HomeMy WebLinkAboutPaul Ponzio, Brazos Valley HeroOne in a series of tributes to members of "The Greatest
Generation" who served our country during World War II
A lot of veterans brought back their memories from World
War II, but Paul Ponzio brought that and music when he
came home from the war In Europe.
"I grew up on a farm on Reliance Road near where the
winery is now. My dad raised cotton, com and kids. It was
there that I learned to play the violin, a talent that I used in
the war and after.
'There were seven boys in my family. One brother
drowned as a young boy and my older brother was in bad
health and too old to serve when the war came along. The
other five of us all served in the military during the war. Five
Ponzios went to war and five Ponzios came home. I'm sure
my parents did a lot of praying. I know I did."
Fame was drafted In 1944 into the Army and was sent
to San Antonio and Camp Hood for training as an anti -tank
specialist.
"We were out in the sticks in bivouac when we were
awakened in the middle of the night. We were assembled
by our Commanding Officer (C.0), who told us that the
Germans had broken through our lines in a battle called the
Battle of the Bulge and we were being sent there to help
turn the Germans back. They gave us a few days to go
home and see our families before we left. Then; were six
Bryan boys there - Frank Korman, Lee Dileo, Mike Piccolo,
Ben Reeder, Robert Mlkulec and me. We pooled our money
piece,
$6 a and hired a taxi to take us home. He would only
take us to Heame. We had to hitchhike the rest of the way.
- .W®got home on the 23rd of December and had to leave
on the 26th."
Form left for Europe on the Isle of France, docking In
Le Havre, France, on January 22, 1945, his birthday. Ponzio
was transported by truck to the Siegfried Line, where the
war started for him.
"When we got there I was waiting for assignment to a unit
when some soldiers coming out of the line came by. One
was Louis Thames, another Bryan boy I had grown up with.
All I could do was holler at him and wave."
Ponzio was assigned duty as a cannoneer with the 335th
Artillery of Patton's Third Army.
"We crossed the Moselle River and then the Rhine.
They loaded us up with extra grenades and ammo. As we
convoyed Into Germany, snipers attacked our convoy. We
all baited out and ran into the woods, where we caught the
German snipers. We put them on the front fender of the
jeeps with their hands behind their head. I was waiting for
them to fall off and probably be ran over, but they never did
fall off. On the way into Germany, we got so far ahead of our
lines that our own 105's were shelling us.
"On Easter Sunday morning after crossing the Rhine,
Mike Piccolo and I were walking along a furrow and came
to the ashes of a fire the Germans had used. In it was a
half -burned piece of cracker they had as rations. We pulled
It out of the fire and split it between us. That was our Easter
Sunday meal. Mike now lives in Houston, and I call him every
Easter and ask If he remembers what he had to eat on Easter
Sunday 1945. He always remembers.
"In the artillery, you are usually behind the combat line.
But when we crossed the Moselle River and moved into a
new position one night, you could tell where the Germans
were by their tracers. I dug a foxhole but I dug it too deep,
because the concussions of the artillery shook so bad you
couldn't go to sleep."
While in Germany, some of Ponzio's fellow soldiers found
a violin, which he traded for and began to play. It was that
violin and his ability to play it that got him out of a lot of
post -war duties.
"After Germany surrendered, I ended up In a band that
played for the whole division, about 15,000 man. When we
came home you weren't supposed to bang items like that
with you, but my C.O. made sure I took k. I played R all
the way home. I have been told the violin was made in the
1700'x. I still have ft today and It is still In tune,"
Before Ponzla got home, he wrote his parents and told
them that if he made ft home, he would provide an attar to
St. Joseph. "My Dad wouldn't let me forget that and made
me complete my promise as soon as I got home.
"Looking back now, 60 years later, I wouldn't take an
thing for my service experience. You trusted your fellow GI
more than your own kin. We were closer than brothers."
Ponzio came home, got in the furniture business, became
a beer distributor and Is now back in the furniture business.
He currently works two days a week In the furniture repair
and renovation department of student housing at A&M.
Paul Por lo5 name can be found on the Bi Valley
Veterans Memorial. For more information, to make a con-
tribution, or if you know a Word War II veteran whose story
needs to be told, contact the BVVM at www.veteransmamo-
naLorg or Bill Youngkin at (979) 260 -7030.
The Eagle