HomeMy WebLinkAboutD-Day Anniversary Edition
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Bryan-College Station Eagle
Sunday, June 5, 1994
. - .-'-.---
- - -----
Remembering World War II
A commander in chief remembers the war
George Bush at war
By GEORGE BUSH
Special to the Eagle
World War II truly shaped
my life. I went directly from
high school into the Navy. I
enlisted on my 18th birthday.
The country was together
then. There were few protes-
ters if any. Most every young
man wanted to fIght for his
country. The country was to-
tally united behind one goal
- defeat the Nazis, defeat the
Japanese.
I went into the service as a
scared young kid. I came out
three years later as far more
mature, far more exposed to
real life.
My Navy service would af-
fect my later life in public
service. I learned a lot about
human
nature. I saw
men under
great stress.
I saw men
die in front
of my eyes. I
lost friends. I
saw a war in
which the
military
were given whatever they
needed to get the job done.
From my comrades in
arms I learned a lot about
heroism and honor and love
of country. I learned about
team work. I learned about
loyalty (a wing man does not
pull away from his flight
leader when the going gets
tough).
I also learned about the
fundamental importance of
family support. A few of my
squadron mates were not
close to their families. I
would watch them at mail
call. No letters would come in
for them. It was heart break-
ing.
I learned to honor and re-
spect the flag. I was at board-
ing school when Pearl Har-
bor was bombed. At a school
assembly the next day, Dec.
8, 1941, the Star Spangled
Banner was played. Most of
the kids were slouching
around not paying attention.
Dr. Feuss, headmaster, took
to the microphone and said,
"Your country is at war. Re-
spect this flag. Stand at atten-
tion when our national
anthem is played." I have
never forgotten his words.
My respect for the flag only
grew during World War II.
As the bodies of dead com-
rades were buried at sea, the
flag covered their coff'ms be-
fore the body was slid into
the ocean. The flag flew
proudly on my carrier, the
USS San Jacinto. The flag
greeted me on every return
from a combat mission.
Perhaps it was all of this
BUSH
"I went into the ser-
vice as a scared young
kid. I came out three
years later as far more
mature, far more ex-
posed to real life."
GEORGE BUSH
that made me intolerant of
those who would desecrate
our flag. Incidentally, all of
these thoughts came back to
me when I visited our troops
in Saudi Arabia before the
battle to liberate Kuwait.
There was a generational
change that affected the 1992
election. Many of the things
that I learned in World War
II seemed to be of no impor-
tance. I remember criticizing
my opponent for demonstrat-
ing in England against the
U.S. role in the Vietnam War.
I felt very strongly about
that, and yet many in the
press said I was out of touch
and indeed were critical of
my raising the question. It
remains something I feel
very strongly about, some-
thing inculcated into me dur-
ing WW II.
Fighting in a war is not a
criterion for serving as
president But I can tell you
that serving in the military
shaped my life unlike any
other single experience.
On Sept 2, 1944 - 50 years
ago - I was shot down in
combat over a Japanese held
island I was a scared young
man who had just turned 20.
Two crewmen were killed. I
survived. A submarine out
on war patrol picked me up.
I have wondered often why
me, why was I spared when
others died? I'll never know
the answer to this question. I
do know that that terrifying
experience helped me be-
come a man. It strengthened
my faith. It made me count
my blessings for a loving
family and for friends.
Now, Barbara and I are
very happy in private life;
but as I look back to WW II, I
am glad I had a chance to
serve our country then. That
experience, I am sure, had a
lot to do with my wanting to
serve in the exciting years
that followed.
God Bless America.
. George Bush served his country in
Congress, as envoy to China and as
vice president before being elected
president in 1988. His presidential li-
brary win be built at Texas A&M Uni-
versity, where he plans to te~h in the
future
The Eagle
remembers
On this 50th anniversary
of the greatest amphibious
invasion in history, The
Eagle invites you to join in
remembering the sacrifice
and bravery of the men
and women who saw it to
truition.
On the following pages,
you will read the fll"Sthand
accounts of your friends
and neighbors, whose lives
were forever changed by
the conflict called the Sec-
ond World War.
We hope you enjoy the
history and the life that is
in this special edition. Ad-
ditional copies of this spe-
cial edition will be availa-
ble for sale for $1 each at
The Eagle office, 1729
Briarcrest Drive, Bryan.
George Bush piloting a VT-50 "Avenger" in 1944.
Special to the Eagle IThe While House
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June 12-18 or
July 31-August 6
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June 19-25
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leade~hip skills and development. Best of all, the camp is organized and supervised by
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a military camp, participants will experience that famous Aggie spirit and pride during an
exciting week of motivation and growth.
Deadline Extended!
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Campers in the Band Camp will have the
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Office of the Commandant
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AITN: Texas Aggie Youth Camp
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$325.00 Fee includes all basic costs
Application deadline extended
June 10th for Band Camp &
July 1st for the July 31st Leadership Camp
· Page F4 r Bryan-GotJege Sta1ion Eagle ,I,' " 19lt11d~~~I1M Sf) 99j
Fifty Yean After
.*****************.
~ ...
i Local i
... ...
~ Heroes :
... ...
! By CHUCK SQUATRIGLlA :
; Eagle staff writer ...
! They were the most :
; unselfIsh of men. ...
... When their country If:
: needed them, they went. :
... It didn't matter where, ...
... it didn't matter why. All ...
: that mattered was that :
... they were called to war, ...
! and scores of Brazos :
; Valley men - and ...
... women - and Texas ...
... A&M students from a- :
... cross the country went If:
: to fight in Europe or the :
... Pacific. ...
: Many did not come :
... back. ...
... What follows is as ...
: complete a listing of :
... local residents and ...
If: some of the 900 or so If:
: A&M students who gave :
... their lives during World ...
... War II as could be com. ...
: piled. May it be a me- :
... morial to their sacrifice. ...
: . Arthur John Anderson. :
... .Antonlo Barrera. If:
... .1s1 Lt. James Otis ...
: Beasley graduated from :
... Harvard and A&M. He ...
: joined the Army in 1942 :
... and ...
... fought ...
... in'"
... ...
It Africa, ...
... Sicily ...
... and ...
It ...
... Italy, ...
... earning ...
: a Pur- :
... pie ...
... BEA5LEY H ear t ...
: and EAME ribbon with :
... two stars. He was killed ...
: in action in Salerno, :
... Italy, in 1942. ...
: .Enslgn Archie L Beene :
... graduated from Nava. If:
... sota High School and If:
: joined the Navy in 1939, :
... serving in the Coral ...
: Sea, Midway, Fiji and :
... on the U.S.S. Lexington. If:
If: He was killed in action ...
: on Los Coranados :
... Islands in 1944. ...
If: .1st Lt. Howard H. ...
: Brlans joined the Army :
... Air Corps in 1942 and ...
: served in Ireland, Eng- :
... land ...
... and ...
... ...
... Africa, ...
... earning ...
... an ETO ...
: Ribbon :
... with a ...
... battle ...
: s tar :
... and a ...
: p 0 s t - BRIANS :
... If:
... ,. ---, -- 5'"
... ,LJU\;i:U u<~l'oeS. page ...
\*****************~
--
A chilling encounter
with a German U-boat
By GEORGE D. WINSTEIN
Special to the Eagle
During World War n, our
vessel, the U.S. Coast Guard
cutter Campbell, was escort-
ing a large convoy of mer.
chant vessels proceeding west
in the dark and cold of a win.
ter night in the mid-Atlantic
Ocean. Suddenly we felt our
vessel vibrate as we increased
to flank speed. All hands were
called to battle stations as we
felt our vessel roll to port as
the ship made a hard turn to
starboard.
As I manned my station aft
by the No. 1 depth charge
K-gun, our 24-inch searchlight
lit up the U606 Nazi submar-
ine close on our starboard
bow.
It was evident that our cap-
tain was attempting to ram the
sub but our bow missed by
several feet and the port bow
plane of the sub knifed into
our engine room, causing
several hundred tons of salt
water to knock out our main
propulsion.
The crew of our deck gun
opened fire with several
rounds of 3-inch shells, strik.
ing the sub's vital spot just be-
low the conning tower. Many
of the Germans abandoned
ship by diving into the frigid
waters of the Atlantic.
Our vessel was dead in the
water but we lowered a small
boat and rescued five survi-
vors. The balance of the crew
of the U606 either went down
with their vessel or perished
in a watery grave that night of
Feb. 22, 1943.
After four days of drifting,
our vessel was taken in tow by
the sea.going Canadian tug
Tenacity snd towed to the
safety of Argentia, Newfound.
land.
Good old "terra fmna" -
the more "fmna" the less
"terra. "
. George D. Winstein is a retired U.S,
Coast Guard captain. He lives in Bryan.
STEVE Po'
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Remembering World War II
War bride finds new life after marrying American
By YVONNE SALCE
Eagle staff wrner
Her aunts gave her six
months, telling the young
English woman that her
marriage to an American
would not last
"You'll be back," they said.
She was ... but only to
visit years later.
Now, after more than 44
years later, Margaret and her
American sweetheart, James
Richards Freeman, remain,
married. And she has forged
a dynamic new life in Amer-
ica, becoming the 51st presi-
dent of the Federation of
Texas A&M University
Mother's Club.
Margaret, born and raised
in England, and James Rich-
ards, a Texan, met in late
1947 at a social function in
Germany. He had just ar-
rived from the States, as-
signed to fly supplies during
the Berlin Airlift. She was
working in the British For-
eign Office in Frankfurt
Margaret, 21, and James,
23, dated regularly after that
flI'St meeting.
Their relationship was like
that of many young people
who met during and imme-
diately after the war. World
War II brought them
together, but it would even-
tually tear some of them
away from their homelands.
In this case, Margaret left
her family in Steton, Y ork-
shire, England, to come to
the United States to marry an
American.
"At that time, .you__could
Margaret and James Richards Freeman at home In 1950.
come over to the United
States on a marriage visa.
But my father wouldn't allow
that," said Freeman. "He
made me get an immigration
visa so I could come back if I
didn't want to get married.
My father was unhappy, not
because he didn't like my
husband to be, but because
he didn't want me to leave. "
In fact, Freeman's father
asked his daughter not to
change her citizenship. She
waited until after his death
in 1968 to became an Ameri-
can citizen.
