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Home My WebLink AboutThe Texas Aggie 5.1.2003 ..._ 11. ,, • -, ,. • • . . • . ' • • - ' • :4 4 11/ i' ti, * ■L * Y. % ., ,•. * .4 1 •,- • - 1*- -' ---*': tl :4- 4 . 1( 1 li 00- . ... : / ..-„, . THE ASSOC -, ,.',.-, 0k- --...# • it T ..; ... , 40. . ..e, •_,• •ft ' ... . • .... . -...* • - , .., . ` . i6filiti • * .' . 4.41 '''':' r ' '1** s' \ : i - 4 .,,,.. ,.441.41g. . ,.\ 4 1'41 1' 1 F . • .. . . .40 ,, 4*. _ S;1.3 .. 11 . 4 . ek. ••• . • 1 - - -, iiiii , i -. - - - 4 4 ' ' i/ ' -..°,1114i4. •* t .i.. 4'S 47w, 4. , ... i •1 ' ' ; * * • ;' . ' - - - ' '-' -- 1/ ,r,, z, .:. -, ..c., - .% ,,- !.,_,.. ,:. - .-,..-.1, - , ?Ni :, 74-, I N . ,...„ .....it - .... ...r - . ,..,. ,, . ... . , ..- '!.7... „ , ,, 4•4 - . ... - ., y g : - .dab.. "•:-.../.•/. l', - - /*. - / P 1 i ati gfes I ' * A _ .:k........ 4.. t,.4.,_ ... C - ' ''. --- ..,. - 'r / ) ■ ,t• AP Pr- tititibt4 / . 1 , t , 141.1... 4 / • t O. Texas Aggie • *la v. ,'"111111rvi '..--' 4- - Aggie Nightli • Y.5. P. '0•k., ,40.6 • 7-. i Never Been Lc eg i- t) 0, • Ci Q N, .0 'fi c , A M e s • - M Ce 1 6 a 0 i - I I , on Spi -i, ( , 1 ,.. , . One re 40_ • Honoring Aggies in the Milit y "Texas A and M is writing its own To celebrate Aggie military contributions, Henry C. Dethlo with John A. military history in the blood of its Adams Jr. '73 are writing a book, "In Service of Their Country: A History graduates...no name stands out more of Texas Aggies in War Since 1898." This article is the third in a series that brilliantly than the heroic defender of features a sampling of the stories that will appear in the book. The project Corregidor, General George F. Moore." is in cooperation with the Texas A&M University Press, Texas A&M — General Douglas MacArthur Libraries, The Association of Former Students, Texas A&M Foundation, September 1942 and a sponsoring group of former students. Sunday morning, December 7, 1941, a date that will live in infamy; 366 Japanese fighters and bombers sup- e e attack came on Sunday morning Known as "The Rock" to its defenders, at 7:55 a.m., the men of Battery K, 64th Corregidor was long considered the linch- ported by a fleet of midget submarines Coast Artillery, who manned the only oper- pin of American defense in the Pacific. struck the Pacific Fleet anchored in ational anti - aircraft battery on Hickam Brig. Gen. George F. Moore '08 command - Peari Harbor and other bases on Oahu. Field, rushed to the ammunition shed only ed American forces on Corregidor. The In less than two hours, most of the to discover that it was locked. Being well- fortified, small, tadpole- shaped island, Sunday, the officers with the keys had not 3 1/2 miles long and 1 1/2 miles wide (only American naval force in the Pacific yet arrived for the day's duties, but the 1,735 acres), was considered the key to the lay in ruins, including four battle- delay was short - lived. Within minutes, Lt. defense of Manila Bay. With Moore on ships, the West Virginia, California, Roy W. Gillette '40 arrived, took command, Corregidor were a dozen hand - picked and the battery commenced firing at the young Aggie coastal artillery officers from Oklahoma, and Arizona, the latter enemy. This was one of the few points of Texas A &M's classes of 1938, 1939, and carrying 1,177 American seamen to resistance at Pearl Harbor. 