"Death is not a tragedy to the one who dies; to have wasted the life before that death, that is the tragedy."
After 46 years to reflect upon my father's death I am writing his biography in 2022. The task has been skirted for this period as I tried to analyze what went so wrong with him and the implications of his psychotic behavior. I've tried to analyze why Alfred inflicted so much pain and suffering upon his family. This is my best attempt to describe what I know. Most of the military information is from his service records received from the National Archives, childhood background information from genealogy research, and personal anecdotes from my own and family members' recollections.
INCORRECT HEADSTONE INSCRIPTION - Alfred actually did not serve in Korea as is marked on his headstone, rather as he told his son, while he was stationed at Yakoto, Japan (APO 328) his commander had a policy that all men under his supervision complete a single flight over Korea so that it would be on their official record and he would receive a Korea commendation. He accomplished this flight between 1 Aug 1950 to 30 Oct. 1950. He also never served in the Vietnam conflict.
BEGINNINGS:
Alfred was raised in a severely dysfunctional family in Cooperstown, Ottawa, MI. His parents Ben Knoper & Anna Bing were married only a few months after Ben was discharged from the Army in 1919 post WW1. Ben had served in an infantry machine gun unit. Anna was pregnant at the time of the marriage so this may not have been a marriage based on love. It is unknown how the two of them met but it is suspected the one of Anna's brothers introduced the two of them in Grand Rapids. At this time Ben was employed by the Ottawa county road department driving vehicles.
Ben Knoper was a chronic gambler, gambling away the family's meager funds so they were destitute much of the time. One survival approach was to move his family from home to home to stay one step ahead of creditors and to avoid paying rent. His wife Anna gave a diamond ring to her sister Mary for safekeeping to prevent Ben from taking and selling it.
During Alfred's youth for at least a decade his mother Anna L. Bing-Knoper spent long periods of time in Michigan tuberculosis sanitariums. It is unknown how she contracted the tuberculosis that would eventually kill her, but her father had died from the disease.
Ben was emotionally, verbally, and physically abusive towards Anna, methodically stripping all her dignity. The children witnessed Ben's and later recalled his behavior. During this period Al's father dated a series of girlfriends who he introduced to his children, even gluing his girlfriends' photographs into the children's scrapbooks. Ben also periodically abandoned his children, leaving on vacations with his current girlfriend, while his children (some toddlers) were left alone to fend for themselves without food. The eldest daughter Kathryn tried her best to take care of the younger one's; she recalled at one time there was no food in the home so she made patties of flour and water. In one instance his daughter recounted Ben burning Anna's prized violin in a wood stove after finding that she had visited a movie theatre. The violin was never replaced.
Alfred stated that when he was 5 years of age he was kicked in the head by a draff horse which necessitated his relearning to walk and talk. The evidence supports his claim. Military papers indicate he stuttered in his younger years when he was excited. His 1941 high school yearbook Freshman class photo shows him to be an overly tall student, towering above his cohorts. His sister Donna who was three years younger than him is found to one year ahead of him in high school. Military selective service registration confirm his being 19 years of age in June 1942, and at his enlistment in Dec 1942 he was a 2nd year high school student (this would have put him at least 4 years behind his peer group). Indeed this academic delay supports his claim to have been kicked in the head; although a forceful draft horse kick would probably have killed him, rather he may have been just brushed by a leg or hoof.
Al's academic/educational deficiency was worsened by his decision to forego his education in lieu of WW2 military service where he was given focused vocational training. Simply speaking he was about 4-5 years older than his high school peers, his home life was terrible, his younger sister who was more advanced in high school than him would be leaving the home soon leaving him alone with his parents, he had little money, no positive expectations, and probably was concerned about being drafted. He had few options available. Even after enlisting he never shared with the military doctors that he had sustained severe brain injury in his youth which probably would have caused him to have a 4F rejection.
Alfred had just turned 14 years of age when his mother Anna died. She had been frequently due to her chronic tuberculosis, but still she loved her children dearly. After her death, Ben Knoper rapidly remarried girlfriend, and divorce Anne Lepley-Henkle whom he had been having an affair with during his marriage to Anna Bing. Ms. Henkle had two older teenage children who she brought into the Cooperstown household. These children were given preferential care including special food allocations, etc.. Alfred and his brother Robert had the additional burden of both being stutters.
For 9 months in 1941-1942 Al squeezed in part-time work as a 35mm film, movie projectionist at the local theatre. He enjoyed tinkering with radios at this time and learning the projection equipment. From his projectionist earnings he gave his younger sister Donna spending money which she greatly appreciated and applied towards beautician training. After high school graduation she left home immediately finding work as a beautician in Grand Rapids. His sister Kathryn found refuge in a marriage immediately after her own graduation. His older favored brother Robert was more fortunate as his father had found him a position with his own employer, the Ottawa County Road Department.
MILITARY SERVICE:
Alfred completed his required WW2 selective service registration on 30 June 1942 where he identified himself as an unemployed 19 yr old. Five months later on 3 Dec 1942 he enlisted in the Air Corps which was the preferred service selection of virtually all enlistees. In his original enlistment papers he identified himself as a current high school student. However, other official papers over his service career improperly declared he graduated high school (which he also told his children). But separation papers indicated he had completed 8 years of grammar school and 2 years of high school (actually one year and a few months is the true figure). A final photo has been found of him in the Freshman Class of Cooperstown High School 1941 Yearbook.
The Air Corps performed careful sorts of their enlisted men attempting to choose those with acceptable aptitudes, the remaining men were sent onto the regular Army; Al appears to have survived this process. He wanted to be a Radio Repairman but the Air Corp had other plans for him. From 17 Dec 1942 to 1 Mar 1945 he went through a series of Air Corp courses: initially Airplane & Eng. Mechanic, then Bombsight Mechanic, & finally Aerial Machine Gunner. He earned his AAF Air Crew Member Badge "Wings." Eventually he was deployed to England, leaving US control on 25 Mar 1945. He arrived on 5 Apr 1945 in England to the Eighth Air Force, 91st Bombardment Group - 322nd Bombardment Squadron H (i.e. H ... "Heavy"... heavy bomber) where he served initially as a semi-skilled A.M. Gunner [i.e. Aerial Machine Gunner]. The heavy bombers of the squadron, principally the B-17's, were headquartered and flew their combat missions out of Air Force Station 121, RAF Bassingbourne, Cambridgeshire, England (APO 557) It was considered the "country club" of air bases as it had fine, permanent facilities. The air gunner's responsibility was to defend the aircraft and keep everyone safe. It was an awesome and indispensable responsibility.
Alfred was a member of the 322nd for only the last 19 days of the squadron 's bombing missions of the war; 14 completed missions were recorded by the "H" squadron during this time frame, of those his official record firmly states that that just flew on 2 combat missions. These final squadron missions concentrated on bombing German communications, marshalling yards, bridges, and fuel dumps until its last mission on 25 Apr 1945 targeting an airfield at Pilsen, Czechoslovakia. Before Al's arrival the squadron had suffered horrendous losses but these subsided as the war drug on due to shifts in equipment, aircraft, and German losses. Generally during Alfred's brief time with the "H" squadron their losses were minimal and generally due to anti-aircraft fire (aka "flak), but on 8 April 1945 the squadron experienced significant loss while its bombers were attacking the locomotive repair facilities at the railroad marshaling yards in Stendal, Saxony-Anhalt Germany. The squadron was bombing through clouds using H2S ground search radar to identify the target area. The flak was moderate, causing major damage to four B-17s and minor damage to thirteen others. Two bombers from the 91st Bomb Group were lost, including "Wee Willie" whose downing was caught on film footage
After cessation of bombing on 15 May 1945 Alfred was quickly transferred to Bombardment Squadron(K) as a skilled AP & Eng Gun Mech casual. (He was probably utilized as a mechanic until returning stateside.) He reminisced that on his final day at the Bassingbourne, the base was virtually empty with no food service. He satisfied his hunger with toast spread with marmalade.
His military record shows he was a Flight Maintenance Gunner 748 in Central Europe Air Combat GO 46 (General Order 46), receiving his American Theatre Ribbon, EAME (European African Middle Eastern) Ribbon without stars, Good Conduct Medal, and Victory Medal. After this in June 1945 the squadron was engaged in inventorying and disassembling German Air Force equipment and facilities, and evacuating prisoners from German camps after the war ended; but Alfred probably was not involved in this activity as he returned to the states quickly and apparently the medium weight (M) squadron that was positioned in Belgium did this work. Staff Sgt. Knoper served out the rest of his term as a "bomb mechanic" at Ball Field, LA. & and "guard patrol" at MacDill Field, FL
[Commentary: In 1942, during the first three months of America's combat flights over Europe, the average bomber crew was expected to complete 8-12 missions before being shot down or disabled. With this in mind, the US Army Air Force decided that 25 missions would constitute a "completed tour of duty" because of the "physical and mental strain on the crew." In 1942-43 it was statistically impossible for bomber crews to complete a 25-mission tour in Europe. Over time that '25 mission' limit was extended further & further. By 1944 crews were seeing over 52 missions. US Army Air Forces gunners defended bombers against fighter attacks with machine guns aimed by hand ("flexible guns") and electrically-powered gun turrets. Typically, gunners made up half of a bomber crew, manning a top turret, ball turret, two waist guns, and a tail turret. The aircraft losses were unsustainable as the gunners could not provide sufficient protection for the bombers. So the American bombers began using fighter escorts which drastically decreased losses and allowed deeper penetration deeper within the Third Reich.]
Al left his civilian property with his father when he enlisted. Like many men he entrusted his military pay & savings to his father for safekeeping when he was sent to Europe for the "fight." Upon discharge on 9 Jan 1946 he returned back home to Michigan where he quickly learned of father and brother's profound betrayal. Believing Al would die in the war, in the short time they had access of Al's savings they had exhausted his entire military pay & savings on luxury items for themselves. Once Al had left for Europe in Mar 1945 his father Ben & older brother Robert purchased luxury items for themselves including leather bomber jackets. Upon his discharge and return to Cooperstown, Al found he had nothing but the clothes on his back and a trunk of items from high school (books, etc.). This resulted in Al's estrangement from his father Ben & his only brother Robert which never resolved.
Over a decade after Al's death, his brother Robert may have had misgivings about his relationship with Alfred. With the continued welcoming gestures of Alfred's eldest daughter, Robert was able to develop a good relationship with his nieces & nephew, visiting Oregon several times. Much to everyone's surprise, childless Robert left 50% of his estate to Alfred's children which was very kind of him and greatly appreciated.
With only a ten-month exception, immediately after the war ended, Alfred served continuously in the military resulting in a 22 year career Unfortunately he never learned skills transferrable to the civilian work force. Upon his WW2 discharge he returned to Cooperstown where he attempted to find work and did so in one month at the Muskegon manufacturing plant of Brunswick Blake Collander Company where he worked as a punch operator from Feb 46 to July 46. Al appears to have made no attempt to use the GI Veterans Bill which offered sweeping education/vocation benefits, thus he did not advance his education or skillset, this may have been due to his lack of an adequate high school education and the theft of all his military savings. This fateful error resulted in a lifetime of adverse repercussions.
With his brother & father squandering Al's military savings and having no markable skills nor employment connections after WW2, he found military service remained a relatively easy, viable means of secure employment plus the Air Force provided a "home & community." Upon reenlisting on 30 July 1946, he moved around to multiple stations as a bombsight mechanic, completing additional coursework and eventually was stationed at Fairchild AFB, Spokane, WA for well over a decade working on bomb navigation systems where he moved up into a supervisory position.
Al was growing restless, bored, and tired of the autopilot/navigation system work at Fairchild AFB. He longed to work in the radio and electronics field which had first interested him so long ago as a teenager. He had been unable to obtain a transfer as his due to his Commanding Officier's (aka CO) blocking any moves. Indeed Al remained at Fairchild Air Force Base for ten years which was a remarkable feat in itself. Nonetheless, in the winter of 1962-63 Al slyly obtained a transfer into the ballistic missile program while his CO was out on vacation. His CO was most unhappy about the news. Al received six months of training at Sheppard-Burkburnett AFB outside of Wichita Falls, TX. It was at this time he finally attained his high school GED (aka high school Graduate Equivalency Degree), but his basic education remained lacking. It is estimated that he had an 8-9th grade level of proficiency in Math and English after his GED. This was more than 20 years after leaving high school in the fall of his sophomore year, he finally had completed a GED which evidently was a prerequisite for passing the missile training program.
