One of county's oldest vets reminisces on a 'good life'

Down a winding stretch of Diamond Road, east of Superior, is a small home nestled in a pine filled canyon just past the old Diamond Match Mill. It’s the home of Joe Magone and his daughter, Diane, where a hand painted sign greets visitors and mentions her Bengal cats she once bred and sold. Joe was honored last Saturday during an Armed Forces Day celebration in Superior. He sat alongside two other veterans, John Cochran and William Merriman and Ryan Cahalin, a Superior student who recently joined the forces. In June, Joe will turn 95 and has the distinction of being one of the county’s oldest living veterans, having served in the Army Air Corp. during WWII.

His life is a symbol of his generation, a bygone era dubbed “the Greatest Generation”. He and fellow military men, fought for their country without question and trusted their government. They were a generation who strived for the American dream, who worked hard and took care of themselves and their families. A formula that served him well throughout his long life. He helped to construct the Diamond Mill and then was hired on as a maintenance carpenter, starting his 33-year career at the facility just down the road.

“I didn’t have to carry a lunch bucket, I could just come home,” he said with an easy smile. Joe and his wife, Edris were married for over 50 years before she passed away about 15 years ago. They raised five children, Diane who’s the oldest, Karen, Margaret, Dale and Mark. The property sits on a corner of his parents ranch located a quarter of a mile down the road. He built it himself, without the use of power tools and sometimes worked late into the evenings with only his car headlights to guide him in the dark.

“I have never had mortgage,” he said proudly. Since then the small dwelling has had additions and several outbuildings built including a deck and a porch which looks out over the scenic area.

Joe served in the military before he was married and was a toxic gas handler. His job was to load bombs onto planes and repair machine guns. He took the Queen Mary from New York to Scotland and from there was deployed to England. For nearly three years his company followed the action.

“All total we went to 27 different places in Europe. We would spend a couple of weeks in one place and then move up closer to the line and be there for a month or so and then move again, following the fighting. We went all the way to Germany,” he said while sitting in his armchair next to a warm gas stove.

The war took a turn in the summer of 1944 with the Battle of Normandy, which came to be known as D-Day. A time when 156,000 American, British, and Canadian troops landed on five beaches along a 50-mile stretch of the heavily fortified coast of France’s Normandy region. The invasion was one of the largest military assaults in history and by the end of it, all of northern France had been liberated. By the next spring the Allies had defeated the Germans.

“It was a hell-of-an experience. I spent over 25 hours on the line (during the attack). They brought food out to us and we kept working,” he said.

Joe was proud to be in the military, “I enlisted, it was something we had to do, we had to get rid of the opposition.” Two of his brothers, Hugh and Ray also fought in the war. His younger brother Lee, who is now 90, fought in Korea. Lee currently lives down the road in their parent’s old log cabin home.

During the war, his company didn’t know a lot about the concentration camps Hitler had used to kill millions of Jews, but they knew it was bad. After the atomic bomb was dropped (on Japan) he said they started to discharge the guys and he came home and joined the reserves along with his brothers. While his brothers were deployed during the Korean War, Joe was not and with the war behind him, set his sights on growing his family.

However, his civic duties didn’t stop there. He was involved with community activities including being elected for two terms in the state legislature in the mid-1970’s. He said he’s a quiet man, but does like to visit and was known for being level-headed and fair during his time in Helena. It’s a role his daughter Diane is now vying for as a Candidate for House District 14. Also, his son Dale is running for re-election as the County Justice of the Peace. His wife, Edris was also community minded and worked as the county health nurse for a while and as the school nurse.

“If you’re going to be an American, you should be involved with politics to make sure things run correctly,” he said. “Things have changed a lot since then (WWII). People aren’t as involved as they used to be. They may be involved but not with the active part of it and I think that’s hurting our country.”

One reason he thinks people have stop participating in politics is because everything is running fine and people are comfortable, but they should continue to be careful.

“Everybody thought Hitler and Mussolini were a joke but then they got into power,” he said.

During his tenure in legislation, Montana was primarily Democratic which is the ticket he ran on, along with Diane. Environmental issues were highly contested then, with rules and regulations put into place to stop practices such as timber clear-cutting. Joe saw the shift as the county went from a timber economy to the lumber mills being shut down, including the Diamond Mill which now houses a pellet company. He would like to see the area offer more recreational opportunities but doesn’t get involved in those matters these days.

For his age, Joe has remained in relatively good health. He’s a little hard of hearing and walks with a cane but has stayed active and was gardening up until last year. Until his legs and feet started to give him problems.

“I had a good marriage, and a happy life,” he said as he looked out his large picture window which has a view over his garden, to Trout Creek and up to a high, pine filled mountain. A formula he attributes to his good health and longevity.