‘That was one huge project’
By Carol Stender
In his career as an electrician, Erdahl farmer Darrel Liebl has wired some homes, factories and missile silos. Granted, wiring missile silos isn’t an everyday job, but during the roughly three years Liebl spent at the construction sites, he joined others to wire the more than 300 concrete silos and power houses of the defense projects.
Liebl was a newly married young man and burgeoning electrician when he joined others to build and wire the silos. Before he joined the crews, Liebl passed his journeyman’s exam and had joined the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 1247 out of Fergus Falls.
His first few years as an electrician were busy as he helped with the wiring of Otter Tail Power Company’s Hoot Lake Plant following a remodel. He spent two months at the Minot Air Force Base in North Dakota working on B-52 bomber hangars.
Liebl returned to western Minnesota to work in the Glenwood and Fergus Falls areas before heading to the Cheyenne Reservation in South Dakota to assist in flood relief efforts as they moved residents, hospitals, schools, churches and more. His next stop was Hermosa, SD. where he joined 114 other electricians in wiring missile silos for the Ellsworth Air Force Base.
The project was part of the U.S. Army’s effort to construct 1,200 Intercontinental Ballistic Missile silos. Liebl worked both at the Hermosa site and at the Minot AFB’s missile silos. Each of those sites had 150 missile silos.
“That was one huge project,” Liebl said.
He was foreman to one of the 10-man crews at the Hermosa site. His crew focused on the powerhouse.
A large area of land was excavated for the project. Each missile silo, a concrete structure, was 153-feet deep in the ground and 40-feet across. The top of the silo had a four-foot thick concrete door that could bring crews to what would be ground level once the silos were buried.
“We put inserts in the forms so we could screw in rods and bolts for the electrical,” he said.
On four sites in the construction, there was a 2-by-6 or 2-by-8 inch board from the top to the bottom of the silo. A ground wire needed to be placed on the structure. Every six feet, Liebl and his crew had to place a square plate measuring 2.5 inches-by-2.5 inches. An electric drill couldn’t be used due to the distance of the silo so they used a hand drill.
“I started on the bottom of the silo,” he said. “You may have a natural fear of heights, but if you start on the bottom and work up, you lose it. You aren’t looking down.”
He speaks highly of his crew. Today he can still name each crew member by name along with their badge number. Some of the men were older than him, but their age and experience as electricians was something Liebl used to complete the project. He would listen to their suggestions and often use it as they continued their work.
“What I didn’t know, those men taught me,” he said. “It was a situation where I looked out for them and they looked out for me.”
Liebl’s work ethic, mechanical abilities and the personal connections he made with people were developed through his family and life mentors.
Liebl was born in Springfield, Minn., during the Great Depression. He had an older brother who contracted rheumatic fever. It was a time when there weren’t drugs to fight the illness, he said. His brother died and his mother, Louise, became an advocate for her children including Darrel, who suffered a physical injury. Even though he has a lifelong limp due to an accident, he credits his mother’s diligence. He’s been able to do everything he’s wanted as a result.
Liebl attended country school for his first eight years of education. His teacher, Mrs. Hamilton, taught 51 students. She utilized the abilities of the older students to help the younger ones and those needing extra help.
During his grade school years, his father, Joseph, left farming for a few years and built a store in Leavenworth, Minn. Liebl recalled how, at just eight years old, he would help customers and make change.
He attended Sleepy Eye High School for his upper grades where he made a connection with a shop teacher. Although he can’t recall his name, Liebl said the teacher linked well with those who had mechanical abilities. Liebl learned how to read blueprints and make metal plates in his shop classes. These are skills he’s utilized throughout his life.
Next the family moved to Alberta where Liebl’s father once more began farming and where Liebl met electrician Vincent Gallagher.
“That’s where I got started in the electrical trade,” he said.
When his parents later moved to Glenwood, he met and married his wife, Beverly.
Jobs for electricians were scarce at the time, he said, but Liebl found work at the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, CO. While there, he met Jay Clark who was living in the Black Forest at Colorado Springs. The sparsely populated area was where Clark, a minister, was starting a congregation. He asked Liebl for help. The two looked at the church building and, together, listed the needs for the structure.
Liebl got lumber and built seats for the church. Next the pulpit was constructed. On the first Sunday of services, a couple families attended, he said. Within a month there were a dozen families involved in the church worship.
“It’s all a matter of helping people,” Liebl said. “If you can help them, that’s what you want to do.”
His life has been full of adventures ever since, having worked on some interesting electrical projects including the Oahe Dam near Pierre, SD where he helped wire the power house.
Speaking of houses, there was one Beverly fell in love with - it’s the farmhouse and farmland the family calls home. The house itself was over 100 years old, the floor sloped and it needed work, but the family was up to the challenge. Using the skills he learned from the many mentors in his life, Liebl set to right the floors and build the home for the couple and their seven children. His focus became the farm which, originally, had 80 acres.
“It was a decent size,” he said. “I raised hogs and my wife took care of the gardening and the kids.”
When Beverly had a stroke which hampered her mobility, Liebl built a ramp. It was one of several projects he’s created including a grain cart and the rebuilding of several classic cars. He’s also worked on cars that were driven at the Wee Town Speedway.
Beverly died in 2014, but the memories of family and travels they made can be seen in the photos that hang on the walls. And in the materials (the newspaper articles and photos) of the worksites he’s been at.
Liebl, now in his 80s, remembers the past projects fondly, but he’s quick to point out the car and machinery projects waiting for him in the shop. He’s never without a project or desire to help someone when he can.