Wanek captures three industry warriors in bronze
By David Perry -- Furniture Today, March 26, 2007
High Point — Three furniture leaders who are members of the "Greatest Generation" are being honored with bronze statues by Ashley Chairman Ron Wanek at this week's market.
Wanek, a sculptor with a passion for history, helped capture Pat Norton, Howard Miskelly and Louie Blumkin as they looked during their military service during World War II.
The three are among the best-known people in the industry. Norton had a long and distinguished career with La-Z-Boy and Ethan Allen, Miskelly helped build Mississippi's Miskelly Furniture into a retail powerhouse, and Blumkin has been an institution at Nebraska Furniture Mart.
The statues are on display on pedestals at the entrance to Ashley's showroom in the International Home Furnishings Center. After the market, the Norton statute will be given to High Point University, for display at its Norton Hall building, which houses home furnishings programs.
Miskelly's statute will be given to Miskelly Furniture in Jackson, Miss., and Blumkin's statue will go to Nebraska Furniture Mart in Omaha.
Wanek said he wanted to honor "the great leaders" in our industry. "All three of those guys volunteered," Wanek said. "They were part of the Greatest Generation. That generation had so much enthusiasm and so much optimism."
It is a generation, he said, that offers lessons to today's Americans.
"Young people today have no appreciation for the sacrifices made by our soldiers," he said. "I hope these statutes help give them a greater appreciation of those sacrifices."
Wanek's artistic bent led him to produce sculptures of 43 individuals in a 10-year period ending in 2000, when he retired as a sculptor. His works have included several American leaders, including Washington, Lincoln, MacArthur, Patton and Eisenhower. Most of his works are at Soldiers' Walk, a park in Ashley's hometown of Arcadia, Wis.
Although lack of time for his sculpture forced him to retire from that hobby, Wanek felt so strongly about the importance of honoring Norton, Miskelly and Blumkin — three of his mentors in the furniture business — that he agreed to supervise the creation of the clay models of each man. The models were used to create the cast bronze sculptures on display at market.
Wanek also compiled information on the military service that Norton, Miskelly and Blumkin rendered to their country, and has included that information in brochures being distributed here.
Here are some of the highlights:
Pat Norton realized in the summer of 1940, as he read reports of Allied ships being sunk in the Atlantic Ocean, that the United States was headed for a showdown with Germany. "At just barely 18 years old, I had to convince my mother to sign for me to go into the Army Air Force, since I was positive I did not want to be a ground solider and wasn't all that eager for the Navy, but really loved airplanes and the thought of flying," Norton said later.
He went to radio school near St. Louis, struggling to master Morse code. Due to a medical condition, he received some extra time to practice. Two of his classmates graduated and were sent to the Philippines, where they were killed in action.
"This was my first experience, as far as my military service was concerned, with a word called 'luck'," Norton said. "Many times it trumps skill."
Norton reported to the 22nd Bomb Group and was assigned to a new and "rather radical airplane," the B-26 bomber. He flew combat missions in the southwest Pacific. Future President Lyndon Johnson, who was sent to the Pacific on an inspection mission, flew with Norton's unit.
A highlight of Norton's career was the decision to modify his B-26, at his suggestion, to improve its firepower. "I was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for shooting down two airplanes with a gun, and for proposing something that worked, and all future B-26s were modified accordingly," he said.
On another mission, "I had the satisfaction of shooting down a Zero, which, after being hit, managed to crash into the plane carrying my friend, killing all on board. Our crew never allowed ourselves to think we were not going to return to the States. That attitude was a must."
He also survived a rough landing in which the left landing gear collapsed.
"Our airplane split apart," Norton said, "and although I wasn't thrown out of the airplane, I was right where it broke open, which allowed our commanding officer to get me out before the plane was enveloped in flames. The next morning there wasn't a truckload of debris remaining." Norton and three others in the front of the plane suffered "major trauma," but it only put his combat flying on hold for four months.
Later, Norton flew in B-25s, which mastered the art of skip bombing, in which the planes came in low and dropped a bomb that skipped off the water and into the side of Japanese ships.
"After a couple of bail-outs and coming back with our plane on fire, the group commanding officer came to me and explained that I had probably run out of luck and he was going to send me home," Norton said. "I didn't want to leave without my buddies, but in reality I didn't have an option. So I returned to the States, went to Tampa, got a couple weeks leave, and married the woman who would be my wife of 56 years, LaVerne."
Louie Blumkin enlisted in the Army in 1941 and was assigned to Fort Lewis, Wash., where he took basic training in field artillery. He left by ship for Hawaii on Dec. 3, 1941. Halfway there, the ship made a U-turn and headed back to San Francisco. "At this time we were informed that the Japanese had bombed Pearl Harbor," Blumkin recalled later.
He was promoted to junior warrant officer of his battalion and was later transferred to the 974th Field Artillery unit. He participated in the invasion of Europe at Normandy.
"We landed on Omaha Beach on the coast of France to fight the German military forces and then headed east. Many times we met with very tough resistance, but we overcame all obstacles and ended up in southern France. For several months, although our progress was slow, we liberated several French cities," Blumkin said.
That winter, Blumkin was assigned to Gen. Patton's Third Armored Division and participated in the Battle of the Bulge. During that battle, bad weather prevented the Allied air forces from attacking.
"Gen. Patton asked the chaplain to pray for good weather," Blumkin said. "Fortunately, his wishes were granted and the next day the skies cleared. Thousands and thousands of American bombers came and bombed the German position, enabling us to go forward and drive the Germans back to the Rhine River.
"As I was sitting on the road one day on our way to the German mainland, I looked around at the vast amount of equipment and said to myself, 'There is no way the Germans are going to win this war.' Thanks to the American people and their dedication at home, we were able to be supplied with all the equipment, ammunition and vehicles that it takes to fight a war."
Blumkin ended the war in Linz, Austria.
"One of our great conquests," he said, "was when we freed the concentration camp in Dachau, Germany. The Germans left before we could get there because they were on the run. It was an extremely emotional experience for me, one which I will never forget because of the conditions of both the camp and the individuals. They appeared as though they had not been fed for months."
He received orders to return home in November 1945. "One of the greatest sights I can remember as we sailed into New York harbor was the Statue of Liberty," he said. "Thank God I was one of the fortunate ones to return."
Howard Miskelly graduated from Falkner High School in Falkner, Miss., in May 1943. On his next birthday, July 17, he had registered for the draft. The chairman of the draft board said that, since he was an only son and came from a farming family, he could get a six-month deferment.
"My dad quickly said, 'We do not want a deferment. We want to do our part now, don't we, Bud?' With this statement he punched me and said, 'Ain't that right, Bud?' And all I could say was, 'Of course, dad'," Miskelly recalled.
He was inducted into the Army in September 1943 at Camp Shelby, Miss. Later he was sent to the 102nd Infantry Division, joining his new outfit in France.
"The Rhineland campaign was just beginning," Miskelly said. "It lasted from September 1944 until March 1945. The Central Europe campaign started in March and lasted through May 11, 1945. The big picture was our fighting to the Rhine and spending cold days in preparation for crossing, which was not easy."
Last was the journey from the Rhine River to the Elbe River. There the 406th Infantry Regiment met up with the Russian Army.
The 102nd Infantry Division fought in Belgium, Holland and Germany. Its losses included 932 killed and 2,668 wounded.
Miskelly carried in his shirt pocket a New Testament with a stainless steel cover, which was given to him by his aunt when he left for the war. On the cover were these words: "May this keep you safe from harm." Miskelly still has that New Testament.
"This plus God Almighty brought me back to Falkner, Miss., in April 1946," he said.
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