Jeff Hagen

51 Years Old

Born NW of Ceylon, MN on the family farm in 1964

Currently living in Ceylon, MN

United States Army Desert Storm Veteran

Ceylon, Minnesota resident Jeff Hagen considered himself old at the age of 26 when he put up the headphones at the local radio station in 1988 and enlisted in the U.S. Army. “I was looking for some direction in my life,” Hagen recalls. “ I wanted to get some training for my future, plus get some of the benefits of the G.I. Bill.” Following in the footsteps of his father and brother, he was sent to Fort Jackson in South Carolina for basic training, then ended up doing his advanced training at Fort Leonard Wood, the same base in Missouri his father was stationed.

In the Fall of 1988, the Army shipped Hagen to New Ulm. Not the city in Minnesota, but the one in the southern region of Germany. “I wanted to work for the Armed Forces Radio, but found out that wasn't ever going to happen,” he remembers. Because of his farming background, he was assigned as a “88 Mike,” a truck driver. He drove large ammo carriers for his battalion and maintained his vehicles, passing inspections flawlessly. His commanding officer found out about his achievements and put him in charge of driving the top brass around.

 

“That was an exciting time in world history,” Hagen said. “I was there when the Berlin Wall came down, ending the “Cold War.” Because of this event, Hagen's base in Germany was ear-marked for closure. It was also the beginning of the conflict in Iraq and Kuwait. The U.S. was in the process of shipping thousands of semi trucks to that region of the world and “they needed truck drivers to move supplies and equipment to establish the U.S. military presence over there,” he said. 

On January 20, 1991, Hagen and many of his fellow drivers were flown from Germany directly to Saudi Arabia. While in the air near Kuwait, Hagen said a SCUD missile was launched, targeting the plane he was riding in. “Luckily it missed us and one of our Patriot missiles shot it is down. We had to put on our full “gas gear” in case the exploded enemy rocket contained poisonous gas.”

Once on the ground in the Middle East, Hagen was assigned with the Oklahoma National Guard Transportation unit and immediately began making long trips through the desert hauling equipment and supplies from Port Damman on the Persian Gulf into the front lines. At one point, advancing U.S. troops had made a ground assault on Kuwait City. Hagen said the “bad guys” were trying to escape. Rather than drive their marked military vehicles, they chose to caravan in 60 -to- 70 civilian cars to try and leave the area. Theirvehicles were quickly spotted and a napalm air strike incinerated the group in their tracks.

“It was known as “Death Alley,” Hagen remembers. “They had to use bulldozers to push the burned out cars and the dead off the packed sand roadway to allow our trucks to pass. The smell of death was in the air strong and the memory of the scene still sticks with me to this day.”

Hagen also vividly remembers the “black rain” from burning oil wells. “The enemy was blowing hundreds of oil wells in the desert and the smoke from the oil field fires was so black, it turned day into night.”

In June of 1991, Hagen's tour of duty was just about over and he was out-processed back to New Ulm, Germany, then to Fort Dix, New Jersey before getting to return home to Ceylon. He first moved back to the farm with Mom and Dad and quickly found work in his chosen field of broadcasting as news director at Fairmont radio station AM 1370 KSUM. Hagen worked for the radio station until 1995. He then joined Fairmont Cable TV working on their marketing team. “I even had my own show on TV,” he proudly said. In 2012, the Ceylon native took over as editor of the Fairmont Photo Press, returning again to journalism. 

Hagen continues to be involved in several veteran's organizations, such as the American Legion and the Serviceman's Club. He also was the Post Commander for the Sherburn VFW Post 8261 before it was absorbed into the Martin County VFW.

Hagen said he and his fellow servicemen and women just celebrated the 25^th anniversary of Desert Storm. “Looking back,” Hagen said, “I am more than happy to have served. The military is like it's own brotherhood. It taught me a lot about respect of our country, our flag, our history and our freedoms we enjoy. The freedom you've been given is because of those that fought for that freedom.”

Story and images © 2016 Joseph Kreiss Photography