Co. in New Ulm, did plaster work for a Mankato firm for 16 years before working for 17 years at Kraft Foods in New Ulm.

The effects of war are still with him. Cordes sees a psychologist every two weeks and gets VA group therapy in Redwood Falls once a month.

Retiring 15 years ago, Cordes said it's important to keep himself busy. This summer he is doing garden work, installing new kitchen cabinets and new windows in his house.

"You're only as young as you feel," Cordes said. "I can't see sitting around in a rocking chair, watching the world go around. I've got to stay busy doing something."