1940, and 75 other Texas Aggies already on the bottom of the ocean. The surprise Almost simultaneously Japanese forces duty on Bataan and Corregidor. All were attack eliminated a total Of 19 struck the American islands of Midway, trapped on Corregidor. The legend of the Wake, and Guam, followed within days by 1942 Corregidor Muster, Aggies drinking a American warships and 188 aircraft invading troops. Japanese aircraft attacked toast of water to the heroes of 1836, and while almost 2,200 men were killed Hong Kong, bombed Singapore, and invad- the movie "We've Never Been Licked" and another 1,000 wounded. Floyd ed Malaya and the Philippines. Japanese filmed on campus in 1943, came to sym- 8uchei '36 was at Pearl Harbor on troops occupied Bangkok, Thailand on bolize the nation's resolve to wrestle victo- December 9, and that same day attacked ry from the jaws of defeat suffered during December 7. His mother died still Tarawa and Makin in the Gilbert Islands. the first six months of American combat in thinking that her boy would come On December 20, Japanese forces seized World War II. home one day. He never did. Mindanao in the Philippines. Among those By noon on May 6, 1942, the Battle of captured were Capt. Sydney R. Greer '35, a Corregidor was over, ending one of the former Texas Highway Department engi- longest and most fierce defensive campaigns neer who was in charge of construction at by the U.S. Army. Nearly every inch of the the Del Monte air field on Mindanao. island had been shelled, wiping off all foliage Hong Kong surrendered on Christmas and leaving the potted terrain looking like a Day. On December 30, Japanese forces moonscape. During the final one -day began the attack on the Bataan Peninsula assault, 800 Americans and 1,200 Japanese and the island fortress of Corregidor in were killed. The surviving defenders of Manila Bay. Texas Aggies were there in con- Corregidor joined American and Allied pris- siderable numbers. oners taken on Bataan and in earlier battles. 42 TEXAS AGGIE __ PART III IN A SERIES .,-/,„-, ' 717"7/0,„ "10 " We ' ve Never Been Licked , ,: Eighty -seven Texas Aggies were among the defenders of Bataan and Corregidor. Texas A &M sent 20,229 citizen soldiers to war during World War II. Nine - hundred fifty -three died in combat, thousands were wounded and seven received the Congres- sional Medal of Honor. Ten were aerial fighter aces, some 14,000 served as officers, and 29 A &M men reached the rank of gen .4.» ,. `` _4w* eral officer during the war. Texas A &M ,. produced approximately one -third of the ROTC officers who served in World War II. , ,, $ - ` Aggies served in combat on land, on sea, " ` M in the air, and in many crucial support '" ,/$ If roles as engineers, supply officers, Signal Corps specialists, aviators, training offi- cers, and in food services, transportation and logistics. Some governed and headed 4 1 security forces at strategic and critical out- posts. Others had oversight of captured enemy cities, and commanded prisoner of war camps. Some spent most of the war in The battleship U.S.S. Arizona caught fire and sank in Pearl Harbor following the Japanese attack on technical research assignments. And a December 7, 1941. U.S. Army Photograph. remarkable number served in the military forces of Allied nations. Aggies served in capacities and functions and in places that reflected the enormity and complexity of modern warfare. • "7n Service of Their Country: A History -,... N4.. of Texas Aggies in War Since 1898," is _ ..= a narrative history being written by ° G ' 41 „ 4 , ] '. ' it 3 ' , / 4({ 44. '' - 1 % 1 Henry C. Dethloff with John A. Adams / t ° . . .__ . .' , 9 7 ` / ' I Jr. '73. The book will be accom by (E• 1, c , , , , a directory, "Those Who Served, 1898- '''r) _ f '` 1 t ' 4 4••• y4 , ;, ' '% ' ` ' ` ' g -1 2004" edited by David A. Chapman '6 and by a permanent electronic registry. „. Note: To report your military service, use the reporting form provided in cur- rent Class newsletters or contact David `2Fr4 t Chapman at 979 - 845 -1951 or via email "We've Never Been Licked,” filmed on the A &M campus in November 1942, starred Noah BerryJr., Robert Mitchum, Richard Quine and the Corps of Cadets. The movie proved to be a great morale at d- chapman @tamu.edu. booster for the nation during some very difficult times in World War 11. MAY 2003 43