It was awkward for Free-
man when she flI'St arrived
in Austin, not only because
she was a foreigner about to
marry an American, but also
because she hadn't seen
James for a year. He had re-
turned to the United States in
1949. but she didn't follow
until 1950. In the interim
they wrote many letters and
spoke a few times by tele-
phone.
"It was a process of getting
to know each other again,"
she said
"We were good friends be-
fore we decided to get mar-
ried and that was the secret
. . .. And we've remained
that way."
Fortunately, her new fami-
ly welcomed her. "I was one
of the fortunate ones that
came into a family and
treated me like one of the
family," she said
"Some of them experienced
disappointment perhaps,"
said Freeman of the women
who married Americans and
'left Europe. "But many were
like me, who came to a fami-
ly and were easily accepted"
The adjustment to Ameri-
can customs and food wasn't
as smooth.
She had never learned to
cook. Growing up during the
war years in England meant
there wasn't food to waste.
Her fIrst attempt at pinto
beans, one of her husband's
favorite dishes, was unsuc-
cessful, as was the home-
made cake she later made for
him.
She let her mother-in-law
prepare the icing, to which
James replied: "The cake is
not too good, but the icing is
terrific. "
For Freeman, her new way
of life was completely
different The biggest ad-
justment was the food. Even
today, Freeman doesn't take
ice with her tea
Still, Freeman coped with
the support of her family and
her husband's. "My family
accepted him and his family
accepted me," she said.
Ironic, considering Free-
man's mother forbid her
daughters to go with any
Americans while growing
up. She remembers when the
Glenn Miller Band toured
England and played in her
hometown. If Margaret had
wanted to see the band play,
she would have had to be ac-
companied by an American.
Needless to say, she didn't
go. ''My mother was horri-
fied," said Freeman. "We
were forbidden to go near
any Americans."
Fortunately, her mother
changed her tune years be-
fore Margaret and James
met
*******************
*' *'
: Local, :
*' *'
*' *'
: Heroes :
*' *'
*' Continued from page 4 *'
*' *'
: humous Purple Heart. :
*' He was killed in action *'
: in 1943 during the Battle :
*' of Tunisia. *'
*' . Cecil W. Biggs. *'
*' .Radloman 3rd Class *'
: Roy Edward Buchanan of :
*' Bryan joined the Navy *'
: in 1942 and served in the :
*' Mar. *'
*' shall *'
*' Islands, *'
*' *'
*' Kwa. *'
*' jalein, *'
: Eniwe. :
*' tok, the *'
*' Solo. *'
*' *'
*' m 0 n *'
*' BUCHANAN Islands, *'
*' Bou. *'
: gainville, Saipan, :
*' Guam, Palau and the *'
*' Philippines, earning a *'
: Presidential citation. :
*' He was wounded in the *'
: Philippines and later :
*' declared missing in ac. *'
: tion following a second :
*' battle in the Philip. *'
*' pines. *'
: .Sgt. Henry Joseph Can. :
*' 8u8spe of Bryan joined *-.
*' the Army Air Corps in *'
: 1943 and served in Eng. :
*' land and France, earn. *'
*' ing a Purple Heart, air *'
*' *'
*' - *'
*' Continued on page 6 *'
t*******************'
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Bryan-College Station Eagle
~ " .. " C
_ ~ ... J I ~ I I t.l ", ... ,
Sunday, June 5.1994 Page F19
Rememberin!J World War II
Wartime marriage defies odds against it
By MELINDA RICE
Eagle staff writer
The first year of Lannes and Peggy
Hope's marriage was a battle -literally.
Lannes shipped out for Europe with
the 745th Tank Battalion of the U.S.
Army's 1st Infantry Division after
spending only 15 days with his bride of
two months.
Six months later, from the deck of a
landing craft, he was watching smoke
billow up from Omaha beach as Ameri-
can troops stormed ashore on D-Day.
"I crossed the beach when the worst
was over," he said.
Still, things he saw that day and later
during the war were pretty bl''' but you'd
never know it from his lette. ~ - all 500
of them.
"His letters were so good, an .e wrote
so well!" said Peggy, who felt that she
must have bored her husband with let-
ters about the doings in Comanche,
where she lived during the war. '1 felt
like it was the same thing over and over
again. Not much happens in a small
town. "
The Hopes kept in touch and got to
know each other better through the let-
ters they exchanged regularly during
Lannes' two years of wartime service.
His newsy missives written on thin
onionskin paper related tales of people
and places, times of frenzy and boredom
- but never stories of death or gore.
"He never did tell me 'I saw a German
today and shot him' or anything," said
Peggy.
Her nuptuals with Lannes were like
many wartime weddings, the result of a
quick decision not long before the pros-
pective groom shipped out to serve Uncle
Sam.
Unlike many of those unions, the
Hopes' lasted. They celebrated their 50th
-wedding anniversary last year.
"Twice as many wartime marriages
ended in divorce as peacetime mar-
riages," said Lannes, who became a psy-
chologist and taught at Texas A&M for
more than 30 years.
Both Hopes said they had an advantage
in that they knew each other awhile be-
fore getting married. They met during
the summer of 1942 when Lannes, who
played trumpet with his National Guard
unit's band, ended up passing through
Peggy's hometown of Comanche.
But Peggy's roommate found a photo of
him and urged her to get back in touch,
so she sent him a Valentine in 1943.
One Saturday night in November they
decided to tie the knot By 10:30 the next
morning they were hitched and on their
way to Fort Worth for a honeymoon of
sorts.
The Hopes said their knot stayed tied
because of lots of good humor and hard
work.
Mine sweeper captain: World War II was kind to me
By JIM HINEY
Eagle staff writer
Sweeping the ocean for
enemy mines is only danger.
ous "if you hit ~ mine," says
Alton Giesens..:h1ag, wh('
helped make the waters
the World War II South P
tic safer for American sh..;,
and men.
He says the war was kind
to him. He avoided injury
while commanding a mine
sweeper in the South Paciflc,
he met the woman who
would become his wife and
he emerged from the service
a better man.
'1 was kind of a bashful
person when I went into the
Navy," said Giesenschlag, 74,
of College Station. "The war
made me feel more at ease
tioing things, making de-
cisions. I felt I was more
ll"own up."
He's been out of the Navy
for almost 49 years, but his
mind wanders back to the
South Pacific from time to
time.
"The war doesn't go
away," he said '1 kind of like
to think about it"
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1711 Barak
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CDs available from institutions nationwide. Issuer information available on request..
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Subject to availabJlity.
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Member New YOftl; Stodl: Exeh8nge, Inc. 8nd s~ Inwator Protection Corporation
native, was a Texas A&M
student when he learned
from the draft board that he
couldn't get a student defer-
ment from the Army. One
day, he passed a sign on
campus that said students
could get deferments by join-
ing a Navy outfit in the
Corps. .
Giesenschlag transferred.
"I knew I had to go to war,
and I didn't want to be in the
infantry," he said"
He graduated with a voca-
tional agriculture degree in
the spring of 1942. By Oc-
tober of that year he began
naval training that took him
to Chicago, where he met the
future Ruth Giesenschlag at
a party.
"We always say 'if it wasn't
for World War II we wouldn't
be married," he said.
About 15 months later,
Giesenschlag found himself
aboard the YMS-51, a mine
sweeper looking for mines in
the waters around Papua
New Guinea. He commanded
the vessel during some of its
most dangerous mine sweep-
ing missions near Borneo.
The war ended for Gie-
senschlag near Borneo.
~beatyour
brother.
Y.. beat_
brother's friends.
You beat
.
.your COUSIns.
And their friends.
y-beatthat
one IVY. Brad,
who said he
couldn't be
And beat.
you beat
them all bad.
*******************
~ .
: Wife honors :
: husband who :
: thundered :
~ *'
: across Europe :
~ *'
~ By MRS. MORRIS M. *'
~ HOFFMAN *'
~ *'
~ Special to the Eagle *'
~ *'
~ My husband, Morris It
~ M. Homnan, served in *'
: World War II with the :
: 157th Infantry, 7th :
~ Army, 45th Division, *'
~ called the Thunder- *'
~ birds. *'
: He was a staff ser- :
~ geant during his *'
: European campaign, :
~ and he received the *'
: Purple Heart, Bronze :
~ Star and two Bronze *'
~ Battle Stars. He fought *'
~ through the Siegfried *'
: Line, called "The Tiger :
~ Teeth." He also fought *'
: the battle of the Rhine :
~ River, where they drove *'
~ the Germans across *'
: France and back to :
~ Gennany, ending up in *'
~ Munich. *'
: His unit liberated Da- :
~ chau - established in *'
: 1933 as the Nazis frrst :
~ concentration camp. He *'
: was given the honor of :
~ carrying the American *'
~ flag and leading the *'
: honor guard across Da- :
~ chau's camp parade *'
~ grounds. His war story *'
: has been videotaped for :
~ inclusion in the new *'
~ Holocaust Museum. *'
~ *'
~ *'
~ . Mrs. Morris M. Hoffman lives *'
: in Navasota, :
~******************'
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~F\~fLSDl't
Bryan-College Station Eagle
Sunday, June 5, 1994 Page.E7
Remembering World W.r II
WWII taught teacher 'Peace is what was intended to be'
By JIM HINEY
Eagle staff writer
Bill Hodge says he's a bit
fatter and lazier today than
he was as a 19-year-old Texas
A&M student joining the
Army in 1943, but he still
feels the same about his
country.
"I know this sounds today
like a whole lot of goosh, but
a lot of A&M students
couldn't wait to serve," said
Hodge, 70, who lives in
Bryan. "We felt the country
was in trouble. We heard
much about Hitler, and we
didn't like him.
"I was no hero," he said ''I
did as I was told.
"It was for a good cause
and for our country."
Hodge, a teacher, coach
and principal who retired
eight years ago after a
41-year career in the Bryan
school district, said he's also
a whole lot smarter than he
was when he joined the ser-
vice.
Though he doesn't regret
defending his country, Hodge
said he realizes now that war
isn't a glorious adventure.
"War is not something I
Welcome to . . .
WAlDEN
"',
11
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recommend," he said. "The
only way to go is to rmd a
way to fteeze the triggers.
Peace is what was intended
to be. Looks like the only way
it will be achieved is in the
triumphant return. That's
what the Good Book says."
Hodge was medical techni-
cian for most of his three-
year hitch from 1943 to 1946.
