Tip:
Highlight text to annotate it
X
(grandson Daniel; narrator) Growing up on the same farmstead as my Grandpa,
his home only a few feet from mine,
I spent time working the farm with him,
playing, and listening to his stories.
Now, I was only a young kid, but I watched intently
as my grandpa did his grandpa things: milking the cows,
fixing the fence, throwing us a ball.
I notice he'd salute every time a flag went by and how he'd get
choked up in tears before every Thanksgiving meal.
Now, as a kid I saw these things.
But today, I wonder: "Who is this man?"
They say to understand who you are,
you have to know where you've come from.
Where did I come from?
Well, it begins on a homestead in Western North Dakota
with 6 Brothers.
(woman) Production funding is provided by:
The North Dakota Humanities Council;
Williston State College Foundation;
McKenzie Electric Operation Roundup Grant;
Basin Electric Power Cooperative;
and the members of Prairie Public.
(male narrator) December 20, 1916 was a cold day, 33 degrees below zero.
On that day, my Grandpa Chris was born
on his parents' homestead.
Over the course of 20 years,
6 sons would be born to the parents.
His parents and their neighbors, of Farland Township,
all started from scratch; their farm, their church,
their school, had all been started
within the past 10 years.
His mother had emigrated from Norway,
and his father had moved west
from where he was born
to Norwegian immigrants in Horace, North Dakota.
(Richard Stenberg) When you look at the very early statehood development
or even the late territorial, you had people moving in.
Different ethnic groups usually and they tended to congregate
towards one area but you'd have this this speedy phenomenon
of, boom! you'd have a town being built and instantly you'd
have newspapers and then came the banks and then schools.
But part of the instant civilization is
for a lot of the ethnic groups
they were bringing in items from their home country with them
and that often meant an institution that was
very fundamental to their community which was the church.
(narrator) Most all who settled in Farland Township came from
a Lutheran religious background, and they soon gathered together
for basic church services at a neighbor's homestead.
They later moved the services to the schoolhouse,
until they were able to build a dedicated church building.
Church was an integral part of the brothers' lives growing up.
Services were mainly conducted in Norwegian until the 1940's.
(Lillian Bergem) The women sat on one side
and the men on the other side.
I guess the first time my mother was in church,
she sat with my dad and then after she discovered
that the rest of the ladies were sitting by themselves,
then she started to sit by herself, with the women.
[loud clang]
(narrator) The township sponsored a 2-room grade school
that my grandpa and his brothers attended.
School kids had to be able to work on the farm
so they met for 3 months in the spring
and 3 months in the early fall.
It was a 3-mile horseback ride
for the brothers to get to school.
The kids were out during recess
and they were talking Norwegian and the teacher
hollered out the window: "speak English boys." [laughing]
(narrator) As they were just beginning
to get their farm and community in place, soon weather,
the economy, and world events would deeply affect the family.
In the first 2 decades of the 20th century,
North Dakota's economy was dependent upon
one main crop: wheat.
Unfortunately, for the farmers and for the rest
of the state's economy, the price of wheat plummeted.
One way to look at it is: a farmer could pay off
a $10,000 mortgage in 1925 with only 6700 bushels of wheat;
in 1933 it would take over 33,000.
Not only that, but the region was about to experience
an extraordinary drought and nationwide economic collapse
that has since been termed the Great Depression.
Going back to the depression how it impacted us, is you know,
even that time we took in wheat for subscriptions, we took in
chickens for subscriptions, we took in eggs and milk.
Everybody bartered because they didn't have cash.
When we had to pay our bills we offered to do things as well.
What product do we have that you want that we can give you?
So that has changed a lot, now everybody is pretty much
on a cash-and-carry basis.
When you look at out-migration statistics of North Dakota,
you know, the '20's were bad, the '30's were a nightmare
and the amount of people that we're starting to leave
was huge between 1930 and the 1940 census.
My uncle Chris noted on one occasion, now everyone
didn't realize they were poor because everyone
was kind of in the same boat-- they didn't have much.
They had a lot of dry years in the '30's especially,
and this was passed on to me that my grandfather would say
that if it hasn't rained by the 4th of July then you
start making plans for next year,
and at harvest time he'd say
"well hopefully we'll get our seed back" he just had
a determination to make it work and, if you didn't a crop
it was just a setback, but not something that you'd quit over.
(Glenda Brockell) They worked hard, and not much in return
I guess, for their work.
I think it taught them to be very conservative and saving
because they didn't know what the next year would bring;
if they'd have a crop or not next year,
so they just saved what they could
and got by with as little as they could and they survived.
(Carlyle Stenberg) Well, just as a, I guess,
an example of how conservative people were,
one of the neighbors washed their dishes with,
or used very little soap and they washed
the dishes and then carried the dishwater out
and fed the calves in the barn.
