By David Fleet
Editor
Ortonville — It’s been 246 years since, Norman Phelps, Sr., a 14- year-old boy from Hebron County near Hartford Conn. volunteered into the service of the United States as a musician-fifer in the Militia of Connecticut. He would serve with the Connecticut Continental Line, encounter Gen. George Washington and live to see our nation’s birth. The military journey of patriot Phelps, ended Sept. 18, 1840 in Ortonville.
Phelps is one of many soldiers, who over the past 175 years called Ortonville home. From the American Revolution through two World Wars and more recent battles in the Middle East, the residents of Ortonville has shared in the defense of the United States.
“The history and culture of our community is driven by our people,” said Ortonville DDA Director Matt Jenkins. “Residents and business owners, pastors and teachers, elected officials and volunteers all impact the make up of our community. In large part, these people drive what we values.”
“On this Memorial Day we recognize some of the greatest people with the greatest values that have shaped the Village of Ortonville and our surrounding community.”
On Aug. 13, 1862, young Tom Tucker of Brandon Township walked 20 miles to Pontiac. The next day he joined the Union Army Company D of the 22nd Michigan Infantry under the commanded by Colonel Moses Wisner, the former governor of Michigan.
Tucker described the Cabbage Hill fight near Covington, Ky., about 300 miles south of Ortonville, in Sept. 1862. Tucker wrote about his first recorded encounter with rebels just weeks after he enlisted in Pontiac, in his published diary.
“Well, we marched three miles south of Covington on a side hill and formed a line of battle in a large cabbage patch,” wrote Tucker in 1862. “We could hear guns going off about one mile south of us. We only had one cartridge each and the ball was too large for our guns, so we had to shave the bullets before we could get them down the barrel of our guns. One of our company was out on the skirmish line and several of them was taken prisoners. But finally our men drove the reb’s back and we went up on to the hill.”
Tucker lived in the Ortonville area until his death on Nov. 20, 1916.
At the start of World War I Frank Scott enlisted with the Canadian Infantry, 44th Battalion, though he was born in Ortonville on May 13, 1889. He was one of four children born to Stephan and Augusta Scott. Stephan was a veteran of the Civil War, and died in 1916. Frank went on to serve in France, where he was injured severely while his battalion was advancing to Dury, south east of Arras, in the north of France. He was injured by an enemy shell in the arm and torso, and was transferred to the general hospital in the coastal city of Boulogne, where he died of his injuries. He was buried in France.
If a local name was synonymous with WWII it would be the Marsh brothers George, Glenn and Gerald all grew up in Ortonville, attended Ortonville High School. When duty called in the second world war, they all answered.
Gerald Marsh was called July 16, 1943, shipped to Europe in February 1944 and assigned to the Fifth Armored Division. Following the June 6, 1944 Allied invasion of France, Gerald arrived at Utah Beach–a key landing site for the American troops in Normandy.
“Although it was long after the troops invaded I remember the water still being a rusty color from the blood,” said Marsh, during a 2004 interview with The Citizen. “We waded ashore in about three-feet of water, the beach was bombed out and pretty rough.”
Gerald died in 2013.
The oldest brother, George was killed during the Battle of the Bulge Feb. 3, 1945. Glenn, twin brother of Gerald, entered the war Sept. 2, 1943 and served in both North Africa and Italy. He was captured by the Germans after a battle in southern France. Three months later the Americans caught up and liberated Glenn and a group of about 350 prisoners of war. He returned home to Ortonville June 11, 1945. He died in 2003.
Veteran Don Kengerski, now 91-years-old, entered the U.S. Army in March 1951 and served in combat in the North Korean countryside as a 21-year-old machine-gunner in M-Company, 32nd infantry regiment, of the 7th Infantry Division. He received 38 pieces of shrapnel in an August 1952 skirmish, but continued his duty in North Korea.
Kengerski returned to the United States and was discharged on March 5, 1954. Kengerski received the Purple Heart and Silver Star medals. He was VFW Post 582 commander for 19 years before stepping down in 2013. Don lives in Brandon Township.
Melvin L. McArthur was just 21-years-old when he died from a roadside mine blast in Vietnam more than 45 years ago. On Aug. 8, 1968, McArthur was killed in action when the truck he was driving hit a land mine near Quang Ngal on a return trip from a mission to his command post at Chu Lai, north of Saigon and then the capital city of South Vietnam. The 1966 graduate of Waterford Kettering High School and former Ortonville resident was to have been discharged from the Army in only three months.
Pfc. Joseph A. Miracle, a 2003 Brandon High School graduate, had been in Afghanistan for just 35 days when he was killed on July 5, 2007 from wounds sustained from hostile enemy fire in the Watapor Valley of Kunar Province, Afghanistan. He was 22. Miracle signed up for the Army in April 2006 and was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 503rd Infantry Regiment (Airborne), 173rd Airborne Brigade, Vicenza, Italy.
His fellow soldiers have told his family the reason they got out alive was because of actions Miracle took when they were surprised by 30-40 insurgents. Miracle was given several awards posthumously including the Bronze Star, Purple Heart, and NATO Badge.