He was part of the action in
France and, after Germany
surrendered, in the Philip-
pines and Japan.
He confesses that he shot
"a lot of people."
"The most I ever shot in
one day was 1,000," he
laughed. ''They were all lined
up, and I inoculated them."
After leaving the Army,
Hodge returned to A&M and
completed his degree in phy-
sical education.
Hodge retired eight years
ago as principal at Bowie
Elementary School
He spends his time today
working in his yard, playing
golf, nshing and "sawing'
some wood in the fall."
Hodge also works part time
for a company that takes
school pictures.
A****************~
~, ..
*" ..
~ Local :
~ Heroes ~
*" *"
*" Continued from page 6 *"
*" *"
*" a Purple Heart. He was *"
: killed in action on Iwo :
*" Jima in 1945. *"
: .Maj. Horace S. Cars- :
*" well Jr. of Fort Worth, *"
*" A&M Class of 1938, *"
: served in the 308th :
.. Bombardment Group ..
": and was posthumously :
*" awarded the Medal of ..
*" Honor. *"
: .Enslgn E.H. Caywood :
.. of Bryan attended Ste- *"
*" phen F. Austin High *"
~ r::~l:'~ ~
.. Navy in '9 *"
: 1942. He :_ I :
*" earned . }' *"
*" an A TO .... *"
*" ribbon ..
*" *"
*" and was *"
*" killed CAYWOOD *"
*" ..
*" Continued on page 8 :
*" *"
'******************
Tuesday at 7:00 PM
D-DAY:
The Official Story
Queen Elizabeth II introduces this
comprehensive military history of the
largest and most extrordinary
combined military operation ever
attempted - the most momentous
invasion of Europe by Allied forces
on June 6, 1944. Produced by
American Filmmakers, it is the only
film on the subject officially sanctioned
by all branches of the British Armed
Forces. TUNE-IN TUESDAY AT 7:00PM.
-KAMU-TV
Channel 15, Cable Channel'4
Page Fa Bryan-College Station Eagle
Sunday, June 5. 1994
Fifty Yun After
~****.*************
* *
* *
: Local :
* *
* *
: Heroes :
* *
: Continued from page 7 :
* *
* in action on Kumagaya *
: in 1945. :
* .Pfc. Charlie Raymond *
* Cobb, graduated from *
: A&M Consolidated High :
* School and joined the *
: Army in 1944, earning a :
* Purple Heart. He was *
* killed in action in the *
: Philippines in 1944. :
* .Eugene H. Conrad. *
: . Flight officer Frank L. :
* Cotropla of Bryan gradu- *
* ated from Hearne High *
: School. He joined the :
* Army in 1941 and *
* served in France, earn- *
: ing an ETO ribbon and :
* Purple Heart. He is pre- *
* sumed killed in action *
: in Iceland in 1944. :
* .John G. Delamater. *
* .Sgt. John Wheeler *
: Dowling graduated from :
* Stephen F. Austin High *
: School and joined the :
* Army *
* in 1942. *
* H e *
* *
* served *
* i n *
: France, :
* Eng- *
* land *
: and :
* Ger- *
: DOWLING many,:
* earning a good conduct *
* *
: Continued on page 9 :
* *
*t*****************
Tenacity served Aggie throughout life
1941 A&M graduate
earned Medal of Honor
in France in 1944
First Lt. Eli Lamar
Whiteley may have thought
he was just doing his job that
Dec. Tl, 1944, in Sigolsheim,
France. But the men who
served under him think he
went above and beyond what
could be expected of a pia-
toonleader.
The country agreed with
the men of the Company L of
the 15th Infantry, awarding
Whiteley the Medal of Honor
in 1945.
Whiteley, a native of Flor-
ence and a 1941 graduate of
Texas A&M, was leading his
men in house-to-house fight-
ing in the German-held town,
trying to halt the enemy's
last-ditch offensive at the Bu-
1ge in Belgium. Although he
was badly wounded in the
arm and shoulder, Whiteley
led an attack on a house, kill-
ing the two defenders. He
then charged into the next
house, killing two more
Germans and capturing 11
more.
Holding his machine gun
with his wounded arm,
Whiteley used his other arm
to grab a bazooka and blast a
hole in the next house. He
charged through the hole,
killing five Germans and
. capturing 12 more.
Whiteley was wounded
twice more, including a shell
fragment piercing his eye,
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A graduate of Texas A&M
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in filling their staffing needs
with qualified personnel.
She also invites people
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but still he kept going. Final-
ly, Whiteley had to be forci-
bly evacuated for medical
treatment
Years later, Whiteley
would look back on that day
and say, "It was just a job. . .
It all boils down to one thing:
Doing your duty. You have a
job to do and you try to do it.
Sometimes the circumstan.
ces make it very difficult"
Whiteley went on to say,
"It was just a job we had to
do, and everyone, including
myself, knew it had to be
done. Winning a medal was
the farthest thing from my
ind ..
m .
He was promoted to cap-
tain before being discharged
in 1946.
Whiteley's tenacity sur-
faced early in life. After
graduating from high school
in Georgetown in 1932,
Whiteley worked on area
farms for six years during
the Depression to earn
enough money to attend
A&M. He continued ,to work
nights and weekends while
in schooL
Whiteley earned his mas-
ter of science from North
Carolina State University in
1949 and his doctorate in soil
physics from A&M in 1959.
He became an teacher in
the agronomy department at
A&M until his retirement as
professor emeritus.
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REMEMBER FATHER'S DAY IS SUNDAY, JUNE 19
Bryan-College Station Eagle
Sunday, June 5. 1994 Page F9
RememMrln, World War II
Aggie pride beat Japan's prison camps
By MEUNDA RICE
Eagle staff writer
Urban Hopmann remembers.
The sight in his sharp blue eyes has
faded, but the visions behind them re-
main vivid
"I saw a lot of things, I remember a
lot of things,.. said the World War II
veteran who was a prisoner of the
Japanese for 39 months.
Hopmann, who graduated from
Texas A&M in 1939, fought in the Phi-
lippines during World War II. He
earned a Silver Star and a Legion of
Merit Citation before the Japanese
took him prisoner.
He had been with some troops on Ba-
taan. When it fell to the Japanese on
April 9, 1942, he managed to escape to
Corregidor, an island in Manila Bay,
with some other Americans.
He was one of the 46 Aggies who,
legend has it, took part in the famed
. 1942 Muster on San Jacinto Day on
Corregidor.
That Muster did not take place exact-
ly like according to legend The 46 Ag-
gie diehards did not gather and make
water toasts to A&M. "The shelling was
too bad," said Hopmann, whose ears
bled from the concussive force of the
Japanese barrage.
An officer told a reporter that tale
about the Aggies, then coerced him
into broadcasting it to the United
States so there would be an official re-
cord of the men. They wanted their
families to be able to collect on their
life insurance policies.
When Gen. Jonathan Wainwright
surrendered Corregidor to the
Japanese on May 6, Hopmann was tak-
en prisoner.
Despite the gravity of the situation,
he kept his up spirits and credits his
A&M education with helping him
throughout his ordeal as a prisoner of
war.
, '1t gave me more enthusiasm, more
spirit to keep going," said the 78-year-
old Hopmann.
He said the military training, the
sense of pride and sense of self instilled.
by the Aggie training helped him.
Hopmann's experience is similar to
that of thousands who were held
prisoner by the notoriously cruel
Japanese.
Hard work, beatings, disease, malnu-
trition and the constant loss of com-
rades characterized the final years of
World War II for him.
But Hopmann was different in an in-
teresting way. He refused to give up his
Aggie ring, that prized proof of Ag-
giehood.
'1 just decided I wasn't going to let
them have it," he said
American prisoners were routinely
searched by the Japanese and their
possessions were conf'1scated, but
Hopmann managed to hang on to his
Aggie ring.
The gold is worn smooth now, but he
still wears it proudly on his right hand
"They got my Elgin pocket watch and
my pistol, but they didn't get my Aggie
ring!" he said with defiance, shielding
his hand as though some ancient
enemy might emerge from a nearby
potted plant
At fIrSt, Hopmann concealed the ring
in the waistband of his khaki pants. He
buried it in some loose soil by a post at
the foot of his cot at his first prison
camp.
'1 was afraid somebody would check
my khaki pants and get it - even in the
barracks," said Hopmann as he recal-
led the desperation of his fellow in-
mates and the ruthlessness of his cap-
tors. '1just kept it hidden all the time."
He said the Japanese guards would
have beaten him if they had known he
kept the ring.
From the Philippines, Hopmann,
then a fJrst lieutenant, was shipped to
Japan to work in the steel mills at
Osaka. He and 99 other men were
loaded into the rusty hold of a cargo
ship for transport
Hopmann dug up his ring and wore it
around his neck with his dog tags.
For 18 days the American were at
sea. Once a day, a bucket of rice and
another of water were lowered into the
ship's hold. Another bucket was
lowered for use as a latrine, but with
most of the men suffering from dys-
entery and sea sickness that bucket
was not su1Ilcient.
In Japan, as in the Philippines, the
men were worked hard and fed little.
Hopmann was often so weak, he
thought he would die. Once he even
was left for dead
"Then I remembered two guys who
died, and the rats came and ate at them.
That gave me some incentive," he said.
A Japanese civilian who worked in
the factory with Hopmann started slip-
ping him food to help him survive.
Once it was a can of sweetened conden-
sed milk that Hopmann tied inside his
pants leg with a string. When the
Japanese guards called the prisoners to
attention, the string broke and the can
of milk rolled out in front of the com-
mander who demanded to know whose
it was.
"I spoke up and told them it was
mine. I couldn't let someone else take
the blame. The Aggies wouldn't have
allowed that," Hopmann said.
The camp commander threatened to
shoot the starving Aggie if he didn't
reveal who had given him the milk.
Hopmann defied the man and - for
some reason - was allowed to live. He
still doesn't know why.
