Nov. 6, 2006  Army veteran was stationed in Japan during World
War II  By Linda Scherer Staff Writer  It has been more than 60
years since World War II ended and George (Butch) Lachermeier, a
retired dairy farmer from Winsted, came home from his tour of
duty in Japan.  Still, when he recalls the 30 days spent on a
ship in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, and his first few
nights when he and his Army buddies landed on the coast of
Japan, those memories seem to come from yesterday.  When
Lachermeier first heard the news of the Japanese bombing Pearl
Harbor on the radio, he was working in town and was shocked.
That was Dec. 7, 1941. He was drafted into the Army the
following year, Oct. 17, 1942, at the age of 26.  Stationed
first at Fort Snelling, Lachermeier said, “When we were supposed
to be sleeping in our bunks, you could hear some of the guys
crying because they weren’t used to being away from home and
they knew they were not going to come home for a long time. It
didn’t bother me so much because I had been