Harold Kummer may be 93-years-old, but his mind still works like that of a man half his age.
Kummer graduated from Manitowoc Lincoln High School in 1944, and immediately joined the US Army. His first station was in the Philippines, where he was assigned to be in the field artillery. Kummer’s responsibility was carrying the 35-pound base plate for the mortar, a portable muzzle-loaded weapon that launches explosive shells at high angles. During his stint in the Philippines, he made his way all over the island nation.
Kummer became teary eyed as he recalled the experience of a man he knew, Lester Ruzeck, who went through what is now known as the Bataan Death March. Filipino and American prisoners of war were forced to march between 60 and 70 miles and endure severe physical abuse including being beaten, tortured, and given very little food and water. There were anywhere from 500 to 650 American deaths during the march which was later deemed a Japanese war crime.
Kummer explained that those forced to make the march went through hell. “When they fell down, if you didn’t get up, they would bayonet you, or club you, or shoot you.”
Ruzeck, who was a Kellnersville native, made it through the 3.5 year experience. With a strong constitution and will to live, he was liberated in August of 1945. He was awarded two purple hearts, a bronze star, and the Prisoner of War Medal for his service.
Later in life, he died at the age of 91 after accidentally falling down a flight of stairs. Kummer was able to see Lester before he passed but said that he barely recognized him.
Before he was sent overseas, Kummer had a girlfriend that he decided to break things off with for a very selfless reason. He explained that he was told that people in the field artillery position “have a very short life span”, so to save his girlfriend the heartbreak of losing him in battle, he ended the relationship. Harold said that he wrote his brother a letter asking him to “go over and pick up my class ring.”
After he came home, Harold ran into her again, with her husband and children. There were no hard feelings, and he said she called him a “good man”.
This ended up being a great decision for Kummer, because after he was discharged from the Army in December of 1946, he came home and met his wife, Evelyn. “I’m so lucky I have the wife I got,” Harold said through misty eyes. “If she goes, I hope I go. I’d be lost without her.”
Evelyn is also 93, and both of them are amazing people. They still live on their own, keeping each other happy every single day.
Harold Kummer (Bottom Left)