Making use of what might have otherwise gone to waste.
I'll never forget one of the more powerful stories
my dad ever told me and it was difficult at times
for him the talk about being raised.
You know, it might have been that Scandinavian cold front
that you always put on.
But he did share one time that he had gone to Watford City
with his dad Carl, and here the bank that they had had
what money in, and I never did learn how much,
but it was closed, and you know it was all they had.
(Dr. David Danbom) Well, it was very easy to start a bank.
All you needed was $10,000 in capital
to start a bank in North Dakota.
In 1900 there were 102 banks in the state.
And then there was an agricultural boom,
specially in western North Dakota.
But in 1920 they were overextended overall,
the loans outstanding were 120% of deposits.
And cash on hand was only 7% of deposits
so it is pretty iffy, pretty marginal.
Between 1918 the year that the Great War WWI ended
and 1933 which is the worst year ever in state and national
economic history, North Dakota lost over half our banks,
and that just exacerbated or worsened
how the '30's were for North Dakota.
(narrator) The oldest 3 bothers only went through 8th grade,
which was pretty customary for that time and place.
With 6 growing boys in the family,
and income quite limited, the brothers did
whatever they could to earn money off the farm;
including my grandpa Chris traveling over 1000 miles west
to work on a dairy farm in Washington State.
The oldest brother Arnold traveled over 700 miles
to southeastern Minnesota for an assignment with
the Civilian Conservation Corp.
(Richard Stenberg) The Civilian Conservation Corps was probably
one of the more successful New Deal programs.
I know President Roosevelt always kinda held it
near and dear to his heart, it was often dubbed
the tree army, and so on, but the goal of the program
was to take as many younger men and to get them out working.
These camps were located right where they did the projects
usually with pick and shovel type of work.
You know you had a steam shovel that could indeed dig it faster
but that was not the point.
(man) The CCC is not a place for lazy,
worthless boys, pool hall loafers, women chasers,
*** hounds or problem cases, neither is it a place
for smart alecks or wise guys.
It is a place where boys of good moral character
who are willing to work and who are able
to "take it on the chin" can be made into better citizens.
The CCC is a place where highly employable,
but inexperienced boys can improve themselves
so that when they are discharged,
they will be better equipped physically and mentally
to go out into the world and earn an honest living.
(narrator) Members of the CCC like Arnold
were paid $30 a month, $25 of which was sent back home
to help provide for their family.
Their work can still be seen today.
(Richard Stenberg) And at one time North Dakota
had over 50 camps and that's a pretty high number, I mean
much higher than a lot of the other neighboring states
in the area, but the idea get people out and working.
(narrator) As the nation was reluctantly becoming
more involved in what would become World War II,
Grandpa's younger brother Henry was in one of the first groups
of men to be drafted out of the county.
They left McKenzie County in March 1941
to report for duty at Ft Snelling, Minnesota.
Later that year, Grandpa Chris would be drafted too.
I know Chris Stenberg was very focused on
when and where he was when December 7th
the attack on Pearl Harbor happened.
He and a neighbor were out riding horse, and they were
well, kind of west southwest of Watford City and he said
that they managed to scrape up enough money, that they had
some money to buy lunch so they rode into town
that afternoon and went to one of the cafes
and everybody was just abuzz about the news
coming over the radio that the Japanese had attacked
Pearl Harbor and you know, a great deal of concern.
"Well, okay where was Pearl Harbor?"
Some of them weren't sure about that, but indeed it meant war.
The American people in their righteous might
will win through to absolute victory. [cheering]
(Richard Stenberg) And many speculating, you know, what does this now mean:
are we gonna get called up? And within 10 days
he was called up and inducted into the military
and then eventually went down to Fort Riley, Kansas
for his basic training and then later advanced training
and he was assigned to the United States Cavalry.
(narrator) As if having 2 sons drafted
into the military the same year wouldn't be hard enough,
the family encountered another huge blow that year.
(Lillian Bergem) Selmer was Paul's best friend.
Mr. Stenberg was the assessor in this community.
So he would go from place to place, then he would bring
Selmer along and Selmer would play with Paul,
while Mr. Stenberg was going to the neighbors
for this assessment work.
He was as cute as could be.
(Paul Bergem) The one thing I can remember
in church that Selmer would sit with his dad
and my dad had died, so I would sneak over and sit with Selmer.
Time for the collection plate, why Carl would take out
his pocketbook and he'd give Selmer 2 pennies, give me
2 pennies, so we drop them in the collection plate. [chuckle]
(boy) "Dear Chris, many thanks for the dog collar and chain.
I had the flu lately so I have not been able to go to school.
