Memorial Day: Dorothy and Quentin Lundquist

gramma_and_grampa.jpg My paternal grandparents, Dorothy (nee Anderson, 1Lt) and Quentin Eric Lundquist (Tsgt) both served during WWII, and were married before returning to the U.S. My grandfather was an orderly and my grandmother was a nurse. There was one story in particular where a patient had shimmied up a drainpipe and my grandfather had gone up after him. After scuffling around my grandmother went up too (presumably to protect Grampa). The patient said “I will not fight a woman” and went down.

They were in the 217th General Hospital in England, then France. After getting permission to marry, they were married in France in 1945, then returned to Iowa after the war to farm and raise 5 children. They went and talked to my sisters’ classes about their experiences and showed their albums and uniforms. We were able to find a newsreel showing a POW after coming back comparing his wrist to my grandmother’s and the difference is staggering.

– Phillip Lundquist
South St. Paul, MN/