Donald Glen Hersman

Donald Glen Hersman, 90, passed away in Sandpoint, ID on Friday, February 7, 2014. Like so many other farm boys of the "Great Depression", Don served his country in the Second World War, and returned home unassumingly to contribute to the US Post War economic growth, thus being part of what we now refer to as the "Greatest Generation". The youngest of 6 brothers and sisters, he was born on 18 March 1923, to Mamie and Joseph Hersman of Hamilton, MT. As a teenager, he lettered in sports, worked as a farm hand, and was an observer for the USFS on the Hell's Half Acre Lookout Tower, Bitterroot National Forest. During his senior year of High School (1943), he was drafted into the US Army. The following September he waded ashore during the massive amphibious landing at the Solerno Beachhead, part of the Invasion of Italy. Selected for his uncanny sense of direction, he was a member of a small, elite group of scouts, operating behind enemy lines, mapping river crossings (e.g., Rapido, Volurno Rivers) and routes through mine fields, during the northerly advance of the US 5th Army. The 09 Feb 1944 was a defining moment of Don's life, for he was part of the 34th Infantry Division's infamous assault on the Abby of Monte Cassino, Italy - the most costly Allied battle of the war - where, suffering 80% casualties, the “performance of the 34th is considered to rank as one the finest feats of arms carried out by any soldiers during the war” (Wikipedia). Riddled with wounds from mortar and machine gun fire, he was triaged to the piles of dead and dying. Yet he survived; and, for his valor in battle was awarded two Purple Heart Medals and the Bronze Star with an Oak Leaf Cluster (in effect, two Bronze Star Medals). He bore within him to his death scares of that battle and dozens of shrapnel shards, which will remain within his ashes. Like the vast majority of veterans - stoic in their war experience - he returned home and quietly went about building a life with Mildred Eloise Shatzer, who he married on 19 October, 1947, in Hamilton, MT. They raised and educated their two children, Larry and Barbara, first in Pacifica CA, where he worked as a contractor for the Sears and Roebuck Co., and then later in Sandpoint, ID - moving there in 1959. Before retirement from the US Postal Service (1988), he worked at Beaner's Texaco, and P&E Woodworking in Sandpoint. He was a member of the local VFW, and attended the Methodist Church. Don and Eloise were married for 53 years, during which time they were active partners in late-night card games, legendary gardening, RV-ing, church groups, entertaining friends, and participated in numerous outdoor and community activities. Along the way, together they built a house in Pacifica CA, remodeled their longtime home on Kootenai Cutoff Road in Sandpoint, and finally built their retirement home on Lakeshore Drive in Sagle: each "nail-by-nail", and all still standing! Ever devoted to wife and family, Don passed away peacefully on 07 Feb 2014 at Bonner General Hospital. He was proceeded in death by his parents, his beloved wife (Eloise passed in 2001), and his siblings Olla, Warren, George, Dorothy, Gerald, and Charles. He is survived by his 2 children - Barbara Thompson (Sandpoint) and Larry Hersman (Los Alamos, NM); 5 grandchildren - Jason Thompson, Travis Thompson, Ryan Thompson (Sandpoint), and Corby Thompson (Wasilla, AK), and Elliot Hersman (Los Alamos, NM); 12 great grandchildren, 2 great-great grandchildren, and 13 nieces and nephews. A memorial service with Military Honors will be given in his remembrance at the Coffelt Funeral Home on Saturday, 15 February 2014, 6:00 pm. Pastor Stan Norman and Pastor Gerri Harvill, both with the United Methodist Church, will be officiating. A reception will follow in the VFW Hall on Pine and Division.