Following the six-month missile training program he was assigned to what would be his final station at Little Rock AFB, Jacksonville, AR working as a "B-Mat" in Atlas missile program at silos surrounding the immediate area. This work was considered prestigious and entailed working 4 days on-site followed by 4 days time-off. He vehemently hated the job of being forced to "live" with the 4 man team sealed behind the 40 ton door of a missile silo waiting for the doomsday call to be made to them; his attitude soured greatly; he could not "get away" from these men, 2 of them his superiors. On the upside his children appreciated the one pint containers of excess chocolate milk that he would bring back from the missile silo every week. During the two years in Jacksonville, AR his wife Tressa went back into the work force full-time establishing herself as a professional insurance underwriter in Little Rock. The family lived in NCO housing on base and his daughters enjoyed having & riding horses at the air force base stables. It was during this time Alfred turned violent, hostile, irrational, and abusive. The only medical treatment he is remembered as having during this period was injections for elbow tendonitis. His mental health problems went undetected. After 2 years in Arkansas he retired from the US Air Force in June of 1965 as an E8 Master Sargent.
MARRIAGE:
After Alfred's transfer on 23 Apr. 1948 to Fairchild Air Force Base outside of Spokane, WA he met his future wife at a popular roller skating ring. They both were advanced skaters who could dance on skates and skate backwards. He married on 15 Apr 1950, his bride being divorcee Tressa "Terry" Alice Hawley from an old, pioneer, Moscow, Idaho farm family. Like Al, Terry had lost a parent at a young age too; Tressa was 10 years old when her wheat farmer father Eugene E. Hawley died of pneumonia. Al was 14 years of age when his largely absent mother died of chronic tuberculosis. Perhaps their joint, profound absence of a parent helped them bond, or at least they were subconsciously searching for someone to fill a parental void. Neither had the advantage of a caring parent of the opposite sex: a parent who would have hopefully modeled appropriate behavior towards the opposite gender. (Such as how a father treats his wife & daughter, and mother treats her son & husband.) Without this modeling, picking a spouse was problematic.
After four months of marriage Al was sent on Temporary Duty Travel (TDY) to Yokato, Japan beginning 5 Aug. 1950 & returning to the US on 23 Apr 1951. By then they had already conceived their first child. Tressa went through most of the pregnancy and February childbirth alone, without his presence. Five weeks after his first-born's birth he returned from Japan and subsequently took fourteen days of leave to be with his wife and newborn child. Tressa had quit her job with a Spokane insurance agency and spent most of her pregnancy at her cousin Brook Hawley's ranch in Divide, OR where she tried to console herself about the unwanted pregnancy in part by riding horses that summer. Later she confessed to this daughter that she was unwanted (and was raised as such.) This daughter became the scapegoated child.
A second daughter was conceived one month after the birth of the first (her birth was celebrated and she was chosen as the much favored, golden child.)
A third pregnancy resulted in a premature, stillborn boy with an Rh factor issue.
Their only son was born in 1956, again like the eldest daughter he was also unfavored. (He was ignored and not provided parental affection He became an invisible, lost child) Both the middle child and young son inherited their maternal & paternal grandfathers' red hair which is a homozygous recessive trait.
CIVILIAN LIFE:
Upon Al's retirement from the military the family relocated to Beaverton, Oregon in the summer of 1965. This location was nearer to Tressa's Idaho family and had what they thought would be good employment opportunities in the fledgling electronics industry. 42 yr. old Al was still chasing his dream of working in the electronics industry. These efforts proved unsuccessful. He found a couple of weeks of work with Viewfinder in Progress, Oregon repairing the simplistic, mechanical devices.
Finally he found intermittent employment as a marine electrician at the Portland, Oregon shipyards assisting in the refitting of large military ships. When he worked, the jobs paid well but were physically taxing, necessitating the pulling electrical cable throughout the hull and corridors of cold, unheated vessels. His hands became very dry, calloused, with incredibly deep cracks cleaving into his fingers. He complained of the cold. He soon found he was susceptible to sea sickness during the ship's sea trials. Ship refitting was sporadic work totally dependent on military contracts, thus Alfred was unable to sustain little more than 6-months of daily work at a time. This was followed by lengthy periods of unemployment although he received generous unemployment benefits during these times which augmented his permanent $750/month military retirement pay. His wife Terry became the major breadwinner of the family working consistently as an insurance underwriter for Kemper Insurance in downtown Portland.
Even after spending 22 years in military, the family had accumulated very little savings by the time of Al's retirement. Their assets included a new white Vista-Cruiser station wagon car, a 1957 Chev. 2 door sedan, a refrigerator, and a modest amount of furniture. Luckily in 1966 Al & Terry were able to buy their spacious, permanent home in Scholls, Oregon thanks to down payment money gifted by Terry's mother, Lila Hawley, which covered nearly 50% of the $20,000 purchase price. This home provided the first semblance of continuity and consistency in the family's nomadic life. The children were able to attend the same schools for more than 2 consecutive years; they could plan for the future. All three children graduated Hillsboro High School and eventually earned baccalaureate degrees within the Oregon state college system. Alfred never witnessed any of their college graduations.
Al was antisocial and preferred being alone. His main interest was tinkering in Ham Radio & communicating with Ham Radio operators throughout the world. His 1968 Radio Amateur call sign was WN71HD - N, licensed to Alfred L. Knoper, at RFD 2, Box 176K, Hillsboro, OR. He was classed as a Novice as he could not progress to the next level much to his continued frustration, due to being unable to pass the Morse Code speed test which was required at that time. However he did "cheat the system" and go with voice communication frequently. He also enjoyed building small electronic devices and automobile mechanics. Alfred had chronic insomnia, consistently staying up into the early morning hours while tinkering in his shop, drinking black coffee, and smoking cigarettes nonstop. He also enjoyed watching professional wrestling on the television which he thought was real (it was choreographed). He steadfastly refused to socialize or attend community gatherings the couple was invited to, much to Tressa's profound disappointment. He was a good breakfast cook making the weekday morning meal during the children's high school years. Typically he would prepare scrambled eggs, bacon & toast, alternating every other day with stiff oatmeal. He hated all Italian foods such as spaghetti and pizza.
THE AFTERMATH:
Alfred was a terrible father. By 1963 Alfred he had become very hostile to his children who endured his unrelenting physical assaults, verbal and mental abuse. His eldest daughter received the brunt of the physical attacks and verbal rages well into her mid-twenties until Al's death. She suspected that Al may have felt she was illegitimate since she did not have the "Knoper" family's prized auburn hair, but perhaps he was jealous of her academic aptitude.; however, Al's military record confirms that he was present at the time of her conception. Al also physically attacked his son once but this did not continue once the boy was of a stature that he could defend himself. As a 4-yr old his son also nearly electrocuted one evening after discovering an uninsulated electrical transformer left on the living floor by Al within the young child's reach next to an electrical outlet. It is felt he intentionally wanted to inflict injury upon the child. The favored daughter and his wife appeared to have been purposefully not abused. Although Alfred considered himself competent in electrical concepts, he manufactured many electrified objects that were not properly insulated resulting in their being constant threats of electrical shock.
Al's aggressive hostility towards his children continued unabated for 15 years until his death. Tressa never intervened, but rather enabled his behavior for unknown reasons, she may have also been an inverted narcissist or at least suffered from codependency. Sometimes i seemed that Al became the child in the relationship complete with tantrums and Terry served as the enabling mother figure in some distortion of Freud's Oedipus Complex. Because of Al's behavior, he was abhorred by his children who tried to avoid him at all costs. His presence during periods of long unemployment was especially fraught with peril. Not only did he abuse his children but he tortured the family pets, asphyxiating kittens and routinely beating the friendly family's Dalmatian dog, "Duke," with a leather belt and a rubber garden hose that he custom cut into multiple length pieces for that purpose. His children found these sadistic weapons and would repeatedly dispose of them, yet Al would just make more. The eldest daughter was denied medical care from 7th grade onwards and their son was refused simple eye-wear to enable him to pursue high school athletics.
Essentially Alfred just wanted to be left alone with his cigarettes, coffee, in his Ham Radio shack (room). It was not unusual to see him sitting at the kitchen table at 2 or 3AM smoking and drinking coffee in apparent deep thought, oblivious to any outside stimuli. He never socialized with neighbors and had only one known friend who had a shared interest in Ham radio. Although he avoided alcohol, Al was a two-pack a day, chain cigarette smoker, having absolutely no problem blowing smoke into his children's faces during mealtimes which they abhorred.
Alfred seemed to have had a tortured soul and suffered from mental illness undetected by the military and which he kept secret. At 6 ft. 2 in. he was able to maintain a consistent body weight of 156-165lbs throughout his adult life per his military records, suggesting he may have suffered from hyperthyroidism which can cause hostility; however, the traumatic brain injury suffered in his childhood cannot be discounted as the cause of the mental disease. His children have considered a number of mental conditions but his rages suggest he had a psychopathy, specifically malignant narcissism coupled with sociopathic traits. These narcissists have noteworthy rages and Knoper family system had the classical lost child, golden child, scapegoated child, and enabling spouse which lends more credence to the fact that Al was indeed a sociopathic, malignant narcissist. He served for such a short while in England during WW2 that PTSS is not a realistic possibility. Perhaps he inherited a meanspirited personality from his father. Al certainly had a difficult childhood being exposed to prolonged fraternal abuse which he could have modeled into his own adult life as sadism and resulted in his narcissism.
In 1973 Al & Terry were planning to do some traveling and that spring they had bought a new baby-blue & white painted, GMC pickup and camper to drive to Alaska. By this time the 52 year old man's hair was snow white, but he appeared trim and with well toned muscles. Al had had painful legs for many months by then and went to the Vancouver VA Hospital for help. Within a month, in May 1973, he was diagnosed with terminal, non-Hodgkins Lymphoma (this was possibly due to radiation exposure during his military service). The trip to Alaska was canceled.
He was in and out of the VA hospital system, his treatment including uncomfortable chemotherapy and radiotherapy. The latter provided the best results with several months of remission. The chemo resulted in decreased platelet counts necessitating platelet transfusions which he had severe reactions to. It was then that he demonstrated true fear and outwardly cried. He was very, very afraid of death and never came to terms with it. He fought it. He was angry. His cigarette smoking continued unabated until he was placed on oxygen in his final month of life. He never asked for forgiveness from others. He never made peace with himself or others. Never apologized. Never found a spiritual core. He never opened a Bible. He was a mean-spirited man until the bitter end. The world had given him a raw deal and he hated everyone for it.
Alfred's final days were his own personal hell. He was medically released for three days during 1976 Thanksgiving holiday, where the family enjoyed the unusual homemade meal with turkey, trimmings, and pumpkin pies. Everyone knew this would be his last trip home. Ten days before Christmas and after 3.5 years of cancer, he died alone in the early morning at a nursing home. On the previous evening his wife had brought him a chocolate milk shake which she said he savored.
His death literally came as a major relief to his children. They no longer worried about his tirades and his physical attacks. They could visit home and enjoy the holidays without fear. He was neither mourned nor missed. Rather his death marked the ending of a forced association with a truly horrendous man.
Al was not given a formal funeral as he had no friends and thus no mourners. His hurried graveside service on a partially cloudy Oregon afternoon was only attended by his wife, children, a neighbor couple, and the Scholl's preacher whose church the family had never attended. Since he had a long record of military service a formal military gun salute was performed. In the ensuring years his grave was visited by his widow several times (she genuinely seemed to have missed him) and his eldest child thrice. His other two children never visited his gravesite.
Al is not missed by his children, is unknown to his grand-daughter, and will be forgotten to time. Indeed he reaped what he had so carefully sewn over his life. His legacy is of a life wasted and a family destroyed by his abusive, violent actions. His eldest, scapegoated daughter has elected to not privilege him with an image of him on this memorial site in hopes all photographic traces of him will eventually be forgotten.