I am about all right again now.
Pete and the cats are all feeling good.
Your brother, Selmer."
(narrator) With limited access to health facilities,
medical problems were often treated in the home.
It wasn't long before Selmer, who had been having recurring
stomach issues, would take a serious turn for the worse.
The parents finally decided
to bring him to the nearest hospital,
which was 35 bumpy miles away in Williston.
They made it there too late:
9-year-old Selmer's appendix burst,
and the doctor wasn't able to save him.
(Paul Bergem) That was a tough blow for all of them,
and, of course, for me too because he was
well, maybe not my only buddy,
because I did know a couple kids in town,
but he was the only one around here, everybody,
all the others were quite a bit older.
"Well there has been a lot
of different things running through my mind today.
Some of my thoughts gives me a peculiar, lonely feeling.
If it wasn't for being in a crowd or a few guys
all the time, I would just lay down
and have me a good long cry.
I am sure you have been thinking just like me all day long
about this day 2 years ago when dear little Selmer left us.
When I sit here on my bunk I miss him as much today
as I did 2 years ago.
He had a place in our hearts that no one else can fill."
"Got the Watford Guide for the first time today.
Don't think I ever come so close to reading every word
in a paper before as I did today when I got that paper."
(Neal Shipman) For a weekly newspaper
our connection has always been to the people that live here.
We're not so much concerned with what's happening in Fargo,
or any of the bigger cities.
What we are concerned about is what is affecting the lives
and people here in McKenzie County.
And so newspapers especially weeklies started doing
what was called a correspondence.
Most people would laugh and say, "that is not news," but it was
uncle Bob and aunt Jane went to Watford to go shopping
and had lunch, or they had cousin Sally over for dinner.
I wrote to several service--
I wrote especially to Henry and Chris
and others too from Watford.
At Christmas we each had 6 names
we should send Christmas cards to.
I suppose I'd just tell about
what was going on around Watford.
"It's *** how little it takes when a fellow is a long way
from home and knows he can't go home when he wants to.
Why, every letter I get, I read over twice at least."
We sent the fig bars, and I know Henry wrote back once
and he said, thank you for the fig bars, they were so good
and they kept well even that long ways
that they had to ship them.
"Got a box of fig bars from Bergem's yesterday.
Had them with our coffee that is in our crew here
and they really tasted good.
How could you go for a lunch
like Mrs. Bergem used to fix about now?
The weather here is about 20 above
and about 2 inches of snow on the ground.
Not near as cold as old North Dakota,
but what I would give to change places.
Seen some kids out skating a few days ago.
Brings back the thoughts of the good old days."
(narrator) Though my grandpa Chris and his brother Henry
would write their letters to home in English, his parents
would write back in their native tongue, Norwegian.
(woman, speaking Norwegian) "Dear Chris, I was in Watford
on Friday for the first time this year."
(woman speaking English) "Arnold plowed the road on Thursday with the wagon
so the mailman could deliver the mail on Friday.
It is going to be pretty quiet in Watford too
now that so many people have left for the war.
And you have to use stamps to buy a lot of things
like raisins and all sorts of fruit and meat, but it is good
that we have all the meat we need here on the farm."
(narrator) Henry and Chris finished their training in the U.S.
and received their orders
Henry was assigned to the European Theater
and Grandpa Chris, the South Pacific.
For many years there was some hesitancy on Chris's part
to talk about his WWII experience.
Probably about in the late 1970's I finally started
going to him and just kinda probing him a little bit
then he started opening up.
Now, in December of 1941, Douglas MacArthur had declared
Manila an open city which meant it was not going to be defended
and the countersign would be if you're not gonna bomb it,
you're not gonna shoot at us,
so the American and Filipino forces pulled out very quickly.
Well, the Japanese commander in the Philippines had done
the same thing, he had declared Manila an open city, however,
the Japanese Admiral in charge of the port along with
some die-hard Japanese marines and other types stayed
in the city, and what was anticipated to be a 3-day
clear out and mopping up operation ended up
into a slugfest for 3-1/2 weeks.
[loud explosions]
The troop that Chris was in, they had gone in with
about 136 men, they were short staffed but after
this terrible fighting they came out with about 30 personnel.
There was one place where a group of student nurses
were forced to shield an advancing Japanese
infantry unit and they had no choice but to cut them down,
and you know the... because the Japanese were doing
anything devious like that to do.
And I know Chris at one time they were crossing
a very famous thoroughfare in Manila called Dewey Boulevard
and they had tanks that would ferry them across
and he said we had to crouch low and behind it and you just hear
the bullets pinging off of that every time they went across.
