One of the area’s last World War II veterans, Leonard Kropp, passed away earlier this month at the age of 100.
Kropp is the father of Kathy Kalchik and father-in-law of Steve Kalchik, Gill’s Pier.
“(Leonard) was a nice guy, a little on the quiet side,” Steve said. “(Leonard) didn’t share a lot about his experience besides some of the practical jokes from the guys.”
Kropp was a Good Harbor farm boy when his life, and lives all over the world, were turned upside down in World War II.
In March 1943, Kropp joined the U.S. Army at age 19 and spent nearly three years fighting in the jungles of New Guinea and then the Philippines.
“They already got the term Greatest Generation, it fits with a lot of people, especially Leonard. He was very good with me and in business,” Steve said. “Many people complain about in-laws but I have no complaints.”
Kropp fought with the Army’s Sixth Infantry. After basic training at Camp Roberts, California, he had four months of jungle training in Hawaii and was shipped to New Guinea to help defend the island from Japanese invaders.
“Bravery is something that happens … you don’t pay much attention to it,” he said in a 2018 Enterprise interview.
The island was the last barrier between the Japanese and an attack on Australia. It was also the first barrier between Allied bases and Japanese-occupied targets to the north like the Philippines.
“In combat we were at a disadvantage as our enemies were much more skilled in jungle warfare,” Kropp said.
Kropp was involved in the Battle of Lone Tree Hill as an assistant gunner and shot mortars. It was a hard-fought battle that ended with Americans winning control of an area large enough for them to use as a staging post for troop advances.
On Jan. 9, 1945, Kropp’s unit landed on Luzon in the Philippine Islands, which was occupied by 250,000 Japanese. His “Red Star” Artillery unit saw 219 consecutive days of fighting.
Two months after his arrival in the Philippines, Kropp’s unit got into trouble. “The enemy was firing big shells at us and a shell hit the gunner in front of me,” he said.
Kropp, an assistant gunner at the time, put a tourniquet on the injured man’s arm and got him to the field hospital about one and a half miles away. He walked back to where his battalion had been and found no one there. All 17 members of his group had been injured and were sent home. He would never see them again. Kropp was promoted to the rank of sergeant and would later receive a bronze star for his efforts to help the injured soldier.
In November 1945, Kropp’s discharge papers arrived and he began the journey home to Leelanau County, arriving just in time for Christmas.
His parents, Wilbur and Evelyn Kropp, were fortunate to have their eldest son come back from the war. Their younger son, Eugene, was not as fortunate. He was the county’s only casualty of the Korean War, killed in 1952. He was just 22 years old. The sacrifices of his comrades and his family remain with him today.
