By: Kay Rabbit-Brower

Before he became a leader on the board at Central Rural Electric, and before became a long-time leader among students at Stillwater High School, C.D. Mihura was respected as a leader by his fellow soldiers during World War II
Mihura characteristically downplays his service during the war, but he came home the recipient of the Silver Star, the Purple Heart, and the Bronze Star, some of the military’s highest honors.
He says he was just another ‘dog face’; a member of the Army’s infantry who spent the War fighting ‘down in the gutters,’ as he terms it. But his courage and bravery earned him the respect of his fellow dogfaces as they fought battles in the Pacific.
Born in Harrah, Mihura says his family moved to rural Payne County when he was two years old and were tenant farmers and were so poor, “we looked up to people on welfare.” Wanting to play his part in contributing to the family’s continual effort to make financial ends meet, Mihura illegally joined the National Guard at 15 by telling them he was older, and earned the standard pay of $1 per week. He felt confident he would be able to continue bringing home that dollar until World War II broke out and he was almost shipped overseas.
As it turns out, proving his correct age and getting out of the Reserves only delayed his participation in the War. But during that time, he was able to complete high school which made him hope achieving a college education could be a reality and not just a dream.
Mihura was drafted shortly after he graduated from Ripley High School. He was sent to Camp Robinson, Arkansas. While there, he got to see President Franklin D. Roosevelt, who had come to inspect the troops.
“He drove by in a convertible,” says Mihura. “This was a big deal to me.”
While waiting to enter the fighting, Mihura was sent to DePaul University in Chicago. “I’d never even known anyone who had gone to college,” says Mihura, who earned about 35 college credits before entering the War.
After more training in Oregon and Hawaii, he was shipped out and was a part of the invasion of the Philippines in the South Pacific in 1944.
“It took us six months to secure the Philippines,” he says. “We had the largest group of ships and convoys ever assembled. I could stand on the deck of my ship and look at ships as far as I could see,” he says. No matter what size the fleet, or the outcome of the fighting, his time in the South Pacific has a profound effect on his approach to the rest of his life.
“I guess, in a way, it has a positive effect on me,” he says. “I can remember thinking that I didn’t care what happened to me the rest of my life, it couldn’t be as bad as this. Your world is about 20 yards all around you,” he says. “It’s the smallest world I was ever in.”
While in the South Pacific, Mihura displayed actions that earned him the Silver Star. His platoon was caught by surprise and pinned down by enemy fire, unable to return to safety. Although the youngest in the platoon, Mihura quickly realized if someone could draw the enemy’s fire away from the platoon, there was a chance for escape. So he did just that, using only a coconut tree as a shield. When the rest of his unit had escaped, they then returned fire from a safer vantage point, and allowed him to also escape. His quick thinking saved the lives of his platoon members. He was awarded the Silver Star and was promoted from the rank of private to sergeant.
After his time in the South Pacific, Mihura was shipped to Okinawa, Japan, where he was wounded.
“I felt safe,” he says. “I was completely surrounded by Allied forces, mostly Americans, when I was hit by a sniper.” The bullet made a hole through his left leg and broke the fibula bone. Because of the injury, he was in a brace for a year after being discharged and doctors were telling him he stood a one in 1,000 chance of the nerves growing together again. But with characteristic Mihura tenacity, they did and he had normal use of his leg.
Once he was back in the US, Mihura supported his wife and children by working for a while, and then he decided he wanted to complete his education. He attended Oklahoma State University and graduated in 23 months. His lifetime regard to education being a privilege and his desire to make a positive impact began what would become a life-long relationship with education.
Mihura would earn three degrees; in mathematics, general science, and physical education. He taught mathematics and was high school basketball coach at Dewey High School, before he was asked to return to his alma mater, Ripley High School, as principal. He was also the elementary school principal and high school basketball coach at Red Rock. He then moved to the Stillwater school system where he remained for 28 years. While there, he coached basketball, football, and baseball, was the elementary principal, and dean of boys at the high school. He retired after 32 years in education.
In 1988, he began his involvement with Central Rural Electric Cooperative, which is headquartered in Stillwater. For the past 12 years, he has represented the members of his district on CREC’s board of trustees. A strong presence on the board, Mihura is the co-ops delegate to the KAMO Power board of trustees, where he is a past president of the board. KAMO Power provides wholesale electricity to CREC and other distribution co-ops in northeastern Oklahoma and southwestern Missouri. And he serves KAMO Power as its delegate to the board of trustees for the Oklahoma Association of Electric Cooperatives.
Like most of the other ‘dog faces’ in World War II, Mihura simply wanted to come back and live a life free of violence and sniper fire. He and those dog faces worked to bring that desire to reality. Mihura made contributions both on the other side of the world and this part of it. No matter if it was saving his platoon, winning the state championship, or serving on the board of the local co-op, Mihura approached these objectives with single-minded determination and a keen sense of what is right: characteristics of our country’s greatest generation.