LST-325 Visits Dubuque-- Part 5: War's Going to Be Over

Roger Klauer says the trip to the LST-325 on Monday was emotional for the whole family:  "This is where Dad was figuring out who he was going to be.  He was just 22 years old and not yet married."

Klauer's LST was at sea when he learned the war was ending.

"Our captain announced: 'Now hear this:  We've just had an announcement that a bomb was dropped on enemy territory that is equivalent to what 2,000 bombers could carry, and we expect the war to be over soon."

We went into the bay at Manila and we counted 42 enemy ships that had been sunk," Klauer said.

He was discharged on June 6, 1946, and attended dental school on the G.I. Bill and practiced dentistry in Dubuque for 45 years, retiring in 1998.

--GreGen