HomeMy WebLinkAboutPaul Ybarra, Brazos Valley HeroesBy Bili Youngkin
Special to The Eagle
Paul Ybarra of Navasota is a kind, friendly
man who meets everyone with a smile. But when
recounting some of his experiences during World
War II, his smiling eyes water and his chili trembles.
These experiences, though more than 60 years in
the past, still evoke a strong emotional response.
Life for Paul Ybarra began at Clay in Burleson
County on June 21, 1919, on a farm. Farming was
what he did early in life, what he returned to after the
war and what he did for the remainder of his working
life. Now almost 89 years old, he is recovering at the
College Station Med from a fall he recently suffered.
As recalled by Ybarra, "After the war started I
went to the office in Navasota to enlist but was told
that my feet were too flat. I asked to be checked
again and was accepted."
Ybarra entered the army on March 13, 1942,
and was sent to Ft. Sam Houston in San Antonio and
then to Ft. Sill, Okla., for training in artillery. He was
assigned to Camp Barkley, Texas, where he became
part of "A" Battery, 343rd Field Artillery Battalion
of the 90th Infantry Division. The division's Texas-
Oklahoma or "TO" patch was to become known as
the "Tough Ombres." ,.
As recalled by Ybarra, "After, Christmas 1943,
we were sent to Ft. Dix, New Jersey, and in early
1944 we went aboard the Queen Mary for England.
In England uve trained for what we all knew would be
the invasion of France."
On June 3, 1944, the battalion was moved to
Newport, England, where they boarded Liberty ships.
On June 5th, the ships left the harbor and sailed
around the southern tip of England to join up for the
invasion of the Normandy Coast, on June 6, 1944,
D-Day.
Ybarra's unit, as part of the 90th Infantry Division,
went ashore on Utah Beach. Ybarra, though not in the
first wave, went ashore the first day. This memory is
one that affects him today.
"When we went ashore the dead and wounded
lay all around, some (wounded) asking for help," he
said. "We were afraid. We just wanted to get away
so we ran about a mile off the beach to set up. That
beach was a horrible place. When that day was over,
I had to pinch myself to realize I'm still here."
The 90th, along with the 343rd, was involved
with the push across the Cotentin Peninsula to
Cherbourg, France, in an attempt to cut off the
escape route of the German army. The advance was
so fast that artillery units like the 343rd were being
"leapfrogged" until they finally lost contact with the
enemy after 53 days of constant combat.
One of Ybarra's other memories that caused him
to answer after a struggle to control his emotions
was the Battle of the Bulge. As he quietly stated,
"It was cold. I never experienced such cold before.
When you are artillery and the elevation of your tube .
goes past a certain degree, the higher you raise your
tube, the closer the targets, the closer the enemy.
During this time we had them almost straight up and
then we leveled them."
After the Bulge it was back across the Siegfried
Line and on into Germany. It was during that time
that Ybarra was to receive the one medal he has kept
all these years - a Purple Heart. When discussing
that event, he pulled up his trouser leg to show his
scar. The Purple Heart is now faded but forms the
center piece of the shadow box his family made for
his military memorabilia.
During the time of the Battle of the Bulge and
thereafter, Ybarra's unit would be part of Patton's
Third Army. Ybarra's deception of General Patton is
"he was a fighter."
When the war ended Ybarra and his unit were in
Czechoslovakia at Cejkovy. One of Ybarra's friends
in the outfit and someone from back home was Lee
Edge from Bryan, whom Ybarra described as a good
and very brave man: "He helped us get out of a bad
spot one time."
Ybarra didn't elaborate further, but the records
of the unit show that Wallace L. Edge of Bryan was
awarded the Bronze Star. As stated by Ybarra: "After
the war I would go see him from time to time. After
the war when I got home, my mother and father say
they never want me to leave ever again and I didn't
want to, either. But I was glad I served and I'm proud
of what we did. I'm proud of my country."
And we all should be proud of Paul Ybarra and
those like him.
Paul Ybarra's name is found on the Brazos Valley
Veterans Memorial. If you want to ha ve 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.