Montgomery County History Center | David McFarland
History is a fleeting thing that is spurred on by time and change. I would like to introduce you to Laura, a long-time resident of Red Oak.
Laura left us in July of 1963. She had seven children, 14 grandchildren, and 29 great-grandchildren. But, I doubt many of us would recognize who Laura was and what a great courage she possessed.
Her time has passed, and the landmarks of her life have been torn down; yet, her story should be immortal. How many of you remember the Stanton Orphanage or the Johnson Hotel? Laura would have. Laura lost her husband and struggled to support her family. She was unable to care for young Dorothy and her brother; Dorothy, 7, went to the orphanage, and her brother went to a family in Page County. This wasn’t her last pain.
Life continued to be a struggle. The Houghton Bank sits directly south of the Montgomery County Courthouse, but on that very spot once sat the Johnson Hotel. The Johnson was reputed to be the best hotel between Chicago and Kansas City. Luxurious rooms, fine dining, barber shop, etc., were its hallmarks. Laura went to work there in housekeeping, the money going to help support her family.
Dean, one of her sons, was a private in the local National Guard unit, Company M. Frank was a seargent in the same unit, along with Darrell Wolfe, who had just married Laura’s daughter. Laura said the job helped keep her mind off the war (World War II) and the boys being away on duty.
At the beginning of March, 1943, there was a story in the Red Oak Express telling how a young captain from Villisca, Bob Moore, had saved the 168th Infantry Regiment from a German encirclement in North Africa at a place called Faid Pass. These were places no one had ever heard of, but the men of Southwest Iowa were safe, and the feelings were ones of joy. Little did the public realize the battle began on Feb. 14 and that things had gone badly for the Allies.
Western Union, the telegraph company, had an office at the Johnson Hotel, and Laura was working on March 10 when telegrams started to arrive, reporting the casualties from the battle. The hotel manager went and got Laura and took her to one of the rooms; she was informed that they had bad news for her. A doctor had been sent for and she was told that the doctor would give her a sedative and they would take her home after they broke the news. The news was, one of her sons was missing in action. But before they had finished telling her, additional telegrams arrived. Her other son and even her son-in-law were missing, too.
Some of you will have by now recognized Laura – not as Laura – but as Mae Stifle, the name she went by.
Our woman of courage rose and said she did not want the sedative and that she was going back to work. She later related that she was afraid if she went home, she would dwell on the boys and the sadness might overwhelm her. So, she decided working was the best medicine.
Uncertainty would make time pass slowly for Mae. Several months had passed when a local family got a letter from their POW son. It mentioned that he had seen Frank. This gave Mae hope, and then on Mother’s Day 1944 she received official word that all three boys were alive and well. There was another article in the Expresss relating how Mae was the happiest woman in Red Oak.
We can only say Mae embodied the American spirit. Her loss was the loss experienced by so many here in Red Oak, in Iowa, and in the nation. The 168th Infantry lost over two-thirds of its strength in those dark days, but it rallied and helped hold the right flank of the Allied Force in Tunisia and help hold North Africa.
Red Oak won a dubious title of having the highest casualty rate for any community in the United States (per capita). Company M of Red Oak started with 82 men – more than half were killed or captured. The experience was nearly the same for Villisca, Glenwood, Clarinda, etc. There must have been a lot of courageous mothers then – and there have been since.
David McFarland is director of the Montgomery County History Center. You can contact him at mchsociet@qwestoffice.net, and learn local history at the center.