John Hilgendorf

85

Korean War Veteran

Born on the family farm in Ormsby, MN. in 1930

Now lives in Welcome, MN.

John Hilgendorf spent the first year as a baby living in a clay block garage that his father built on the family farm. It was a humble beginning, as simple shelter, until they were able to start building a house on the property. “There weren't any buildings on the land,” Hilgendorf remembers.

At the age of 23, the Minnesota native was swore in to the U.S. Army on the day before Thanksgiving in 1952. By the first part of 1953, he was shipped overseas to fight in the Korean War. At first, Hilgendorf worked as a heavy equipment operator. “The Major asked me if I knew anything about plumbing,“ he recalls. Before long he was helping maintaining the waterworks for a prisoner of war camp.

Read more about Mr. Hilgendorf in the up-coming book “Portrait of a Veteran.”

Image and words © 2015 Joseph Kreiss Photography.

After a certain number of portraits have be amassed, and adequate funding becomes available to cover costs, the veteran's images and stories will be printed as a traveling photo gallery exhibit for public viewing. The ultimate goal is to put the images and stories into a beautiful coffee-table-style book. A copy of the book will be given to each veteran and their family. Other copies of the book will be sold to help cover costs and expenses, with a portion of the proceeds being donated to the Wounded Warrior Project, MN.

Donations of any amount can be made in the name of the veteran. An Honor Roll of Memorial Donors will be published and updated regularly on social media and in the photo book and displayed at the gallery exhibits.