Even despite that terrible fire there'd be these
Filipino civilians running out and pointing up if there was
a sniper up on a roof or on one of the upper stories
or where a machine gun nest was dug in or where perhaps
they dug an anti-tank gun in to take out an American tank.
You know, terrible risks and the casualties
just appalling, over 100,000 known dead.
It was very moving on Chris, and they were very exhausted
by the time they pulled out, and he said
"We lost a lot of good men after going through Manila."
I remember more than one Thanksgiving
hearing about the year that they were fighting
on the front lines over Thanksgiving,
and their supply line got cut off
they didn't know if they'd live or die
and he and a buddy sharing a can of beans and he would tell
that story, and then look at us today we've got all this
bountiful meal here, and we are in peace.
"I didn't get to send a single Christmas card this year.
We were in foxholes on Christmas Eve and Day
and a long time before that.
I sure was homesick on Christmas Eve.
A fellow gets a lot of time to think over the past
and future for the nights get awfully long in the foxholes.
Yes, I have seen piles of dead people again
and whatnot that goes along with war.
I dream about home often.
Not long ago I dreamt both Henry and me were home
and we were all so extremely happy.
You were frying eggs Mom.
I could see you just as plain as if I were there.
This Army dehydrated stuff gets so tiresome
that we can barely eat it.
I just keep thinking and dreaming about
the fresh food we had in the good old days."
Henry's unit was the 776th Tank Destroyer Battalion,
and initially when they landed in North Africa they were
pulling tank, anti-tank guns with a M3 halftrack.
But later on in the Italian campaign
they received what were known as M10 tank destroyers.
And it was a Sherman tank chassis with a open cockpit
that had a, housed a 90 millimeter gun
and was most powerful anti-tank gun in the United States Arsenal
at that time, and Henry was a gunner.
They fought up through the Italian peninsula, they were
later pulled out and they were part of the Allied landings
in the south of France and they advanced up into central France
and then into the eastern border area of France and Germany
especially in an area known as the Alsace Lorraine.
And during the Battle of the Bulge
going on in December of 1944, Henry's unit was attached
to what was called the 62nd Infantry Division
which was kind of on the southern shoulder
for the Battle of the Bulge, and as they fought their own
little series of actions against the German army they started
moving into a dense concentrated defended area
that was known as the West Wall of Germany.
"Dear Folks, I guess I could ask you
any amount of questions, but it is so long
between time a letter is wrote till you receive it
that it is a thing of the past almost.
The last letter I got from you was April 22nd.
We've had to wash and take a bath in our helmets.
Yesterday we went down and took a good shower,
which I certainly appreciated.
The first shower I had in 3 months."
"Dear Brother Chris, I'm glad I haven't any steady woman,
because there are a lot of guys that have been disappointed
when their girls have gotten married.
Will have to wait and look the situation over
when we get back."
"We have a lot of things to be thankful for in the past year
but have also seen a lot of things
I hope and pray I'll never see again."
Around 20th of April 1945 Henry's unit,
his particular tank as a matter fact,
was in the lead, they were out riding point as they call it
and they were deep in Germany
and there's a small little community called
Welzheim, Germany and as their tank destroyer came into
the town from the West rolling on the road there was a local
German unit that was putting up resistance and they were armed
with something called a Panzerfaust, and these were
very cheaply designed and produced, but very deadly
German anti-tank rockets and they accounted for
a great deal of Allied tanks, well, they got one fired
and it hit the tank that Henry was in, set it on fire
and the crew had to scramble to get to safety
and snipers got 3 out of the 5 crew members
including private first class Henry Stenberg.
(woman) "The horror of war has here come home,
When one who didn't care to roam,
Had to leave his peaceful farming toil,
To fight and die on foreign soil.
He was beloved by everyone, that knew him well
this Stenberg son.
His sunny smile and quiet air.
His willing hands and patience rare.
He loved North Dakota, its prairies and hills,
Its rocks and coulees and lack of frills.
A peaceful man, yet he had to fight,
Like many another, for freedom's right.
Memories of him will always be a blessing,
Like softly whispering winds caressing.
Would we call him back from his quiet rest?
Oh no! we wouldn't, for God knows best."
So there we were, we heard that Henry was killed.
Yeah, that was a sad, sad time I'll tell you.
The pastor from Watford
the Rev. Norman came out there, and the pastor went to the barn
because Carl, I suppose they probably saw him out there
by the barn or something.
Mrs. Melby went into the house.
Before Mrs. Melby said anything, Mrs. Stenberg said
which one of them is it?
She didn't know whether it was Chris or Henry.
So I'm sure that was a tough trip for Mrs. Melby to make.
(man) "Am going to try and do
one of the hardest things I have ever done.
Write home after the terrible news I got about Henry.
I can't believe it that he is gone.
