A Morris resident reached out to the Morris Herald-News to share some information on veterans in his family discovered through genealogy.

Dale Torkelson shared information on his uncle, Woodrow Torkelson, a flight engineer on B-24 and B-29 bombers during World War II. He never left the United State for a combat role.

“I believe he was a teacher throughout the war, and never left the states for combat,” Torkelson said.

Woodrow died in 1979, working at the paper mill on East and Benton Streets as a pressman, living nearby and walking to work every day. He never married, and his family roots run deep in the farms north and west of Morris.

Dale’s aunt, Virgil Torkelson, also served during World War II. She enlisted in the Army Air Corps, where she was stationed in North Africa. There, she met an acquaintance from Morris, a fellow schoolteacher named Elwyn Miller. They would eventually marry.

“When the Port of Naples became the operational command for the war in Italy, they were transferred to the AAF Command there,” Torkelson said. “It must have been surprising when they ran into each other.”

They both taught at Center School, and Miller eventually became a professor at Northern Illinois University.

Miller was the command’s weatherman, and he found himself in the action and was awarded a Medal of Valor, though Torkelson said the family hadn’t learned of the commendation until after he passed.

He said Virgil never talked about what she did other than that it involved logistics.

“She dormed with what sounded like a fairly large contingency of women who worked independently from their male counterparts,” Torkelson said. “They socialized very little, but her and Elwyn did spend some time together sightseeing when the war allowed.”