HomeMy WebLinkAboutErskine Hightower, Jr., Brazos Valley HeroesBy Bill Youngkin
Special to The Eagle
It's often said that it's better to be lucky than good.
To survive World War II, Erskine Hightower Jr. of Hilltop
Lakes had to be both.
Hightower was born in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, in
November 1923. His father was an accountant who•
audited the financial records of federal offices. They
moved often, but Hightower ended up in Houston,
where he graduated from San Jacinto High in 1940.
As Hightower related: "I enrolled at A&M in 1940 as
an aeronautical engineer. The war broke out and the
spring of my junior year we were all called into the Army.
I had enrolled in the artillery at A&M, so I eventually was
sent to Ft. Sill, Oklahoma, for OCS to become an artillery
offices
"I was commissioned on October 28,1943, and was
married the same day. I've been out of the Army for a
long time,.but I'm still married to the same gal. I was
commissioned as a reconnaissance and survey officer.
That meant I was a forward observer. In our classes
at OCS we were told the life expectancy for a second
lieutenant forward observer was about six weeks in
combat, so I didn't have expectations of a long life."
Typically, a forward observer would be inserted into
the forward battle line with an infantry unit. The forward
observer's job was to identify, locate and call in artillery
fire on targets he could see. When an infantry unit was
relieved, the forward observer stayed until relieved by
another forward observer. Forward observers were also
prime targets for enemy troops and artillery, thus the
six-week life expectancy in combat. Hightower beat
the odds by surviving 151 days of combat. But his luck
almost ran out at the Battle of the Bulge.
"We were defending Krinkelt, Belgium,' when the
Germans' offensive started. They were pushing us
around and as a result, my observer team, which
consisted of a Jeep driver, a wire corporal, a radio
sergeant and me, became separated from our outfit.
Our only weapons were .45-caliber pistols, so we took
.30-caliber rifles off dead U.S. soldiers that we ran
across while trying to make contact with our outfit. We
couldn't find our unit, but we ran into some elements
of the 38th Infantry and began helping them with their
artillery support. We were glad to see them but they
were glad to see us, too."
Hightower and his team would stay and fight with
the 38th for several days. As a result, the commander
of the 38th sent a recommendation to Hightower's unit
concerning his service, for which he eventually received
the Bronze Star: That citation reads in part:
"Lt. Hightower's fast and accurate adjustment of fire
on an attacking enemy force, including tanks, stopped
the attack before it could reach the infantry line, and
Another part of Hightower's citation reads, "Entered
the service from Texas."
Hightower did not make it through the Battle of the
Bulge unscathed. He was wounded near the left wrist
and hand area and you can see today the notch it left.
Hightower considered himself fortunate. "I was luckier
than a lot of guys that were lying dead in the snow.
The Germans weren't taking many prisoners during the
Battle of the Bulge. After the Bulge it was us pushing
the Germans out of Belgium and into Germany.
"I remember one town in Germany where a German
machine gun nest was located on the third floor of a
hospital that had our guys pinned down. I had to ask
permission to fire on the hospital and got it. I called in
coordinates I could locate on my map. The first shot hit
short and I called long for the second shot, which hit
directly above the window where the German machine
gun was located. It knocked out the machine gun and
only damaged the bricks above the window. Those guys
thought I was some great forward observer, but it was
just luck."
"Most of the time you don't know how effective your
calls were. If they stopped shooting and retreated, I
figured we had done some good. In combat you never
see the big picture. You only see what is in front and
around yoU, and that is what you try to deal with. You
go where they tell you and do what you are asked to
do. War was about trying to stay alive while doing your
job."
.When the war ended, Hightower returned to the U.S.
on December 31,1945. "We were met by the Red Cross
with milk to drink. I celebrated New Years Eve in New
York with milk. After my discharge, I returned to A&M
to complete my degree, which I did in 1947. The first
day of my engineering class my professor, who also had
been a colonel in the war, said, `Men, I think we need
to start over with this slide rule.' I don't know aboutthe
rest of the class, but I needed a refresher course."
After graduation, Hightower worked for a while
at the Bryan News, the former competition for The
Eagle, before going to work at Texas Instruments as an
engineer, where he worked for the next 31 years.
"My time in the Army helped me in civilian life.
In the line you were on your own. You had to make
important decisions and you had to make them fast.
That experience has served me well."
If you want to have a name added to the Veterans
Memorial in time for the Veterans Day program this
November, you must have the application submitted
before August 15. For more information, to make
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