It's the same as with Selmer-- they are too good to live
in this sin-cursed world any longer.
The boys in the troop have been very good to me.
Monday after I got the news I wasn't able to do anything.
I just cried and cried.
Some of the boys brought me some coffee, but I wasn't able
to eat a bite and have hardly eaten since.
Even the troop commander said he'd give me a couple days off,
but there is no place to go and when I stay with some of
my best friends it helps some but I don't know how much longer
I can stand this.
Was planning on doing a lot of writing when we started
building camp but I don't feel like doing anything anymore.
It's so hard to think about Henry after all he'd gone through,
how he was always so patient, always did his best.
Still he didn't live to enjoy it.
Am sure Henry is rejoicing with Selmer
and we really shouldn't grieve so much.
But I just can't help it.
If only I could have seen him just one more time."
(man speaking Norwegian)
(man speaking English) "Have lived in the hope
that I would be able to live out my old days
in the company of you and Henry.
But Henry's death is a huge disappointment.
I have surely been a poor father.
Should have written more often to you both.
It has not been very pleasant for the past 5 years,
I'm exhausted and I feel like giving up at times,
but have to try to keep at it a while longer,
they say that after the rain comes the sunshine.
It is quite hard to see a silver lining at times. Carl"
In early August 1945,
word came down to Chris that an atomic bomb had been dropped.
[loud explosion]
He like a lot of others didn't really know what that was,
but on the 6th of August Hiroshima had gotten hit.
3 days later Nagasaki got hit, and Japan surrendered.
There's absolutely no doubt in my mind
that if the atomic bombs had not forced the defeat of Japan
and the actual invasion had taken place
we would not have had Chris with us.
(narrator) Of the 60,000 servicemen and women from North Dakota
who served in World War II, 2,000 of them died in service.
"Just can't believe it,
but yesterday we sailed under the Golden Gate bridge
and are now in Camp Stoneman where we were over 2 years ago
when we were sent overseas.
Tomorrow we are being shipped to Fort Lewis, Washington.
How long it will take them to discharge us,
why, your guess would be just as good as mine.
If we get delayed for some reason, I'll write again,
if not, why, I will be seeing you one and all."
(narrator) I had always grown up thinking
that patriotism and support of the military's endeavors were
never questioned, as I've been digging through this process,
I've come to realize that is not necessarily true.
(Richard Stenberg) Having lost a son in the service
and having another one that, you know, day-to-day
hearing about the fighting in the South Pacific
the amount of stress that she probably went through was huge.
Louise Stenberg was a very strong woman in some ways
and one of those strengths was very against the military.
I know for many years Chris was not allowed to be part of
veterans groups and or join the American Legion and so on.
There's a high degree of pacifism, perhaps isolation,
might be a better term for it, out of that period.
You know, a lot of Scandinavians that settled
the northern plains and especially the Norwegians
out in this part of North Dakota; not strong military.
Perhaps during the Viking era the Norwegians had gotten it
out of their system, I don't know.
But I know for both Carl and Louise they came from
a very strong what is called Hauge Lutheran background
and the Hauge Lutherans are lovers of your fellow man
and so on, you know.
They didn't embrace the war like some denominations did
for example, there's in German Lutheranism theology
there's the argument of a "just war," and you know that's not
anything that the Scandinavian churches necessarily embraced.
I know when she passed away Vietnam was just starting and
I know she was adamant that any grandsons of hers were not
about to go into the military, at least of their own volition.
She steered people away from that pretty strongly.
(Glenda Brockell) When I was growing up
I hardly heard anything about WWII.
I just knew my dad had been in the army,
and that was about it.
I think it was probably when I was in my 20's before I started
hearing some details of all that he did go through.
And maybe he just felt that it wasn't appropriate
for kids to hear,
or maybe he just wasn't ready to talk about it yet either.
(Carlyle Stenberg) My dad, after being a soldier in WWII
and carrying weapons there, he was never interested in hunting.
He never told me I couldn't hunt,
but we just never went hunting together.
But he said he didn't want to shoot anything he didn't have to.
(Richard Stenberg) I know the last time I visited with Chris,
here in the Williston hospital, we were going over, and he was,
he was getting more candid I mean, he was getting graphic
I guess, is the best way to say it.
And the nurse came in and interrupted us,
and I'll never forget he, she was gonna check
his vital signs and he said "Well my blood pressure is gonna
be up you know, my nephew and I just been refighting the war."
But I know it brought you know some closure to him being able
to share those kinds of things I just can't imagine having
kept so so many things quiet to himself for so many years.
(narrator) Once he arrived home,
he became reacquainted with and married Gladys Olson,
one of the girls who had faithfully written him letters
during his time of military service.
