HomeMy WebLinkAboutH.O. Kunkel, Brazos Valley HeroesSpecial to The Eagle C ~-
H.O. "Harry" Kunkel has been involved as an
academic leader at Texas A&M for more than half
a century. He served as the dean of Agricultural Life
Science for 20-plus years and was with the Agricultural
Experiment Station when he retired in 1998. His service
to A&M has been documented and is significant. What
most people don't know about involves his service to
his country during World War II.
Kunkel was born and raised in the West Texas town
of Olney in 1922. He graduated from Olney High in 1939
and enrolled at A&M that fall.
"I came to A&M so I could become a county agent."
He majored in animal husbandry and was returning
from a field trip with his agronomy class on Sunday,
Dec; 7,1941 as he learned that Pearl Harbor was under
attack by the Japanese.
"After enrolling at A&M, I began to plan a career in
the military. I knew Pearl Harbor would insure that as my
career very soon. As a member of the Class of `43 we
were allowed to and were able to graduate in January
1943. After graduation, we were loaded on buses and
driven to Houston where we were sworn in, en masse,
into the Army.
"Because we had not attended summer camp, we
were not commissioned but were sent to OCS for three
months before receiving our commission. I was sent to
Ft. Sill, Oklahoma to become an artillery officer. I was
commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant on May 5, 1943. I
was then ordered to Camp Shelby, Mississippi as part of
the 69th Division Field Artillery for more training before
heading overseas. During our training I had to carry
a person on my back in one of the training sessions.
During the training exercise, I fell and broke the femur
bone in my leg."
That was the end of Kunkel's training with his outfit.
He would spend the next nine months in Foster General
Hospital in Jackson, Mississippi. The use of pins or rods
to heal bone breaks had not been created yet; instead
they used traction to help the healing process.
After nine months in the. hospital, Kunkel was sent to
Ft. Sill on recuperation duty and three months later he
was sent to Ft. Bragg, North Carolina and eventually to
San Francisco to ship out to the Philippines.
"By this time I was a 1st Lieutenant. On boarding our
ship I was assigned the command of a company of black
soldiers that were being sent to the Philippines. On the
way over, which took 56 days, it was decided that he
men should receive a partial payment of their Army pay.
When that happened, the dice and cards came out and
that ship became the first around the clock gambling
ship to cross the Pacific. More than one fight broke out
with the troops and one of my soldiers was found to
have'a knife. When t asked him why he had the knife
his response was,'I had itjust in case.'
It became Kunkel's knife thereafter.
sent. to Corrigedor. There were dead Japanese soldiers
lying all over the place because they had fought to the
death. Corrigedor was quite a first time experience.
was assigned to the America) Division as an artillery
officer and was sent to Cebu Island. Our function there
was to conduct artillery fire missions.
"After the Japanese surrendered in the Philippines, ,:
we began to prepare for the invasion of Japan. One I',
night coming out of a meeting of officers, all hell was
breaking loose in the enlisted men's area. Japan had
surrendered and they were celebrating. We were sent
right away to board ships for Japan. As we marched
to the ships to go to Japan, the Filipino people turned
out to cheer us. Years later when I visited with a Dean
from the University in Manila, f found out he was one of "
these young boys who cheered for us on that day as we
headed to Japan.
"We arrived inTokyo Bay the day General MacArthur
accepted the surrender of-the Japanese. We were
moved to Honshu Island and eventually to Minoto. ',
The Japanese were polite and courteous and were no
problem. I was able to attend Aggie Muster inTokyo on
April 21, 1946, which was one of the largest musters
conducted. While there, I almost bumped into General
Maclarlhur and I became so flustered that I forgot to
salute.
"In September 1946, I had accumulated enough
points to be sent home. On the ship on the way home
was my classmate John Lawrence, who went on to
practice law in Brazos County all the years I was at
A&M. After I was discharged, I returned to A&M to
get my master's and then my Ph.D at Cornell in 1950
in biochemistry and nutrition. After one year at the
University of Wisconsin, I returned to A&M in 1951 as a
professor in the Biochemistry Department.
"I also remained in the Reserves until I was able to
retire as a lieutenant colonel. During that time, Dr. 0.
D. Butler was head of the Animal Science Department
while Iwas the Dean of Agriculture. He was my
commanding officer in the Reserves and was my boss
during Reserve training while I was his boss during the
week on campus. Neither of us ever had a problem with
that arrangement.
"Looking back on my life and career, if I had to do
it all over again, I would and I would serve again if my
country needed me."
If you want to have a name added to the Veterans
Memorial in time to have the name inscribed as part
of the Veterans Day program this November, you must
have the application submitted before August 15th.
For more information, to make a contribution, or if you
know a World War 11 Veteran whose story needs to be
told, contact the BWM at www.veteransmemorial.org
or Bill Youngkin at (979) 260-7030.
The Eagle
Here when you need us.
World Wair II veteran John Blasienz will be the. guest on _ -
"Veterans of the Valley" this week on KAMU-TV. ~ r~ `
Veterans of the Valley, hosted by WTAW's Tom Turbiville, can be ~,~;„>
seen Fridays at 8:30 p.m. and Saturdays and Sundays at 6:30 p.m. cnanneA s pox able4