Lexington man, Battle of the Bulge survivor, reflects on incredible 100 years

Wilbur Streib of Lexington turned 100 Saturday, but he is no regular centenarian.

Just 120,000 servicemen who fought in World War II are alive today, according to to U.S. military historical statistics from January. Fewer fought at the Battle of the Bulge, as Streib did.

He served with the U.S. Army 125th Anti-Aircraft Artillery Battalion, Battery B.

The Battle of the Bulge was the last major German offensive on the Western Front and took place from Dec. 16, 1944, through Jan. 25, 1945, in the heavy forest of the Ardennes region, between Belgium and Luxembourg.

Streib told then-News Journal columnist Ron Simon in 2006 that the Battle of the Bulge had begun and American units were reeling under the German attack.

"In the Ardennes we were rushed to guard road blocks," Streib said. "They told us to get as many of them as we could before they got us."

Streib said the anti-aircraft guns would not have stopped oncoming German tanks. Fortunately none showed up.

"We were actually the second or third line of defense. It was the only time we were in the front line," he told Simon.

At one point the Germans strafed the 125th. Two men were wounded and equipment was damaged. But one of the gunners managed to bring the attacking German plane down, Streib said in 2006. Once the German attack had been blunted, the 125th moved back to Antwerp and continued to down buzz bombs. The 125th wound up with nearly 250 downed flying bombs to its credit, Streib said during the 2006 interview, when he was 81.

Streib was drafted into the Army in summer 1943 and wound up with an anti-aircraft outfit that brought down 750 V-1 and V-2 rockets, saving untold numbers of lives in London, where those unmanned German rockets were headed.

Two of Streib's brothers, Kenny and Harold, also served in the military during or shortly after World War II.

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WWII veteran vividly recalls time in Europe

In an interview this month, Streib said he was traveling to Camp Haan, California, near Riverside, on a train powered by a steam engine, on his 19th birthday after graduating from Lexington High School. His wartime travels took him all over Europe including England.

A good storyteller, Streib shared how while in France the unit's tractor pulling the 90 mm heavy anti-aircraft gun gun broke down next to a farmer's sugar beet field. The 12 soldiers plus the driver sat there along the road for weeks.

The farmer would dig his beets and take them to a mill in a two-wheeled, horse-drawn cart.

"We decided to do a good deed and dig up sugar beets while the farmer was going to the mill. We took our little shovels we had for digging foxholes and dug sugar beets, putting them in piles we estimated to be a load," he said. "We dug the whole field. He came back and he was so excited. We loaded them for him on his cart."

Streib said he could only imagine the mill operator's face when the farmer returned time after time so quickly to the mill with so many beets.

"He gave us a couple bottles of cognac, which he dug up. They had to bury them to keep them from the Germans," he explained. "He thanked us and thanked us."

Streib came home from Europe with four battle stars and the Combat Infantry Badge.

Being a WW II veteran is something he now talks about.

"After World War II nobody, talked about it," he said. "Just in the last few years we've talked about it."

He said his late wife, Jean, then his girlfriend, wrote him letters overseas.

"It was a private war. She wrote me letters not knowing where I was at. The mail was censored and sections of the letters" ― his, hers, even his mother's ― were cut up to make sure details about the war or the locations soldiers were at was kept secret. "Even my own mother didn't know where I was at. But mail was such an important thing."

Streib works at Ohio Brass, becomes auctioneer, starts insurance company

After the war, Streib worked as a clerk for his father, Walter Streib, who was an auctioneer. His dad also worked at the steel mill and farmed.

Stgreib said he operated a drop hammer at The Ohio Brass before opening Streib Insurance Agency in Lexington, retiring in 1982. His wife and a daughter worked with him at the business.

"I told my wife I wasn't going back to Ohio Brass after by back surgery in 1955," he said. "I was in the hospital for 30 days."

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Growing up on a farm, he said he often took his father's spot driving the team of horses in the fields. He reminisced about the days when neighboring farmers came to help one another when it was time to harvest; the thrashers were operated by steam engines.

"And of course everyone reciprocated," he said. The family's original farm was on Orewiler Road and now is located at the bottom of the Clear Fork Reservoir.

Streib said he always had three jobs, including driving a school bus for Lexington Schools.

He said there really isn't anything he hasn't done.

Turning 100 is pretty special, Streib said

He believes his secret to a long life is being "totally blessed."

He said he was always active, exercising for years until he said he just "got tired of it." He called bingo in Florida where he wintered for years. He played shuffleboard, too.

He is a longtime member of Steam Corners Bible Church, formerly United Methodist Church, a member of Mansfield No. 35 Masonic Temple, American Legion 535 in Bellville and VFW 5101 in Lexington.

"I feel good," he said.

"I don't feel 60 anymore, but I don't feel 100," he said from the dining room table of his grandson Eric Lehnhart's house in Lexington Wednesday, joined by his son-in-law Jim Lehnhart, who is a Vietnam veteran.

Jim Lehnhart said Streib has been a "caring" man all his life and he said he has "great long-term memory."

The oldest of eight children, Streib has three children, six grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren.

At the time of the interview, details of his birthday celebration were being kept "under wraps" although he seemed to have found out something was up.

lwhitmir@gannett.com

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This article originally appeared on Mansfield News Journal: Lexington man, Battle of the Bulge survivor, reflects on incredible 100 years