He and Grandma Gladys would settle on his parents' homestead
and carry on the farming and ranching operations.
Things were changing around the Farland community.
Electricity was coming, and men and women
began sitting together at church.
(Glenda Brockell) My mom did the housework,
she did the cooking and the cleaning, and my dad did
the farm work on the tractors and worked with the cattle.
The garden too was mainly my mom's, but of course to get
the ground ready my dad would use the tractor
and get it ready for her.
And sometimes my mom helped in the barn if we needed her
to help milk a cow, she'd do that or whatever--
feed the calves; I mean, she would help too where she could.
So there were some areas that they shared their work
and other areas that it was just kinda their role.
My mom sold cream and eggs and that usually
was enough money so we could buy groceries.
(narrator) Grandpa's brother Cap was always known
as the cowboy of the family.
He worked on various ranches including the Keogh,
Davidson, and Kellogg ranches.
He and his wife Olga had 3 children.
He also served as brand inspector around McKenzie County
for over 20 years.
Brand Inspection is determining or making sure of ownership
of the livestock based on a hot iron brand that's on the animal
that we like to call the return address.
In the days before the horse trailers and the trucks
the cattle walked all the way.
The guys horseback, guiding them along.
Kind of an interesting time and that was when Cap
was a young guy.
When they went on a trail drive
they'd need somebody to feed the crew and he did that some.
They'd take a wagon and supplies, and they'd cook
out along the road and sleep out on the prairie
and keep everybody fed.
He came to our farm quite a bit
and he was a real fix-it man, he could make things
out of other people's junk it seemed like.
Make fences and gates, even a building, he was fixing up.
He liked to, you know, you could hear him pounding away
and singing at the top of his lungs.
And we had a dog named ***, and he would sing about....
♫ ***, ***, where you gonna go? ♫ and on and on.
It was just fun to have him around,
and the dog loved him, of course.
Mostly dad worked outside,
mom worked inside, she was what I'll call old school,
that dad made the decisions and she just went along with them.
Oh, he always got up early.
And liked to work with livestock, or hay or fence.
Really liked kids, if there was any in the vicinity,
had to either give them treats, or give them a little grief
or play with them.
Always worked hard.
I mean I think his enjoyment was kinda work.
(narrator) Arnold, the oldest brother
was more of a homebody, except for his 6-month stint
with the Civilian Conservation Corp, and taking a few classes
at Lutheran Bible Institute in Minneapolis.
My uncle Arnold lived on the same farm,
he never married, but he was the fix-it repairman,
whether it was the buildings or maybe the well,
or a tractor, whatever.
(Glenda Brockell) He was real good with machinery,
he would do all the oil changes and keep up on that.
Arnold always had things neat and tidy.
In his little work area, everything would have its place.
And he also liked to sing.
He sang in a men's quartet in church,
and just really enjoyed singing.
And his faith was very important to him, his Christianity.
He read the Bible, I remember him as our
Sunday School superintendent.
Arnold liked to see the buildings painted freshly.
So he would say, oh, it's about time to paint that barn again,
and me and my brothers, we would paint the barn
and Arnold would come out there and say, ope nope, you gotta
use the brush the other way, here let me show you.
He would take the brush and go back and forth, back and forth.
"Get a little more paint on there okay, then you get it
down there, you gotta get all the paint out of the brush."
And then when you finished painting, you were supposed
to put the brush in um, I think gasoline or something like that.
Get it nice and clean so that brush
was able to be used again for many years.
He was very particular about things, Arnold was.
I always remember Arnold when they threshed when I was a little kid.
He was the guy who kept the threshing machine running.
I think if a bearing needed to be greased in 6 hours, he greased it in 6 hours.
That was Arnold, he just did it. And he was good at it,
he was excellent at it, but he just did it.
If it was supposed to be, it was supposed to be. That was just the way it was.
I mean he was quiet, he was more quiet I think than any of the rest of them.
All the brothers I knew,
the four that I knew were all very, very different.
Arnold was very mechanical,
and the others liked cattle more and horses.
(narrator) Grandpa's brother Ray,
got his start at age 20, into what would become
his lifelong career: Ray's Standard Gas Station.
When he was checked into
his business by a agent for Standard Oil they were
still taking gas coupons for gas rationing, gas was selling
for 20 cents a gallon, he had 3 brand-new tires, and he had
a number of hand tools for working on those tires.
My folks both attended Watford City High School.
She was working at a drugstore in Watford for a while
and later on they got married on December 26, 1948.
I always wondered why and so I asked them, and they said well,
everybody would have been home for Christmas so they didn't
have to send out invites and everything, so I mean,
how more practical than that can you get?
(narrator) In 1959, the business faced a big challenge.
