Note: Clarence had his name legally changed to C O but for historical purposes we are including his given name of Clarence in his write-up since this is how he will show up in records, pictures, and historical information before he changed it to C O.
A special feature about the Manning Veterans' history book is we want to include family Veteran history. Here is a perfect example where we will include C O Lamp's son along with C O's story...even though Calvin never lived in Manning. We want to include as much of the Veteran history in a family as possible.
His grandfather, Gerhardt Lamp, served in the Army in WWI; his father, C O Lamp, served in the Navy in WW2, and in a variable tradition, Calvin Omar Lamp joined the Air Force on September 9, 1976. After basic training at Lackland AFB in San Antonio, Calvin served at Sheppard AFB in Wichita Falls, Texas, where he learned to be an electrical power production specialist, which primarily concerned producing electricity via generators to supply power when the usual source failed.
For a young man raised in Arizona, Tyndall AFB, 12 miles east of Panama City, Florida, proved to be an interesting experience. Working on side roads, Calvin was warned to watch for alligators, water moccasins, and swarms of bees.
Raised in a family where the main recreation was boating and fishing, Calvin couldn't wait to get out on the water. He and roommate Harrison rented a small boat.
"Don't go out past the sandbar," warned the proprietor, "Or you will be in the ocean. If you stop, be sure to tilt up the motor. The shiny propeller attracts sharks. Out there sharks can smell warm blood in a boat this size."
The pair enjoyed put-putting beyond the mouth of the bay. The storm came up suddenly, engulfing them in huge swells and white crested waves. The motor strained, the boat stood on end, shivered, threatening to fall backwards. The boat dropped with a loud smack. Both men feared they would be hurled out. However, at length they made it to shore.
The proprietor regarded the breathless pale-faced pair. "I saw you were in trouble out there. You are lucky to be alive. Come with me, I want to show you something." He led the way to dry bones of a shark's jaw. Calvin stood inside the lower jaw. Standing more than six feet tall, he had to look up to see teeth in the upper jaw.
Thereafter, Calvin thought it would be safer going out with someone who knew the bay. Sgt. Beers and Senior Airman Rivers invited him. They had been out fishing early and had fish on the metallic stringer when they called for Calvin later that morning.
Out fishing, Calvin reeled in and to prevent the swinging lure from hitting one of the others, he reached for it. A treble hook penetrated a finger. The moment a drop of blood hit the water, a seven foot shark appeared. Calvin managed to pull in his arm a split second before the shark's mouth closed where his arm had been. Now a multitude of sharks attacked the fish on the stringer. They pulled the boat down so low that water threatened to come over the side. Calvin tried cutting the stringer with a side cutter and failed. Rivers closed his hand over Calvin's and pressed hard. Finally cut, the stringer slowly sank into the depths. Calvin reported his hand hurt for a week.
Now sharks attacked the boat hitting one side, chewing, and then the other. A fearful bouncing ride to shore, Calvin remembered what the proprietor had said about the sharks being able to smell blood of people inside a small boat. Sharks kept hitting boat, threatening to split the fiberglass sides, until they were in shallow water.
Later Sgt. Beers reported that the boat had been totally chewed up. "When I pulled out some of the shark teeth I could see daylight through the bottom. The boat is ruined."
After many months of service in Germany at Munich and Ramstein AFB, it was time for Calvin to come home.
Safe in the quiet surroundings he had left to join the Air Force, on a sunny weekend in September 1980, Calvin said, "Dad…let's hook up the boat and drive out to Lake Pleasant."
C O Lamp passed away from the complications of acute leukemia February 1st, 2011, surrounded by his loving family at the age of 83 in comfort at Hospice of Arizona.
He was born June 4, 1927, in Manning, Iowa, to Gerhardt and Minnie (Hansen) Lamp.