*******************
* *
* *
: Local :
* *
* *
: Heroes :
* *
* Continued from page 8 *
* *
: medal, ETO ribbon, :
* Purple Heart, two battle *
* stars and American De- *
* fense ribbons. He was *
: killed in action in Ger. :
It many in 1945. *
: .Weldon W. Dyess. :
* .Capt. John Evans Edge *
: of Bryan joined the :
* Army in 1944 and *
* served *
* i n *
* *
* France, *
* Eng. *
* land *
: and :
* Ger- *
: many, :
* earning *
* an ETO *
: ribbon EDGE :
* with two battle stars, a *
: Purple Heart, a meri- :
* tous unit plaque, Amer. *
* ican Theater ribbon and *
: victory medal. He was :
* killed in' Germany in *
* 1945. *
: .2nd Lt. Thomas Fowler :
* of Whichita Falls, A&M *
: Class of 1943, served in :
* the Army's First Ar. *
* mored Division and was *
: posthumously awarded :
* the Medal of Honor. *
* .Wllllam F. Gammon. *
: .1st Lt. Paul G. Haines :
* Jr. of College Station *
: graduated from Texas :
* *
* Continued on page 10 *
* i *
*******************
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-
I VISA I
"
Page Fa Bryan-College Station Eagle
Sunday. June 5,1994
Fifty Years After
MacArthur: A&M wrote history with blood
*******************
*" *"
*" *"
: Local :
*" *"
*" *"
: Heroes :
*" It
: Continued from page 9 :
*" *"
*" A&M. He joined the It
*" army in 1942 and served *"
: in England, Normandy, :
*" Belgium, Holland and *"
: Germany, earning a silo :
*" ver star, bronze star, *"
*" five battle stars and *"
: ETO ribbons. He was :
*" killed in action in the *"
: Ruhr area in 1945. :
*" .James M. Henry. *"
It .Kent K. Hensarling. *"
: .Braullo Herrera. :
It . Neptalla Herrera. *"
~ .Cpt. Steve Hili joined :
;: the Army in 1941 and *"
It served in France and *"
*" Germany, earning a *"
: Good Conduct medal, a :
*" posthumous Purple *"
: Heart and pre.Pearl :
It Harbor, ETO and ATO *"
It ribbons. He was killed *"
It in action in Germany :
: but the date of his death *"
*" is unavailable. *"
: .Seaman 2nd Class Lynn :
*" Hilton of Bryan attended *"
*" Lamar High School and It
: joined the Navy in 1941. :
*" He*"
*" served *"
: in Pearl :
*" Harbor, It
*" Port It
: More. :
*" s by, It
*" New It
*" It
*" Guinea *"
*" and the It
: HILTON Cor a 1 :
*" Sea, where he was killed It
: in action in 1942. He was :
*" posthumously awarded *"
*" the Purple Heart and *"
: AD and APO ribbons. :
It . Pvt. Valton B. Holder of It
: Bryan graduated from :
*" Stephen F. Austin High *"
~ School and joined the :
;: Army in 1944. He served *"
*" in France, Belgium and It
*" Germany, where he was *"
: killed in action in 1944. :
*" .2nd Lt. Lloyd H. *"
: Hughes of Alexandria, :
*" La., A&M Class of 1943, It
*" served in the Ninth Air *"
: Force and was post. :
It humously awarded the *"
It Medal of Honor. *"
: .Wllllam L. Hughes. :
*" .Staff Sgt. George *"
: Keathley of Olney, A&M :
*" Class of 1937. served in *"
*" the Army's 85th Infan. *"
: try Division and was :
*" posthumously, awarded It
: the Medal of Honor. :
*" .Eugene M. Key. *"
*" .Maj. John Vernon King It
: of Cody, Wyo. joined the :
*" *"
*" Continued on page 11 *"
*" It
*"******************"
By MELINDA RICE
Eagle staff writer
"Give me a company of
west Pointers, and I'll win
the battle. Give me a handful
of Aggles, and rll win the
war."
Legend attributes those
words to Gen. George Patton.
but the famous four-star
tlghter never uttered that oft
repeated juxtaposition of Ag-
gies and their counterparts
at the U.S. Military Acad-
emy.
"That never happened -
though we wished it did,"
said Joe Fenton. curator of
the Sam Houston Sanders
Corps of Cadets Center at
Texas A&M. "Patton was a
hero, so people put words in
his mouth."
But as that myth goes up in
flames, illuminated in its
glow are the real stories of
A&M during the war and the
Aggies who answered Uncle
Sam's call to arms.
It is impossible to know
exactly how many Aggies'
served, said David Chapman
of the A&M Archives.
"They're fmding more all the
time," he said
Some students attended
A&M for only a semester or
two before joining or being
drafted. "If you went to
school for a semester, then
went to war and got killed
and no one remembered you,
then you didn't get counted,"
Chapman said.
The generally accepted
number of Aggie servicemen
is about 20,000. Calvin C.
Boykin Jr. was one of them.
He arrived at A&M during
the summer of 1942 and
found a campus electrified 1
by a current of patriotism
sparked by the Dec. 7, 1941,
bombing of Pearl Harbor.
"You wanted to get into it,"
he said. "Aggies - that's the
way they are."
According to a report in
the Dee. 9, 1941, issue of the
campus newspaper, A&M
'President Thomas O. Walton
and Corps of Cadets com-
mandant Col. Maurice D. We-
lty urged students to stay in
school, graduate and get om-
cers' commissions.
"When your country needs
you, it will call," they said
Because of the ever-
changing selective service
rules, however, many of
those who stayed in school
were drafted.
"The freshmen and soph-
omores were kind of in lim-
bo. They didn't know what to
do," said Boykin.
Students began to leave
campus in 1940 when the U.S.
started to call National
Guard units to active duty.
Pre-war, A&M's enroll-
ment peaked at 6,679 in 1941.
The number of students
dropped only slightly - to
6,549 - in 1942, but the bot-
tom dropped out in 1943.
In February of that year,
fewer than 4,000 students
signed up for classes. Within
48 hours during May, the
1,306 juniors and seniors who
had already been inducted in
the armed serviCes left cam.
pus, and by September, en.
rollment had dropped to
2,205.
"A&M just kind of died -
everybody left," said Chap-
man.
That included many facul-
ty and staff members who
either volunteered, were
drafted or took higher-paying
war industry jobs.
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A&M's board of directors
raised salaries in October
1942 for the first time since
the Great Depression in an
effort to retain employees.
Boykin left A&M in Febru-
ary 1943 for tank training. He
had two semesters of school
completed thanks to an
accelerated year-round
trimester curriculum adopt-
ed by the school in January
1942.
Of the Aggies who served
during World War II, about
14,000 were officers. Some
graduated before the out-
break of hostilities, but oth-
ers were commissioned right
out of school- including the
entire graduating class of
1942.
A&M supplied more offi-
cers during the war than any
other school, including West
Point
Boykin decided that he
could not wait for his com-
mission and joined as an en-
listed man. "You got tired of
studying and wanted to get to
it," he said
Boykin recalled that two
war heroes spoke at Kyle
Field in 1942. One flew with
Lt Col. James H. Doolittle on
a bombing run over Tokyo in
April 1942, and the other was
a survivor of the June 4, 1942,
battle for Midway Island.
He said the tlyboys told
students the Allies were not
winning the war, and some
good Aggie soldiers would
make a difference.
"That let us know it was a
serious business," said Boy-
kin.
He was still on campus in
1943 when Hollywood arrived
at A&M to capture the Aggie
spirit in a fIlm called "We've
Never Been Licked." The
filmmakers went to yell prac-
tices, bonfire, classes and
football games, tUming much
of it
"It's very patriotic.' It's
very pro-Aggie. It's very pro-
American," said Fenton. the
Corps Center curator.
He said just about every
student anywhere near cam-
pus then claims to have been
in the movie.
Memorabilia from the fIlm
is on display in the Corps
Center, along with many ar-
tifacts from World War II -
uniforms, photographs,
equipment
There is also a list of the
dead.
"Texas A&M is writing its
own military history in the
blood of its graduates," said
Gen Douglas MacArthur.
More than 900 Aggies were
killed during the war.
Boykin was one of the for-
tunate ones. He came home
alive.
He returned to an A&M
very different from the one
he had left, with an attitude
akin to that of many vet-
erans. "I just wanted to get
my education and get a job,"
he said
Like many college cam-
puses nationwide, A&M had
a huge influx of students
after the war. Enrollment
had jumped to 8,200 students
by September 1946 and
reached 8,651 by 1947.
The board of directors de-
cided in 1946 to discontinue
compulsory membership in
the Corps of Cadets. Many
veterans simply refused to
don the uniform or partici-
pate in Corps activities.
"The veterans coming
back changed the face of the
school," said Cha~man.
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Remembering World War II
War forced 'country boy' to grow up in hurry
By JIM HINEY
Eagle staff writer
Perry Shirley doesn't think about his
service as a private with the combat am-
phibious engineers during World War n
much anymore.
"If you keep reliving
it, it will make you
crazy," he said.
He says he still is ba-
sically the same person t
at heart that he was be-
fore fighting in World
Warn.
"I was a country boy
from Reliance, and I'd SHIRlEY
been to Dallas and Houston [before the
war]," said Shirley, 69, of Bryan. "I'm
still a country boy from Reliance. In fact,
we still have property out there."
The war and resulting travels through
Europe gave Shirley a broader education
than he would have received staying
home, and his military benefits allowed
him to go to school after the war.
He wanted to get into the war in 1942,
but he had to wait for the war to come to
him. He was denied enlistment in the
Coast Guard in 1942 because he was too
small, he said. A year later, the Army
drafted him.
"Back in those days, when the flag
passed you got a tingle," he said. "You
went and served when you were called."
Asked how the war affected him, Shir-
ley said, "You grew up faster." That
quick maturing gave Shirley more ini-
tiative and leadership ability, he said.
He was wounded twice while serving
in France. The second time, in December
1944, led to his return to the states and an
honorable medical discharge from the
Army in July 1945.
Shirley took a year off and then at-
tended the University of Houston for
three semesters before attending a busi-
ness college in Bryan. He worked as a
bookkeeper for Parker-Astin Hardware.
