The American Legion is celebrating its 100th birthday in 2019. In addition to national and statewide activities commemorating this milestone, American Post 328 of St. Joseph is planning a number of festive and patriotic activities for the community.
One of those special events will be profiles of St. Joseph-area veterans published in each Newsleader during 2019. The Newsleader is joining with Post 328 to recognize veterans and Legion members who served during World War II, Korea, Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan and other theaters of conflict and Cold War tensions.
by Tom Klecker
Michael Duane Twedt, 70
U.S. Navy, Vietnam Era
Michael “Mike” Twedt was born in an old house that was converted into Watertown, Minnesota’s, only medical facility at the time. Watertown is a small community in Carver County along the banks of the Crow River. Later Mike lived in Mound and Eden Valley.
Twedt’s father owned and operated the town’s dry cleaning business. He can still smell the pungent naphtha used back then as a cleaning agent.
Twedt attended Eden Valley grade and high school. At the time, he had a pronounced problem with stuttering for which he was often teased. His athletic prowess in football, basketball and baseball offset some of the teasing as he developed team friendships.
Twedt’s mother died at the age of 39. He was only 15 years old at the time. The death of his mother understandably had a painful and disruptive impact on Mike and his 10 siblings.
Sometime later the family moved to St. Cloud. His father played in a polka band, remarried and thus established with his new wife a blended family.
In his senior year, Twedt arranged to move back to Eden Valley to play sports and to graduate from there. Twedt graduated in 1966. He was 18 years old.
At the time, it seemed as if all his friends were joining the Navy under what Twedt calls the Buddy System. He signed up in Litchfield for a four-year hitch.
Twedt completed basic training in San Diego, California. After a seven-day pass home, he was ordered to Long Beach, California, where he was assigned to the USS Kearsarge. This converted air craft carrier became an amphibious assault ship (LHD-3). Twedt began a tour of duty at Yankee Station off the coast of Vietnam (1967-1968).
His duties involved working below deck on the air conditioning and refrigeration units. This six-month tour provided stop overs in Hong Kong and the Philippines.
For a short time the ship positioned off the coast of North Korea in response to the capture of the USS Pueblo. The Pueblo, an intelligence gathering ship, was seized on Jan. 23, 1968, by North Korea.
Returning back to the states, Twedt attended Class “A” School at Great Lakes Naval Training Center, Illinois.
After four months of schooling, Twedt achieved the rank of petty officer third class machinist-mate. He was then transferred to the USS Lexington, an Essex Class aircraft carrier. Built during World War II, its nickname was The Blue Ghost. When Twedt joined the Lexington, she was in dry dock for repairs at the Boston Navy Yard.
This large ship was suspended so the barnacles and lead-base paint could be sandblasted off the hull. Twedt earned extra pay for going below and underneath the ship to shovel away the contaminated sand.
While stationed in Boston, Twedt met his wife-to-be at an enlisted man’s club. However his ship soon departed for Pensacola Naval Air Station, Florida. Smitten by her charms, Twedt would grab a standby flight back to Boston as often as possible. Shortly afterward, they were married in a “very small wedding” (Dec. 27, 1970).
Twedt spent the next two years on the Lexington. The Lexington was used to train new Navy pilots in takeoffs and landings on a moving carrier. He recalls that “some of the landings were not pretty.” He reports the Lexington recorded a quarter million takeoffs and landings.
Twedt was discharged from the Navy on March 29, 1971. He and his new wife drove to Minnesota. His wife shortly determined Minnesota was not for her and insisted they move back to Massachusetts.
Twedt lived on the east coast for 30 years and worked at a variety of jobs. His daughter Kelly was born in 1974. At the age of 28, Twedt went through a painful divorce.
In 1996, he moved back to the St. Cloud area. His brother fixed him up on a blind date with Geraldine (Geri). After a period of dating, Mike and Geri married in June of 1998. They have been married for 21 years.
When he returned to Minnesota, Twedt worked in Alexandria for Douglas Machine and in St. Cloud for the Veterans Administration Hospital. He retired in 2011.
Between Geri and Mike they have six grandchildren.
Geri, originally from Waite Park, worked in community education. Both now retired, these two soul mates enjoy their pristine place in the country – north of St Joseph. They both share a love for gardening, bird watching, biking, traveling (just back from Norway), reading, golfing and volunteering.
