DORPHAN N. PRIEST
Indianola

Dorphan Newland Priest entered this world on May 13, 1925 as the second son of Earl and Irene Priest. He was born at home on the family farm near Shannon City, Union County, IA which was the norm at the time.

Our one room school house was 1 ½ miles from our home, which required a long walk morning and evening. When my older brother started to school he was always sick or had some other excuse for not going. So even though I would not be 5 until May, the teacher told my parents to start me to school, which they did on March 1. This cured by brother's problem of not wanting to go to school. The next year I completed both the 1st and 2nd grades. This put me up with my brother, so we were together thru two years of Junior College. I was 15 when I graduated from high school. While in Junior college WW II started. Of course, all males 18 and older had to register. So on my 18th birthday I went to the draft board, registered and volunteered. Naturally they welcomed me with open arms. After graduating from Junior College in May, I reported to Camp Dodge in July 1943. I was sent to Fort Hood, TX where I joined a newly formed unit (842nd Ordnance Depot Company) for Basic Training. About half way thru basic training a select few of us were sent to North Fort Hood for specialized training. In March 1944 we were alerted for overseas and in April 1944 we were loaded on a troop train destined for Camp Stoneman, CA. A few days after arriving we were loaded aboard a troop ship destined for the SW Pacific. (This was my first cruise that we were enjoying.)

Our Unit was tasked with pulling guard duty for the trip. The advantage of that was having three meals a day while the rest of the troops had two meals. We made port call in New Zealand and a stop at Hollandia, New Guinea where we got off the ship and took a nice 20 mile stroll thru the countryside. This felt really good after being cramped up on a ship for several weeks. Bunks were stacked up five high and in rows with barely room to move in between them. Might be worth mentioning that it was advantageous to get the top bunk. That way you escaped the fruits of the upper bunk occupant being sea sick. Then it was on to the Solomon Islands. Specifically the Island of Guadalcanal. At four in the morning on May 13, we found ourselves negotiating the ships exit system, called cargo nets, carrying our duffel bag and all our gear onto a barge for the trip into shore. This was a momentous day, my 19th birthday. What a way to celebrate. We built a Base Ordnance Depot from scratch along with a place to live. Two years later it was time for us to move on and we boarded a ship. This time our luxury liner was an old Dutch Ice Breaker that had been rammed broadside by an LST landing craft. This accident buckled most of the main beams. It was really a speed demon being just barely sea worthy. We joined up with a convoy that was headed for the Philippine Islands. A convoy only travels at the speed of the slowest vessel. When we reached relative safety of the Philippine waters the convoy broke up. The other ships disappeared over the horizon like they had been shot out of a sling shot. Leaving us chugging along like the speed demon we were, we arrived in Manila Harbor without incident. From there we traveled south via truck to Batangus. There we set up another Base Ordnance Depot, which we operated until the conclusion of WWII.

The return cruise back to the states was much better than the first two. I was standing on the dock waiting to board ship when an officer came along; stopped, picked up the manila name tag we were all wearing, looked at mine, and then said come with me. We boarded ship and went to the ship's crew area. They had 18 beds that were not occupied; I got one of them for the trip. Sure did feel good to have a mattress, sheets and fresh water showers. I was living high on the hog! One morning, several weeks later, I got up and went out on deck looked to the east and saw the best sight I had ever seen. It was the golden gate bridge at sunset. We docked, disembarked and were transported to Camp Stoneman, same place we had been three years before. Went to the mess hall for breakfast. They put a nice great big steak on our tray along with a quart of fresh milk and said enjoy your breakfast. Boy, oh boy, did that taste good.

A few days later we were loaded on a troop train and headed east for Fort Leavenworth, KS. There we were being processed for discharge from the service. One of the things they wanted us to do was to join the reserves. I said nothing being I'd had enough. That earned me a special one on one briefing. I walked into the briefing room and there sat Homer Harvey, we had been class mates in school, he was my interrogator. He convinced me that I should join the reserves. I got a job teaching school in Mitchellville Jr. High. I taught there 2 years then went to Columbus Junction for a year. Decided then to go to Iowa State and study Geology. The first summer I went to geology summer camp in Colorado. Also at the same time the Korean War started. When I got home from the summer camp there sat a set of orders to report for duty for 24 months. So I took the orders and went to Iowa State. The Air Force ROTC Col said that he could get me out of that. Those orders were rescinded and I was attending advanced ROTC with the Air Force. When I graduated from Iowa State, I was given a Commission as a Second Lt. and active duty in the Air Force.

