Gerhard Molskness grew up on a farm near Dorothy, MN.  After school he worked on farms near the Grand Forks and Euclid areas.  He loved adventure, hitch hiked throughout the Southwest and Western states.  He joined the CCC, known as the Civilian Conservation Corp.

In May of 1941 he joined the Army and was stationed at Fort Leonard Wood, US.  While there he operated with the Army through much of the South and Southeast.  Later he was sent to California for desert training under General Patton.  Around the same time, he was sent to Hollywood to make Army Training films at Warner Bros. Studios.  In the movie, Baptism of Fire, he was a German Soldier with a German rifle and uniform.  In the another movie he was a military policeman on guard duty.

After being sent back to his unit they were shipped to Hawaii for jungle training; eventually making several landings in Papua New Guinea.  When the campaign was over soldier Molskness and Troop were sent to the Philippines.  He was badly wounded while operating northeast of Manila in April of 1945, and was shipped back to the U.S. for bone and spine grafts. He also received treatment for malaria and other infections. In January of 1947, while in the hospital in Santa Fe, New Mexico, he received letters from fellow soldiers and officers.

In 1950, he married Dorothy Kalstad of La Crosse, WI. They had four children-Beverly, Lois, Joan, and Allan.  He later farmed in the Thief River Falls area.  He also auto body repair at his own shop on the farm for many years.  He attended the Evangelical Covenant Church and was a member of the American Legion, the VFW and the DAV.

Gerhard Edwin Molskness, 102 years, 4 months and 16 days, died on Saturday, April 2, 2022, at Villa St. Vincent, Crookston, MN.

Graveside service will be on Friday, April 8, 2022, at 11 AM in the Greenwood Cemetery, Thief River Falls, MN with Pastor Preston Hoiseth Officiating.

Johnson Funeral Service, Thief River Falls, MN.