After 46 years to reflect upon my father's death I am writing his biography in 2022. The task has been skirted for this period as I tried to analyze what went so wrong with him and the implications of his psychotic behavior. I've tried to analyze why Alfred inflicted so much pain and suffering upon his family. This is my best attempt to describe what I know. Most of the military information is from his service records received from the National Archives, childhood background information from genealogy research, and personal anecdotes from my own and family members' recollections.
INCORRECT HEADSTONE INSCRIPTION - Alfred actually did not serve in Korea as is marked on his headstone, rather as he told his son, while he was stationed at Yakoto, Japan (APO 328) his commander had a policy that all men under his supervision complete a single flight over Korea so that it would be on their official record and he would receive a Korea commendation. He accomplished this flight between 1 Aug 1950 to 30 Oct. 1950. He also never served in the Vietnam conflict.
BEGINNINGS:
Alfred was raised in a severely dysfunctional family in Cooperstown, Ottawa, MI. His parents Ben Knoper & Anna Bing were married only a few months after Ben was discharged from the Army in 1919 post WW1. Ben had served in an infantry machine gun unit. Anna was pregnant at the time of the marriage so this may not have been a marriage based on love. It is unknown how the two of them met but it is suspected the one of Anna's brothers introduced the two of them in Grand Rapids. At this time Ben was employed by the Ottawa county road department driving vehicles.
Ben Knoper was a chronic gambler, gambling away the family's meager funds so they were destitute much of the time. One survival approach was to move his family from home to home to stay one step ahead of creditors and to avoid paying rent. His wife Anna gave a diamond ring to her sister Mary for safekeeping to prevent Ben from taking and selling it.
During Alfred's youth for at least a decade his mother Anna L. Bing-Knoper spent long periods of time in Michigan tuberculosis sanitariums. It is unknown how she contracted the tuberculosis that would eventually kill her, but her father had died from the disease.
Ben was emotionally, verbally, and physically abusive towards Anna, methodically stripping all her dignity. The children witnessed Ben's and later recalled his behavior. During this period Al's father dated a series of girlfriends who he introduced to his children, even gluing his girlfriends' photographs into the children's scrapbooks. Ben also periodically abandoned his children, leaving on vacations with his current girlfriend, while his children (some toddlers) were left alone to fend for themselves without food. The eldest daughter Kathryn tried her best to take care of the younger one's; she recalled at one time there was no food in the home so she made patties of flour and water. In one instance his daughter recounted Ben burning Anna's prized violin in a wood stove after finding that she had visited a movie theatre. The violin was never replaced.
Alfred stated that when he was 5 years of age he was kicked in the head by a draff horse which necessitated his relearning to walk and talk. The evidence supports his claim. Military papers indicate he stuttered in his younger years when he was excited. His 1941 high school yearbook Freshman class photo shows him to be an overly tall student, towering above his cohorts. His sister Donna who was three years younger than him is found to one year ahead of him in high school. Military selective service registration confirm his being 19 years of age in June 1942, and at his enlistment in Dec 1942 he was a 2nd year high school student (this would have put him at least 4 years behind his peer group). Indeed this academic delay supports his claim to have been kicked in the head; although a forceful draft horse kick would probably have killed him, rather he may have been just brushed by a leg or hoof.
Al's academic/educational deficiency was worsened by his decision to forego his education in lieu of WW2 military service where he was given focused vocational training. Simply speaking he was about 4-5 years older than his high school peers, his home life was terrible, his younger sister who was more advanced in high school than him would be leaving the home soon leaving him alone with his parents, he had little money, no positive expectations, and probably was concerned about being drafted. He had few options available. Even after enlisting he never shared with the military doctors that he had sustained severe brain injury in his youth which probably would have caused him to have a 4F rejection.
Alfred had just turned 14 years of age when his mother Anna died. She had been frequently due to her chronic tuberculosis, but still she loved her children dearly. After her death, Ben Knoper rapidly remarried girlfriend, and divorce Anne Lepley-Henkle whom he had been having an affair with during his marriage to Anna Bing. Ms. Henkle had two older teenage children who she brought into the Cooperstown household. These children were given preferential care including special food allocations, etc.. Alfred and his brother Robert had the additional burden of both being stutters.
For 9 months in 1941-1942 Al squeezed in part-time work as a 35mm film, movie projectionist at the local theatre. He enjoyed tinkering with radios at this time and learning the projection equipment. From his projectionist earnings he gave his younger sister Donna spending money which she greatly appreciated and applied towards beautician training. After high school graduation she left home immediately finding work as a beautician in Grand Rapids. His sister Kathryn found refuge in a marriage immediately after her own graduation. His older favored brother Robert was more fortunate as his father had found him a position with his own employer, the Ottawa County Road Department.
MILITARY SERVICE:
Alfred completed his required WW2 selective service registration on 30 June 1942 where he identified himself as an unemployed 19 yr old. Five months later on 3 Dec 1942 he enlisted in the Air Corps which was the preferred service selection of virtually all enlistees. In his original enlistment papers he identified himself as a current high school student. However, other official papers over his service career improperly declared he graduated high school (which he also told his children). But separation papers indicated he had completed 8 years of grammar school and 2 years of high school (actually one year and a few months is the true figure). A final photo has been found of him in the Freshman Class of Cooperstown High School 1941 Yearbook.
The Air Corps performed careful sorts of their enlisted men attempting to choose those with acceptable aptitudes, the remaining men were sent onto the regular Army; Al appears to have survived this process. He wanted to be a Radio Repairman but the Air Corp had other plans for him. From 17 Dec 1942 to 1 Mar 1945 he went through a series of Air Corp courses: initially Airplane & Eng. Mechanic, then Bombsight Mechanic, & finally Aerial Machine Gunner. He earned his AAF Air Crew Member Badge "Wings." Eventually he was deployed to England, leaving US control on 25 Mar 1945. He arrived on 5 Apr 1945 in England to the Eighth Air Force, 91st Bombardment Group - 322nd Bombardment Squadron H (i.e. H ... "Heavy"... heavy bomber) where he served initially as a semi-skilled A.M. Gunner [i.e. Aerial Machine Gunner]. The heavy bombers of the squadron, principally the B-17's, were headquartered and flew their combat missions out of Air Force Station 121, RAF Bassingbourne, Cambridgeshire, England (APO 557) It was considered the "country club" of air bases as it had fine, permanent facilities. The air gunner's responsibility was to defend the aircraft and keep everyone safe. It was an awesome and indispensable responsibility.
Alfred was a member of the 322nd for only the last 19 days of the squadron 's bombing missions of the war; 14 completed missions were recorded by the "H" squadron during this time frame, of those his official record firmly states that that just flew on 2 combat missions. These final squadron missions concentrated on bombing German communications, marshalling yards, bridges, and fuel dumps until its last mission on 25 Apr 1945 targeting an airfield at Pilsen, Czechoslovakia. Before Al's arrival the squadron had suffered horrendous losses but these subsided as the war drug on due to shifts in equipment, aircraft, and German losses. Generally during Alfred's brief time with the "H" squadron their losses were minimal and generally due to anti-aircraft fire (aka "flak), but on 8 April 1945 the squadron experienced significant loss while its bombers were attacking the locomotive repair facilities at the railroad marshaling yards in Stendal, Saxony-Anhalt Germany. The squadron was bombing through clouds using H2S ground search radar to identify the target area. The flak was moderate, causing major damage to four B-17s and minor damage to thirteen others. Two bombers from the 91st Bomb Group were lost, including "Wee Willie" whose downing was caught on film footage
After cessation of bombing on 15 May 1945 Alfred was quickly transferred to Bombardment Squadron(K) as a skilled AP & Eng Gun Mech casual. (He was probably utilized as a mechanic until returning stateside.) He reminisced that on his final day at the Bassingbourne, the base was virtually empty with no food service. He satisfied his hunger with toast spread with marmalade.
His military record shows he was a Flight Maintenance Gunner 748 in Central Europe Air Combat GO 46 (General Order 46), receiving his American Theatre Ribbon, EAME (European African Middle Eastern) Ribbon without stars, Good Conduct Medal, and Victory Medal. After this in June 1945 the squadron was engaged in inventorying and disassembling German Air Force equipment and facilities, and evacuating prisoners from German camps after the war ended; but Alfred probably was not involved in this activity as he returned to the states quickly and apparently the medium weight (M) squadron that was positioned in Belgium did this work. Staff Sgt. Knoper served out the rest of his term as a "bomb mechanic" at Ball Field, LA. & and "guard patrol" at MacDill Field, FL
[Commentary: In 1942, during the first three months of America's combat flights over Europe, the average bomber crew was expected to complete 8-12 missions before being shot down or disabled. With this in mind, the US Army Air Force decided that 25 missions would constitute a "completed tour of duty" because of the "physical and mental strain on the crew." In 1942-43 it was statistically impossible for bomber crews to complete a 25-mission tour in Europe. Over time that '25 mission' limit was extended further & further. By 1944 crews were seeing over 52 missions. US Army Air Forces gunners defended bombers against fighter attacks with machine guns aimed by hand ("flexible guns") and electrically-powered gun turrets. Typically, gunners made up half of a bomber crew, manning a top turret, ball turret, two waist guns, and a tail turret. The aircraft losses were unsustainable as the gunners could not provide sufficient protection for the bombers. So the American bombers began using fighter escorts which drastically decreased losses and allowed deeper penetration deeper within the Third Reich.]
Al left his civilian property with his father when he enlisted. Like many men he entrusted his military pay & savings to his father for safekeeping when he was sent to Europe for the "fight." Upon discharge on 9 Jan 1946 he returned back home to Michigan where he quickly learned of father and brother's profound betrayal. Believing Al would die in the war, in the short time they had access of Al's savings they had exhausted his entire military pay & savings on luxury items for themselves. Once Al had left for Europe in Mar 1945 his father Ben & older brother Robert purchased luxury items for themselves including leather bomber jackets. Upon his discharge and return to Cooperstown, Al found he had nothing but the clothes on his back and a trunk of items from high school (books, etc.). This resulted in Al's estrangement from his father Ben & his only brother Robert which never resolved.
Over a decade after Al's death, his brother Robert may have had misgivings about his relationship with Alfred. With the continued welcoming gestures of Alfred's eldest daughter, Robert was able to develop a good relationship with his nieces & nephew, visiting Oregon several times. Much to everyone's surprise, childless Robert left 50% of his estate to Alfred's children which was very kind of him and greatly appreciated.
With only a ten-month exception, immediately after the war ended, Alfred served continuously in the military resulting in a 22 year career Unfortunately he never learned skills transferrable to the civilian work force. Upon his WW2 discharge he returned to Cooperstown where he attempted to find work and did so in one month at the Muskegon manufacturing plant of Brunswick Blake Collander Company where he worked as a punch operator from Feb 46 to July 46. Al appears to have made no attempt to use the GI Veterans Bill which offered sweeping education/vocation benefits, thus he did not advance his education or skillset, this may have been due to his lack of an adequate high school education and the theft of all his military savings. This fateful error resulted in a lifetime of adverse repercussions.
With his brother & father squandering Al's military savings and having no markable skills nor employment connections after WW2, he found military service remained a relatively easy, viable means of secure employment plus the Air Force provided a "home & community." Upon reenlisting on 30 July 1946, he moved around to multiple stations as a bombsight mechanic, completing additional coursework and eventually was stationed at Fairchild AFB, Spokane, WA for well over a decade working on bomb navigation systems where he moved up into a supervisory position.
Al was growing restless, bored, and tired of the autopilot/navigation system work at Fairchild AFB. He longed to work in the radio and electronics field which had first interested him so long ago as a teenager. He had been unable to obtain a transfer as his due to his Commanding Officier's (aka CO) blocking any moves. Indeed Al remained at Fairchild Air Force Base for ten years which was a remarkable feat in itself. Nonetheless, in the winter of 1962-63 Al slyly obtained a transfer into the ballistic missile program while his CO was out on vacation. His CO was most unhappy about the news. Al received six months of training at Sheppard-Burkburnett AFB outside of Wichita Falls, TX. It was at this time he finally attained his high school GED (aka high school Graduate Equivalency Degree), but his basic education remained lacking. It is estimated that he had an 8-9th grade level of proficiency in Math and English after his GED. This was more than 20 years after leaving high school in the fall of his sophomore year, he finally had completed a GED which evidently was a prerequisite for passing the missile training program.