Living on a farm, C O proudly walked to country school and graduated from Manning High at the age of sixteen. He was determined to leave the hardship of farm life in the 30's during the Great Depression and went to Drake University to study pharmacy. However, the country was battling WWII and he enlisted in the Navy on August 18, 1945, serving as a top secret typist in the Pacific until peace was established. After graduation, C O went to work as a pharmacist in Hartig's Rexall Drug Store in Dubuque, Iowa, where he met the love of his life, Rosemary Joy Witter, clerking there. They were married shortly after her high school graduation on July 25, 1950, and they began an adventure of a lifetime.
In 1955 he became the co-owner of Darling Drug store in Decorah, Iowa where he raised his three children, Toni, Lea and Calvin. Also C O continued to develop his talent for writing and authored his first novel, Journey to a Star. Active in the community, he was proudly voted the Jaycees' "Outstanding Young Man. of the Year." C O became a 32nd degree Mason, and a lifetime member of the Royal Order of Scotland and of the VFW. Membership in the First Congregational Church planted a seed in him for God's Word. To follow a life-long dream, C O packed up the entire family in 1965 and moved to Des Moines. He entered Drake University Law School; graduated in 1968; and on the first sitting passed the Bar.
In order to practice law away from snow and ice, C O and the family went to Arizona where he served in the Maricopa County Attorney's office until retirement at age 69 with 27 years of service. C O was proud of his trial conviction rate and successfully argued a case that went to the Arizona Supreme Court. During much of his legal career, C O spent weekends as a hospital pharmacist specializing in intravenous solutions - 4 years at Good Samaritan, Phoenix, and 18 years at Boswell Hospital, Sun City, Arizona. Upon retiring from the county attorney's office, C O served as a school case mediator and in various pro-temp judicial roles. He continued writing, eventually publishing ten additional novels. C O's heart never left Manning. His hometown memories inspired his weekly column in The Manning Monitor, Past and Present, a true labor of love for over 39 years until his death. He continued his hobby of gardening, claiming that he was still a farmer at heart and thoroughly enjoyed "snowbird" visits with his Manning High classmates wintering in Arizona. C O devotedly re-established his work in the church serving in various positions in The Congregational Church of Sun City, Arizona. He especially enjoyed his pre-sermon Commentary or Moderator Moments. C O successfully battled non-Hodgkin's lymphoma for two years and had been in remission for seven wonderful years until leukemia struck in late December, 2010. He viewed each of those years as a gift and blessing from God.
C O is survived by his wife of 60 years, Rosemary, residing in Sun City; Arizona; daughter Toni Hengesteg and husband Mark of Montgomery, Texas; daughter Lea Jane Lamp of Glendale, Arizona; son Calvin of Sun City; sister Darlene Lamp of Manning; three grandchildren, Nathan Lamp of Phoenix, Arizona; David Hengesteg and wife Heather of Houston, Texas; and Kathryn Hengesteg of Kirkland, Washington; and nephew Mike Lamp and many dear cousins.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be sent to the Manning VFW.
Editors Note - We did some figuring the other day and came up with 2,470,104 words. That's how many words CO wrote in the Past And Present column over the last 39 years. He will be missed!
CO Lamp Interment
June 16, 2011, Manning Monitor
Special services, at the request of the late CO Lamp, are scheduled for June 30 at 3:30 p.m. in Manning. In his
request is that a procession be held on Main Street Manning and that an urn carrying his ashes in a burlap bag be
carried down Main Street and out to the Manning Cemetery affixed to the
saddle-horn of a horse ridden by Randy Willenborg.
The 3:30 activities will begin on the corner of Fifth Street and Main and
proceed north to Second Street, go east one block and then go south on Center Street to the cemetery.
Calvin Stammer, VFW Commander, is assisting Lea Lamp in the arrangements for
the afternoon. Following the committal services lunch will be served at the VFW Hall.
The Manning Police Department will be in charge of traffic control.
CO, as he wished to be called, had written the Past and Present column for the past 37 years on a weekly basis for publication in the Manning Monitor.