Iver Yeager grew up during the depression on a small ranch in northwestern South Dakota, attending a one room school and doing plenty of chores on the ranch. He was attending Macalester College in St. Paul, MN when Pearl Harbor occurred, and after graduating went through officers training at Plattsburg, New York and Hollywood Florida. He was assigned to the USS Dyson, a Fletcher-class destroyer cruising the dangerous waters of the western Pacific. His ship survived both a horrific typhoon and kamikaze attacks while supporting the fighting on Okinawa.
Interview Links
Feature Excerpt
Cheese on Pie
Abstract
Interview Session 01 (Audio)
Growing up on S. Dakota ranch
Interview Session 02 (Audio)
Service as naval officer on USS Dyson in Pacific theater
Transcript
Videos
Photos
Caption
Anson, Elise, and Iver Yeager, circa 1925.
Where:
Unknown
When:
circa 1925
Ownership:
narrator’s photo
Caption
Anson and Iver Yeager in Denver in 1924.
Where:
Denver
When:
1924
Ownership:
narrator’s photo
Caption
Anson Yeager and Anders Thingelstad, holding Iver Yeager, in South Dakota circa 1925.
Where:
South Dakota
When:
circa 1925
Ownership:
Narrator’s photo
Caption
Nels Afdahl’s home on U.S. 212, east of Nels Afdahl’s home on U.S. 212, east of Marine, South Dakota in the late 1950s. This is where Ivers and his family moved after his mother’s marriage to Nels in 1933.
Where:
Marine, South Dakota
When:
late 1950s
Ownership:
Narrator’s photo
Caption
Sod school house in Meade County, South Dakota, spring of 1911. Iver’s aunt Mony Thinglestad and mother Elise Thinglestad are third and fourth from left.
Where:
Meade County, South Dakota
When:
Spring of 1911
Ownership:
Narrator’s photo
Caption
Newell High School Football team, 1939. Iver is second from the left in the front row.
Where:
Newell High School
When:
1939
Ownership:
Narrator's Photo
Caption
Newell High School Speech Club, 1939-1940. Iver is farthest to the right in the front row.
Where:
Newell High School
When:
1939-1940
Ownership:
Unknown
Caption
U.S.S. Dyson, DD 572, a Fletcher-class destroyer launched in April, 1942.
Where:
Unknown
When:
Unknown
Ownership:
This image is considered to be in the public domain
Caption
U.S.S. Dyson on a calm sea, circa mid-1940s.
Where:
Unknown
When:
circa mid-1940s
Ownership:
This image is considered to be in the public domain
Caption
Iver Yeager aboard the U.S.S. Dyson, circa 1945.
Where:
U.S.S. Dyson
When:
Circa 1945
Ownership:
This image is considered to be in the public domain.
Caption
Natalee Carlender and Ivan Yeager at their wedding in March, 1946 in Minneapolis.
Where:
Minneapolis
When:
March, 1946
Ownership:
Narrator’s photo