Following the six-month missile training program he was assigned to what would be his final station at Little Rock AFB, Jacksonville, AR working as a "B-Mat" in Atlas missile program at silos surrounding the immediate area. This work was considered prestigious and entailed working 4 days on-site followed by 4 days time-off. He vehemently hated the job of being forced to "live" with the 4 man team sealed behind the 40 ton door of a missile silo waiting for the doomsday call to be made to them; his attitude soured greatly; he could not "get away" from these men, 2 of them his superiors. On the upside his children appreciated the one pint containers of excess chocolate milk that he would bring back from the missile silo every week. During the two years in Jacksonville, AR his wife Tressa went back into the work force full-time establishing herself as a professional insurance underwriter in Little Rock. The family lived in NCO housing on base and his daughters enjoyed having & riding horses at the air force base stables. It was during this time Alfred turned violent, hostile, irrational, and abusive. The only medical treatment he is remembered as having during this period was injections for elbow tendonitis. His mental health problems went undetected. After 2 years in Arkansas he retired from the US Air Force in June of 1965 as an E8 Master Sargent.
MARRIAGE:
After Alfred's transfer on 23 Apr. 1948 to Fairchild Air Force Base outside of Spokane, WA he met his future wife at a popular roller skating ring. They both were advanced skaters who could dance on skates and skate backwards. He married on 15 Apr 1950, his bride being divorcee Tressa "Terry" Alice Hawley from an old, pioneer, Moscow, Idaho farm family. Like Al, Terry had lost a parent at a young age too; Tressa was 10 years old when her wheat farmer father Eugene E. Hawley died of pneumonia. Al was 14 years of age when his largely absent mother died of chronic tuberculosis. Perhaps their joint, profound absence of a parent helped them bond, or at least they were subconsciously searching for someone to fill a parental void. Neither had the advantage of a caring parent of the opposite sex: a parent who would have hopefully modeled appropriate behavior towards the opposite gender. (Such as how a father treats his wife & daughter, and mother treats her son & husband.) Without this modeling, picking a spouse was problematic.
After four months of marriage Al was sent on Temporary Duty Travel (TDY) to Yokato, Japan beginning 5 Aug. 1950 & returning to the US on 23 Apr 1951. By then they had already conceived their first child. Tressa went through most of the pregnancy and February childbirth alone, without his presence. Five weeks after his first-born's birth he returned from Japan and subsequently took fourteen days of leave to be with his wife and newborn child. Tressa had quit her job with a Spokane insurance agency and spent most of her pregnancy at her cousin Brook Hawley's ranch in Divide, OR where she tried to console herself about the unwanted pregnancy in part by riding horses that summer. Later she confessed to this daughter that she was unwanted (and was raised as such.) This daughter became the scapegoated child.
A second daughter was conceived one month after the birth of the first (her birth was celebrated and she was chosen as the much favored, golden child.)
A third pregnancy resulted in a premature, stillborn boy with an Rh factor issue.
Their only son was born in 1956, again like the eldest daughter he was also unfavored. (He was ignored and not provided parental affection He became an invisible, lost child) Both the middle child and young son inherited their maternal & paternal grandfathers' red hair which is a homozygous recessive trait.
CIVILIAN LIFE:
Upon Al's retirement from the military the family relocated to Beaverton, Oregon in the summer of 1965. This location was nearer to Tressa's Idaho family and had what they thought would be good employment opportunities in the fledgling electronics industry. 42 yr. old Al was still chasing his dream of working in the electronics industry. These efforts proved unsuccessful. He found a couple of weeks of work with Viewfinder in Progress, Oregon repairing the simplistic, mechanical devices.
Finally he found intermittent employment as a marine electrician at the Portland, Oregon shipyards assisting in the refitting of large military ships. When he worked, the jobs paid well but were physically taxing, necessitating the pulling electrical cable throughout the hull and corridors of cold, unheated vessels. His hands became very dry, calloused, with incredibly deep cracks cleaving into his fingers. He complained of the cold. He soon found he was susceptible to sea sickness during the ship's sea trials. Ship refitting was sporadic work totally dependent on military contracts, thus Alfred was unable to sustain little more than 6-months of daily work at a time. This was followed by lengthy periods of unemployment although he received generous unemployment benefits during these times which augmented his permanent $750/month military retirement pay. His wife Terry became the major breadwinner of the family working consistently as an insurance underwriter for Kemper Insurance in downtown Portland.
Even after spending 22 years in military, the family had accumulated very little savings by the time of Al's retirement. Their assets included a new white Vista-Cruiser station wagon car, a 1957 Chev. 2 door sedan, a refrigerator, and a modest amount of furniture. Luckily in 1966 Al & Terry were able to buy their spacious, permanent home in Scholls, Oregon thanks to down payment money gifted by Terry's mother, Lila Hawley, which covered nearly 50% of the $20,000 purchase price. This home provided the first semblance of continuity and consistency in the family's nomadic life. The children were able to attend the same schools for more than 2 consecutive years; they could plan for the future. All three children graduated Hillsboro High School and eventually earned baccalaureate degrees within the Oregon state college system. Alfred never witnessed any of their college graduations.
Al was antisocial and preferred being alone. His main interest was tinkering in Ham Radio & communicating with Ham Radio operators throughout the world. His 1968 Radio Amateur call sign was WN71HD - N, licensed to Alfred L. Knoper, at RFD 2, Box 176K, Hillsboro, OR. He was classed as a Novice as he could not progress to the next level much to his continued frustration, due to being unable to pass the Morse Code speed test which was required at that time. However he did "cheat the system" and go with voice communication frequently. He also enjoyed building small electronic devices and automobile mechanics. Alfred had chronic insomnia, consistently staying up into the early morning hours while tinkering in his shop, drinking black coffee, and smoking cigarettes nonstop. He also enjoyed watching professional wrestling on the television which he thought was real (it was choreographed). He steadfastly refused to socialize or attend community gatherings the couple was invited to, much to Tressa's profound disappointment. He was a good breakfast cook making the weekday morning meal during the children's high school years. Typically he would prepare scrambled eggs, bacon & toast, alternating every other day with stiff oatmeal. He hated all Italian foods such as spaghetti and pizza.
THE AFTERMATH:
Alfred was a terrible father. By 1963 Alfred he had become very hostile to his children who endured his unrelenting physical assaults, verbal and mental abuse. His eldest daughter received the brunt of the physical attacks and verbal rages well into her mid-twenties until Al's death. She suspected that Al may have felt she was illegitimate since she did not have the "Knoper" family's prized auburn hair, but perhaps he was jealous of her academic aptitude.; however, Al's military record confirms that he was present at the time of her conception. Al also physically attacked his son once but this did not continue once the boy was of a stature that he could defend himself. As a 4-yr old his son also nearly electrocuted one evening after discovering an uninsulated electrical transformer left on the living floor by Al within the young child's reach next to an electrical outlet. It is felt he intentionally wanted to inflict injury upon the child. The favored daughter and his wife appeared to have been purposefully not abused. Although Alfred considered himself competent in electrical concepts, he manufactured many electrified objects that were not properly insulated resulting in their being constant threats of electrical shock.
Al's aggressive hostility towards his children continued unabated for 15 years until his death. Tressa never intervened, but rather enabled his behavior for unknown reasons, she may have also been an inverted narcissist or at least suffered from codependency. Sometimes i seemed that Al became the child in the relationship complete with tantrums and Terry served as the enabling mother figure in some distortion of Freud's Oedipus Complex. Because of Al's behavior, he was abhorred by his children who tried to avoid him at all costs. His presence during periods of long unemployment was especially fraught with peril. Not only did he abuse his children but he tortured the family pets, asphyxiating kittens and routinely beating the friendly family's Dalmatian dog, "Duke," with a leather belt and a rubber garden hose that he custom cut into multiple length pieces for that purpose. His children found these sadistic weapons and would repeatedly dispose of them, yet Al would just make more. The eldest daughter was denied medical care from 7th grade onwards and their son was refused simple eye-wear to enable him to pursue high school athletics.
Essentially Alfred just wanted to be left alone with his cigarettes, coffee, in his Ham Radio shack (room). It was not unusual to see him sitting at the kitchen table at 2 or 3AM smoking and drinking coffee in apparent deep thought, oblivious to any outside stimuli. He never socialized with neighbors and had only one known friend who had a shared interest in Ham radio. Although he avoided alcohol, Al was a two-pack a day, chain cigarette smoker, having absolutely no problem blowing smoke into his children's faces during mealtimes which they abhorred.
Alfred seemed to have had a tortured soul and suffered from mental illness undetected by the military and which he kept secret. At 6 ft. 2 in. he was able to maintain a consistent body weight of 156-165lbs throughout his adult life per his military records, suggesting he may have suffered from hyperthyroidism which can cause hostility; however, the traumatic brain injury suffered in his childhood cannot be discounted as the cause of the mental disease. His children have considered a number of mental conditions but his rages suggest he had a psychopathy, specifically malignant narcissism coupled with sociopathic traits. These narcissists have noteworthy rages and Knoper family system had the classical lost child, golden child, scapegoated child, and enabling spouse which lends more credence to the fact that Al was indeed a sociopathic, malignant narcissist. He served for such a short while in England during WW2 that PTSS is not a realistic possibility. Perhaps he inherited a meanspirited personality from his father. Al certainly had a difficult childhood being exposed to prolonged fraternal abuse which he could have modeled into his own adult life as sadism and resulted in his narcissism.
In 1973 Al & Terry were planning to do some traveling and that spring they had bought a new baby-blue & white painted, GMC pickup and camper to drive to Alaska. By this time the 52 year old man's hair was snow white, but he appeared trim and with well toned muscles. Al had had painful legs for many months by then and went to the Vancouver VA Hospital for help. Within a month, in May 1973, he was diagnosed with terminal, non-Hodgkins Lymphoma (this was possibly due to radiation exposure during his military service). The trip to Alaska was canceled.
He was in and out of the VA hospital system, his treatment including uncomfortable chemotherapy and radiotherapy. The latter provided the best results with several months of remission. The chemo resulted in decreased platelet counts necessitating platelet transfusions which he had severe reactions to. It was then that he demonstrated true fear and outwardly cried. He was very, very afraid of death and never came to terms with it. He fought it. He was angry. His cigarette smoking continued unabated until he was placed on oxygen in his final month of life. He never asked for forgiveness from others. He never made peace with himself or others. Never apologized. Never found a spiritual core. He never opened a Bible. He was a mean-spirited man until the bitter end. The world had given him a raw deal and he hated everyone for it.
Alfred's final days were his own personal hell. He was medically released for three days during 1976 Thanksgiving holiday, where the family enjoyed the unusual homemade meal with turkey, trimmings, and pumpkin pies. Everyone knew this would be his last trip home. Ten days before Christmas and after 3.5 years of cancer, he died alone in the early morning at a nursing home. On the previous evening his wife had brought him a chocolate milk shake which she said he savored.
His death literally came as a major relief to his children. They no longer worried about his tirades and his physical attacks. They could visit home and enjoy the holidays without fear. He was neither mourned nor missed. Rather his death marked the ending of a forced association with a truly horrendous man.
Al was not given a formal funeral as he had no friends and thus no mourners. His hurried graveside service on a partially cloudy Oregon afternoon was only attended by his wife, children, a neighbor couple, and the Scholl's preacher whose church the family had never attended. Since he had a long record of military service a formal military gun salute was performed. In the ensuring years his grave was visited by his widow several times (she genuinely seemed to have missed him) and his eldest child thrice. His other two children never visited his gravesite.
Al is not missed by his children, is unknown to his grand-daughter, and will be forgotten to time. Indeed he reaped what he had so carefully sewn over his life. His legacy is of a life wasted and a family destroyed by his abusive, violent actions. His eldest, scapegoated daughter has elected to not privilege him with an image of him on this memorial site in hopes all photographic traces of him will eventually be forgotten.