While servicing vehicles some gas fumes ignited causing
an explosion that in turn burned down the gas station.
The fire did not stop him, and by the next day,
Ray was operating out of an ice-fishing house,
as he and Standard Oil rebuilt the station.
My dad was very much a product of his time,
a great businessmen and local boomer or supporter of the town
and oftentimes that included the the local school.
North Dakota loved its sports back at that time,
and I think to some extent still does.
The sports schedule of the local high school often dictated,
you know, if it was an away game the town shut down that night.
Everybody followed the team over to wherever they were playing.
He also was really into sports,
and kept up with major league teams and the local teams.
He did some coaching, I think, sponsored a team
that my husband played on, when he was still in Watford.
So sports always, a big, big thing in his life.
Our dad supported my brothers
and I, but he's very much the Scandinavian
and the quintessential Norwegian edge of the glacier.
You know, we better not show too much emotion,
or too much excitement.
I know now that that wasn't the case.
He had, if you will, almost sinning here, a pride,
but that he did enjoy watching his sons play.
But not where we would hear him.
He's not going to come up, and be pounding us, oh great job.
It was, that was a good job you did out on the field today.
You know, kinda subdued.
I have many memories of Ray
at his gas station and the loud bell that would ding
as soon as a car drove in to get full service.
I also remember him just enjoying people
at his gas station there.
He loved to talk and ask questions to people.
(Richard Stenberg) My dad loved talking to people.
And the 54 years that he was in business
he loved talking to people.
He worked up until about a week before he actually passed away.
(narrator) I remember visiting Ray's Station with Grandpa.
Oftentimes they would go across the street and have coffee
at the Chuckwagon Café.
And sometimes I'd be able to join
and hear them talk about "the good old days."
When I was growing up, everything was done by hand.
The hay was pitched by hand,
and the rocks were picked by hand, fencing was by hand.
So there was need for a lot of labor and that's kind of
changed nowdays because we have more machinery.
You know, it runs into work
but it is still fun to get together with the neighbors.
They bought a new machine my dad and Carl Stenberg in 1950
and they thrashed steady until, '79 was the last year.
They wanted to go for '80, to make 30 straight years,
but there was no crop that year.
Neighbors are very important
for helping with the different cattle operations.
In the fall when we sell cattle, neighbors come
with their trailers, and help us and we help them back.
It's the most experienced help you can get
and we enjoy helping each other.
We were always saving, we were always careful, we wore things
'till they were totally worn out and not just used, but worn out.
And we're careful not to borrow money
or spend beyond our means.
And just expected to work hard for the money we got.
Never wasting food, never wasting anything,
and I'm still that way. I don't like to waste anything.
One activity that we would do
is pick up pop cans and beer cans along the side of the road.
I think he did it for two reasons,
one was to clean up the countryside.
He was proud of the area and the prairie
and he didn't want that to be littered on
so he would pick up cans for that reason,
and then to recycle it.
I think it was the first ever paycheck I got we went up to
Williston and we had a garbage sack full or two garbage sacks
full of aluminum cans, and we got $5.81
from the Cash for Cans place,
and Grandpa said here take this, you picked up
more cans than I did so this is yours.
And I just thought that was really cool
that I got that money, and it wasn't much
but it was something to show for our hard work.
(Elisa Thibodeau) Grandpa always had time
to help us enjoy nature.
The rain was always something to celebrate.
It meant that there wasn't as much work to do that day.
We would look for a rainbow too.
"Oh look, there's a rainbow."
Talking about how much rain we got, then the neighbors
would call each other "Oh did you get an inch of rain
like we did or not quite?"
Rain was something to celebrate on the farm.
(Titus Stenberg) I saw them kiss once.
I don't know if they know that I was watching or not.
I don't know. [laughing]
That's the one time I remember seeing them kiss.
I don't know that they ever said
that I love you to each other in front of me.
I don't remember that.
There wasn't really much free time,
but if there was free time, you know, he might go to a rodeo,
and maybe go visit a neighbor if he had some time.
Visiting neighbors was an important
social event at that time.
There was quite a bit of visiting back and forth.
Dad did enjoy music.
When we were milking cows he'd always have the radio on.
Country music, we enjoyed that.
He said the cows milked better too if you had it on.
(Titus Stenberg) I remember the radio,
how important the radio was to grandpa.
In the barn we always had a radio going.
And that's where I fell in love with listening
to the Twins on radio.
It seems like we only, we never changed the station,
so it was always 660 KEYZ country.
At that time the Twins were still on that station
so whenever we'd milk the cows in the evening
that is what would be on the radio during the summer.
(male announcer) Swing, and a high drive, deep into left field.
(Titus Stenberg) We always liked cheering
for the underdog; and against the Yankees.
