Menning Was Stationed At Ft. Carson When Kennedy Was Assassinated
Pictured: Merlin with some of his army memorabilia. His daughter made this frame for him
By Jill Fennema –
Merlin Menning graduated from Edgerton Public School in May 1960. He was one of the three children born to Cornelia and John L. Menning of Edgerton. He was working at the boat factory in Pipestone – this was before the days when Bayliner was a company there.
He was also dating a young woman named Marlys Burggraff.
He was drafted into the United States Army in April 1962. On June 17, he took a bus to Sioux Falls where he was inducted. His basic training took place at Ft. Leonard Wood, Missouri.
It was summer, and as summer in the south always is, it was hot and humid. Merlin – or Merle as his friends call him – recalls that they did a lot of running and he was yelled at. A lot. “I didn’t march right, apparently,” he said. “I got put on KP duty.”
“KP Duty” is kitchen patrol – the work given to recruits that an officer might think needs some extra discipline.
“I didn’t like KP. Cleaning those big ole pots – I didn’t like that especially,” he said. There were other jobs like peeling potatoes and mopping floors that were not high on Merle’s list of fun things to do.
He also did not find the food to be all that great in basic training. But after 8 weeks he was done with basic training and soon headed to Ft. Carson in Colorado Springs, Colo. The food was better there.
Merlin received his Advanced Artillery Training at Ft. Carson. After that training, Merlin received his orders, which were to stay there at Ft. Carson with the 5th Infantry Division.
“That was right after they got done with Cuba and Castro (the Cuban missile crisis). We got ordered to load everything up but we never did go. Then came the conflicts in Vietnam,” Merle recalls.
While stationed in Colorado, Merlin’s primary responsibility was to operate an 8-inch Howitzer gun. If he wasn’t busy with KP, guard duty, or physical training, he went down to the motor pool to work on the guns. Sometimes they took their time so that it looked like they were busy, even when they were not.
“It was alright, but I did not like the Army. I was there serving my time, but I didn’t love it. At the time I didn’t think it was so nice,” he said.
One time they went into the Mohave Desert for training. “We played like we were fighting,” he said. “I’m glad that I didn’t have to go to Vietnam.”
While he was in the service, John F. Kennedy was assassinated on November 22, 1963. He and his buddies were watching a movie when the second lieutenant came in and told them that the president had been shot.
For the next 30 days they marched at Ft. Carson every day and held a special ceremonial salute each day at 10 a.m.
When Merlin thinks back, he wonders how different things would have gone had Kennedy not been assassinated. Would the U.S. have gone to war in Vietnam?
I served with honor,” Merle said. “But we fought the Vietnam War for nothing. We left a lot of dead men and material there.”
Merlin credits the Army with teaching him at least two things – how to be a sharpshooter and learning how to get along with people.
When they had free time, he and his buddies would spend time horsing around. This was especially true for Merle and one buddy named Thomas Gullickson, who was from Sun Prairie, Wisconsin.
Of course he can’t reveal all the details, but one time he and Gullickson went into Colorado Springs and found an old generals horse, which they desecrated with paint! Thankfully, they were never caught!
And while this was only one of many shenanigans, they never got into any serious trouble, although they did pull KP duty more than most.