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Monday, June 20th
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~
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Bryan, Texas
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*******************
~ *
: Local :
~ *
~ *
: Heroes, :
. *
: Continued from page 10 :
: Army in 1916 a;d :
. trained at Texas A&M. *
: He served in the Philip. :
~ pines and France, earn- It
~ ing a Purple Heart and It
~ silver star. He was It
: killed in action in 1944 :
: in the Philippines. :
~ .Ptc. Fred Lero of It
~ Benchley graduated It
: from Rye High School :
~ and joined the Army in It
~ 1941. He served - in It
: Africa, earning an ETO :
~ ribbon, a bronze star, a It
~ good conduct medal and It
: Purple Heart. He was :
~ killed in action in Italy It
~ in 1944. *
: . Samuel W. Lipscomb. :
~. .Floyd M. Locke. It
: .Pfc. Willie L. Luther of :
. Bryan joined the Army It
. in 1942 and served in It
: Eng- :
. land It
~ and It
: France, :
~ where It
~ he was *
: killed :
~ in ac- *
~ tion in It
~ It
~ LUTHER 1944. He !:
-.. earned ~
: a good conduct medal :
~ and an ETO ribbon with It
~ two battle stars. It
: .Staff Sgt. James W. :
: Mabry of Bryan joined :
~ the army Air Corps in It
~ 1942. He earned an ETO It
: ribbon and a Purple ':
~ Heart. He was killed in *
~ England in 1943. It
: .Pfc. Charles J. Mate- :
~ Jka, of Bryan joined the It
~ Army in 1941 and It
: served in Hawaii, Okin- :
~ awa and Saipan. He was It
~ killed in action in It
: Okinawa in 1945. :
~ .Cpl. Morris J. McCul- *
: laugh (or McCulloch) of :
~ Wellborn attended Ste- It
~ phen F. Austin High It
: School and joined the :
. Marines in 1941. He It
: served in Samoa, Gua- :
~ dalcanal, the Solomon It
~ Islands and Tarawa. He It
: earned a Purple Heart, :
~ APO ribbon with five It
it stars, an American de- *
: fense medal, a presi- :
~ dential citation, Ameri- *
: can theater ribbon and a :
~ victory medal. He was It
~ killed in action in Sa i- *
~ pan in 1944. *
: . Pfc. Clifford H. Miller :
~ of Bryan attended Ste- *
: phen F. Austin High :
~ It
~ Continued on page 14 *
~ *
it******************
Page F12 Bryan-College Station Eagle
Sunday, June 5, 1994
Fifty Yon After
50 years later, myth can't enhance reality q
By MELINDA RICE
Eagle staff writer
Dawn came slowly for Task
Force A.
As the first feeble light
penetrated the storm clouds
massed over the English
Channel on June 6, 1944,
hundreds of men who had
trained for years, waited for
months and been seasick for
hours struggled to make out
Normandy's towering cliffs
through the gloom.
"Everybody was staring
forward, trying to see the
enemy coastline," said
James W. "Ike" Eikner, a
communications officer for
the 2nd U.S. Rangers Batta-
lion.
He was one of the 225 men
comprising Task Force A -
three companies from the
2nd Rangers led personally
by Lt. Col. James Earl Rud-
der, who would eventually be
mayor of Brady, Texas land
commissioner under Gov.
Alan Shivers, and president
of Texas A&M and the A&M
University system.
Suddenly. . . Boom!
The sights and sounds of
Allied artillery burst
through the darkness, an-
nouncing the presence of
more than 5,000 ships and
hundreds of thousands of
men just off the northern
coast of France.
The Allied D-Day invasion
was on. Rudder's Rangers
had ajob to do.
After landing under enemy
fire on a narrow, rocky
beach, the Rangers were
supposed to scale 100-foot
cliffs and take out a battery
of German guns that could
fire with devastating results
on nearby Omaha and Utah
beaches where American
troops were scheduled to
land.
Twenty years later Rudder
told a reporter, "I was given
the mission to knock out
those guns and they didn't
"No soldier in my
command has ever
been wished a more
difficult task than that
which befell the
34-year-old com-
mander of the Prov-
isional Ranger Force."
Gen. Omar Bradley
D-Day ground force commander
care how I did it."
The place was Pointe du
Hoc - a sharp promontory of
land thrusting into the
Channel between the two
American landing spots.
According to the histories
of the Normandy landings
prepared by the Army His-
torical Division, "This posi-
tion was regarded as the
most dangerous in the Amer-
o ,I
lcan zone. . . .
That zone was the western
part ofa 40-mile stretch of the
French coastline targeted for
Allied landings. To the east,
English and Canadian troops
were scheduled to land in
three areas - Gold, Sword
and Juno beaches.
In his memoirs, Gen. Omar
Bradley who commanded
D-Day ground troops, wrote,
"No soldier in my command
has ever been wished a more
difficult task than that which
befell the 34-year-old com-
mander of the Provisional
Ranger Force."
That commander was
Rudder who, when first ap-
prised of the mission in Jan-
uary 1944, thought his supe-
rior officers were trying to
scare him, said his widow,
Margaret Rudder. -
Her husband commanded
1,200 soldiers from the 2nd
and 5th Rangers on D-Day
and could have stayed on
board a ship during the ini-
tial assault. In fact, he was
ordered to stay behind.
"We're not going to risk
getting you knocked out in
the first round," Lt. Gen.
Clarence R. Huebner told
Rudder according to several
sources.
"I'm sorry to have to dis-
obey you, sir," Rudder reo
portedly replied, "but if I
don't take it, it may not go."
The general reluctantly
gave his approval.
So shortly after 4 a.m. on
June 6 - two hours after
20,000 troopers were flown a-
cross the Channel to para-
chute miles behind the pro-
posed invasion site, Rudder
clambered aboard the little
landing craft with his troops
and headed for the enemy.
Later, as the early sun fil-
tered through thick clouds
and illuminated the ap-
proaching coastline, the sol-
diers knew there was a prob-
lem.
"By the time there was
enough daylight to put things
together, we were con-
cerned," said Eikner. "It was
Col. Rudder who fIrst figured
out we were heading for the
wrong point."
In the mist. the British sai-
lors charged with guiding
the 10 Ranger-laden landing
craft across the channel had
mistaken another rocky
tableland for Pointe du Hoc.
Rudder's first order to the
British boatswain was ig-
nored, said Eikner who was
in the boat directly behind
his commander's. "The
colonel then drew himself up
to his full height, standing in
.~~.
""""~,,,~ .,~
';'< ~"'~..~
,,-;,.-.;..,.4. .l.. 1."..\1.. ~.;<.."'..>,;
~
.,.:. \;rr~
Bomb craters on the beach at Pointe du Hoc testify to the intensity of the pre-
invasion shelling of the Normandy coastline.
This German gun battery served as cover for Earl Rudder when a shell exploded
here, killing two men, one on either side of him.
the boat, and said in his big
voice - and he could really
lay it on - 'Right rudder!' "
The startled sailor com-
plied and the other boats fol-
lowed Rudder's.
The mini armada turned
west and started back toward
Pointe du Hoc, traveling low
in the water parallel to the
coast. "We had already got-
ten so close to the shore that
people with rifles could shoot
at us - and they did," said
Eikner.
Meanwhile, waves crashed
over the sides of the little
"It was Col. Rudder
who first figured out
we were heading for
the wrong point."
JAMES W. EIKNER
Former Ranger
British landing craft loaded
down with American sol-
diers and their equipment.
Some boats already had suc-
cumbed to the waves, dump-
ing their human cargo into
the icy Channel waters.
Of the Rangers' two supply
boats, one went down and
soldiers in the other had to
dump at least half its cargo
overboard to keep the boat
afloat.
"We soon realized that a
couple of the boats had
already swamped and gone
down, but there was nothing
we could do," wrote Lt. El-
mer H. "Dutch" Vermeer in
his memoirs.
Dozens died without a shot
fIred from the German sol-
diers entrenched on the cliff-
tops. Burdened with heavy
equipment and buffeted by
heavy seas, soldiers drowned
or died of exposure before
help could arrive.
"We had to bail with our
helmets," said Eikner. "We
were bailing and upchucking
and getting shot at - all at
the same time."
The Ranger mission had
been timed down to the sec-
ond and Rudder had hoped to
take the six 155mm guns
without a shot fired. But
thanks to the navigation er-
ror, the Rangers landed 38
minutes late - eight minutes
after their mission should
have been completed.
"Our time was gone by the
time we got in," Rudder said
in 1964.
The battleship Texas,
which had been hammering
Pointe du Hoc with artillery,
ceased fIre at 6:25 a.m. The
Rangers were scheduled to
land five minutes later while
the German defenders were
still hiding underground in a
network of concrete tunnels
and bunkers.
By the time Rudder's Ran-
gers hit the beach, the Ger-
mans had recovered and they
poured death and destruction
down upon the Rangers.
"We could hear the bullets
rattle against the boats as we
went by," wrote Vermeer.
"Finally, one of them did
penetrate the side of the boat
and hit the boy right across
from me in the belly ."
Sixteen men were killed or
wounded landing at the
point. Eikner, now 80 and liv-
ing in Austin, recalled one
soldier who was hit twice
while in the boat, then three
more times as he crossed the
beach.
From the boats,. the Ran-
Bryan-College Station Eagle
Sunday, June 5, 1994 Page F13
Remembering World War II
~f what Rudder's Rangers accomplished
gers fIred ropes and rope
ladders attached to grapnel
hooks toward the cliffs. The
equipment was so wet and
heavy from the sea water,
though, that some ropes fell
short and some didn't fIre at
all.
Despite the setbacks, the
Rangers swarmed up the
cliffs like lemmings in re-
verse.
"Within five minutes of
touching down, the fIrst men
were on top and within 30
minutes all the essential
people were up," said Eikner.
The German defenders cut
the Rangers' ropes, rolled
grenades down the cliffs and
fired their rifles straight
down at Rudder and his sol-
diers.
One blast sent Eikner, who
had climbed about halfway
up a rope, tumbling to the
base of the cliff where he was
half buried by rocks and
mud.
But Eikner made it to the
top and established a com-
mand post in a 2O-foot by
2O-foot shell crater. Rudder
was in and out of the post as
he helped guide artillery fIre
onshore from the USS Satter-
lee.
While he was directing
Navy fire onto German posi.
tions, a sniper's bullet hit his
left leg just above the knee
and went through without
hitting the bone.
"Col. Rudder refused to
stay in the command post
and soon went out again,"
wrote Vermeer, who died last
year. "It was a flesh wound
and Doc Block, I think, ran a
swab through it and put a
little iodine on it." .
The colonel was still
directing his troops and
American artillery fIre later
that morning when one shell
fell short. Rudder was stand-
ing in a captured German
bunker between two other
officers when a shell ex-
ploded on top of the bunker.
The other two were killed
and Rudder was stunned and
showered with shrapnel.
Until he died in 1970, Rud-
der carried a piece of con-
crete from that bunker in his
right arm.
