A close call during war

Ernie Neumann was bandaging up a fellow soldier during World War II when he felt a jolt.

What the Coeur d'Alene man didn't realize at the time was that he'd been shot above his left ear.

"My head felt like it was inside of a bell," the 89-year-old said. "It drew my skull and ricocheted out the back of my helmet. I had two good holes in my steel helmet."

Neumann counts himself lucky that he survived the shot.

"It missed my spinal cord by a half an inch," said Neumann, who was awarded a Purple Heart medal as a result of the incident.

The injury - along with his experiences as an aid man while serving from 1943 to 1945 in the Army's 9th Regiment Medical Attachment of the 2nd Infantry Division - are why Neumann was overcome with emotion during an Honor Flight trip visiting memorials in Washington, D.C., just prior to this Memorial Day weekend.

"It was a wonderful experience," he said softly, adding that the only other memorial he had viewed was a traveling replica of the Vietnam Memorial several years ago at The Coeur d'Alene Casino. "Everything was first class. I was glad to be chosen.

"I didn't think that I'd get to go back there. I hadn't planned on it until it came up at church."

Larry Carstensen and Jerry Baltzell led the effort at Christ the King Lutheran Church to help send Neumann back to pay respect to his fallen comrades.

"I don't think that you can do enough for these (veterans)," Carstensen said. "He was so excited to go. He was ready at 5 a.m. when we took him to the airport. The smiles on their faces when they came back were tremendous."

Neumann returned to students playing patriotic music, hundreds of people waving flags and holding banners in support of the 96 veterans who made the trip and gifts, including some made by area students.

"It was overhelming," said Neumann, fighting back tears reflecting on the ceremony at Spokane International Airport. "It was quite a reception."

The welcome was appreciated after the rewarding, yet solemn trip, he said.

"It was sad to see all the veterans in wheelchairs," said Neumann.

Rudean Neumann, Archie's wife of 63 years, said she's amazed at the army of volunteers who come together to make the trips happen. Fifty-six "guardians" accompanied the vets.

"He wouldn't have gotten to go otherwise," Rudean said.

Neumann landed on Omaha Beach at Normandy, France, in June 1944. He was injured after weeks of fighting.

"I'm really fortunate," he said. "The bullet could've gone into my head or hit my spinal cord. It wasn't my time, I guess."

Neumann said he wanted to keep his helmet as a souvenir.

"But after I got to the hospital and put it under my bed, it disappeared," he said.

Neumann said he didn't have any serious long-term physical effects from the injury, but occasionally fragments had to be removed from where he'd been shot.

Neumann said, in another battle, he recalls not having adequate supplies to help a soldier who'd been shot in the chest.

"I couldn't do anything for him, so I just held him," he said.

Neumann, who had a variety of jobs during his career including in auto and drug sales and opening grocery stores, said he doesn't dwell on his war experiences.

"I just take them as a matter of fact," he said. "Something had to be done and we did it."

He prefers to think about how he made a difference by helping the wounded.

"You hope you saved some lives," he said. "But you bandaged them up and never saw them again."

Neumann said he's tried to "erase" most of his war memories, but likes to attend Memorial Day ceremonies when possible.

"I like to honor the veterans who were not as lucky as I was," he said.