Greensburg veteran of D-Day, Battle of the Bulge enjoyed creating art, model train layouts

Mar. 19—Editor's Note: This is part of a series about Westmoreland County residents who have been honored as Hometown Heroes. The program honors local military and non-military heroes by displaying photos on decorative banners in area communities.

Elmer Klingler

Greensburg

Elmer Klingler didn't talk much about his service in the Army in World War II, but he expressed himself silently by creating images that captured the Westmoreland County scenery surrounding his Greensburg home.

Taking lessons to hone his innate skills, the late Klingler left behind his impressions of landscapes and buildings.

"He could play the harmonica, but art was the love of his life," said his daughter, Linda Cooper. "That's what he did when he wasn't doing anything else.

"He did pen-and-ink drawings and started to learn to paint. He made some lovely pictures of some of the farms around here."

A native of Pittsburgh'sSouth Side, Klingler was drafted into the Army, where he became a sergeant and took part in the D-Day invasion of occupied France.

"He went to England right away," said Cooper. "He was shot through the shoulder as he crawled up the beach in France. The bullet went straight through and left a terrible scar on his back.

"It was stressful, but not enough to send him home. They hauled him back to England, patched him up and he went back to the war."

That placed Klingler in Belgium during the fierce fighting of the Battle of the Bulge, the last major German offensive on the Western Front of the war's European Theater.

Klingler escaped without further physical injury, but being under enemy fire took a less visible toll. Among the few wartime experiences he revealed to his family was the sudden loss of an Army buddy.

"His best friend was killed right next to him," said Cooper. "It was very sad. He was not somebody who talked about that much. He just struggled through."

Klingler was working for West Penn Power when he entered the Army and returned to the utility company's Pittsburgh office when he was discharged.

"They had a gym and he used to work out there to build his shoulder back up," said Cooper. "He always kept himself in pretty good shape."

Trained as an electrician, Klingler worked in maintenance for West Penn Power and moved with his family to Greensburg in 1955, when the utility relocated its headquarters to the city's Cabin Hill.

After her father's death in 1983, Cooper learned he had mentored a younger, nontraditional worker in a letter of appreciation from the woman.

"She started up in West Penn and wanted to be an electrician, and my dad kind of took her under his wings," Cooper said.

Christmas was a special time for Klingler and his family, who worshiped at Blessed Sacrament Cathedral in Greensburg. At work, he helped decorate the utility headquarters for the holiday.

"It was a big deal in those days going out to see all the Christmas decorations, and West Penn Power was always the first stop," Cooper said.

At home, Klingler set up an elaborate layout of several model trains around the family's Christmas tree.

"My dad loved Christmas," Cooper said. "He would build a platform around the tree with the hills of Pittsburgh or downtown Greensburg. There were little streets, and he built all the houses. It was a big deal going to buy the little people to put on the platform."

As Cooper and her brother, David, were growing up, the family annually drove to the Outer Banks of North Carolina for a two-week summer vacation. The trips included stops at historic sites and visits to Ocracoke to see that island's once-wild ponies.

Klingler didn't forget younger men who were serving their country in the armed forces.

"We would always stop to pick up soldiers who were on their way down to the beach," said Cooper.

Jeff Himler is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Jeff by email at jhimler@triblive.com or via Twitter .

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