"Death is not a tragedy to the one who dies; to have wasted the life before that death, that is the tragedy."
After 46 years to reflect upon my father's death I am writing his biography in 2022. The task has been skirted for this period as I tried to analyze what went so wrong with him and the implications of his psychotic behavior. I've tried to analyze why Alfred inflicted so much pain and suffering upon his family. This is my best attempt to describe what I know. Most of the military information is from his service records received from the National Archives, childhood background information from genealogy research, and personal anecdotes from my own and family members' recollections.
INCORRECT HEADSTONE INSCRIPTION - Alfred actually did not serve in Korea as is marked on his headstone, rather as he told his son, while he was stationed at Yakoto, Japan (APO 328) his commander had a policy that all men under his supervision complete a single flight over Korea so that it would be on their official record and he would receive a Korea commendation. He accomplished this flight between 1 Aug 1950 to 30 Oct. 1950. He also never served in the Vietnam conflict.
BEGINNINGS:
Alfred was raised in a severely dysfunctional family in Cooperstown, Ottawa, MI. His parents Ben Knoper & Anna Bing were married only a few months after Ben was discharged from the Army in 1919 post WW1. Ben had served in an infantry machine gun unit. Anna was pregnant at the time of the marriage so this may not have been a marriage based on love. It is unknown how the two of them met but it is suspected the one of Anna's brothers introduced the two of them in Grand Rapids. At this time Ben was employed by the Ottawa county road department driving vehicles.
Ben Knoper was a chronic gambler, gambling away the family's meager funds so they were destitute much of the time. One survival approach was to move his family from home to home to stay one step ahead of creditors and to avoid paying rent. His wife Anna gave a diamond ring to her sister Mary for safekeeping to prevent Ben from taking and selling it.
During Alfred's youth for at least a decade his mother Anna L. Bing-Knoper spent long periods of time in Michigan tuberculosis sanitariums. It is unknown how she contracted the tuberculosis that would eventually kill her, but her father had died from the disease.
Ben was emotionally, verbally, and physically abusive towards Anna, methodically stripping all her dignity. The children witnessed Ben's and later recalled his behavior. During this period Al's father dated a series of girlfriends who he introduced to his children, even gluing his girlfriends' photographs into the children's scrapbooks. Ben also periodically abandoned his children, leaving on vacations with his current girlfriend, while his children (some toddlers) were left alone to fend for themselves without food. The eldest daughter Kathryn tried her best to take care of the younger one's; she recalled at one time there was no food in the home so she made patties of flour and water. In one instance his daughter recounted Ben burning Anna's prized violin in a wood stove after finding that she had visited a movie theatre. The violin was never replaced.
Alfred stated that when he was 5 years of age he was kicked in the head by a draff horse which necessitated his relearning to walk and talk. The evidence supports his claim. Military papers indicate he stuttered in his younger years when he was excited. His 1941 high school yearbook Freshman class photo shows him to be an overly tall student, towering above his cohorts. His sister Donna who was three years younger than him is found to one year ahead of him in high school. Military selective service registration confirm his being 19 years of age in June 1942, and at his enlistment in Dec 1942 he was a 2nd year high school student (this would have put him at least 4 years behind his peer group). Indeed this academic delay supports his claim to have been kicked in the head; although a forceful draft horse kick would probably have killed him, rather he may have been just brushed by a leg or hoof.
Al's academic/educational deficiency was worsened by his decision to forego his education in lieu of WW2 military service where he was given focused vocational training. Simply speaking he was about 4-5 years older than his high school peers, his home life was terrible, his younger sister who was more advanced in high school than him would be leaving the home soon leaving him alone with his parents, he had little money, no positive expectations, and probably was concerned about being drafted. He had few options available. Even after enlisting he never shared with the military doctors that he had sustained severe brain injury in his youth which probably would have caused him to have a 4F rejection.
Alfred had just turned 14 years of age when his mother Anna died. She had been frequently due to her chronic tuberculosis, but still she loved her children dearly. After her death, Ben Knoper rapidly remarried girlfriend, and divorce Anne Lepley-Henkle whom he had been having an affair with during his marriage to Anna Bing. Ms. Henkle had two older teenage children who she brought into the Cooperstown household. These children were given preferential care including special food allocations, etc.. Alfred and his brother Robert had the additional burden of both being stutters.
For 9 months in 1941-1942 Al squeezed in part-time work as a 35mm film, movie projectionist at the local theatre. He enjoyed tinkering with radios at this time and learning the projection equipment. From his projectionist earnings he gave his younger sister Donna spending money which she greatly appreciated and applied towards beautician training. After high school graduation she left home immediately finding work as a beautician in Grand Rapids. His sister Kathryn found refuge in a marriage immediately after her own graduation. His older favored brother Robert was more fortunate as his father had found him a position with his own employer, the Ottawa County Road Department.
MILITARY SERVICE:
Alfred completed his required WW2 selective service registration on 30 June 1942 where he identified himself as an unemployed 19 yr old. Five months later on 3 Dec 1942 he enlisted in the Air Corps which was the preferred service selection of virtually all enlistees. In his original enlistment papers he identified himself as a current high school student. However, other official papers over his service career improperly declared he graduated high school (which he also told his children). But separation papers indicated he had completed 8 years of grammar school and 2 years of high school (actually one year and a few months is the true figure). A final photo has been found of him in the Freshman Class of Cooperstown High School 1941 Yearbook.
The Air Corps performed careful sorts of their enlisted men attempting to choose those with acceptable aptitudes, the remaining men were sent onto the regular Army; Al appears to have survived this process. He wanted to be a Radio Repairman but the Air Corp had other plans for him. From 17 Dec 1942 to 1 Mar 1945 he went through a series of Air Corp courses: initially Airplane & Eng. Mechanic, then Bombsight Mechanic, & finally Aerial Machine Gunner. He earned his AAF Air Crew Member Badge "Wings." Eventually he was deployed to England, leaving US control on 25 Mar 1945. He arrived on 5 Apr 1945 in England to the Eighth Air Force, 91st Bombardment Group - 322nd Bombardment Squadron H (i.e. H ... "Heavy"... heavy bomber) where he served initially as a semi-skilled A.M. Gunner [i.e. Aerial Machine Gunner]. The heavy bombers of the squadron, principally the B-17's, were headquartered and flew their combat missions out of Air Force Station 121, RAF Bassingbourne, Cambridgeshire, England (APO 557) It was considered the "country club" of air bases as it had fine, permanent facilities. The air gunner's responsibility was to defend the aircraft and keep everyone safe. It was an awesome and indispensable responsibility.
Alfred was a member of the 322nd for only the last 19 days of the squadron 's bombing missions of the war; 14 completed missions were recorded by the "H" squadron during this time frame, of those his official record firmly states that that just flew on 2 combat missions. These final squadron missions concentrated on bombing German communications, marshalling yards, bridges, and fuel dumps until its last mission on 25 Apr 1945 targeting an airfield at Pilsen, Czechoslovakia. Before Al's arrival the squadron had suffered horrendous losses but these subsided as the war drug on due to shifts in equipment, aircraft, and German losses. Generally during Alfred's brief time with the "H" squadron their losses were minimal and generally due to anti-aircraft fire (aka "flak), but on 8 April 1945 the squadron experienced significant loss while its bombers were attacking the locomotive repair facilities at the railroad marshaling yards in Stendal, Saxony-Anhalt Germany. The squadron was bombing through clouds using H2S ground search radar to identify the target area. The flak was moderate, causing major damage to four B-17s and minor damage to thirteen others. Two bombers from the 91st Bomb Group were lost, including "Wee Willie" whose downing was caught on film footage
After cessation of bombing on 15 May 1945 Alfred was quickly transferred to Bombardment Squadron(K) as a skilled AP & Eng Gun Mech casual. (He was probably utilized as a mechanic until returning stateside.) He reminisced that on his final day at the Bassingbourne, the base was virtually empty with no food service. He satisfied his hunger with toast spread with marmalade.
His military record shows he was a Flight Maintenance Gunner 748 in Central Europe Air Combat GO 46 (General Order 46), receiving his American Theatre Ribbon, EAME (European African Middle Eastern) Ribbon without stars, Good Conduct Medal, and Victory Medal. After this in June 1945 the squadron was engaged in inventorying and disassembling German Air Force equipment and facilities, and evacuating prisoners from German camps after the war ended; but Alfred probably was not involved in this activity as he returned to the states quickly and apparently the medium weight (M) squadron that was positioned in Belgium did this work. Staff Sgt. Knoper served out the rest of his term as a "bomb mechanic" at Ball Field, LA. & and "guard patrol" at MacDill Field, FL
[Commentary: In 1942, during the first three months of America's combat flights over Europe, the average bomber crew was expected to complete 8-12 missions before being shot down or disabled. With this in mind, the US Army Air Force decided that 25 missions would constitute a "completed tour of duty" because of the "physical and mental strain on the crew." In 1942-43 it was statistically impossible for bomber crews to complete a 25-mission tour in Europe. Over time that '25 mission' limit was extended further & further. By 1944 crews were seeing over 52 missions. US Army Air Forces gunners defended bombers against fighter attacks with machine guns aimed by hand ("flexible guns") and electrically-powered gun turrets. Typically, gunners made up half of a bomber crew, manning a top turret, ball turret, two waist guns, and a tail turret. The aircraft losses were unsustainable as the gunners could not provide sufficient protection for the bombers. So the American bombers began using fighter escorts which drastically decreased losses and allowed deeper penetration deeper within the Third Reich.]
Al left his civilian property with his father when he enlisted. Like many men he entrusted his military pay & savings to his father for safekeeping when he was sent to Europe for the "fight." Upon discharge on 9 Jan 1946 he returned back home to Michigan where he quickly learned of father and brother's profound betrayal. Believing Al would die in the war, in the short time they had access of Al's savings they had exhausted his entire military pay & savings on luxury items for themselves. Once Al had left for Europe in Mar 1945 his father Ben & older brother Robert purchased luxury items for themselves including leather bomber jackets. Upon his discharge and return to Cooperstown, Al found he had nothing but the clothes on his back and a trunk of items from high school (books, etc.). This resulted in Al's estrangement from his father Ben & his only brother Robert which never resolved.
Over a decade after Al's death, his brother Robert may have had misgivings about his relationship with Alfred. With the continued welcoming gestures of Alfred's eldest daughter, Robert was able to develop a good relationship with his nieces & nephew, visiting Oregon several times. Much to everyone's surprise, childless Robert left 50% of his estate to Alfred's children which was very kind of him and greatly appreciated.
With only a ten-month exception, immediately after the war ended, Alfred served continuously in the military resulting in a 22 year career Unfortunately he never learned skills transferrable to the civilian work force. Upon his WW2 discharge he returned to Cooperstown where he attempted to find work and did so in one month at the Muskegon manufacturing plant of Brunswick Blake Collander Company where he worked as a punch operator from Feb 46 to July 46. Al appears to have made no attempt to use the GI Veterans Bill which offered sweeping education/vocation benefits, thus he did not advance his education or skillset, this may have been due to his lack of an adequate high school education and the theft of all his military savings. This fateful error resulted in a lifetime of adverse repercussions.
With his brother & father squandering Al's military savings and having no markable skills nor employment connections after WW2, he found military service remained a relatively easy, viable means of secure employment plus the Air Force provided a "home & community." Upon reenlisting on 30 July 1946, he moved around to multiple stations as a bombsight mechanic, completing additional coursework and eventually was stationed at Fairchild AFB, Spokane, WA for well over a decade working on bomb navigation systems where he moved up into a supervisory position.
Al was growing restless, bored, and tired of the autopilot/navigation system work at Fairchild AFB. He longed to work in the radio and electronics field which had first interested him so long ago as a teenager. He had been unable to obtain a transfer as his due to his Commanding Officier's (aka CO) blocking any moves. Indeed Al remained at Fairchild Air Force Base for ten years which was a remarkable feat in itself. Nonetheless, in the winter of 1962-63 Al slyly obtained a transfer into the ballistic missile program while his CO was out on vacation. His CO was most unhappy about the news. Al received six months of training at Sheppard-Burkburnett AFB outside of Wichita Falls, TX. It was at this time he finally attained his high school GED (aka high school Graduate Equivalency Degree), but his basic education remained lacking. It is estimated that he had an 8-9th grade level of proficiency in Math and English after his GED. This was more than 20 years after leaving high school in the fall of his sophomore year, he finally had completed a GED which evidently was a prerequisite for passing the missile training program.
