Arven Fritz

Age: 89

Born in 1926 near Fairmont, MN

Now lives in Armstrong, Iowa

U.S. Army World War II Veteran

It was near the end of World War II when Arven Fritz, a 19 year old farm boy from rural Fairmont, was drafted into the U.S. Army in 1945 to fight for his country. He headed to Fort Knox, Ky. For basic training before shipping out to Frankfurt, Germany with the Army's 381^st Military Police.

“I was a shift leader in a railroad freight yard, protecting military shipments and personnel,” Fritz remembers. He served nine months overseas as a MP before being discharged once the war was over, coming back home to Minnesota.

Once home, Fritz returned to farming for about a year before getting into the music business, selling and teaching the accordion. “ I took lessons when I was around 10 or 11 years old and played a little bit when I was in Germany,” he said. Fritz was a fixture in the Fairmont area during those post war years. He remembers teaching students the accordion in a small room at a piano store located in the Fairmont Odd Fellows Hall off Highway 15.

Fritz continues to have a positive of his time in the service. “When I was in Germany, it was all good memories,” he said. “That was a good place to be.”