ONLINE HED: Wayzata’s Herb Suerth Talks About His Time on the Front Lines of WWII
HED: War Hero and Water Lover
DEK: Herb Suerth Jr. is a local water conservationist who’s been on the front lines and the big screen.
BYLINE: by Monique Kleinhuizen
PULLQUOTE: “I was glad to do it and happy to have recovered. That part, being wounded… I wouldn’t trade it for anything. Those are the fortunes of war, and it’s been a wonderful experience.” –Herb Suerth Jr.
STORY:
Herb Suerth Jr. of Wayzata has a hard time summarizing his life story. He turned 90 in October, he is trained as a paratrooper and was wounded in World War II. He and his wife have nine children. Tom Hanks not only knows his name, but calls him “Junior.” And he’s a celebrated water conservationist.
It all started at age 18, when Suerth dropped out of college to join the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. First sent overseas in 1944, he joined the Easy Company of the 506th Parachute Regiment of the 101st Airborne and suffered serious wounds in both legs during the Battle of the Bulge. He recovered, learned to walk again and finished his mechanical engineering degree at Marquette, where he met his wife Monna. Suerth worked for several companies, including a laundry business, one of the first in the industry to discontinue use of perchloroethylene—“perc”—because of its harmful effects on the environment. He and Monna raised a family on Lake Minnetonka, and Herb represented the city of Woodland on the Lake Minnetonka Conservation District (LMCD) board for 17 years.
“The mayor of Woodland said ‘You’ve got an engineering degree,’ and I’ve never been afraid to take on jobs like that,” says Suerth. “I’m not a great civic guy, but when I see something I think I can handle, I’m not afraid to get involved and speak my piece.”
According to Greg Nybeck, executive director of the LMCD, Suerth was named to the Aquatic Invasive Species (AIS) task force in the mid-1990s and advocated for large-scale herbicide treatment instead of mechanical harvesting. He helped increase watercraft inspections and watermilfoil harvesting, and was active in educational campaigns. “We had a term,” says Nybeck. “Herb said he wanted to put the ‘iron curtain’ up around Lake Minnetonka.”
Bert Foster, former board chairman, recalls Suerth’s love for the water and dedication to his community. “When Herb took over the environmental committee,” says Foster, “he worked with the homeowners’ association to fight zebra mussels and milfoil. It’s kind of a thankless job.”
Suerth’s grandson Tom began an aquatic weed, debris and zebra mussel removal service near Lake Minnetonka and credits his grandfather with getting him interested. “In his involvement at the LMCD on the exotics committee, he was not afraid to voice his opinion, no matter how unpopular,” says Tom. “A number of years after starting my company, the AIS issues facing Lake Minnetonka started to gain more traction and media attention. At that point, my grandpa definitely inspired me to pay closer attention.”
While his family was inspired by his post-war activism, they were a bit in the dark about his participation in World War II. “Our family knew very little, if anything about his involvement in the war,” says daughter Carolyn Suerth Hudson. “Dad had shrapnel in both legs, but he really didn’t tell us anything until the [1992 book Band of Brothers by Stephen Ambrose] came out.” It was then that the group began to get even more media attention.
According to Suerth, Tom Hanks had taken a liking to Easy Company after some of its members consulted on Saving Private Ryan to ensure historical accuracy. “They helped make sure it was as true a story as you can get Hollywood to do,” Suerth says. Hanks and Spielberg later collaborated on a miniseries for HBO based Ambrose’s book, which encouraged the men of Easy Company—some very advanced in age—to begin telling their stories, some for the first time.
The 10-part miniseries aired in 2001 and later won a Golden Globe and multiple Emmys. “Tom Hanks made us famous,” says Suerth. “We were like any other outfit. We would have faded into the past, until he put his shoulder into it.”
Hanks was interested in the real men of Easy Company, not just the series. Says Suerth, “He sat down face-to-face with us on the train from Paris to Utah Beach. If you saw Tom Hanks on the big screen and then having a beer in the corner bar, he’s the same guy. He later asked if he could call me ‘Junior’ like the other guys in the company [did]. I said I didn’t mind the nickname. You should hear what some of the other guys were called in the army!”
Suerth Hudson, who traveled with Suerth and the rest of the family to Normandy on an eight-day trip for the miniseries’ premiere, says, “The most impactful thing for us as his family was the premiere. We got to hear stories every night from the group.”
When it comes to his time in the army and the injuries he suffered, Suerth says, “I was glad to do it and happy to have recovered. That part, being wounded… I wouldn’t trade it for anything. Those are the fortunes of war, and it’s been a wonderful experience.”
