Glen is the son of Claus J. Claussen who was born in Dellstedt, Germany,
May 28, 1879. When he was a small boy of five, he immigrated to this country with his
father, coming to Manning.
May 8, 1908, Claus was married to Clara Ewoldt, and they became parents of four children,
all of whom graduated from Manning High.
Glen, who graduated from Drake University, married June McMillan and has one son Bradley. Glen is a veteran of both World War II and the Korean War. He retired as a Lt. Colonel from the Army of Engineers and now resides in San Marcos, California (as of 1981).
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Manning Monitor article ------ 1943
GLEN CLAUSSEN WRITES
Glen Claussen on Okinawa GLENN CLAUSSEN SETS CAPTAIN'S COMMISSION Glenn Claussen, son of Mr. and Mrs. C. J. Claussen of Manning, who is now on terminal leave from day with the army combat engineers, received notice Thursday that he had been promoted to the rank of captain. Captain Claussen enlisted in service shortly after Pearl Harbor and served in the South Pacific theatre, taking part in the invasions of Okinawa and Leyte and also saw post-war duty on Korea. South Pacific Vet Has Discharge Tab Lt. Glen Claussen, son of Mr. and Mrs. C. J. Claussen of Manning, a veteran of the invasions at Leyte and Okinawa, has returned home wearing the honorable discharge button after serving four years.
Glen was a member of the 144th combat battalion engineering corps and had just recently
returned to the states, from Korea. Besides taking part in the above-mentioned invasions
he also served in the Hawaiian islands, He received his discharge at Fort MacArthur. |
Lt. Col. Claussen To Leave for Korea
Carroll Daily Times Herald June 24, 1963
Lt. Col. and Mrs. Glen Claussen and Bradley were recent visitors of his mother,
Clara (Mrs. Claus J.) Claussen, and his brother-in-law, and sister, Mr. and
Mrs. Arthur Rix and family. The family was en route from Framingham, Massachusetts, to Los Angeles.
Col. Claussen will leave for Korea for a year of duty.
Glen O. Claussen
Manning Monitor
October 14, 2004
Glen O. Claussen, age 89, passed away October 6, 2004 at the Mesa Villa Care Center in Upland, California.
He was born November 17, 1914 in Manning, Iowa and was a permanent resident of southern California since 1967. He graduated from Drake University, Des Moines, Iowa in 1937 with a BA in Journalism and from American University, Washington, D.C. in 1967 with a BS in Education.
After college Glen moved to the Los Angeles area with several close friends and fraternity brothers including the late President Ronald Reagan. During this period Glen became close friends with many Hollywood celebrities.
In 1941 Glen joined the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and served in World War II and later served in Korea during the Korean War. He retired as a Lieutenant Colonel in 1967. After retiring from the Army, the Claussen family moved to San Diego, California where Glen worked at the U.S. Navy Recruit Training Center (NTC) from 1967 to 1977 as the Assistant Public Affairs Officer.
Glen was a member of Alpha Tau Omega, Sigma Delta Chi, as well as the Elks Lodge, Moose Lodge and American Legion in Escondido, California.
Glen's wife, June, passed away in 1991 after a long illness. He is survived by his son, Bradley of Burlington, North Carolina; sister, Ila Rix of Manning, Iowa; and friend and companion Margaret Steverson of Alta Loma, California.
A private memorial service for family members is planned.
Glen Claussen worked for Jane Wyman as a secretary answering her fan-mail and other similar activities.
Glen also knew Ronald Regan very well.
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Dailey Bulletin, Upland, California by David Allen around 2003 or 2004 ONE RULE of journalism: Always hedge. Thankfully, I did just that Wednesday in writing that of all the valley residents who met Ronald Reagan, "perhaps no encounter is older" than broadcaster George Putnam's story of meeting Reagan in 1937. Because along came Glen Claussen, who bent an elbow many a time with the young Reagan as early as 1935. Reagan then was a popular radio sports announcer at WHO in Des Moines. "In those days everybody in Iowa knew Dutch," Claussen told me, using Reagan's nickname. Claussen, 89, lives in a retirement home in Upland, but his story checks out. He was a source for Edmund Morris' authorized Reagan biography, "Dutch," and contributed a photo of Reagan and his drinking buddies. Yes, the future governor and president had drinking buddies — and at a point when Iowa was officially a dry state. Drinks could be had at "Cy" Griffith's Moonlight Inn, a rundown watering hole outside Des Moines. As Reagan himself told Morris, you could buy a non-alcoholic brew in a bottle, get the neck filled with alcohol, put your thumb over the top and shake it up. Claussen and his Drake University fraternity brothers palled around with Reagan at the Moonlight when the announcer finished his radio shift around midnight. "We'd sit around and drink and talk and sing songs — sing all the college fight songs," Claussen said. One evening in 1937, Reagan showed his friends a telegram from Warner Brothers offering him a screen contract at $200 a week. Not surprisingly, he took it. But he invited the "rubes," as his buddies were known, to join him in Hollywood later that year. The small group hung out together with Reagan and his dates. They went to movies and ate in restaurants on the actor's nickel and bodysurfed in Malibu. "He helped us survive from time to time, helped with the rent money and took us out to dinner Friday and Saturday nights," Claussen said. Maybe that's the origin of the term "Dutch treat." The friends eventually saw less of Reagan — and nothing at all after he married Nancy Davis in 1952. "Nancy cut him off from the old days," Claussen said with a chuckle. "She drew the line." |