Vermeer wrote that Rud-
der persevered despite his
. wounds and was an in-
spiration to his men. "It still
makes me cringe to recall the
pain he must have endured
trying to operate with a
wound through the leg and
the concussive force he must
have felt from the close hit,"
he wrote. "He was the
strength of the whole opera-
tion through the next day
Photos courtesy of Margaret Rudder
Members of Task Force A, three companies from the 2nd Rangers. rest on a secured Pointe du Hoc on June 6. 1944. James Earl Rudder is standing in the rear at left,
and a half in spite of his
wounds, and he was in com-
mand all of the time."
While their leader was
directing shelling from the
sea, Rudder's Rangers were
fanning out to find those
guns and block off a road to
cut off the Germans' supplies
and reinforcements.
Rudder's Rangers suc-
ceeded at both - although
according to the book, "The
Longest Day," they failed.
The Rangers take great is-
sue with the book and with
the movie of the same name.
Eikner said he'd like to de.
liver a good, swift kick to the
soldier who told the book's
author the guns weren't
there.
"He wasn't there and he
doesn't know," Eikner said.
The guns were on the cliff.
top, but not where the Ran.
gers had expected them to be.
Heavy bombing prior to
the invasion had prompted
the Nazis to move the guns
about a mile inland and cam-
ouflage them. A Ranger
squad found the guns and de-
stroyed them before they
could be turned on the Amer.
ican troops landing at
Omaha and Utah beaches.
Meanwhile, those troops
were Suffering heavy casual-
ties as they fought their way
ashore. Omaha beach, in par-
ticular, was a killing ground.
Ninety percent of the Ameri.
cans killed or wounded on
D.Day fell at Omaha beach.
The other Allied invaders
fared much better. Utah
beach was less heavily de-
fended than Omaha, and the
Americans who landed there
Force was awarded the
Presidential Unit citation for
its actions and many indi-
vidual Rangers won citations
for bravery, including Rud-
der who was awarded the
Distinguished Service Cross.
D-Day opened the exit door
for the Germans during
World War II and Rudder's
Rangers held the key. Allied
commanders had considered
the taking of Pointe du Hoc
critical to the success of the
D-day invasion.
Rudder returned to Point
du Hoc for the first time in
1954. Standing on the beach
with his neck craned back to
see the tops of the cliffs, he
said to a reporter, "Will you
tell me how we did this?
Anybody would be a fool to
try this. It was <;r..azy then,
and it's crazy now:" '.. ,'". '"
were able to hook up with the
paratroopers who had landed
several miles inland.
The British and Canadian
troops who went ashore at
Sword, Juno and Gold bea-
ches swarmed inland about
three miles on the fIrst day.
Altogether, the Allies lan-
ded about 154,000 men that
day; about 10,000 were killed
or wounded.
Of Rudder's original group
of 225, only 90 were able to
bear arms by the end of the
fIrst day. By the time they
were relieved at noon on the
third day, Rudder's Rangers
had repulsed five German
counterattacks and num-
bered fewer than 70 able-
bodied men - and many of
those, like their leader, were
injured.
The Provisional Ranger
'P.age f1i1 Bryan.CoHeye Station Ea~' ~ 6\J\1day, June '5, 1994
Fifty Yun After
*******************
. ..
. ..
: Local :
. ..
! Heroes i
. ..
. Continued from page 11 ..
. ..
: School and joined the ~
. Anny in 1943. He served *
. in the Pacific, earning a ..
: good conduct medal, :
. victory ribbon and APO ..
. ribbon. He was killed in ..
: a car accident on Cebu :
. Island in 1945. ..
. .Ivon R. Miller. ..
: .Pfe. Jam.. Garland :
. Murphy of Bryan gradu- ..
· ated from Madisonville ..
: High School. He joined :
. the Army in 1943 and ..
: served in Europe, earn- :
. ing a Purple Heart. He ..
: was killed in action in ~
. Germany in 1945. *
. .Pfe. W.Z. Nellon of ..
· Bryan attended Kemp ..
: High School and joined :
. the Anny in 1943. He ..
: served in Burma and :
. India, earning an Amer- ..
· lean theater ribbon and ..
: Purple Heart. He was :
. ..
: Continued on page 15 :
******************..
D-DAY Remembered
"A Musical Tribute
from the QEII"
War effort led to training as aircraft inspector
By SIMA LEE DuBOIS
Special to the Eagle
Living in New .Orleans, I
was selling dresses from the
French Room at Maison
Blanche department store.
After store hours, I, along
with many others, would
meet at the" Fountain Lounge
in the Roosevelt Hotel to help
entertain the many military
personnel passing through
our area on their way to for-
eign ports to participate in
World War n.
The entertainment con-
sisted of having a drink and
sharing a dance with them.
Many of the military person-
nel were lonely and simply
wanted to talk to anyone
willing to listen to the stories
of the families they were
leaving behind
One poor kid begged me for
my gold bracelet as a good
luck gift, promising to return
it to me some day. It is sad to
wonder what became of the
guy who needed my luck so
badly. I am very thankful
that I made him a little hap-
pier. This was a sad time for
A television commemoration of
~Day from the decks of the QEII
in Cherbourg Harbour with host
Walter Cronkite. Featuring
performances from major
intemational stars. emotional t H ':-'-::
reunions. eyewitness stories. tL ~~,
astonishing photographs. poems.
letters. and music.
THEN
AT
8:30PM
DON'T
MISS...
...<-;-
From 0- Day to the Rhine with Bill Moyers
This special chronicles the rerum of a group of World War II
veterans to the battlefields of Europe where they fought 50
years ago. Archival footage of battles from Omaha Beach to
Bastogne to Malmedy are interspersed with veterans' personal
recollections of the war. Ir
-KAMU-TV
Channel 15, Cable Channel 4
all of us.
I had a wonderful dance
with Arthur Murray, but did
not know who he was until
all the dancers on the dance
Boor stood to one side while
we danced.
Mingling with the military
personnel influenced my
own life. I wanted to join the
WACS but a colonel friend
advised me not to. When
Higgins .Aircraft opened a
night school to train aircraft
inspectors, I went to the per-
sonnel office at Maison Blan-
che and asked for work I
could do that would allow me
to go to this schooL At this
time, the department stores
stayed open one night a
week.
The only offer the company
gave me was work on a de-
livery truck. so I tOok it
When I fini~hP.d the in-
Member FDIC
spectors school, I started
working at the Higgjn~ plant
near New Orleans. There was
no regular transportation, so
we got rides with whomever
had cars.
The Higgins plant was at
that time the largest building
of its kind in the world. Ad-
jacent to the plant was the
largest privately owned air-
port on the planet The plant
wasn't flni~hl!ft so we had to
wear warm clothing; we tried
to keep warm by standing
near the steam pipes.
At various times, I worked
as an inspector in the receiv-
ing, large parts and casting
departments. I ended up as
head inspector of the mate-
rial conservation depart-
ment I worked at the plant 10
hours a day, six days a week
for two years.
I had an apartment in the
B4NK
NnIRST ·
encan
fA BANK-
SIJI'POIlT/I/(; TI/f CO.UJI/INITY
1111 Briarcrest Dr.
Bryan. Texas
2604300
French Quarter near the
people I rode with. Most of
the food stores had little food
left by the time we got home.
I shopped at a small corner
grocery. After explSlining my
situation to the owners. they
would keep for me the food I
asked for. The inspectors and
store clerks in my depart-
ment saved special food we
liked and had lunch together
on Fridays.
There are good memories
and sad memories. One in-
stance I dislike ~11ing:
Whlle consulting with a store
worker, we were standing in
an area not fini~hM over-
head. Workmen were putting
timbers in place and as one
swung around. it knocked a
worker off and he fell to the
concrete at our feel He hit,
bounced about a foot high
and fell again.
Sunday, J,u,ne5,.1994 ,Page F1,5
Bryan-COllege St~tion Eagle
Remembering World War II
*******************
~ *
~ Local i
~ *
~ Heroes i
. *
: Continued from page 14 :
: killed in action in :
~ Burma in 1945. *
: .SUt. Jerry R. Nemec of :
~ Bryan graduated from *
: Smetana High School. :
. He joined the Army in *
. 1942 and served in *
: France, earning a Pur- :
. pIe Heart and presi- *
. dential citation. He was *
: killed in action in Nor- :
~ mandy in 1944. *
. . Pvt. Roland T.C. Nunn *
: of Bryan attended Allen :
. Academy and joined the *
. Army *
:- in 1943. :
. H e *
· served *
: in Ice- :
. land, *
· Eng- *
. *
. land, *
. France *
: and :
~ NUNN Bel - *
~ glum, earning a good *
: conduct medal, AD rib- :
~ bon, ETO ribbon, a *
: bronze arrowhead, :
. three bronze stars, a *
~ Croix de Guerre with *
: palm and a posthumous :
~ Purple Heart. He was *
: killed in action in Bel- :
~ gium in 1944. *
~ .Willlam H. Parsons. *
: .Cpl. Luke J. Patranella :
~ of Bryan attended Ste- *
~ phen F. Austin High *
: School and joined the :
. Army in 1943. He served *
: in Europe, earning a :
. Purple Heart, good con- *
. duct medal, EAME rib- *
: ' bon, two bronze stars :
. and an ETO ribbon. He *
: was killed in action in :
. Germany in 1945. *
. .Radloman 3rd Class *
: Thomas Frank Pecena of :
. Wheelock joined the *
. Navy in 1940. He served :
: in thePacific aboard the *
. U.S.S. Houston, earning *
. a Purple Heart, APO :
: ribbon and good con- *
~ duct medal. He was *
: killed while on duty in :
~ 1942. *
~ .Herbert H. Perrlte. :
: .Sldney L. Redman. *
~ . Lt. Anson "Bud" F. *
~ Rideout Jr. of DeRidder, :
: La., majored in civil en- *
~ gineering at Texas A&M *
: and joined the Army in :
~ 1943. He served in Eng- *
. land and France, where :
: he was killed in 1944 *
. and awarded a post- *
. humous Purple Heart. :
: *
: Continued on page 16 :
*******************
Barbed wire fence probably helped
save lives of these.4 on night patrol
saying, "I sergeant. I must be
at head of line."
"You understand Eng-
lish?" I asked.
