A few days ago, Rana
Goodman of Anthem Today and I had the pleasure of meeting two
extraordinary individuals, George and Trudi Callahan,
of Anthem Country Club, as part of the Vegas Voice commitment to the "Keeping
the Spirit of 45 Alive" project.
To say we had fun...was an
understatement.
We met two of the most wonderful people,
and their story has to be told...twice...
Once in print,
and a second time in a radio interview.
Rana wrote this article on the Anthem Today
forum, www.anthemtoday.com and has graciously
allowed us to reprint it on Anthem Opinions.
In addition, look for a future radio
interview on KLAV (am1230) we did with this patriotic couple who lived through a
war, and had a distinguished military career that spanned 30 years from 1940 to
1970.
We also want to send a special thanks to
Sun City Anthem resident, and retired Naval Officer, Nelson Orth, for bringing
"the George & Trudi Story" to our attention.
A LOVE
STORY 65 YEARS OLD
It was 1940, and George Callahan had just graduated from high school in
Somerville, Massachusetts. The news was full of a war in Europe; and to a young
man, it may have sounded adventurous, perhaps that was why George Callahan
joined the army signal corps. I doubt that George ever thought at age 19 his
destiny was a military career such as he
had.
In 1943 he was sent to the South Pacific, to Peleliu be specific.
Thousands of US troops were training to invade Japan, George told us. In
retrospect, many of them thought that if they were actually sent on that
mission, few would return alive.
We
asked George if he remembered if he or his friends were afraid of odds like that
and instantly, this incredible man, so small in stature said, "we didn’t think
of fear, we would do what needed to be done". The good news was however, his
unit never did go to Japan; the war ended before they ever left that
region.
After returning home with the hundreds of thousands of other troops,
George Callahan was more certain than ever that civilian life was not for him.
He re-enlisted almost as soon as he was about to be mustered out of the
US Army at the end of WWII determined to have a military career.
George asked to be stationed in Germany because his uncle had been there
and he was fascinated by the region. It was in Germany that his life was about
to take another dramatic turn.
Set up by a friend on a blind date, he was introduced to a lovely,
petite girl named Trudy who, like George, owned a Dalmatian dog.
What more could he ask, she was beautiful, a dog lover, and even the same
breed of dog… It didn't take long for the two to fall in love, but there were
some obstacles to overcome.
Trudy’s sister was five years senior to Trudy, and believed she was more
wise to the ways of the world. She was sure that an American who was already a
Master Sergeant at 27 must surely have a wife at home. George wrote to his mother and told her
about Trudy begging her to please write and set her straight; there was no wife,
no fiancé, he was really available.
With
that out of the way, all George and Trudy needed was for the law to be on their
side and as luck would have it, it soon was. There had recently been a change in
the law allowing American servicemen to marry German women; he wanted to, and
Trudy said "yes". George could have his “war bride”.
George soon took an American magazine to Trudy and proposed, showing her
photographs of wedding and engagement rings and asked her to choose what she
liked, and the ring chosen.
The
magazine page
was then dispatched to George's mother in the US and in no time at all Trudy's
future mother-in-law had purchased the ring.
Now it seemed a bigger problem was at hand, how to get the rings to
George and Trudy. Mailing diamonds to Germany was not allowed at the time, even
though the war was long over; but never fear when a determined woman sets her
mind to something.
George's
mom must have loved James Cagney movies because she decided to bake a fruit cake
and inserted the rings right in the middle. She then put a note in the box
warning George to be careful how he cut the cake.
On
August 26 George and Trudy were married in city hall, and then on August 28th
the American army chaplain repeated the ceremony.
In
1950 George was sent to Korea to fight in the Korean conflict and did not return
home until 1956 after which he was sent to Italy to Fort Darby where their
daughter Kathy was born. George and Trudy were able to get special permission to
have Kathy baptized in the church at Pizza.
Now
before I tell you about the next stop in George Callahan’s military career, I
must give you a more visual picture of this man.
George was, at the time 127 lbs, and stood 5’7” tall.
I
know they
say never mess with an green beret, but still he was a little guy and not one
with, as “they say” a “Napoleonic complex.
He is a soft spoken gentleman if there ever was
one.
The
Next stop was Fort Bennings Georgia where at 43 years of age George decided that
being a paratrooper seemed like the thing to do...... So, that is what he did,
back to training and went off to Viet Nam with the 1st Cavalry Division sent
there as a Green Beret with the 10th special forces group in Bad Toelz, Germany.
He closed out the military chapter of his career after 30 years and three wars
in 1970.
Vegas Voice salutes you George Callahan; you are what the
Spirit of 45 is all about!
Rana Goodman
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As both the Radio Talk Show Host
of the Vegas Voice and speaking on behalf of Anthem Opinions, I wish to thank
George & Trudi Callahan, Nelson Orth, and Rana Goodman, for allowing me to
be a part of this program saluting all who participated in World War II...the
"greatest generation".
Dick Arendt
