It was spring 1944 when the superintendent of Milton Union schools allowed senior Daum and a buddy take their final exams early so they could enlist.
“We thought it was our duty to serve. We weren’t trying to get out of school or anything,” Daum recalled. “Actually, my mom got my diploma, I was already in Great Lakes Naval Station.”
After five weeks, he was sent to Northwestern University to radiomen school, where he learned to make radios and to code.
“It was probably because I had belonged to the Civil Air Patrol (in high school) and I knew the Morris Code,” he said. His buddy headed west to San Diego and torpedo school.
Daum later went to Virginia for training at an amphibious base and left the Charleston shipyard on a new Landing Ship Medium. Their destination was Japan. “We were on our way when they dropped the bomb (in August 1945). It made a big difference, but at a terrible loss of life,” he said.
After the war ended, Daum continued to serve until 1947 when he was 21.
“That was my teen years. I grew up big, right then,” he said of his military experience.
After his service, he returned to West Milton to an 80-acre farm. "I started out with used equipment, what I could afford, and at the same time started an apprenticeship at McCall’s Corp. in Dayton.
He would farm by day and work second/third shifts at McCall’s. He also was an officer in the local union.
He worked as a pressman at McCall’s until the business closed in 1982 and then worked another 10 years at Miami Graphics in West Milton.
After McCall’s shut down, Daum found the time to become involved in veterans' organizations starting with the VFW in Pleasant Hill, where he served as commander. Next came the American Legion, where he also served as commander and today serves as adjutant and financial officer. He also is a member of the AmVets.
“The reason I joined these organizations was to help veterans, to promote veterans. I knew for a fact that the veterans' organizations were the reason we had a GI Bill of Rights,” he said. “I didn’t join them to sit at the bar.”
Daum also was among those responsible for the Milton-Union Veterans' Memorial Association and a memorial with hundreds of bricks inscribed with veterans ' names.
Also keeping him busy has been serving on the county Veterans Services Commission for several years. “My sole purpose is to help the veterans here in Miami County. I enjoy my job,” he said. “It is probably the best position I have been in where I can help veterans.”
At age 94, Daum continues to work the farm, where he has cattle. He and his wife, Clara Jane, have four children.
His philosophy? “Don’t quit,” Daum said. “I told you a lot of things about the past, but I don’t dwell on the past. I am thinking about today and tomorrow. That is what keeps me going.”
He encourages all veterans to seriously consider joining a veterans' organization.
“That is their only voice locally and nationally to the people that represent our government,” Daum said. “I don’t care what organization they join, but think it is important they take notice and be active.”
Contact this contributing writer at nancykburr@aol.com.
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