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"...we were all willing and anxious to fight for our flag and other people's freedom." So wrote Tom Stafne about being mustered into the 1st North Dakota Volunteer Infantry in 1898. They intended to help free Cuba from Spain's oppressive rule. Instead, Tom and his regiment were sent to the Philippines, where they ended up fighting Filipinos. | |
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6 x 9 paper 190 pages index illustrations biography $16 | |
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Before their 40th reunion,
members of Tom Stafne's regiment were encouraged to write of
their soldiering experiences. Using pocket notebooks he kept
throughout his service, dairy farmer Tom penned a 33,000-word
narrative in a ledger used for farm records. Transcribed and supplemented with background information by the editor, this narrative follows Private Tom Stafne throughout his regiment's service, from the first shots fired against the Spanish, to the first shots fired against the Filipinos, to the regiment's return from Morong ("More Wrong), decimated by sickness and exhaustion, and more than ready to be quit of the Philippines. Anyone interested in a war story told by a common soldier, a Norwegian emigrant, will find this narrative well worth their time. Oh, yes, in the interests of full disclosure, Tom Stafne was my grandfather. |
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624 East Market Street #103 Elkhorn, WI 53121 262-723-7750 |