HomeMy WebLinkAbout Kirby H. Woehst, Brazos Valley Heroes„ a
One in a series of tributes to members of "The Greatest
Generation” who served our country during World war 11
Third of Three Paris
By Bill Youngkin
Special to The Eagle
During Word War II, our soldiers and sailors went to
war but those left behind at home suffered the separation
of family and the uncertainties of that separation. Such
was the case for Kirby H. Woehst and wife, Harriett, of
Madisonville:
The Woehsts — both graduates of Reagen High in
Houston; Kirby in 1939 and Harriett in 1941 — were
marred the week Harriett graduated.
"Harriett and I were attending the movie with another
couple in downtown Houston at Loews State Theatre
when we were informed about the attack on Pear Harbor.
I remember thinking that the war wasn't going to take too
long. I had no idea how unprepared for war our country
was after Pearl Harbor.
"I was working as a carpenter building barracks at
Ellington Feld when Pead Harbor happened. I knew the
draft would be calling soon and I wanted to be a radio
operator and fly, so I volunteered. I went on active duty
in September 1942. 1 started at Fort Sam Houston and
then to Ellington Feld to the barracks I had been helping
build weeks earlier. Because I had been in R.O.T.C. in high
school, I was soon helping drill my fellow recruits.
"Harriett and I were sent to Biloxi. Mississippi for school
and then to Harlingen, Texas for gunnery school. Harriett
was now pregnant with our first child. In Harlingen we
learned to shoot trap and skeet, and because of that we
.learned to lead our targets. When we started thing our .50-
caliber guns, we became pretty good.
"I was sent to Tucson, Arizona where our B -24 crew
was formed up. There were 10 in our crew and I was the
flight engineer and the top turret gunner. We were sent to
Charleston, South Carolina where we picked up our plane
[that] we were to take overseas. We were to be sent to
Mitchell Field, New York where we would leave. I got word
to Harriett who said she was coming to see me off. She
was about eight months pregnant then but she came. As
luck would have it, we had mechanical problems and were
there for two weeks.
"I left Harriett, hoping she could get back to Texas
without having a Yankee baby. We left Christmas Day,
1943, for North Africa. We flew to Brazil and then across
the Atlantic to Dakaar French, West Africa. When we landed
at Tunis, Tunisia we saw first hand the ravages of war. The
area was littered with trucks, tanks, etc., that had been
destroyed in the war.
"We flew on to Carignola, Italy where we operated
as the 738th Squadron of the 454th Bomber Group. We
started with 35 planes and when the war was over, only
four of the original 35 were IefL To maintain our contingent
of 35 planes, we would fly 134 different planes, 130 of
which were replacement planes for the ones that were
damaged or lost.
"We were told that we would have to fly 50 missions
before we would be taken off flight status. I flew my first
mission on February 13, 1944 on a bombing mission to
Northern Italy. That was the same day my son Kirby, who
we called "Cub" was born. I found out three days later
when I received a telegram.
According to Harriett, "The day 'Cub' was born at St
Joseph Hospital in Houston, the nurse /nun who broughl
him in said, 'Where is this boy's father Doesn't he want
to see him ? "'
Harriett remembered: "I broke down crying, telling her
we don't know where he is now. The nun then asked if my
son was illegitimate, whereupon my mother took charge of
the situation and led the nun out of the room explaining to
her that my husband was off fighting the war."
As Kirby said, "getting the news about Cub's birth really
helped but I knew I had a lot more missions to go before I
could see him. Whenever things got tough on any of those
missions, I would just recite the 23rd Psalms. About our
20th mission we ran into some real trouble. The German
fighters were just as wary of us as we were of them. If
they ever flew into our formation they knew they might
not get out. With flak or anti - aircraft fire, all you can do
is ride it out. On that mission we were hit by flak really
bad. The controls were shot off the No. 4 engine. The No.
3 engine had its supercharger knocked out and the No. 2
engine was completely shut down. Only the No.1 engine
was operating normally.
"Our problem was we had to get over the Austrian Alps
and they were taller then we could now fly. We managed to
thread our way between the peaks on one normal engine.
We were running low on fuel but knew we had to clear
Yugoslavia and get over the Adriatic Sea. We made it to
the Adriatic and started throwing everything not tied down
outof the plane to save fuel which was running low. We
managed to cross the Adriatic and get to our base. As we
approached, we shot a red flare to let them know we were
in trouble. We landed and when we tried to taxi to our hard
stand, It ran out of fuel. That was flying and landing on a
wing and a prayer.
"As you got closerto 50 missions, the more apprehensive
you became because we had some crews not make H back
with just one or two missions to go. Near the end of our
50th mission, I was in our top turret and I had previously
had my helmet mashed down so I could wear it over
my headphones. On that day a piece of shrapnel came
through the turret top, hit me on the helmet, bounced off
and larded on the floor. That was when I realized I was
probably going to make it home."
Woehst returned to the states where he was able
to see and hold his son for the first time. He spent the
remainder of the war as an• instructor for other crews.
After his discharge, he worked in the industrial electronics
business for Harrison Company until he and Harriett retired
to the country. In 1990 they moved to Madisonville, where
Kirby served on the City Council and was the mayor of
Madisonville from 1996 to 2003.
"Looking back, God was gracious to Harriett and me
to help us make it through the war. But I will say that my
time in the military also made me a more responsible and
a more confident person."
It also helped him to be a responsible and competent
mayor.
Kirby N. Woehst's name can be found on the Brazos
Valley Veterans Memorial. For more information, to make a
contribution, orilyouknowaWondWarllVeteran whosestory
needs to be told, contact the BWMat www veteransmemonal
org or Bill Youngkin at 979 -260 -7030.
The E file
Here when you need us.
Viet Nam vet Durwood Lewis will be the guest on
"Veterans of the Valley" this week on KAMU -N Veterans of r
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.
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