HomeMy WebLinkAboutHershell Eskue, Brazos Valley Heroes
One in a series of tributes to members of "The Greatest
II Generation" who served our country during World War II
Hershell Eskue is a plwsically strong man, even at
the age of 86. Having"tieen a professional farrier, or
horseshoer, for 35 years, from 1960 to 1995, a person
would reason that is why he is a physically strong man
at his age.
But when you see his right arm, with the misshapen
muscle and scars, you wonder how he was able to do
such physically demanding worK. Eskue was born in
1921 in Rains County, Texas, and attended the Flatt
school.
"We were poor as a church mouse. In 1929 the Great
Depression had hit and pretty much everyone was in
trouble, not just us. As a teenager i was finally able to
go to work with the CCC in 1938. We were allowed
to work so long and were then discharged. I worked
in Arizona and Colorado building roadside parks and
doing erosion control jobs.
"I worked in Paris, Texas, at a crate factory for 30
cents per hour for a while and then went to work on
wheat farms in West Texas near a little town named
Anderson. That is where I met my wife, Mildred.
, She was roller skating in the school gym. There
wasn't much else to do then in a West Texas farming
community.
"I had received my draft notice, and on December 7,
1941, I was Mchhiking to Dallas to take my physical.
When I caught one of my rides, the fella told me that
~ had just been reported that the Japs had bombed
Peari Harbor. I had my exam the next day in Dallas
and two weeks later I was in Mineral Wells at Camp
Wolters for basic training."
Eskue was assigned to the 37th Infantry, an Ohio
Nalional Guard unll that had been activated. They
I were soon on their way to California and then to New
Zealand.
"From New Zealand, we went to the FIJI Islands for
some Jungle training. From there, we were sent to
Guadalcanal. Most of the heavy fighting was over by
E then. We conducted cleanup operations for the next
Il' three months, talking out the last pockets of Japenese
lieft on the Island.
"I remember the first night we were on Guadalcanal.
Japanese bombers conducted an air raid and we
. -- - - ~.. ---....
didn't know what to do or where to go. So about 1 0 of
us took oft running. Right into the garbage pit. It was
not a good beginning to my combat duty."
After Guadalcanal, Eskue and his un~ were sent to
invede Munda Island in the New Georgia Islands. Their
objective was to capture an airfield the Japenese had in
operation. It was an airfield that Eskue would never see.
"We spent the first 14 days on daylight petrols and
sleeping in foxholes at night. The Japanese were
hidden in pillboxes that were covered over. You could
walk right over them and never see them, until they
wanted to be seen.
"On July 28, 1943, we had a big push against a
Japanese position. I was a squad leader and a
member of my squad had been hit. I had the medics '
slide me a stretcher to put him on so we could get him
out. I straddled him to get him on the stretcher and
when I raised up to lift him onto the stretcher, I was h~
in the right arm. At first I thought I had lost ~.
"I walked back down a trail to the field hosp~1 and
the next day I was taken by a Higgins boat to New
Caledonia to a hosp~1. I eventually was sent back to
the states on a casuaity ship for surgery, eventually
ending up at Brooks Army Hosp~1 in San Antonio.
"When I got my first furtough, I headed to Amarillo to
marry Mildred and then back to San Antonio for more
surgery and treatment. I was finally discharged on
June 12, 1945."
After the Army, Eskue worked in the printing business
and came to work for the A&M Press in 1959, retiring
in 1975. His horseshoing career lasted for another 20
years.
"After all these years later, my arm is still there because
of what the Army doctors did for me. It was the best
treatment and surgery that was available then. When
all is said and done, I'm a pretty lucky guy."
Hershell Eskue's name can be found on the Brazos
Valley Veterans Memorial. For more information, to
make a contribution, or if you know a Wortd War II
veteran. whose story needs to be told, contact the
BWM at www.veteransmemorial.org or Bill Youngkin
at (979) 260-7030.
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