HomeMy WebLinkAbout Hawley E. West, Brazos Valley HeroesBy Bill Youngkin
Special to The Eagle
Those who saw the movie "Flags of Our Fathers"
may recall the brutal and stark landscape on Iwo Jima.
According to Hawley E. West of Kurten, the landscape
was just as stark in person as it appeared in the
movie.
West, who turned 88 on October 9, was born in
San Angelo but moved to his mother's family home in
Bryan when he was very young. He grew up in the
Bryan schools, graduated in 1939, and worked at Lilly
Dairy after graduation. When the war started, he was
married and had a child.
As he recalled, "I was drafted the first time, and
when I went to take my physical I flunked for some
reason. But I was drafted a second time in 1944. 1
now had two children, but apparently what caused
me to flunk my first physical had either gone away or
improved, because they declared me physically fit to
serve.
"I was sent to R. Sam Houston, where my brother
Bill was also serving. I was the oldest of four boys and
older than my wife's two brothers, but I was the last
to enter the service from both families. I did my basic
training at Ft. Hood and advanced training at Ft. Ord,
California. I was sent to R. Lewis, Washington, where
we shipped out through Puget Sound to Hawaii. It took
us a while to get there, as we had to zigzag across the
ocean. We were stacked in the ship in berths and if the
guy in the top berth got seasick, it was hard for those
in the lower berths not to get sick also.
"We landed in Hawaii, where we trained some
more and were then sent to Eniwetok Island and then
to Saipan. From Saipan we were shipped to Iwo Jima
as replacements for the 4th Marines, who had been the
original assault troops on Iwo. When we loaded aboard
those LSTs to go to the island, we had heard about the
loss of life there. That mountain and the island looked
very stark and uninviting. Needless to say, most of us
were green troops and we were scared stiff.
"The island had basically been secured, but the
Japanese had dug caves in the mountain and all
around that island. We were supposed to do mop -up
operations, but most of the mopping up took place at
night when the Japanese would try to infiltrate through
our lines.
"My unit was assigned principally to guard the
airstrip that was located on Iwo. That was where the
B -17s that were bombing Japan would fly to for re-
fueling or repairs. Those B -17s had their wings and
underbody painted black so they would be harder to
see at night, which is when they did most of their
bombing.
"The problem about guarding that airstrip is that
was also where most of the supplies were located.
The Japanese had stored rice in those caves, but they
needed our water to survive. That was where they
would try to go at night to get something to eat and
especially something to drink. That was also when
most of the Japanese who remained on Iwo were
mopped up. Those guys never surrendered, even
after the war was over. As far as I know, none of the
Japanese ever gave up. As a result, on Iwo Jima, you
always slept with one eye open.
"One thing I will always remember about Iwo Jima
is the carving of the flag raising that took place on the
top of Mt. Sunbachi. Someone had carved a copy of
the photo in the side of Mt. Suribachi, but I think it may
have worn away by now. I remember Iwo as a place
where a lot of dying took place.
"When the war ended the only way home for us
was by ship, and we didn't have too many come by
Iwo. I finally got to head home in late 1946. Before we
could go home we had to clean the island of all military
equipment - I guess in case the Japanese ever decided
to start another war. We had mounds of Japanese
rifles and artillery pieces that we dug big holes for and
buried. The other equipment we just pushed off the
mountain and into the sea.
"When my ship sailed under the Golden Gate
Bridge in San Francisco, we were a happy bunch of
guys. As soon as I could, l headed home to Texas. I was
discharged at Ft. Sam Houston and took a bus back to
Bryan. All my brothers and brothers -in -law also had
made it home. I had been the last one to go to the
service and I was the last one hgme.
"I went back to work at Lilly Dairy and worked there
until we sold, it in 1979.1 worked for, Southland Corp/
Oak Farms, who bought us, for a while. I'm now doing
what I always did, part-time farming and ranching.
"Looking back on that time in my life, I didn't
volunteer, but I'm glad I served. The military was good
for me. It was where I grew up and became a man. I
don't think we have the same kinds of folks walking
around today that we did back then, and that concerns
me as a country."
Hawley E. West's name is found on the Brazos
Valley Veterans Memorial. If you want to have a name
added to the Veterans Memorial, for more information,
to make a contribution, or if you know a World War
II veteran whose story needs to be told, contact the
BWM at www.veteransmemorial.org or Bill Youngkin
at (979) 260 -7030.
The E gle
World War II vet Tom Browning will be the guest on
"Veterans of the Valley" this week on KAMU -TV.
Veterans of the Valley, hosted by WTAW's Tom Turbiville, can be 0,,, „,
seen Fridays at 8:30 p.m. and Saturdays and Sundays at 6:30 p.m.
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One in a series of tributes to members of "The Greau•st
Generation" who served our country during World War II