Arthur L Brodin was born February 22, 1923 and was raised on the family farm between the towns of Firestone and Longmont in Northern Colorado. Arthur was finishing a day of skiing on Berthoud Pass when he heard the news of Pearl Harbor. Arthur had a job delivering anesthesia products that delayed his entrance to the military, but it set him up to become a Surgical Technician in the European Theater.
On December 7, 1941, Japan staged a surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, decimating the US Pacific Fleet. When Germany and Italy declared war on the United States days later, America found itself in a global war.
PFC Brodin enlisted in the Army at Fort Logan, CO on April 22, 1943. After completing a year of training, PFC Brodin was shipped out of NY on October, 1944, and arrived in England a few weeks later. Then came the preparations for D-Day. He found himself in a plywood glider in the dark of night and braced for a crash landing. He was the medic aboard the glider full of a company of engineers with orders to either guard or blast a bridge southwest of Normandy France, depending on whether friends or foes were coming at the bridge.
Soon he re-joined his outfit – the Medical Attachment of the 549th Anti-Aircraft Automatic Weapons Battalion, 87th Infantry Division (“Golden Acorn Division”) and their next destination was Metz, France. As part of Patton’s Third Army, the 87th progressed to the Saar Valley and then to Bastogne where he fought in the Battle of the Bulge. Then to Aachen, Koblenz, Mainz, across the Rhine to Falkenstein (near the Czech border). Just 3 weeks prior to Falkenstein, Art’s unit was one of the divisions that liberated Buchenwald on April 11 – something he will never forget.
The date was May 7, 1945. Art was in Falkenstein, Germany and his division had taken Falkenstein on May 6. He heard the news – Germany had finally surrendered! PFC Brodin was in Falkenstein when the Germans began retreating. There was lots of celebration in the unit and Art wondered, “What’s going to happen to us now?”
Art often thought of home – a place he missed dearly. He missed the family farm – he missed his dad, brother, and sister.So many times, he wondered if he’d ever see them again. So many close calls over a period of 11 months. On that day, May 7, he felt like he WOULD be seeing everyone again – but when? He would have to wait, but one thing he knew – no more fighting. Everyone could put down their arms.
After the war ended, Art was in Antwerp, Belgium to be a part of the Operation Forces. When he was finally on his way home, during the ship transit back to the states, PFC Brodin assisted the ship’s doctor in an emergency removal of a soldier’s appendix. He was honorably discharged on February 5, 1946.
When he arrived home, his thoughts were on resuming life as normally as possible. Like so many others, he wanted to put the war behind him as much as possible. The furthest thing from his mind were medals. He learned that he should have applied for his medals but by the time he learned about that, he thought it was too late. He resumed his life on the farm, married his wife, Luella of 68 years and raised a family of 3children- Phillip, Brenda and Bob.
About a year ago, his son and daughter-in-law learned that it would be possible for Art to get the medals that he deserved. His family followed up and contacted their local Congressman Ken Buck who contacted the Army to obtain the medals. PFC Arthur Brodin received his well-deserved medals on September 26, 2020 (over 75 years after the war ended). His family couldn’t have been more proud of their father, grandfather and great grandfather – their Hero.
Submitted by Bob Brodin, Arthur’s son