By Deborah Larsen
Arthur Rueben Bergquist
Arthur Rueben Bergquist was born in Stambaugh, Michigan, on May 9, 1916, the son of Ernest and Emma Brolin Bergquist. Before the war, he worked at Continental Motors in Muskegon, Michigan, and attended college for one year. Arthur was a foster son of Clarence Bushman of Rochester, Michigan.
Arthur enlisted in the U.S. Army in February 1942 and was assigned to the Signal Corps. He was wounded on October 21, 1944, during the invasion of Leyte when a mortar shell hit his LST boat. Shrapnel wounded him in the arm, legs, and face, and the blast ruptured his eardrums. When he was medically discharged in April 1945, he still carried 23 pieces of shrapnel in his body. Arthur told the Rochester Clarion that his survival was a “miracle.” He was awarded the Purple Heart for his combat injuries.
Following the war, Arthur completed his college degree at Michigan State University. He married and started a family, and began a career in public administration, serving as assistant city manager of Muskegon, Michigan, city manager of Manistee, Michigan, and city manager of Centralia, Illinois.
Arthur Rueben Bergquist died at the age of 51 on April 9, 1968, and was laid to rest in Mason County, Michigan.