By Paul Garrod
Staff Writer
news4garrod@gmail.com
MATTAWAN – Longtime Mattawan resident Dave Ballinger knows firsthand the meaning of service to your country as he had five uncles who served during World War II.
It was Ballinger’s maternal grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. Gerald Koole, Sr., who resided in Kalamazoo and had a family of nine children, eight sons and one daughter. Five of those sons were all stationed in the service, with four stationed overseas, according to a May 1944 newspaper article that Ballinger has kept over the years.
The five included Sgt. Orrin T. Koole, 28, serving with the United States signal battalion in England; Gunner’s Mate John Edward Koole, 33, 16 months with the Atlantic fleet, Pfc. Peter Koole 22, who was stationed somewhere in the South Pacific; Apprentice Seaman William A. Koole 19, Great Lakes Naval Training Station and Seaman Gerald Koole, Jr., 21,aboard a U.S. battleship in the Pacific.
Ballinger said Sgt. Orrin T. Koole was the first one to enter the service. One week after Pearl Harbor, Koole’s travels found him headed to Camp Crowder, Mo., for basic training. Ballinger said he was a graduate of Lincoln and Kalamazoo Central high schools. Prior to enlisting, he had been employed by Fuller Manufacturing Company. Koole’s wife, Dorothy, resided in Joplin, Mo.
Pfc. Peter M. Koole entered the service on Feb. 27, 1942, and at the time, he had been in the South Pacific for more than two years. Koole was the second in the family to enlist.
Gunner’s Mate John E. Koole enlisted in the U.S. Navy April 29, 1942. He was formerly employed by Fuller Manufacturing Company. He received his basic training at Great Lakes Ill. and was assigned to the Atlantic fleet.
Gerald Koole, Jr., was a seaman, second class, and served aboard a US battleship somewhere in the Pacific. He entered the service on Sept. 16, 1943, and received his basic training at Great Lakes, Ill. Koole was a former Lincoln and Kalamazoo high school student. Prior to entering the service, he had been employed by the Bender and Lowden Motor Freight Company.
William A. Koole, the youngest of the five Koole brothers in the service, at the time, was receiving his basic training at Great Lakes, Ill. He formerly attended Lincoln and Kalamazoo Central high school. He had been employed in war work in Lansing, prior to enlisting in the Navy in April 29, 1944.
George M. Koole worked in Lansing during that time but resided in Kalamazoo.
A daughter, Dave Ballinger’s mother, Claudine Koole Ballinger, was engaged in war work in Lansing.
Two younger brothers, Glenn, 14, and Donald, 10, rounded out the family of nine children.
