WWII Veteran Celebrates 99th Birthday At Plymouth VFW Post

It is not often that one has the privilege to meet a member of our Greatest Generation, but I was honored to be able to do that today. I met Mr. Clarence “Clare” Hein of Canton today, and was able to wish him a Happy 99th Birthday as he celebrated it with his fellow veterans at the Plymouth VFW Post.

Mr. Hein was born in Detroit, and enlisted in the Army shortly after his 21st birthday. Just as his obligation was ready to end, the United States entered into WWII, and at the age of 26 he was sent to France as a member of the US Army Air Corps. He served as a gunner on a B17 Flying Fortress, flying bombing sorties all over Europe.

When the war was won in Europe, Mr. Hein, who was a Sergeant, was sent back to Wisconsin for a period of time, and then to California, where he was to be deployed to the Pacific for action against Japan. It was while waiting in California to be deployed, that Hiroshima, and Nagasaki were bombed, thus ending the war.

When I asked Mr. Hein what it feels like to be a member of America's Greatest Generation, and to have been a part of such a heroic effort, he simply smiled, and said, “I wouldn't want to do it again, but I am thankful for the experience I got out of it.”

This was the tone of our conversation. Clare never wanted to talk of the dangers of being a gunner on a B17, he never wanted to discuss being a hero, or anything like that. He spoke of the funny things that happened along the way.

One story that stood out to me was when they were marching one place to the other, as happened throughout the war. He ended up befriending a Dachshund along the way, and this dog actually followed him from Holland to Bavaria. He fed the dog his C Rations, which Clare said was basically Spam, and took care of the dog along the way.

Unfortunately, Clare was not able to take the dog home with him, which he would have loved to do, but it sparked a love of Dachshunds with him that lasts to this very day. He has owned Dachshunds throughout his life, and during our conversation, his Dachshund Gracie sat on his lap the whole time.

After the war, Clare went home to Detroit, where he took a job as a motorman on a streetcar. It was at this job that he met the woman he would eventually marry. It turns out that Irene missed her streetcar, and ended up on his. They chatted for awhile, and he ended up asking her for a date right on the spot. She accepted, and they ended up married for over 50 years until she passed away in 2001. Incidentally, Irene was part of the Rosie the Riveter effort, working on the war effort at home while her future husband was fighting the Germans in Europe.

Clare and Irene bought a house in Detroit, and between them, had three children, 9 grandchildren, and 10 great grandchildren. Clare lived in this same house in Detroit until just 4 years ago, when he moved in with his daughter Leslie, who is a member of the Ladies Auxiliary at the Plymouth VFW Post.

I asked Clare about his hobbies, and his favorite things to do are follow the Tigers, and our other sports teams. When asked what he'd like to do on his 100th birthday, he smiled, thought about it, and decided he'd like to just sit down and watch a Tiger game. Well that sounds like a pretty good idea to me.

In closing, I'd like to thank Sgt. Hein for his time, and his wonderful stories, and on behalf of a whole lot of proud Americans, Thank You for your service to our great nation...