Following the six-month missile training program he was assigned to what would be his final station at Little Rock AFB, Jacksonville, AR working as a "B-Mat" in Atlas missile program at silos surrounding the immediate area. This work was considered prestigious and entailed working 4 days on-site followed by 4 days time-off. He vehemently hated the job of being forced to "live" with the 4 man team sealed behind the 40 ton door of a missile silo waiting for the doomsday call to be made to them; his attitude soured greatly; he could not "get away" from these men, 2 of them his superiors. On the upside his children appreciated the one pint containers of excess chocolate milk that he would bring back from the missile silo every week. During the two years in Jacksonville, AR his wife Tressa went back into the work force full-time establishing herself as a professional insurance underwriter in Little Rock. The family lived in NCO housing on base and his daughters enjoyed having & riding horses at the air force base stables. It was during this time Alfred turned violent, hostile, irrational, and abusive. The only medical treatment he is remembered as having during this period was injections for elbow tendonitis. His mental health problems went undetected. After 2 years in Arkansas he retired from the US Air Force in June of 1965 as an E8 Master Sargent.
MARRIAGE:
After Alfred's transfer on 23 Apr. 1948 to Fairchild Air Force Base outside of Spokane, WA he met his future wife at a popular roller skating ring. They both were advanced skaters who could dance on skates and skate backwards. He married on 15 Apr 1950, his bride being divorcee Tressa "Terry" Alice Hawley from an old, pioneer, Moscow, Idaho farm family. Like Al, Terry had lost a parent at a young age too; Tressa was 10 years old when her wheat farmer father Eugene E. Hawley died of pneumonia. Al was 14 years of age when his largely absent mother died of chronic tuberculosis. Perhaps their joint, profound absence of a parent helped them bond, or at least they were subconsciously searching for someone to fill a parental void. Neither had the advantage of a caring parent of the opposite sex: a parent who would have hopefully modeled appropriate behavior towards the opposite gender. (Such as how a father treats his wife & daughter, and mother treats her son & husband.) Without this modeling, picking a spouse was problematic.
After four months of marriage Al was sent on Temporary Duty Travel (TDY) to Yokato, Japan beginning 5 Aug. 1950 & returning to the US on 23 Apr 1951. By then they had already conceived their first child. Tressa went through most of the pregnancy and February childbirth alone, without his presence. Five weeks after his first-born's birth he returned from Japan and subsequently took fourteen days of leave to be with his wife and newborn child. Tressa had quit her job with a Spokane insurance agency and spent most of her pregnancy at her cousin Brook Hawley's ranch in Divide, OR where she tried to console herself about the unwanted pregnancy in part by riding horses that summer. Later she confessed to this daughter that she was unwanted (and was raised as such.) This daughter became the scapegoated child.
A second daughter was conceived one month after the birth of the first (her birth was celebrated and she was chosen as the much favored, golden child.)
A third pregnancy resulted in a premature, stillborn boy with an Rh factor issue.
Their only son was born in 1956, again like the eldest daughter he was also unfavored. (He was ignored and not provided parental affection He became an invisible, lost child) Both the middle child and young son inherited their maternal & paternal grandfathers' red hair which is a homozygous recessive trait.
CIVILIAN LIFE:
Upon Al's retirement from the military the family relocated to Beaverton, Oregon in the summer of 1965. This location was nearer to Tressa's Idaho family and had what they thought would be good employment opportunities in the fledgling electronics industry. 42 yr. old Al was still chasing his dream of working in the electronics industry. These efforts proved unsuccessful. He found a couple of weeks of work with Viewfinder in Progress, Oregon repairing the simplistic, mechanical devices.
Finally he found intermittent employment as a marine electrician at the Portland, Oregon shipyards assisting in the refitting of large military ships. When he worked, the jobs paid well but were physically taxing, necessitating the pulling electrical cable throughout the hull and corridors of cold, unheated vessels. His hands became very dry, calloused, with incredibly deep cracks cleaving into his fingers. He complained of the cold. He soon found he was susceptible to sea sickness during the ship's sea trials. Ship refitting was sporadic work totally dependent on military contracts, thus Alfred was unable to sustain little more than 6-months of daily work at a time. This was followed by lengthy periods of unemployment although he received generous unemployment benefits during these times which augmented his permanent $750/month military retirement pay. His wife Terry became the major breadwinner of the family working consistently as an insurance underwriter for Kemper Insurance in downtown Portland.
Even after spending 22 years in military, the family had accumulated very little savings by the time of Al's retirement. Their assets included a new white Vista-Cruiser station wagon car, a 1957 Chev. 2 door sedan, a refrigerator, and a modest amount of furniture. Luckily in 1966 Al & Terry were able to buy their spacious, permanent home in Scholls, Oregon thanks to down payment money gifted by Terry's mother, Lila Hawley, which covered nearly 50% of the $20,000 purchase price. This home provided the first semblance of continuity and consistency in the family's nomadic life. The children were able to attend the same schools for more than 2 consecutive years; they could plan for the future. All three children graduated Hillsboro High School and eventually earned baccalaureate degrees within the Oregon state college system. Alfred never witnessed any of their college graduations.
Al was antisocial and preferred being alone. His main interest was tinkering in Ham Radio & communicating with Ham Radio operators throughout the world. His 1968 Radio Amateur call sign was WN71HD - N, licensed to Alfred L. Knoper, at RFD 2, Box 176K, Hillsboro, OR. He was classed as a Novice as he could not progress to the next level much to his continued frustration, due to being unable to pass the Morse Code speed test which was required at that time. However he did "cheat the system" and go with voice communication frequently. He also enjoyed building small electronic devices and automobile mechanics. Alfred had chronic insomnia, consistently staying up into the early morning hours while tinkering in his shop, drinking black coffee, and smoking cigarettes nonstop. He also enjoyed watching professional wrestling on the television which he thought was real (it was choreographed). He steadfastly refused to socialize or attend community gatherings the couple was invited to, much to Tressa's profound disappointment. He was a good breakfast cook making the weekday morning meal during the children's high school years. Typically he would prepare scrambled eggs, bacon & toast, alternating every other day with stiff oatmeal. He hated all Italian foods such as spaghetti and pizza.
THE AFTERMATH:
Alfred was a terrible father. By 1963 Alfred he had become very hostile to his children who endured his unrelenting physical assaults, verbal and mental abuse. His eldest daughter received the brunt of the physical attacks and verbal rages well into her mid-twenties until Al's death. She suspected that Al may have felt she was illegitimate since she did not have the "Knoper" family's prized auburn hair, but perhaps he was jealous of her academic aptitude.; however, Al's military record confirms that he was present at the time of her conception. Al also physically attacked his son once but this did not continue once the boy was of a stature that he could defend himself. As a 4-yr old his son also nearly electrocuted one evening after discovering an uninsulated electrical transformer left on the living floor by Al within the young child's reach next to an electrical outlet. It is felt he intentionally wanted to inflict injury upon the child. The favored daughter and his wife appeared to have been purposefully not abused. Although Alfred considered himself competent in electrical concepts, he manufactured many electrified objects that were not properly insulated resulting in their being constant threats of electrical shock.
Al's aggressive hostility towards his children continued unabated for 15 years until his death. Tressa never intervened, but rather enabled his behavior for unknown reasons, she may have also been an inverted narcissist or at least suffered from codependency. Sometimes i seemed that Al became the child in the relationship complete with tantrums and Terry served as the enabling mother figure in some distortion of Freud's Oedipus Complex. Because of Al's behavior, he was abhorred by his children who tried to avoid him at all costs. His presence during periods of long unemployment was especially fraught with peril. Not only did he abuse his children but he tortured the family pets, asphyxiating kittens and routinely beating the friendly family's Dalmatian dog, "Duke," with a leather belt and a rubber garden hose that he custom cut into multiple length pieces for that purpose. His children found these sadistic weapons and would repeatedly dispose of them, yet Al would just make more. The eldest daughter was denied medical care from 7th grade onwards and their son was refused simple eye-wear to enable him to pursue high school athletics.
Essentially Alfred just wanted to be left alone with his cigarettes, coffee, in his Ham Radio shack (room). It was not unusual to see him sitting at the kitchen table at 2 or 3AM smoking and drinking coffee in apparent deep thought, oblivious to any outside stimuli. He never socialized with neighbors and had only one known friend who had a shared interest in Ham radio. Although he avoided alcohol, Al was a two-pack a day, chain cigarette smoker, having absolutely no problem blowing smoke into his children's faces during mealtimes which they abhorred.
Alfred seemed to have had a tortured soul and suffered from mental illness undetected by the military and which he kept secret. At 6 ft. 2 in. he was able to maintain a consistent body weight of 156-165lbs throughout his adult life per his military records, suggesting he may have suffered from hyperthyroidism which can cause hostility; however, the traumatic brain injury suffered in his childhood cannot be discounted as the cause of the mental disease. His children have considered a number of mental conditions but his rages suggest he had a psychopathy, specifically malignant narcissism coupled with sociopathic traits. These narcissists have noteworthy rages and Knoper family system had the classical lost child, golden child, scapegoated child, and enabling spouse which lends more credence to the fact that Al was indeed a sociopathic, malignant narcissist. He served for such a short while in England during WW2 that PTSS is not a realistic possibility. Perhaps he inherited a meanspirited personality from his father. Al certainly had a difficult childhood being exposed to prolonged fraternal abuse which he could have modeled into his own adult life as sadism and resulted in his narcissism.
In 1973 Al & Terry were planning to do some traveling and that spring they had bought a new baby-blue & white painted, GMC pickup and camper to drive to Alaska. By this time the 52 year old man's hair was snow white, but he appeared trim and with well toned muscles. Al had had painful legs for many months by then and went to the Vancouver VA Hospital for help. Within a month, in May 1973, he was diagnosed with terminal, non-Hodgkins Lymphoma (this was possibly due to radiation exposure during his military service). The trip to Alaska was canceled.
He was in and out of the VA hospital system, his treatment including uncomfortable chemotherapy and radiotherapy. The latter provided the best results with several months of remission. The chemo resulted in decreased platelet counts necessitating platelet transfusions which he had severe reactions to. It was then that he demonstrated true fear and outwardly cried. He was very, very afraid of death and never came to terms with it. He fought it. He was angry. His cigarette smoking continued unabated until he was placed on oxygen in his final month of life. He never asked for forgiveness from others. He never made peace with himself or others. Never apologized. Never found a spiritual core. He never opened a Bible. He was a mean-spirited man until the bitter end. The world had given him a raw deal and he hated everyone for it.
Alfred's final days were his own personal hell. He was medically released for three days during 1976 Thanksgiving holiday, where the family enjoyed the unusual homemade meal with turkey, trimmings, and pumpkin pies. Everyone knew this would be his last trip home. Ten days before Christmas and after 3.5 years of cancer, he died alone in the early morning at a nursing home. On the previous evening his wife had brought him a chocolate milk shake which she said he savored.
His death literally came as a major relief to his children. They no longer worried about his tirades and his physical attacks. They could visit home and enjoy the holidays without fear. He was neither mourned nor missed. Rather his death marked the ending of a forced association with a truly horrendous man.
Al was not given a formal funeral as he had no friends and thus no mourners. His hurried graveside service on a partially cloudy Oregon afternoon was only attended by his wife, children, a neighbor couple, and the Scholl's preacher whose church the family had never attended. Since he had a long record of military service a formal military gun salute was performed. In the ensuring years his grave was visited by his widow several times (she genuinely seemed to have missed him) and his eldest child thrice. His other two children never visited his gravesite.
Al is not missed by his children, is unknown to his grand-daughter, and will be forgotten to time. Indeed he reaped what he had so carefully sewn over his life. His legacy is of a life wasted and a family destroyed by his abusive, violent actions. His eldest, scapegoated daughter has elected to not privilege him with an image of him on this memorial site in hopes all photographic traces of him will eventually be forgotten.