One thing he was always, always very nice to people.
But with animals occasionally he could have
a little bit of a short temper.
If a bull or milk cow or something
was misbehaving, he wouldn't be afraid to yell at them.
I never ever heard him yell at a person but at an animal,
at a dog, at a horse or cow that was misbehaving
he might yell at them.
(Glenda Brockell) We used to go
to our grocery store and get meat scraps for our dog.
One time my dad went to get that and this man
who was the town drunk came and got a box as well
and my dad put it together that he was bringing that home
and cooking it for himself to eat, 'cause he didn't
probably have anything else to eat.
And so when we were butchering chickens one day my dad said
you know, I'm going to save one of these chickens
and bring it in to this man.
Because he said "I bet he's eating those meat scraps."
So when we were done butchering I went with my dad
and we brought this butchered chicken in to him.
We went, it was back below the tracks where he lived
in just a shack and my dad knocked on the door
and after some friendly talk and greetings, why uh, dad said,
"Hey I got something for you" he gave him
this nice big fat butchered chicken, and I'll never forget
the expression on that man's face.
It meant so much to him.
And it was a life lesson for me to be kind to those that were
in need, down and out...
(Kim Zubke) My grandpa I would say
helped shape my life quite a bit.
He was very optimistic and taught us all to look
at the bright side of things.
Just thinking, I remember one time we spilled milk
at the table and he said "Well like they say,
there's no use crying over spilled milk," and that phrase
never made sense to me until I actually did it,
but he made a lesson out of it.
When I was little, I didn't, I didn't really
think much about it when Grandpa would pray in the mornings.
A lot of times he would pray for me and my cousins.
The older that I got, the more I realized that's really special
that Grandma and Grandpa were always praying
for us every morning at breakfast; that was important.
I didn't realize at the time but of course, I was 6 years old
when my dad passed away and the Stenberg boys
they were good to me, and there very definitely
was some male bonding there we didn't know about those things
at that time at least I certainly didn't, but now
you hear so much about that, and there very definitely was.
They were both, they were all, I felt real close to them.
But I didn't realize it
before I got to be maybe 70, 80 years old.
I wish I had told both, I guess all of them, but Chris and Cap
were here the most and I don't know that I ever
really told them how much I did appreciate them.
My father either never wanted to think of himself as retired.
He just said "I do less."
But he did what he could as long as he lived.
My dad did chores the day he died.
(narrator) Though it took some time for grandpa to become comfortable
talking about the war, especially the hard parts,
there was something inside of him that wanted to get it out
to us at the appropriate times.
In fact, after he died, my aunt found this note
that he had written and stuck into one of his Army books
dated April 7, 2006.
He died 3 days later.
(man, as Grandpa Chris) "I think it was when Lieut. John L. Nichols of Spur, Texas
was in command of B Troop that there were 5 of us
that were messengers of our platoon.
There was a lot of confusion going on and Lieut. Nichols
was in a hurry and excited to get the troops
into a perimeter when it was still daylight.
So he sent messages to the platoon leaders
that we had to deliver.
We had to run over an open area where they were firing at us.
Three of the messengers were killed.
That was quite a shock even though we had been
in combat quite a while.
I still remember them well, all but one had been together
since we were in Fort Bliss Texas.
Joe Bolata was a replacement
that I think joined us in Australia.
Hugh Wallace and Enrique Vela
was the other 2 that were killed.
Vela and I were only 8 to 10 feet apart
when he was hit in the head.
I'm sure he never knew what hit him.
The next morning when the sun was shining, and they'd
pulled out what was left of them Joe Cerda the other messenger
that was okay said to me with a faint smile,
'well Stenberg it's just you and me left.'
I can see that like it was yesterday.
The good lord knows it's true what I'm writing.
The officers said they lost most of the messenger boys.
Thank God that I was spared and for the good life
I have been permitted to live.
I love all of you as much as possible.
Grandpa Chris, April 7, 2006."
(narrator) For 3 Thanksgivings, Grandpa was in the army
awash with fears of the future and for his immediate life.
He had seen bad times, but Thanksgiving was a time
to focus on the good things.
I always felt a little uncomfortable
when he would tear up during his Thanksgiving prayer.
But throughout my explorations, I have come to understand
his life story better: one of hope, loss,
and perseverance of 6 brothers.
[acoustic guitar plays in bright rhythm]
(woman) Production funding is provided by:
The North Dakota Humanities Council;
Williston State College Foundation;
McKenzie Electric Operation Roundup Grant;
Basin Electric Power Cooperative;
and the members of Prairie Public.
To order a DVD copy of "6 Brothers,"
please call: 1-800-359-6900.
Or visit our on-line store at PrairiePublic.Org.
Thank You.