Iowa post sharing story of heroes for which it’s named

Most residents of Waterloo, Iowa, likely know that their city was the home of the five Sullivan brothers, all members of the USS Juneau crew who died when the cruiser was sunk on Nov. 13, 1942, during World War II.

But some of those same residents didn’t know there were two other military heroes from their community who perished in combat decades earlier in World War I.

A pair of Becker-Chapman Post 138 Legionnaires have worked to change that, bringing a new awareness about the post’s namesakes.

Post 138 Historian Dennis Sommer and fellow Legionnaire Mike Chapman have teamed up to share the story of Fred Becker and Carl Chapman, local football stars who went on to play in college before joining the U.S. military in World War I. Both were killed in action in 1918.

Now their stories are available via “Waterloo Warriors: The Inspiring Stories Behind Becker-Chapman Post 138.” A Navy veteran and author of more than 30 books, Chapman – no relation to Carl Chapman – did most of the research and penned the book. Sommer contributed the history of Post 138 and wrote the foreword.

“Becker and Chapman were both 22 years old at the time of their death,” Sommer said. “They gave up their lives for the freedom of this country. Between Mike and I, we thought this book would keep their memories alive.”

Becker and Chapman were both local football stars in rival teams. After high school, Becker played football at the University of Iowa before joining the U.S. Marines. He was killed while leading an attack on a German machine gun nest near Vierzon, France, on June 18, 1918. He was responsible for destroying the gun emplacement but died when hit by a shell fragment. His service earned him the U.S. Distinguished Service Cross and the French Croix de Guerre.

“My passion is keeping alive moments in history,” Chapman said. “I’m from East Waterloo. I went to school at East Waterloo. I graduated in 1961 and had never, ever heard of Fred Becker.”

Driving by his old school one day, Chapman stopped and looked at a plaque near the flagpole that honored those from the school who died in military service. Becker was the first name listed.

“I’m standing there and I’m thinking ‘huh, Fred Becker is the name of the very first All-American football player at the University of Iowa. It couldn’t be the same Fred Becker,’” Chapman said. “So I did some snooping around and found it was the exact same Fred Becker.”

Chapman went on to find out that Becker was buried in Waterloo and that 5,000 people attended his funeral. Chapman ended up writing a story about Becker that was shared throughout the state and resulted in Becker being inducted into the University of Iowa and East Waterloo athletic halls of fame, and an elementary school in Waterloo being named for Becker.

Carl Chapman, who graduated from West Waterloo High School, attended Amherst College in Massachusetts before leaving to join the ambulance corps in World War I. He eventually became a pilot and transferred into the Army’s 94th Aero Squadron. He was shot down during a dogfight over France on May 3, 1918, and is buried at a Lafayette Escadrille Memorial Cemetery in France.

“He was one of the first aviators to die in World War I. We think he may have been the first, but we’re not sure,” Mike Chapman said. “I tell people ‘Think about it. This is 14 years after the Kitty Hawk, when the Wright Brothers first flight when about the length of a football field, and these guys are up there trying to shoot each other down. So he died heroically, too.”

Having learned so much about his post’s namesake – and concerned others had not – motivated Chapman to write the book. “I thought ‘nobody knows about these guys, even after all this,’” he said, noting the post fully supported the idea. The book sells for $10, with proceeds going to the post to assist veterans and maintain the post. Sommer said sales recently began and are off to a great start. For more information, contact Post 138 at (319) 234-8511 or via its Facebook page.

Sommer, who served as a U.S. Army sentinel at the Tomb of the Unknowns at Arlington National Cemetery in the 1950s, hopes the book educates a new generation on who Becker and Chapman were.

“It was kind of a labor of love to bring their names forward. I’m sure a lot of people ask, ‘who are Becker and Chapman, and why did they name a Legion post after them?’” Sommer said. “This book will tell them why.”