After 46 years to reflect upon my father's death I am writing his biography in 2022. The task has been skirted for this period as I tried to analyze what went so wrong with him and the implications of his psychotic behavior. I've tried to analyze why Alfred inflicted so much pain and suffering upon his family. This is my best attempt to describe what I know. Most of the military information is from his service records received from the National Archives, childhood background information from genealogy research, and personal anecdotes from my own and family members' recollections.
INCORRECT HEADSTONE INSCRIPTION - Alfred actually did not serve in Korea as is marked on his headstone, rather as he told his son, while he was stationed at Yakoto, Japan (APO 328) his commander had a policy that all men under his supervision complete a single flight over Korea so that it would be on their official record and he would receive a Korea commendation. He accomplished this flight between 1 Aug 1950 to 30 Oct. 1950. He also never served in the Vietnam conflict.
BEGINNINGS:
Alfred was raised in a severely dysfunctional family in Cooperstown, Ottawa, MI. His parents Ben Knoper & Anna Bing were married only a few months after Ben was discharged from the Army in 1919 post WW1. Ben had served in an infantry machine gun unit. Anna was pregnant at the time of the marriage so this may not have been a marriage based on love. It is unknown how the two of them met but it is suspected the one of Anna's brothers introduced the two of them in Grand Rapids. At this time Ben was employed by the Ottawa county road department driving vehicles.
Ben Knoper was a chronic gambler, gambling away the family's meager funds so they were destitute much of the time. One survival approach was to move his family from home to home to stay one step ahead of creditors and to avoid paying rent. His wife Anna gave a diamond ring to her sister Mary for safekeeping to prevent Ben from taking and selling it.
During Alfred's youth for at least a decade his mother Anna L. Bing-Knoper spent long periods of time in Michigan tuberculosis sanitariums. It is unknown how she contracted the tuberculosis that would eventually kill her, but her father had died from the disease.
Ben was emotionally, verbally, and physically abusive towards Anna, methodically stripping all her dignity. The children witnessed Ben's and later recalled his behavior. During this period Al's father dated a series of girlfriends who he introduced to his children, even gluing his girlfriends' photographs into the children's scrapbooks. Ben also periodically abandoned his children, leaving on vacations with his current girlfriend, while his children (some toddlers) were left alone to fend for themselves without food. The eldest daughter Kathryn tried her best to take care of the younger one's; she recalled at one time there was no food in the home so she made patties of flour and water. In one instance his daughter recounted Ben burning Anna's prized violin in a wood stove after finding that she had visited a movie theatre. The violin was never replaced.
Alfred stated that when he was 5 years of age he was kicked in the head by a draff horse which necessitated his relearning to walk and talk. The evidence supports his claim. Military papers indicate he stuttered in his younger years when he was excited. His 1941 high school yearbook Freshman class photo shows him to be an overly tall student, towering above his cohorts. His sister Donna who was three years younger than him is found to one year ahead of him in high school. Military selective service registration confirm his being 19 years of age in June 1942, and at his enlistment in Dec 1942 he was a 2nd year high school student (this would have put him at least 4 years behind his peer group). Indeed this academic delay supports his claim to have been kicked in the head; although a forceful draft horse kick would probably have killed him, rather he may have been just brushed by a leg or hoof.
Al's academic/educational deficiency was worsened by his decision to forego his education in lieu of WW2 military service where he was given focused vocational training. Simply speaking he was about 4-5 years older than his high school peers, his home life was terrible, his younger sister who was more advanced in high school than him would be leaving the home soon leaving him alone with his parents, he had little money, no positive expectations, and probably was concerned about being drafted. He had few options available. Even after enlisting he never shared with the military doctors that he had sustained severe brain injury in his youth which probably would have caused him to have a 4F rejection.
Alfred had just turned 14 years of age when his mother Anna died. She had been frequently due to her chronic tuberculosis, but still she loved her children dearly. After her death, Ben Knoper rapidly remarried girlfriend, and divorce Anne Lepley-Henkle whom he had been having an affair with during his marriage to Anna Bing. Ms. Henkle had two older teenage children who she brought into the Cooperstown household. These children were given preferential care including special food allocations, etc.. Alfred and his brother Robert had the additional burden of both being stutters.
For 9 months in 1941-1942 Al squeezed in part-time work as a 35mm film, movie projectionist at the local theatre. He enjoyed tinkering with radios at this time and learning the projection equipment. From his projectionist earnings he gave his younger sister Donna spending money which she greatly appreciated and applied towards beautician training. After high school graduation she left home immediately finding work as a beautician in Grand Rapids. His sister Kathryn found refuge in a marriage immediately after her own graduation. His older favored brother Robert was more fortunate as his father had found him a position with his own employer, the Ottawa County Road Department.
MILITARY SERVICE:
Alfred completed his required WW2 selective service registration on 30 June 1942 where he identified himself as an unemployed 19 yr old. Five months later on 3 Dec 1942 he enlisted in the Air Corps which was the preferred service selection of virtually all enlistees. In his original enlistment papers he identified himself as a current high school student. However, other official papers over his service career improperly declared he graduated high school (which he also told his children). But separation papers indicated he had completed 8 years of grammar school and 2 years of high school (actually one year and a few months is the true figure). A final photo has been found of him in the Freshman Class of Cooperstown High School 1941 Yearbook.
The Air Corps performed careful sorts of their enlisted men attempting to choose those with acceptable aptitudes, the remaining men were sent onto the regular Army; Al appears to have survived this process. He wanted to be a Radio Repairman but the Air Corp had other plans for him. From 17 Dec 1942 to 1 Mar 1945 he went through a series of Air Corp courses: initially Airplane & Eng. Mechanic, then Bombsight Mechanic, & finally Aerial Machine Gunner. He earned his AAF Air Crew Member Badge "Wings." Eventually he was deployed to England, leaving US control on 25 Mar 1945. He arrived on 5 Apr 1945 in England to the Eighth Air Force, 91st Bombardment Group - 322nd Bombardment Squadron H (i.e. H ... "Heavy"... heavy bomber) where he served initially as a semi-skilled A.M. Gunner [i.e. Aerial Machine Gunner]. The heavy bombers of the squadron, principally the B-17's, were headquartered and flew their combat missions out of Air Force Station 121, RAF Bassingbourne, Cambridgeshire, England (APO 557) It was considered the "country club" of air bases as it had fine, permanent facilities. The air gunner's responsibility was to defend the aircraft and keep everyone safe. It was an awesome and indispensable responsibility.
Alfred was a member of the 322nd for only the last 19 days of the squadron 's bombing missions of the war; 14 completed missions were recorded by the "H" squadron during this time frame, of those his official record firmly states that that just flew on 2 combat missions. These final squadron missions concentrated on bombing German communications, marshalling yards, bridges, and fuel dumps until its last mission on 25 Apr 1945 targeting an airfield at Pilsen, Czechoslovakia. Before Al's arrival the squadron had suffered horrendous losses but these subsided as the war drug on due to shifts in equipment, aircraft, and German losses. Generally during Alfred's brief time with the "H" squadron their losses were minimal and generally due to anti-aircraft fire (aka "flak), but on 8 April 1945 the squadron experienced significant loss while its bombers were attacking the locomotive repair facilities at the railroad marshaling yards in Stendal, Saxony-Anhalt Germany. The squadron was bombing through clouds using H2S ground search radar to identify the target area. The flak was moderate, causing major damage to four B-17s and minor damage to thirteen others. Two bombers from the 91st Bomb Group were lost, including "Wee Willie" whose downing was caught on film footage
After cessation of bombing on 15 May 1945 Alfred was quickly transferred to Bombardment Squadron(K) as a skilled AP & Eng Gun Mech casual. (He was probably utilized as a mechanic until returning stateside.) He reminisced that on his final day at the Bassingbourne, the base was virtually empty with no food service. He satisfied his hunger with toast spread with marmalade.
His military record shows he was a Flight Maintenance Gunner 748 in Central Europe Air Combat GO 46 (General Order 46), receiving his American Theatre Ribbon, EAME (European African Middle Eastern) Ribbon without stars, Good Conduct Medal, and Victory Medal. After this in June 1945 the squadron was engaged in inventorying and disassembling German Air Force equipment and facilities, and evacuating prisoners from German camps after the war ended; but Alfred probably was not involved in this activity as he returned to the states quickly and apparently the medium weight (M) squadron that was positioned in Belgium did this work. Staff Sgt. Knoper served out the rest of his term as a "bomb mechanic" at Ball Field, LA. & and "guard patrol" at MacDill Field, FL
[Commentary: In 1942, during the first three months of America's combat flights over Europe, the average bomber crew was expected to complete 8-12 missions before being shot down or disabled. With this in mind, the US Army Air Force decided that 25 missions would constitute a "completed tour of duty" because of the "physical and mental strain on the crew." In 1942-43 it was statistically impossible for bomber crews to complete a 25-mission tour in Europe. Over time that '25 mission' limit was extended further & further. By 1944 crews were seeing over 52 missions. US Army Air Forces gunners defended bombers against fighter attacks with machine guns aimed by hand ("flexible guns") and electrically-powered gun turrets. Typically, gunners made up half of a bomber crew, manning a top turret, ball turret, two waist guns, and a tail turret. The aircraft losses were unsustainable as the gunners could not provide sufficient protection for the bombers. So the American bombers began using fighter escorts which drastically decreased losses and allowed deeper penetration deeper within the Third Reich.]
Al left his civilian property with his father when he enlisted. Like many men he entrusted his military pay & savings to his father for safekeeping when he was sent to Europe for the "fight." Upon discharge on 9 Jan 1946 he returned back home to Michigan where he quickly learned of father and brother's profound betrayal. Believing Al would die in the war, in the short time they had access of Al's savings they had exhausted his entire military pay & savings on luxury items for themselves. Once Al had left for Europe in Mar 1945 his father Ben & older brother Robert purchased luxury items for themselves including leather bomber jackets. Upon his discharge and return to Cooperstown, Al found he had nothing but the clothes on his back and a trunk of items from high school (books, etc.). This resulted in Al's estrangement from his father Ben & his only brother Robert which never resolved.
Over a decade after Al's death, his brother Robert may have had misgivings about his relationship with Alfred. With the continued welcoming gestures of Alfred's eldest daughter, Robert was able to develop a good relationship with his nieces & nephew, visiting Oregon several times. Much to everyone's surprise, childless Robert left 50% of his estate to Alfred's children which was very kind of him and greatly appreciated.
With only a ten-month exception, immediately after the war ended, Alfred served continuously in the military resulting in a 22 year career Unfortunately he never learned skills transferrable to the civilian work force. Upon his WW2 discharge he returned to Cooperstown where he attempted to find work and did so in one month at the Muskegon manufacturing plant of Brunswick Blake Collander Company where he worked as a punch operator from Feb 46 to July 46. Al appears to have made no attempt to use the GI Veterans Bill which offered sweeping education/vocation benefits, thus he did not advance his education or skillset, this may have been due to his lack of an adequate high school education and the theft of all his military savings. This fateful error resulted in a lifetime of adverse repercussions.
With his brother & father squandering Al's military savings and having no markable skills nor employment connections after WW2, he found military service remained a relatively easy, viable means of secure employment plus the Air Force provided a "home & community." Upon reenlisting on 30 July 1946, he moved around to multiple stations as a bombsight mechanic, completing additional coursework and eventually was stationed at Fairchild AFB, Spokane, WA for well over a decade working on bomb navigation systems where he moved up into a supervisory position.
Al was growing restless, bored, and tired of the autopilot/navigation system work at Fairchild AFB. He longed to work in the radio and electronics field which had first interested him so long ago as a teenager. He had been unable to obtain a transfer as his due to his Commanding Officier's (aka CO) blocking any moves. Indeed Al remained at Fairchild Air Force Base for ten years which was a remarkable feat in itself. Nonetheless, in the winter of 1962-63 Al slyly obtained a transfer into the ballistic missile program while his CO was out on vacation. His CO was most unhappy about the news. Al received six months of training at Sheppard-Burkburnett AFB outside of Wichita Falls, TX. It was at this time he finally attained his high school GED (aka high school Graduate Equivalency Degree), but his basic education remained lacking. It is estimated that he had an 8-9th grade level of proficiency in Math and English after his GED. This was more than 20 years after leaving high school in the fall of his sophomore year, he finally had completed a GED which evidently was a prerequisite for passing the missile training program.
