Philip James Whalen, born September 30th, 1922. The third born and third son among his five brothers and two sisters, born to James and Maysie (Sinnott)Whalen at the"Meadow Lark Farm" in Sinnott Township, Marshall County,Stephen, Minnesota. I attended grade school 1/2 mile across the fields at school district 97(the Whalen School). High school was at Stephen High School in Stephen. We had to walk across the fields past

Grandpa John Whalen's farm to catch the bus from Donaldson. Later on, Stephen and I stayed in town and "batched" with (Great) Uncle Jim Whalen one winter. The next winter I stayed with Aunt Margaret and Uncle Howard McGlynn on the east side of Stephen. He ran a little dairy and I did chores for room and board. In the summers we all helped Dad with the farm work.

I graduated from Stephen High School in June 1940. My first experience working away from home was in 1944, January to March. I cut pulp wood for Ole Braland at Wanuska, Minnesota, felled trees and cut them into lengths and stacked them where the hauler could get them out.

In August of 1944 I was called up for my army physical at Fort Snelling. I passed the physical but Dad got me a deferment as harvest was just starting. It seemed to rain all fall and we threshed little when it dried out. I was recalled in October 1944 to Fort Snelling and then went by troop train to Camp Hood, Texas.

My thirteen weeks basic training for the infantry stretched to nearly sixmonths. I contacted scarlet fever and was kept in a quarantine hospital unit for about six weeks. Then another six weeks of rehabilitation at North Camp Hood. After that, I went back to a training companyI finally graduated and was rotated home for a few weeks. I arrived just in time to helpthe family move from the "Hanson" farm to the Halfmann (Quarnstrom) farm about 10 miles east in Augsburg township, section 12 south east quarter. I rode my horse Sparky and kept the herd of Holsteins moving behind Charles who was driving a team with a load of hay. The farm had been rented by Henry Halfmann before Dad bought it.
 

I next reported back to Fort Snelling and a troop train ride to Fort Ord, California (near Monterey Bay). We all went through a reclassification process and shipped to Camp Stoneman north of San Francisco on the Sacramento River. Next all these young green canon fodder went by ferry boat to San Francisco Bay to load on a troop ship (U.S.S Rockingham).

We had an uneventful voyage and landed in Manila, Philippines on July 2nd.I spent a few days at a Replacement Depot near Manila. On July 4th General McArthur announced the end of organized Japanese resistance in the Philippines Islands. About July 10th a group of us (replacements) were put on a train (open gondolas) and shipped South East down the peninsula from Manila to Polanqui? I was sent to Company K, 158th Infantry Regiment Combat Team. The atom bomb was dropped August 15th. About mid October we loaded on a ship at Legaspi for a cruise to Japan (this was the 158th Infantry Regiment).

We landed at Yokohama Harbor and were moved by army truck inland to Utsunomiya to a Japanese army base that we occupied. About mid November the army made us an offer we couldn't refuse. I reenlisted for eighteen months stateside duty rather than spend possibly another year in Japan.

We shipped back stateside in mid December, cruised by the Aleutian Islands and hit a storm so bad we had to stay in our bunks for most of three days. We landed in Seattle, Washington and spent a few days at an army depot and then went by a troop train through Havre and Fargo to Camp McCoy at Sparta, Wisconsin. I had to stay there over Christmas to be issued an overcoat and travel orders. I arrived home at Stephen, Minnesota on December 27th. Stephen was home from the Army, so I went with him back to Havre for a few days visit with Mark. Then I went back home for a week and took another train ride to San Louis Obispo, California, where I joined the 2nd Amphibious Engineers. After about six weeks there, we were split up and I ended up in a Boat Regiment at Morro Bay, California. We spent a lot of time cruising in and out of the Bay on landing craft. I was next transferred to Camp McQuaid Disciplinary Barracks (Army Stockade) to pull guard duty. It was near Salinas, California, the "Carrot Capital of the World". After 6-8 months of very boring duty, I was mustered out of Army service in June l947 without having fired a shot except on the rifle range.

In September 1947 I started college at St. Thomas in St. Paul. I boarded with Dads' cousin May Leonard. In 1948 I transferred to the University of Minnesota for my second year of Pre-Veterinary studies. In the fall of 1948 I was accepted as a student in the Veterinary Collage and graduated in June 1953. I started working in Council Bluffs, Iowa for Dr. Benny Moore, then to Omaha Stockyard with Irvin Peterson.
 

I married Patricia Ann Shaw in San Diego on August 24, 1953. Twins Phil II and Mary Clo were born June 23, 1954 in Omaha, Nebraska. Brigid Eileen was born February 14, 1956 in Omaha and died January 3, 1957 and was buried in Litchfield, Minnesota. Gerald Paul was born February 13, 1959 at Litchfield, Minnesota. Kevin Patrick was born November 20 , 1960 at Caseyville, Illinois and died November 22, 1960. He was buried at Belleville, Illinois. Ann Louise born October 20, 1961 at Caseyville, Illinois.We moved from Omaha to Milaca, Minnesota, from the stockyard to farm practice in 1956. After a year in farm practice with a lot of cow testing with classmate Don Anderson we moved to Litchfield, Minnesota to work for the USDA. In early 1960 we transferred to Illinois to do cow testing in the southern counties. We lived at Caseyville (the Horseradish capitol of the world) for eight years in a semi rural subdivision.

My wife, Patricia Ann (Shaw) Whalen died May 23, 1965 after a brief illness She is buried . in Calgary Cemetery near Kevin Patrick in Belleville, Illinois.

I started working in the East St. Louis National Stockyard while still doing some field work. In January 1968 I wrote the Illinois State Board exam and a received a license to practice Veterinary Medicine in Illinois. I also was licensed to practice in Minnesota,Iowa and Nebraska. In June l968 I started working at the Lombard Animal Clinic for Dr.Morris Frankel. I commuted to Caseyville on weekends where Aunt Alice Nichols was running the house and supervising Phil II, Mary Clo, Jerry, and Ann. I bought a house at 113 South Park Boulevard, Glen Ellyn, and moved the gang up in August. Aunt Alice stayed with us about another year before moving back to Minnesota.

With all the medical advances since I graduated from the University of Minnesota, I have been in a constant learning process and have enjoyed 26 years of small animal practice at the Lombard Animal Clinic.

1. If you are ever in beautiful downtown Morrow Bay, California you will notice the power plant smoke stack across from Morrow Rock, that is where I was stationed in a group of Quonset huts -Former Coast Guard Station.

2. I spent most of my college summers working in Montana. One summer was spent with theBureau of Reclamation at Chester, Mont. Tiber Dam site pulling a chain on a survey party. Another summer was spent with the Bureau of Public Roads at Big Fork and Whitefish. I also worked on several farms and ranches in Poplar, Chinook, and Rudyard.

STEPHEN HUGHFRANCES MARY