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Paul Zuehlke Jr. �..°
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By Bill Youngkin "After the war I continued working in the Merchant
Special to The Eagle Marines. One day when we landed in New York my
captain told me my draft board was hunting for me.
Korea was now in full bloom. My ship was headed to
Paul Zuehlke, Jr. of Bryan served in two of our Texas so 1 stayed aboard until we returned to Texas. 1
country's wars, WWII and Korea with most of his reported for my physical thinking I would get it over
time in combat being Korea. But, those two combat with and get back to work. During this physical they
experiences were as different as night and day and detected no heart problems and passed me. I asked if
occurred in two separate branches of the military. 1 could bec in the Navy because of my Merchant Marine
Life for Zuehlke began on a farm in Washington experience. The sergeant said 'You're in the Army
County on December 24, 1925. Three weeks after now, bub.' I was sworn in and was soon on my way
his birth his father died leaving his mother and to Washington State for basic training and then Camp
seven children, with Zuehlke being the youngest. Cook, California. At Camp Cook I became part of the
According to Zuehlke, "We had a 240 acre farm near 578th Combat Engineer Battalion in the 40th Infantry
Old Washington and with everyone pitching in, we Division.
continued to keep the farm going. 1 attended Old " Itwasn 'tilongtillIwasonmywaytoKorea. Korea
Washington School and then Brenham High School, is still the coldest place 1 have ever been. We landed
graduating in 1943. at Inchon and headed north into the mountains. Our
"Uncle Sam sent me a draft notice right after job was to build pontoon bridges over the rivers we
graduation to report and take a physical. For some had to cross. When we built a bridge, we did it at
reason 1 flunked the physical although I was a strong, night because if we tried to build them during the
good sized fellow. They said something was wrong day the Chinese snipers would have picked us off one
with my heart. Being a big, strong looking guy, 1 knew by one. Because of my sea duty, I ran a boat that we
I had to do something because 1 didn't want people to used to push and hold the pontoons into place. When
think I was not willing to do my duty. we were building a bridge, our guys would form a
"In March of 1944, I joined the Merchant Marines I perimeter around us to protect us and to allow us to
trained in St. Petersburg, Florida and boarded the first do our job as quickly as possible. The closest I came to
ship I had ever been on in Charleston, South Carolina. being killed or injured in Korea was when one of our
The ship was loaded with tanks and trucks and we Navy pilots mistakenly bombed our company thinking
sailed up the coast to New York. We left New York in we were the enemy.
a 50- to 60 -ship convoy to Hull, England. The day we "In those mountains when there was water, it was
landed in England was June 4, 1944. On June 6,1944, usually fast water which to me was as dangerous for us
D -Day began. On June 7, 1944, we sailed as close to as the Chinese snipers. My tour finally ended in 1952
the French shore as we could get and unloaded those and I was able to return home. 1 worked some odd
tanks and trucks. Those tanks and trucks left our ship jobs around home, finally enrolling at Blinn where I
and were immediately used in the war. After that, it obtained an Associate's Degree in Accounting. In 1964
was back and forth from Europe to the U.S., carrying I started to work for A &M in their finance /operations
supplies until the war ended. department. In 1971 I began to work for Senator Bill
"In a convoy you hoped you would not be the Moore on his Manor East Mall project and stayed with
one ship the German subs picked out to sink. On him until he died in 1999.1 continued to work for his
one of those early voyages one of the ships in our wife, Babe, until 2003 when my wife Mavis developed
Alzheimer's disease. I retired to care for her. This April
convoy was carrying ammo and was hit by a German we will have been married for 57 years. I don't think I
torpedo. One minute it was there, the next, it had could have ever have worked for anyone that treated
totally disappeared. I worked in the engine room so me better than Senator and Mrs. Moore."
you couldn't see what was going on during your work
shift but you could feel and hear the explosions of the When asked what his military experience meant
depth charges the destroyers were dropping on the to him Zuehlke responded, "I think every young man
German subs. should have two years in the service. It's where
Most of the time the German subs would attack you learn to take care of yourself and learn to be
just at sunrise or at sunset. Because of that, I always r roud to have beeneCartlof ..something that I am very
tried to arrange my watch duty for the 4:00 a.m. to p p
8:00 a.m. or the 4:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. time periods. Paul Zuehlke's name will be added to the Brazos
That way, I would be above board and could hopefully Valley Veteran's Memorial. For more information, to
see what was happening rather than being below make a contribution, or if you know a WWII or Korea
decks and not knowing anything until we were hit. War Veteran whose story needs to be told, contact
We had a lot of close calls but the Navy destroyers did the BVVM at www.veteransmemoriaLorg or Bill
a really did a great job protecting us. Youngkin at (979) 776.1325.
The Eagle