Following the six-month missile training program he was assigned to what would be his final station at Little Rock AFB, Jacksonville, AR working as a "B-Mat" in Atlas missile program at silos surrounding the immediate area. This work was considered prestigious and entailed working 4 days on-site followed by 4 days time-off. He vehemently hated the job of being forced to "live" with the 4 man team sealed behind the 40 ton door of a missile silo waiting for the doomsday call to be made to them; his attitude soured greatly; he could not "get away" from these men, 2 of them his superiors. On the upside his children appreciated the one pint containers of excess chocolate milk that he would bring back from the missile silo every week. During the two years in Jacksonville, AR his wife Tressa went back into the work force full-time establishing herself as a professional insurance underwriter in Little Rock. The family lived in NCO housing on base and his daughters enjoyed having & riding horses at the air force base stables. It was during this time Alfred turned violent, hostile, irrational, and abusive. The only medical treatment he is remembered as having during this period was injections for elbow tendonitis. His mental health problems went undetected. After 2 years in Arkansas he retired from the US Air Force in June of 1965 as an E8 Master Sargent.
MARRIAGE:
After Alfred's transfer on 23 Apr. 1948 to Fairchild Air Force Base outside of Spokane, WA he met his future wife at a popular roller skating ring. They both were advanced skaters who could dance on skates and skate backwards. He married on 15 Apr 1950, his bride being divorcee Tressa "Terry" Alice Hawley from an old, pioneer, Moscow, Idaho farm family. Like Al, Terry had lost a parent at a young age too; Tressa was 10 years old when her wheat farmer father Eugene E. Hawley died of pneumonia. Al was 14 years of age when his largely absent mother died of chronic tuberculosis. Perhaps their joint, profound absence of a parent helped them bond, or at least they were subconsciously searching for someone to fill a parental void. Neither had the advantage of a caring parent of the opposite sex: a parent who would have hopefully modeled appropriate behavior towards the opposite gender. (Such as how a father treats his wife & daughter, and mother treats her son & husband.) Without this modeling, picking a spouse was problematic.
After four months of marriage Al was sent on Temporary Duty Travel (TDY) to Yokato, Japan beginning 5 Aug. 1950 & returning to the US on 23 Apr 1951. By then they had already conceived their first child. Tressa went through most of the pregnancy and February childbirth alone, without his presence. Five weeks after his first-born's birth he returned from Japan and subsequently took fourteen days of leave to be with his wife and newborn child. Tressa had quit her job with a Spokane insurance agency and spent most of her pregnancy at her cousin Brook Hawley's ranch in Divide, OR where she tried to console herself about the unwanted pregnancy in part by riding horses that summer. Later she confessed to this daughter that she was unwanted (and was raised as such.) This daughter became the scapegoated child.
A second daughter was conceived one month after the birth of the first (her birth was celebrated and she was chosen as the much favored, golden child.)
A third pregnancy resulted in a premature, stillborn boy with an Rh factor issue.
Their only son was born in 1956, again like the eldest daughter he was also unfavored. (He was ignored and not provided parental affection He became an invisible, lost child) Both the middle child and young son inherited their maternal & paternal grandfathers' red hair which is a homozygous recessive trait.
CIVILIAN LIFE:
Upon Al's retirement from the military the family relocated to Beaverton, Oregon in the summer of 1965. This location was nearer to Tressa's Idaho family and had what they thought would be good employment opportunities in the fledgling electronics industry. 42 yr. old Al was still chasing his dream of working in the electronics industry. These efforts proved unsuccessful. He found a couple of weeks of work with Viewfinder in Progress, Oregon repairing the simplistic, mechanical devices.
Finally he found intermittent employment as a marine electrician at the Portland, Oregon shipyards assisting in the refitting of large military ships. When he worked, the jobs paid well but were physically taxing, necessitating the pulling electrical cable throughout the hull and corridors of cold, unheated vessels. His hands became very dry, calloused, with incredibly deep cracks cleaving into his fingers. He complained of the cold. He soon found he was susceptible to sea sickness during the ship's sea trials. Ship refitting was sporadic work totally dependent on military contracts, thus Alfred was unable to sustain little more than 6-months of daily work at a time. This was followed by lengthy periods of unemployment although he received generous unemployment benefits during these times which augmented his permanent $750/month military retirement pay. His wife Terry became the major breadwinner of the family working consistently as an insurance underwriter for Kemper Insurance in downtown Portland.
Even after spending 22 years in military, the family had accumulated very little savings by the time of Al's retirement. Their assets included a new white Vista-Cruiser station wagon car, a 1957 Chev. 2 door sedan, a refrigerator, and a modest amount of furniture. Luckily in 1966 Al & Terry were able to buy their spacious, permanent home in Scholls, Oregon thanks to down payment money gifted by Terry's mother, Lila Hawley, which covered nearly 50% of the $20,000 purchase price. This home provided the first semblance of continuity and consistency in the family's nomadic life. The children were able to attend the same schools for more than 2 consecutive years; they could plan for the future. All three children graduated Hillsboro High School and eventually earned baccalaureate degrees within the Oregon state college system. Alfred never witnessed any of their college graduations.
Al was antisocial and preferred being alone. His main interest was tinkering in Ham Radio & communicating with Ham Radio operators throughout the world. His 1968 Radio Amateur call sign was WN71HD - N, licensed to Alfred L. Knoper, at RFD 2, Box 176K, Hillsboro, OR. He was classed as a Novice as he could not progress to the next level much to his continued frustration, due to being unable to pass the Morse Code speed test which was required at that time. However he did "cheat the system" and go with voice communication frequently. He also enjoyed building small electronic devices and automobile mechanics. Alfred had chronic insomnia, consistently staying up into the early morning hours while tinkering in his shop, drinking black coffee, and smoking cigarettes nonstop. He also enjoyed watching professional wrestling on the television which he thought was real (it was choreographed). He steadfastly refused to socialize or attend community gatherings the couple was invited to, much to Tressa's profound disappointment. He was a good breakfast cook making the weekday morning meal during the children's high school years. Typically he would prepare scrambled eggs, bacon & toast, alternating every other day with stiff oatmeal. He hated all Italian foods such as spaghetti and pizza.
THE AFTERMATH:
Alfred was a terrible father. By 1963 Alfred he had become very hostile to his children who endured his unrelenting physical assaults, verbal and mental abuse. His eldest daughter received the brunt of the physical attacks and verbal rages well into her mid-twenties until Al's death. She suspected that Al may have felt she was illegitimate since she did not have the "Knoper" family's prized auburn hair, but perhaps he was jealous of her academic aptitude.; however, Al's military record confirms that he was present at the time of her conception. Al also physically attacked his son once but this did not continue once the boy was of a stature that he could defend himself. As a 4-yr old his son also nearly electrocuted one evening after discovering an uninsulated electrical transformer left on the living floor by Al within the young child's reach next to an electrical outlet. It is felt he intentionally wanted to inflict injury upon the child. The favored daughter and his wife appeared to have been purposefully not abused. Although Alfred considered himself competent in electrical concepts, he manufactured many electrified objects that were not properly insulated resulting in their being constant threats of electrical shock.
Al's aggressive hostility towards his children continued unabated for 15 years until his death. Tressa never intervened, but rather enabled his behavior for unknown reasons, she may have also been an inverted narcissist or at least suffered from codependency. Sometimes i seemed that Al became the child in the relationship complete with tantrums and Terry served as the enabling mother figure in some distortion of Freud's Oedipus Complex. Because of Al's behavior, he was abhorred by his children who tried to avoid him at all costs. His presence during periods of long unemployment was especially fraught with peril. Not only did he abuse his children but he tortured the family pets, asphyxiating kittens and routinely beating the friendly family's Dalmatian dog, "Duke," with a leather belt and a rubber garden hose that he custom cut into multiple length pieces for that purpose. His children found these sadistic weapons and would repeatedly dispose of them, yet Al would just make more. The eldest daughter was denied medical care from 7th grade onwards and their son was refused simple eye-wear to enable him to pursue high school athletics.
Essentially Alfred just wanted to be left alone with his cigarettes, coffee, in his Ham Radio shack (room). It was not unusual to see him sitting at the kitchen table at 2 or 3AM smoking and drinking coffee in apparent deep thought, oblivious to any outside stimuli. He never socialized with neighbors and had only one known friend who had a shared interest in Ham radio. Although he avoided alcohol, Al was a two-pack a day, chain cigarette smoker, having absolutely no problem blowing smoke into his children's faces during mealtimes which they abhorred.
Alfred seemed to have had a tortured soul and suffered from mental illness undetected by the military and which he kept secret. At 6 ft. 2 in. he was able to maintain a consistent body weight of 156-165lbs throughout his adult life per his military records, suggesting he may have suffered from hyperthyroidism which can cause hostility; however, the traumatic brain injury suffered in his childhood cannot be discounted as the cause of the mental disease. His children have considered a number of mental conditions but his rages suggest he had a psychopathy, specifically malignant narcissism coupled with sociopathic traits. These narcissists have noteworthy rages and Knoper family system had the classical lost child, golden child, scapegoated child, and enabling spouse which lends more credence to the fact that Al was indeed a sociopathic, malignant narcissist. He served for such a short while in England during WW2 that PTSS is not a realistic possibility. Perhaps he inherited a meanspirited personality from his father. Al certainly had a difficult childhood being exposed to prolonged fraternal abuse which he could have modeled into his own adult life as sadism and resulted in his narcissism.
In 1973 Al & Terry were planning to do some traveling and that spring they had bought a new baby-blue & white painted, GMC pickup and camper to drive to Alaska. By this time the 52 year old man's hair was snow white, but he appeared trim and with well toned muscles. Al had had painful legs for many months by then and went to the Vancouver VA Hospital for help. Within a month, in May 1973, he was diagnosed with terminal, non-Hodgkins Lymphoma (this was possibly due to radiation exposure during his military service). The trip to Alaska was canceled.
He was in and out of the VA hospital system, his treatment including uncomfortable chemotherapy and radiotherapy. The latter provided the best results with several months of remission. The chemo resulted in decreased platelet counts necessitating platelet transfusions which he had severe reactions to. It was then that he demonstrated true fear and outwardly cried. He was very, very afraid of death and never came to terms with it. He fought it. He was angry. His cigarette smoking continued unabated until he was placed on oxygen in his final month of life. He never asked for forgiveness from others. He never made peace with himself or others. Never apologized. Never found a spiritual core. He never opened a Bible. He was a mean-spirited man until the bitter end. The world had given him a raw deal and he hated everyone for it.
Alfred's final days were his own personal hell. He was medically released for three days during 1976 Thanksgiving holiday, where the family enjoyed the unusual homemade meal with turkey, trimmings, and pumpkin pies. Everyone knew this would be his last trip home. Ten days before Christmas and after 3.5 years of cancer, he died alone in the early morning at a nursing home. On the previous evening his wife had brought him a chocolate milk shake which she said he savored.
His death literally came as a major relief to his children. They no longer worried about his tirades and his physical attacks. They could visit home and enjoy the holidays without fear. He was neither mourned nor missed. Rather his death marked the ending of a forced association with a truly horrendous man.
Al was not given a formal funeral as he had no friends and thus no mourners. His hurried graveside service on a partially cloudy Oregon afternoon was only attended by his wife, children, a neighbor couple, and the Scholl's preacher whose church the family had never attended. Since he had a long record of military service a formal military gun salute was performed. In the ensuring years his grave was visited by his widow several times (she genuinely seemed to have missed him) and his eldest child thrice. His other two children never visited his gravesite.
Al is not missed by his children, is unknown to his grand-daughter, and will be forgotten to time. Indeed he reaped what he had so carefully sewn over his life. His legacy is of a life wasted and a family destroyed by his abusive, violent actions. His eldest, scapegoated daughter has elected to not privilege him with an image of him on this memorial site in hopes all photographic traces of him will eventually be forgotten.
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