The War Years

From the founding of Clermont to the present day the United States has been involved in six wars. They were World War I, World War II, Korean War , Vietnam War, the Gulf War and the present war against terrorists and in Iraq. People from Clermont served in the first four mentioned. Each of these will be discussed separately. There were no residents of Clermont that served in the Gulf War. Clermont Area residents were involved in Wars both as civilians on the home front and also serving in the United States military forces.

World War I

The United States did not enter World War I until 1917. It was necessary for the country to recruit men for the United States Army. This Poster was developed in 1916 and used for that war and used also for World War II.

The following men from Clermont served in the United States Army during World War I.

Tony Alfieri                     Albert Anderson

Avery Brown                    Iroe Dibler

Jimmy Ennis                     Fred Hagman

Gustave Hagman              Fred Henry

 Ed Johnson                       Bill Johnson

 Paul  Searfoss, Jr.            Charlie Reese

 Eugene Silfies                   Clyde Whitaker

Here are some pictures of some men from the Clermont area in their United States Army uniforms from World War I.

This a picture of Fred Hagman in his United States Army uniform during World War I. The picture was taken in 1918.

Front row left to right: Edmond Johnson and Fred Swanson Second Row from left: Fred Hagman and Ted Anderson

This is a World War I medal earned by Tony Alfieri.

World War II

There were many men and women from the Clermont Area that served in the United States Armed Forces during World War II. The following served during that war:

Dominic Alfieri              Howard Hartman

Sam Aloi                       Gene Halbaugh

Carl Anderson               Clarence Johnson

Paul Anderson              William Johnson

Wallace Anderson*       Gerald Kinney

Wendell Anderson          Stanley Kinney

Willard Babcock             Don Kinney

Jim Burford                    Jerome Morgan*

Ken Burkhouse               James Morgan

Donald Bush                   John Morgan

Seth Blauser                   Frank Palumbo

Vandio Cecchi                 June Rathburn 

Raymond Dibler              Clyde Snyder

Robert Dibler                  Blair Snyder

Mary Francis Dibler         Walter B Snyder

Joseph Dibler                  Harry Snyder

Emmalen Erlandson         Joseph Searfoss

Kenneth Finn                   Kenneth Searfoss

Earl Flickinger                  Robert Searfoss

Merton Flickinger             Ronald Searfoss

Albert Fuller,Jr.                Paul Searfoss, Jr.

Anthony Grillo                  Quentin Spadafore

John Grillo                        Floyd Sturdevant

Harry Hadden                   Milford Swanson

Ben Hagman                     Norman Swanson

Harold Hagman                 Morris Swanson

Karl Hagman                     John Tompkins

Oscar Hagman                   John Thompkins

Melvin Hartberg                 Jim Thompson

Merle Hartberg   *              John Yoder

* These men were killed in action during World War II

Some Clermont women sewed the following flag with the names of many of the men and women that served in the United States Armed Forces during World War II.  It was displayed in a framed box outside of the Clermont Post Office during the war. It is presently housed in the Clermont fire hall.

During World War II each family that had someone in the armed forces of the United States displayed a banner similar to the ones shown below.  Each blue star represented one man or woman in the service. A gold star indicated that that family had a son or daughter that had been killed in action in the service of their country.

Here are some photos of some servicemen in World War II.

Here is a photo of a medal earned by Walter Burnette Snyder during World War II.

During World War II the Clermont people at home were like the rest of the civilians in the United States .  The scarcity of many things led to rationing.

Gasoline for use in cars at home was rationed, and a gas rationing sticker bearing the letter A, B or C was displayed in the windshield. "A" meant that trips were not essential, "B" indicated someone who needed to use the car for his work, and ""C"" was issued to those whose car was essential, such as doctors. Nonessential users were limited to three gallons of gas per week, and new tires were almost impossible to find. People drove below the speed limit to conserve gas and tires.

 By 1943 many of the common food items came under the rationing program, including butter, coffee, dairy products and some meats. Each item was assigned a certain number of points in addition to the monetary price. Grocery shoppers had red and blue food rationing tokens that were given as change if your stamp's value was higher than the points required. The red stamps and tokens were for vegetable products like sugar. You couldn't substitute one color in place of the other. The stamps and tokens had to be paid just like the money for those items that were rationed.  Shoppers at times could earn extra stamps by turning meat drippings and other fats for bomb production.  Thus, shoppers looked not only at the price of an item, but how many rationing points or stamps they cost.

Here are some of the ration books used during World War II:

A close up view of the stamps shown in the white book are shown here:

During the World War II the people of Clermont helped directly. Each person involved went to the gas company office and reported any airplanes that flew over Clermont. The type of airplane, the time, and the direction of its flight were called in to an assigned telephone number. The U.N.G. office shown here was used.

There were several people from Clermont that served in the armed forces during the Korean War. They were:

The following people served in the United States Armed Forces during the Vietnam War.