First assignment was to Mississippi for school and flight training. Upon graduating, I was assigned to Germany. There I flew a number of Reconnaissance flights along the border with Eastern Europe. Shortly I was reassigned to HQ 4th Air Force at Ramstein AFB and worked in Intelligence. Upon the completion of that tour, I was assigned to research and development at Griffiss AFB, NY. Due to my past experience I was put in charge of flight test for the development center. After four years there it was time for reassignment. I was reassigned to my old unit in Germany. While there I met and married a German national woman. She had a young son, whom I adopted. She also blessed me with two additional children.

While in Germany, the Vietnam War got a lot hotter and the Air Force was looking for more Air Crew for Vietnam. At the completion of my tour in Germany, I was assigned to crew on the F105. A big problem with that was that my sitting height is too much. Which means the canopy wouldn't come down over the helmet as it should. So I was taken off that assignment and assigned to Combat Operations in HQ 7th Air Force in Saigon. So I left Heaven and traveled to Hades. Cannot go into detail what all I was involved in, but can say during that time I was awarded the bronze star. Upon completion of the Vietnam tour I was assigned to Hamilton AFB, CA. I just barely got settled there and the base was closed. So I was assigned to Hq NORAD in Colorado Springs. This is a part of Air Defense Command.

I was coming to the time to move on from Hq NORAD when SAC wanted to train me on the B52. Due to being close to retirement, I was taken off the B52 assignment and assigned to the B57 Squadron at Westover AFB, MA. After a short time they moved the squadron to Hill AFB, MT. At this time in my life my wife and I parted and I took both children, Linda and Brian, with me.

I retired from the Air Force on March 1, 1974, packed up and headed to Iowa with a 15 year old daughter and a 9 year old son in tow. Fortunately, my brother had an empty house on his farm that we moved into. Too young to really retire, yet being over qualified for most jobs, I looked into going to school and found a computer programming course that looked interesting. I signed up.

At this time my youngest sister who was a nurse, introduced me to another nurse by the name of Lois Andrus who was a widow with four children of her own. We married in August of 1975. I can say without hesitation, that this most likely was the best move I ever made.

Upon graduating from Area Eleven with an associate degree in programming, I applied to Bankers Life of Des Moines, now Principal Financial Group. I was hired on as a computer programmer systems analyst and worked for 14 years until retiring for keeps.

While still in school, we looked for a larger place to live and found an acreage that did not have any improvements on it. First we put in a well to make sure we had water. Then we had a house built. We lived there for thirty years until I was getting to the point where I was having difficulty taking care of it. It was time to find someplace else to live. In our searching we came across Wesley Village in Indianola. We decided that was exactly what we were looking for. A new town house was in the process of being constructed so we bought it. We are not sorry that we made that move as we have really enjoyed the retirement years there. The big thing is that my dear wife will have no major problems living here for the time she has left after I am gone.

Services for Dorphan Newland Priest, 90, who passed away Saturday, January 23, 2016, will be held 1 p .m. Wednesday, January 27 at Overton Funeral Home in Indianola with burial following in the Scotch Ridge Cemetery.

He is survived by his wife Lois; children, Mike Priest, Brian (Angela) Priest, Richard (Patty) Andrus, Linda (Leon) Wuebker, Louise (Bill) Clemons, Suzanne Feight, and Sharon (Gene) Cox; brother, Jerry Priest; sisters, Cleone Stamper and Betty (Richard) Carpenter; 21 grandchildren; and 24 great-grandchildren. He is preceded in death by his parents, brother Daniel Priest, and sister Elaine Carter.

Visitation will be held 4 to 8 p.m. Tuesday, January 26 at Overton Funeral Home in Indianola, where family will be present from 6 to 8 p.m. Memorial contributions may be made to the Good Shepherd Fund at The Village.