"Ya, a little. "
"Tell your men that as long
as they keep their hands on
their heads no one will get
hurt. If they don't they'll be
shot. "
He spoke rapidly in Ger-
man. Then, in English, to me,
"My men will obey your or-
ders. There are 25 of us. My
men won't move their
hands."
After we had turned the
prisoners over to a detail,
Capt. Fabrick came up and
said, "Keep your patrol on
standby till I relay this in-
formation to battalion, see
what they want us to do."
I told Short, White and
Schmidt to hang loose.
I went over and climbed
into the cab of the truck. In a
few minutes, White joined
me. We sat there silently
smoking. "Don't you ever get
scared?" I asked.
"I stay scared," he replied.
"Only a damn fool wouldn't. I
hide it pretty good," he grin-
ned.
quickly and silently across
the road and eased himse1fto
the ground. White did like-
wise. Then Schmidt started
under. "Dammit, I'm
caught," he whispered.
As I worked to free the
barb holding his jacket,
Schmidt said, "Listen." I
heard a faint "clomp, clomp,
clomp" in the distance.
"Hell, it has to he Krauts,"
Schmidt whispered. "Our
.guys don't march at night."
The "clomp, clomp, clomp"
was really loud now. They
were marching in step at a
steady pace.
"Halt!," he shouted in
German.
"Tell 'em to drop their
guns."
He gave the command and
there was a loud clatter on
the hard road bed.
"Tell 'em to crawl through
the fence and reassemble on
this side. Warn 'em to get
their hands on their heads as
soon as they're on this side of
the fence."
The Germans scrambled
through the fence and lined
up in two columns. One of
them moved toward the end,
"The division will spear-
head a big attack that starts
at 0500 hours tomorrow. Or-
ders have come down for our
company to find out if this
bridge is still intact." He
pointed to a spot on a map.
"We're on this hill. It's about
two miles to this bridge,"
I picked three men: Arnold
Short, a sergeant from West
Virginia, the best patrol man
in the company; Joe White, a
mean-minded warrior from
Georgia who'd been pro-
moted to sergeant and busted
back to private so many
times I'd lost count; and
Frank Schmidt, a mild-
mannered corporal from
Wisconsin, who spoke fluent
German.
It was just before 8 p.m.
when we passed the per-
imeter guard. Moments later,
Short, who was on point,
made his way back to report
a barbed wire fence along a
road.
"We cross one at a time
while the others cover," I
said.
I held the bottom strand of
wire while Short crawled
under. Crouching, he moved
By SPEC GAMMON
Special 10 the Eagle
When I think back to World
War n, I recall that early
spring night in 1945 and be-
come more and more con-
vinced that I'm alive today
because of a barbed wire
fence in Germany.
I was a platoon sergeant in
Company B, 21st Armored
Infantry Battalion, 11th Ar-
mored Division. I was hit by
mortar . shrapnel in late
December 1944 as my divi-
sion drove toward Bastogne,
Belgium, to help ~Ueve
American troops surrounded
in the Battle of the Bulge.
After spending a few months
hospitalized in Paris, I had
just rejoined my company
when the event occurred:
It had been late afternoon
when I first got word to re-
port to Capt. Fabrick. "I want
you to pick three men for a
night patrol. I hate to wel-
come you back to the com-
pany this way, but every ser-
geant here has had at least
two night patrols while you
were in the hospital," he
said.
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Page F16 Bryan-College Station Eagle
Sunday, June 5,1994
Fifty Yon After
*******************
* *
i Local ~
* *
~ Heroes ~
* *
* Continued from page 15 *
* *
: .T.5 John H. Seay of :
* Bryan attended Stephen *
: F. Austin High School :
* and *
* joined *
* the *
: Army :
* in 1942. *
* H e *
: served :
* i n *
* France, *
* *
* earning *
* a Pur. SEAY *
: pIe Heart, bronze star :
* and a good conduct me. *
: dal. He was killed in ac- :
* tion in France in 1944. *
* .2nd Lt. Aubrey Lawless *
: Tobias of Bryan gradu- :
* 'ated from Texas A&M *
: and joined the Army in :
* 1941. He *
* served *
* in the *
: Pacific, :
* earning *
* a Pur- *
* *
* pie *
* Heart *
: and :
* A P 0 *
* TOBIAS and AD *
: ribbons. He died in an :
* airplane accident in *
: Australia in 1942. :
* .Floyd Toon. *
* .James E. Walton. *
: .1st Lt. Archibald S. :
* "Buck" Ware Jr. of Bryan *
: graduated from Stephen :
* F. Austin High School *
* and *
* joined *
: the :
* Army *
: in 1943. :
* H' e *
* served *
: in:
* Europe, *
* earning *
: an air WARE :
* medal and OLC, ATO *
: and ETO ribbons. He :
* was killed in the line of *
: duty in a car accident :
* near Nuremberg, Ger- *
* many in 1946. *
: . Douglas Weedon. :
* .Pfc. Henry A. Wiese of *
: Bryan attended Tabor :
* School and joined the *
* Army in 1942. He served *
: in Europe, earning as :
* good conduct medal, *
* ETO and ATO ribbons *
: and a victory medal. He :
* was killed in action in *
* Italy in 1944. *
: . 1st Lt. James H. Wilson :
* of Bryan attended Texas *
* *
* *
: Continued on page 17 :
*******************
Wolfe whistle sparks romance, wedding
By BRENDA BURGESS
Eagle staff wrner
It all began with a wolf
whistle.
My Mom and Dad met on
June 5, 1945, in Vodnany,
Czechoslovakia. Dad, Ralph
Hanna, was in the 94th Divi-
sion and stationed in Ober-
ammergau, Germany. He
served in the military for
three years.
It was the typical romance
story. Mom - Anna Heinz-
lova of Prague, Czechoslova-
kia. the daughter of a Ger-
man sergeant - was at a
street corner and Dad - an
American GI from Iowa -
was across the street and
whistled at her. Mom an-
swered in English and she
said she could never get rid
of him afterward. That's
when it all began_
Before D-Day, my mom had
been hit by a shell from an
American flghter plane when
Czechoslovakia was being
bombed. To this day she has
pieces of shrapnel in her left
knee.
Eventually, my dad paid a
driver to take my mom a-
cross the border to Amberg,
Germany (he would arrive 10
days later). My mom was
dressed in army fatigues,
covered with various things
and put in the back of a
truck. During border in-
spections the guards used
pitch forks to search vehi-
cles, so I imagine she was a
little frightened! But she
made it safely.
Mom stayed in Germany
and worked at the immigra-
tion office as an interpreter.
Mom received a military
exit permit later in 1946 and
came to America on a four-
engine military plane. She
has refused to fly on a plane
since. She was the fIrst
woman to leave southern Ba-
varia under President HaITy
Truman's exit permit pro-
gram.
My mom arrived in La-
Guardia Field in New York
City on Nov. 22, 1946. My
parents were married by a
justice of the peace on Dec. 5,
1946, in Mount Pleasant,
Iowa. Anna Heinzlova be-
came Anna Hanna! Mom
wore, a black wedding dress,
but it dOesn't seem to have ef-
fected their marriage of 48
yea r s !
. Brenda Burgess is the younger of
two daughters of Ralph and Anna
Hanna She lives in BfY3n with her hus-
band, Dale, and her son, Jesse.
'Boomerang' flew four full bombing missions during 'Big Week'
By JACK WIGHT
Special 10 the Eagle
During "Big Week" in 1944,
we, the crew of the "Boomer-
ang," flew fIve missions. We
completed four of them and
were called back on one due
to bad weather.
The missions were:
. Feb. 20, 1944 - Rostock,
Germany, 10 hours.
. Feb. 21, 1944 - Bruns-
wick, Germany, 7 hours.
.Feb. 22, 1944 - Schwein-
fort, Germany, called back.
. Feb. 24, 1944 - Poznan,
Poland. 12 hours.
. Feb. 25, 1944 - Regens-
berg, Germany, 11 hours.
We were "lucky bastards"
and completed our missions.
We were on 30 days rest and
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relaxation when the Allies
invaded France. We flew
three different B-17s; enemy
action took two of them out of
service. I flew as a navigator
and bombardier on my last 20
missions.
(The air crews of the U.S.
Eighth Air Force flew more
than 3,300 sorties in B-17 and
B-24 bombers during Big
.,
Week, mostly without cover
from the shorter range
rIghter planes. There were
4,000 casualties, but the
crews accomplished their
mission of destroying the
vaunted Luftwaffe.
Little more than three
months later, when the Allies
stormed ashore at Nor-
mandy.
B~{\N
The City of Bryan
wishes to express its appreciation
to the brave men and women who
valiantly fought and died to defend
our country on this day in 1944.
Their courage and sacrifice
shall never be forgotten.
Bryan-College Station Eagle
Sunday, June 5, 1994 Page F17
Remembering World W.r II
Members of vaunted Afrika Kblps made Hearne home
By ARNOLD KRAMMER
Special to the Eagle
Early morning in a small
town: People are eating
breakfast, businesses are
opening their doors for their
fll'St customers, city traffic is
coming to life. In the dis-
tance one suddenly hears the
guttural commands of mili-
tary German, and busy
townspeople stop to stare at
the column of young men
marching through town to
harvest crops in the sur-
rounding fields.
A rural town in Nazi Ger-
many? Oldtimers in Texas
know better. This scene
could have taken place in
Tyler, Mexia, Kaufman,
Marfa, Kenedy, Brownwood,
Bastrop, Abilene, El Campo
- in dozens of other cities
and towns across the state.
One of the largest German
prisoner of war camps in
Texas - and at times in the
entire United States - was at
Hearne.
America had never held
large numbers of foreign
POWs in its entire history
and was unprepared for the
many problems involving
guarding, feeding, clothing,
housing, entertaining and
educating them. But pre-
pared or not, Americans
found themselves on the re-
ceiving end of massive waves
of German and Italian
prisoners - 150,000 in the
spring of 1943, followed by an
average of 20,000 more per
month.
The Normandy invasion
the next June sent the num-
bers soaring to 30,000 a
month, and, during the last
half year of the European
war, prisoners of war poured
in at the astonishing rate of
60,000 a month. By the end of
the war, the United States
found itself holding more
than 425,000 enemy "Captives
in 511 camps across the coun-
try.
Texas was a choice loca-
tion for the fll'St POW camps:
lots of available land, patrio-
tic people, and a climate
similar to that of North
Africa, where the enemy was
surrendering in droves.