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For more information about the Band of Brothers story, visit bandofbrothersbooks.com.
“I was glad to do it and happy to have recovered. That part, being wounded… I wouldn’t trade it for anything. Those are the fortunes of war, and it’s been a wonderful experience.” –Herb Suerth Jr.
Herb Suerth Jr. of Wayzata has a hard time summarizing his life story. He turned 90 in October, he is trained as a paratrooper and was wounded in World War II. He and his wife have nine children. Tom Hanks not only knows his name, but calls him “Junior.” And he’s a celebrated water conservationist.
It all started at age 18, when Suerth dropped out of college to join the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. First sent overseas in 1944, he joined the Easy Company of the 506th Parachute Regiment of the 101st Airborne and suffered serious wounds in both legs during the Battle of the Bulge. He recovered, learned to walk again and finished his mechanical engineering degree at Marquette, where he met his wife Monna. Suerth worked for several companies, including a laundry business, one of the first in the industry to discontinue use of perchloroethylene—“perc”—because of its harmful effects on the environment. He and Monna raised a family on Lake Minnetonka, and Herb represented the city of Woodland on the Lake Minnetonka Conservation District (LMCD) board for 17 years.
“The mayor of Woodland said ‘You’ve got an engineering degree,’ and I’ve never been afraid to take on jobs like that,” says Suerth. “I’m not a great civic guy, but when I see something I think I can handle, I’m not afraid to get involved and speak my piece.”
According to Greg Nybeck, executive director of the LMCD, Suerth was named to the Aquatic Invasive Species (AIS) task force in the mid-1990s and advocated for large-scale herbicide treatment instead of mechanical harvesting. He helped increase watercraft inspections and watermilfoil harvesting, and was active in educational campaigns. “We had a term,” says Nybeck. “Herb said he wanted to put the ‘iron curtain’ up around Lake Minnetonka.”
Bert Foster, former board chairman, recalls Suerth’s love for the water and dedication to his community. “When Herb took over the environmental committee,” says Foster, “he worked with the homeowners’ association to fight zebra mussels and milfoil. It’s kind of a thankless job.”
Suerth’s grandson Tom began an aquatic weed, debris and zebra mussel removal service near Lake Minnetonka and credits his grandfather with getting him interested. “In his involvement at the LMCD on the exotics committee, he was not afraid to voice his opinion, no matter how unpopular,” says Tom. “A number of years after starting my company, the AIS issues facing Lake Minnetonka started to gain more traction and media attention. At that point, my grandpa definitely inspired me to pay closer attention.”
While his family was inspired by his post-war activism, they were a bit in the dark about his participation in World War II. “Our family knew very little, if anything about his involvement in the war,” says daughter Carolyn Suerth Hudson. “Dad had shrapnel in both legs, but he really didn’t tell us anything until the [1992 book Band of Brothers by Stephen Ambrose] came out.” It was then that the group began to get even more media attention.
According to Suerth, Tom Hanks had taken a liking to Easy Company after some of its members consulted on Saving Private Ryan to ensure historical accuracy.
“They helped make sure it was as true a story as you can get Hollywood to do,” Suerth says. Hanks and Spielberg later collaborated on a miniseries for HBO based Ambrose’s book, which encouraged the men of Easy Company—some very advanced in age—to begin telling their stories, some for the first time.
The 10-part miniseries aired in 2001 and later won a Golden Globe and multiple Emmys. “Tom Hanks made us famous,” says Suerth. “We were like any other outfit. We would have faded into the past, until he put his shoulder into it.”
Hanks was interested in the real men of Easy Company, not just the series. Says Suerth, “He sat down face-to-face with us on the train from Paris to Utah Beach. If you saw Tom Hanks on the big screen and then having a beer in the corner bar, he’s the same guy. He later asked if he could call me ‘Junior’ like the other guys in the company [did]. I said I didn’t mind the nickname. You should hear what some of the other guys were called in the army!”
Carolyn Suerth Hudson, who traveled with Suerth and the rest of the family to Normandy on an eight-day trip for the miniseries’ premiere, says, “The most impactful thing for us as his family was the premiere. We got to hear stories every night from the group.”
When it comes to his time in the army and the injuries he suffered, Suerth says, “I was glad to do it and happy to have recovered. That part, being wounded… I wouldn’t trade it for anything. Those are the fortunes of war, and it’s been a wonderful experience.”
For more information about the Band of Brothers story, visit bandofbrothersbooks.com.
