Photo Gallery
Orle S. Bergner’s grave in Woodlawn Cemetery.
Orle S. Bergner’s grave in Woodlawn Cemetery.
Bob Little telling Orle S. Bergner’s Story in Woodlawn Cemetery.
2nd Lieutenant – Orle S. Bergner
Born July 30, 1911 in Pulcifer, WI, Orle was the nineth of eleven children born to Albert and Anna (Krueger) Bergner. When Orle was eleven years old, his dad committed suicide and when Orle was fifteen, his mom died of cerebral hemorrhage. Orle then lived with an aunt in Clintonville and attended Clintonville High School his freshman year. Orle then moved to Underhill to live with his sister, Amanda, and attend Gillett High School. He graduated valedictorian at the age of 21 in 1933.
When he was 22, Orle enlisted into the Marine Corps for a five-year term on August 17, 1933. His service number was 052555. Orle completed training at Parris Island, South Carolina. He was assigned to the Fleet Marine Force for twenty months and traveled to Cuba, Panama, Puorto Rico, and China.
On September 10, 1935, Orle arrived in China for a 30-month tour of duty as part of the continuous 1,000-man Marine detachment assigned to the International Zone in Shanghai to protect American citizens and property. Orle was specifically assigned guard duty at the Naval Regimental Hospital. Upon completion of his 30-month tour of duty, Orle arrived at Quantico, Virginia in June 1938.
On August 27, 1938, Orle reenlisted into the inactive Marine Corps Reserve and returned to Wisconsin. Orle stayed with his sister in Wausau and worked for Lotz Sand and Gravel Company and then the Marathon County Highway Department. After 2 ½ years of inactive reserve duty, Orle was ordered to active duty on February 10, 1941 as war with Japan was imminent. For the next 15 months, Orle was assigned to Camp Elliot, California as an instructor of new recruits.
On July 1, 1942, Orle’s unit left San Diego and convoyed 6,000 miles to the invasion of Guadalcanal. On August 7, 1942, the first amphibious landing in the Pacific began. 82 warships carrying 11,300 Marines invaded Guadalcanal. Seven months later, the island was declared secure. For his actions during the invasion, Sergeant Orle S. Bergner was awarded the Silver Star. The marines then went to New Zealand in February 1943, to rest, regroup, and train for the next invasion.
On November 13, 1943, 53 warships carrying 18,000 Marines convoyed to the next invasion, Tarawa. The invasion began on November 20, 1943 and was over in four days. The marines then left Tarawa and arrived in Hawaii on December 5, 1943 to rest and train for the next invasion, Saipan.
Orle and many of the combat tested veterans returned to the U.S. as their experiences would make for excellent instructors in training new recruits to survive the war in the Pacific. Orle arrived in San Francisco on April 13, 1944. It had been 22 months since Orle had left San Diego for the war in the Pacific.
Orle had a 60-day furlough and returned to Wisconsin. He met up with is pen pal Carol Hansen who was a school teacher in Sturgeon Bay. They had a whirlwind engagement and married on May 15, 1944 in Wausau. Orle then reported to Camp Pendelton as an instructor and took Carol with him.
In March 1945, Orle reenlisted for four years. He was sent to China for 2 years. The, the Marines protected American interests in the ongoing fight between Nationalists and the Communist Chinese forces. Orle retuned to Camp Pendleton in October 1947.
On March 1, 1949 Orle reenlisted for another four years. When at Camp Pendelton, Orle’s company participated in the making of the Hollywood move, “Sands of Iwo Jima,” starring John Wayne.
All three of the Bergner children were born at Camp Pendleton, CA. The Bergners spent November and December 1950 in Wisconsin visiting relatives. Orle went deer hunting and bagged a nice buck at the Druckrey hunting shack in northern Forest County.
On September 13, 1951, Orle was off to Korea as a new second Lieutenant. Carol and the three children returned to Wisconsin staying in Abbotsford near Carol’s brother while Orle was in Korea.
Orle arrived in Korea on October 4, 1951 at Sokech-ri just above the 38th parallel. Orle was assigned platoon leader of Second Platoon, B Company, First Battalion, Seventh Marine Regiment, First Marine Division. Orle replace LT Eddie LaBarron who later became NFL quarterback of the Washington Redskins in 1955 and the Dallas Cowboys in 1960.
Orle’s unit was located near the Punchbowl which had seen fierce fighting prior to Orle’s arrival. The Punchbowl was a valley five miles wide and seven miles long surrounded by hills.
When Orle arrived, the new “rules of engagement” were to remain in place. No moving forward or retreating. Units were to remain stationary but daily patrols would go out to gather information and make contact for purposes of taking prisoners, setting ambushes, laying mines, etc.
On October 11, 1951, Orle lead his platoon on just that type of patrol and was killed by mortar fire about one mile out in front of the US lines. The next day the “rules of engagement” where modified to state that no more patrols would be sent.
On the day before Orel was killed, he had written a letter to his wife Carol stating that if anything happened to him, see to it that he would not have died in vain. He also sent post cards to each of his children telling them how much Daddy loved them.
Almost five months later, on Thursday, March 13, 1952, Orle’s remains arrived at the Shawano train station. They were escorted by his nephew, Marine First Lieutenant Dean B. Hansen, who was also a veteran of WWII and Korea. The wake was held Friday, March 14, 1952 and funeral at St. James Lutheran Church in Shawano with Reverand Walter Parsch officiating. Members of the local VFW and American Legion served as pallbearers. Burial was at Woodlawn Cemetery in Shawano. Orle is survived by his wife, Carol age 35 and children’ Jean age 6, Robert age 3 and Edie age 2.
Second lieutenant Orle S. Bergner was 40 years, 2 months, and 22 days old. He had been an active-duty Marine for almost 16 years with another 2 ½ years of inactive duty prior to WWII. Orle was in Korea 19 days when he was killed in action while leading his platoon. The area that Orel’s unit defended in October 1951, is today part of South Korea.
Post Script:
Orle’s widow, Carol, remarried 6 ½ years later. Carol passed away in 2005 at the age of 89. She is buried in Birnamwood. Son Robert served in the Marines on Okinawa during the Vietnam war. Robert passed away in 2012 at the age of 64. He is buried in Birnamwood. Today, daughter Jean, age 78, is living in Wausau. Daughter Edie, age 74, lives in Abbotsford.
Thanks goes out to Edie for providing a copy of the book on her father’s life titled, “Orle’s Story.” This book was written by Orel’s cousin, Helen J. Goswitz in 2015. Helen passed away in 2021 at the age of 88 and is buried at Sacred Heart Cemetery in Shawano.