HomeMy WebLinkAboutGeorge Russell, Brazos Valley Heroesif y
ES
N.,,,XI
George Russell, of the New Baden community of northern
Robertson County, has "cowboyed" and run cattle all his IRe.
it has been such a part of his fife that when he had his photo
taken for this article, he wore his cowboy hat "just so folks
would recognize me."
Although he has wom a cowboy hat for most of his 86 years,
he wore the hat and helmet of a U.S. Army soldier for almost 4
years during Word War 11.
"I left the New Baden school in 1937 so I could join the CCC.
Times were very hard and everyone had to scramble to make
a dollar. I was sent to build fence on government land at High
Roll, N.M. I had never been so far from home before. I thought
they had shipped me to the other side of the word. In 1942
1 found out what being shipped to the other side of the world
really meant.
"On December 7,1941, my fiance and now wffe, Lavelle, and
I were attending church at Gourd Neck Church when some of
the members came in mentioning what they had heard on the
radio. We were to be marred the next Saturday, which we did,
but I knew this would probably affect our lives and real soon.
Within three months I received my draft notice. There were
three busloads of boys that left Franklin that day, headed to San
Antonio. One of them was Rex Hughes, a guy I had grown up
with and had hunted and fished together with since we were
old enough to do so. We decided we would try our best to stay
together. When we got to San Antonio and theysfarted dividing
people, we would slip into the same group.
"We had 13 weeks of training and then all the group got
orders and were shipped to California, except me. A few days
later I was sent to California, too, and was able to join back up
with Rex and the rest On the 31st of July, we shipped out for
Australia.
"We were sent to northern Australia for more training.
Rex and I stayed together until they put us in different heavy
weapons companies of the 41st Division. We were sent to
relieve the Aussies at Milne Bay, New Guinea. When we got
there, we didn't have our own guns. We had to use the guns the
Australians were using when we relieved them.
"The area was infested with Japanese and t took us awhile
to dean them out of that area and at Colangua. New Guinea had
just about the worst jungle and terrain you could imagine. You
had to dig a new trench each night to lay in and we would take
turns sleeping for two hours and watch for two hours."
Russell's toughest duty was yet to come, the invasion of Biak
Island. The Japanese had an air base on Biak that was a vital
target for the Allied forces.
"We were suppose to come ashore at night when the tide
was out. Instead, the tide was in and we had to wade in with
water up to our chins. The Japs knew we were coming so when
we got ashore, they started bombing us. Risk was a coral island
and you couldn't dig more than 7 or 8 inches.
"I was digging a trench with one of the guys we called "Rojo,"
who was a Spanish guy. He would dig and when the bombers
came over, we would get as low in our trench as possible and
he would pray and say his Hail Marys. it seemed as though the
bombers were just over our heads, but they were probably a
thousand feet up. Butthey were dose enough that you could see
the lights inside the planes when the bomb bay doors opened
and you could see the bombs being dropped on us.
"You learned real quick that t you could hear the bombs as
they were coming down, you were ok because they were going
to land somewhere else. it was when you couldn't hear them
that you needed to worry because you knew they were coming
toward you. Our digging in the coral rock and Rojo's Hail Marys
must have worked, because we survived the night.
"About three weeks into the battle I sat down and was going
to take my boots off. They hadn't been off my feet for the entire
lime. After I took my boots off, there was a big commotion and
I scrambled to get my boats back on. With one boot just about
on, this Japanese guy came over my trench just as I was trying
to get my boot on. Thank goodness someone shot him because
I would have been the only guy that would have died without
his boots on.
"When t was over, we had to gather up the Japanese dead
and bury them in trenches. I don't think I've ever gotten any
sicker than I did after collecting all those corpses."
Russell came home to New Baden from the Philippines
shortly after the atomic bomb was dropped on Japan.
"I wish it could have been dropped earlier. It would have
saved even more lives."
Russell farmed and ranched near New Baden and worked at
GATX in Heame for 30 years, refining from GM in 1981.
"They have just dug an all well on my place and now maybe
I can quit ranching, too. Rex made it home as well, and we
continued to hunt and fish together until his death about 10
years ago. We sure got to share some memories together."
If you know of a World War II veteran whose story needs to be
told, contact Bill Youngkin at (979) 260 -7030. If you would like
to add someone's name to the Brazos Valley Veterans Memorial,
names must be submitted by August 15, 2006 in order to be
engraved on the wall by this year's Veterans Day observance.
The Eagle
Here when you neeE us.
World War II Veteran Raymond Schultz will be the guest on
"Veterans of the Valley" Friday, April 28, at 8:30 p.m. on KAMU -TV
Veterans of the Valley, hosted by WTAW's Tom Turbiville, can be seen ($
Fridays at 8:30 p.m. and Saturdays and Sundays at 6:30 p.m. - xueau,nu<au
Channel 15/cm mdN
of `The Greatest
Generation" who served our country during World War II