Imagine the excitement in
Hearne that early morning in
April 1943 when the whole
town turned out to see the
Southern Pacific roll in with
nearly 6,000 prisoners of Er-
win Rommel's famed Afrika
Korps. People lined Texas 6
in silence as the hardened
German soldiers, tanned and
healthy, were marched by
gun-toting MPs toward the
edge of town. The long
columns then turned on FM
485, to the old Civilian Con-
servation Corps camp
northwest of the Hearne city
limits near the banks of the
Little Brazos River.
"We were dumbfounded,"
most people still recall,
"Here, at last, was the actual
enemy! Don't forget, we were
a little town of about 2,000
folks. "
Camp Hearne covered 800
acres and contained more
than 200 buildings; most
were wooden structures
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Photos courtesy 01 Arnold Krammer
An engraved canteen recovered from the German POW camp at Hearne Is believed to
have been carved by a German prisoner.
covered by tarpaper. Rows of
barracks were surrounded
by a secure barbed wire
fence, and the camp con-
tained four such compounds.
Huge fences circled the
camp, with guard-towers and
searchlights to dampen the
enthusiasm of would-be es-
capees. Camp Hearne was a
small city, with administra-
tion buildings, mess halls,
Continued on page 18
*******************
. *
~ Local ~
. *
· I.J *
: rIeroes : '
. *
. Continued from page 16 *
. *
: A&M and joined the :
. Army in 1943. He served *
· in the battles of Arden- *
: nes, Rhineland and Cea- :
. tral Europe, earning a *
: victory medal, ETO rib- :
. bon and three battle *
· stars and a bronze star. *
: He was killed in Berlin :
. in 1946. *
· .Harold E. Wright. *
: .Staff Sgl. John B. Van :
. Valkenburg of Bryan at- *
: tended Stephen F. Aus- :
. tin High School and *
· Texas *
. *
. A&M. *
. H e *
· joined *
: the :
. Army *
· in 1943 *
: and :
. served *
. *
. in .the VANVALKENBURG *
. Pacific, *
· earning a Purple Heart *
: and OLe medal. He was :
. killed in action on I wo *
: Jima in 1945. :
. .John M. VlckJr.. *
. *
. *
. *
. . Much of this information *
: came from "The Men and Women :
. in World War II from Brazos *
. County and Aggie Veterans." The *
: Eagle would tike to thank Clara :
. Mounce of the Bryan Public Li- *
. brary for her research assistance. *
. *
.******************
God Bless Our Veterans Who
Helped Keep Our Country
Great & Free!
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Page F18 Bryan-College Station Eagle
Sunday, June 5,1994
Fifty Yean After
*******************
~ ~
: First Brazos Co. :
: draftee, his two :
: brothers, live :
~ ~
: through WW II :
~ ~
~ The first person from ~
~ Brazos County to be ~
: drafted into the Army as :
~ it prepared for World ~
: War II was Gus Fred :
~ Meiller, son of Bertha ~
~ Meiller of Tabor and ~
: husband of Frances :
~ Metzer. ~
~ His draft number was ~
: 158 and it was the first :
~ up when the Brazos ~
: County draft board be- :
~ gan calling numbers in ~
~ 1940. ~
: A brother, Charles R. :
~ Meiller, joined the ~
~ Army in 1941 and still ~
: another brother, Paul O. :
~ Meiller, followed suit in ~
~ 1942. ~
: Gus Meiller trained at :
~ Fort Sam Houston in ~
: San Antonio. He :
~ reached the rank of ser- ~
~ geant and spent his time ~
: repairing artillery in :
~ the Second Ordinance ~
: Unit. He participated in :
~ the invasion of Nor- ~
~ mandy. He was dischar- ~
: ged in 1945; he died in :
~ September 1993. ~
~ Charles Meiller ~
: trained at Camp Bowie :
~ before joining the famed ~
~ 36th "Texas" Division. ~
: A private frrst class, he :
~ was transferred' to the ~
: Intelligence and Recon- :
~ naissance Platoon of the ~
: 143rd Regiment. He :
~ served in Africa and ~
~ was in the invasion of ~
: Salerno and Anzio, both :
~ in Italy. He was dis- ~
~ charged in 1945. ~
: Paul Meiller trained :
~ in Wilmington, N.C. He ~
: was a cryptographer :
~ with the 8U} and 9th Air ~
~ Forces in England, Ice. ~
~ land and Scotland. He ~
: reached the rank of ser- :
~ geant. He was dischar- ~
: ged in 1945. :
*******************
Members of vaunted Afrika Korps made Hearne home
Continued from page 17
car pool, shower buildings
and so on.
For much of the war, Camp
Hearne was the POW postal
headquarters for the entire
nation. Every card and letter
to and from German
prisoners of war passed
through Camp Hearne. Near
the end of the war, however,
the authorities learned that
Nazi prisoners at Hearne had
taken pver the post office to
identify anti-Nazi prisoners,
and moved the postal head-
quarters to the East Coast
into the safer hands ofltalian
POWs.
When the dust fmally set-
tled, the POWs were pleased
to fmd that, far from being
mistreated, as Hitler's prop-
aganda warned, things were
pretty good. Food was plenti-
ful and better than they were
fed in their own army, and
they were assured of the
Geneva Convention rights
(which Americans hoped
would protect the 90,000 U.S.
prisoners in German hands.
It didn't work. Ask Fred
Walker of Bryan, who spent a
nasty time in a German Luft
stalag). Best of all, the Ger-
man POWs at Hearne were
out of the war.
By all accounts, the Ger-
man POWs had lots to do.
They played soccer on week-
ends, maintained vegetable
and flower gardens, did han-
dicrafts, had two orchestras,
church services, a library of
donated books, and their own
camp newspaper, The POWs
were allowed to take edu-
cational courses which in-
cluded homework, exams,
and diplomas which were
honored when they returned
to Germany.
One unknown group of
POW architects built a con-
crete German castle, waist-
high, with towers, stairs, and
turrets. Nearby, these in-
dustrious fellows also built a
water fountain, three feet
high and nine feet in
diameter, and a large, accu-
rate sundial - all of which
still survive today.
While they complained
about American white bread,
sweet potatoes, peanut but-
ter, and, of course, the sum-
mer heat, most were relieved
to be out of the war and even
enthusiastic about being in
the "wild west." The
prisoners were so well
treated that local townspeo-
ple used to call the camp
"The Fritz Ritz."
Not that the POWs didn't
have major worries. There
was a scarcity of news from
their families back home,
they we~ in a strange land,
and roaming gangs of Nazi
thugs threatened. beat, and
on several tragic occasions,
'even killed any POW who
seemed too pro-American.
Camp Hearne had a partic-
ularly violent Nazi group.
The folks in Hearne also
began to settle down. There
was some grumbling about
the "Krauts," to be sure, es-
pecially by families with
rifle to one of the POWs to
guard the others.
Local church groups went
out to the camp to minister to
anyone in spiritual need and
to donate books, musical in-
struments and handicraft
supplies. Local soccer fans
sometimes parked along the
fence and bet with the guards
on championship games.
On a hi~er plane, social
get-togethers took place at
the camp from time to time.
Mrs. Hazel Chartain of Bryan
remembers the time when
her husband, the late J.D.
Prewit, associate director of
the Texas Extension Service,
and several other local cou-
ples (l.P. Trotter, Jimmy
Potts, "Dutch" Hohn, and
their wives) were invited out
to the camp for a 4th of July
barbecue.
"We had so much fun,"
Chartain remembers. "We
were served by POW waiters
while a POW orchestra
played German songs, Amer-
ican swing and the favorite
tune of Gennan prisoners at
almost every camp, ''Don't
Fence Me In."
Several days later, Char-
tain was astonished to hear
Walter Winchell blast the
Texas Extension Service for
consorting with the enemy.
"Can you imagine," Chartain
snorts today, "here we were
supervising their garden
program and were given a
little thanks, and that was
consorting with the enemy?"
. Arnold Krammer has taught history
at Texas A&M University for 20 years
This woodburninQ was made on the back
of a U,S. supply crate at Camp Hearne.
sons or husbands overseas,
but that died down as Allied
victories brought the end of
the war insight.
Local farmers who re-
quested POW labor found
them to be hardworking and
courteous. Many were farm
boys before the war and en-
joyed the chance to get out of
camp for the day.
"How they loved to drive
the tractor," Mrs. Kathleen
Stegall of Franklin recalled.
Her husband brought them
baloney sandwiches for
lunch, and sometimes had to
awaken the American guard
who had given his unloaded
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America, on D-Day
The Associated Press
America had been at war al.
most precisely 2~ years on June
6, 1944; war news monopolized
every front page, and war con-
cerns touched every heart.
But life went on. A Coca-Cola
still cost a nickel. The St Louis
Cardinals were on their way to a
third consecutive World Series.
The Republicans were on their
way to yet another defeat to
Franklin D. Roosevelt, having
just installed New York Gov.
Thomas E. Dewey as their can-
didate.
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'11
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Bryan-College Station Eagle
. , .." , , t
.. J , I. I ~ .., <00
Sunday, June 5, 1994 Page F19
Remembering World War II
Wartime marriage defies odds against it
By MEUNDA RICE
Eagle staff writer
The first year of Lannes and Peggy
Hope's marriage was a battle -literally.
Lannes shipped out for Europe with
the- 745th Tank Battalion of the U.S.
Army's 1st Infantry Division after
spending only 15 days with his bride of
two months.
Six months later, from the deck of a
landing craft, he was watching smoke
billow up from Omaha beach as Ameri.
can troops stormed ashore on D-Day. '
"I crossed the beach when the worst
was over," he said.
Still, things he saw that day and later
during the war were pretty br~ but you'd
never know it from his lette. s - all 500
of them.
"His letters were so good, an .e wrote
so well!" said Peggy, who fell that she
must have bored her husband with let-
ters about the doings in Comanche,
where she lived during the war. "I felt
like it was the same thing over and over
again. Not much happens in a small
town. "
The Hopes kept in touch and got to
know each other better through the let-
ters they exchanged regularly during
Lannes' qvo years of wartime service.
His newsy missives written on thin
onionskin paper related tales of people
and places, times of frenzy and boredom
- but never stories of death or gore.
"He never did tell me 'I saw a German
today and shot him' or anything," said
Peggy.
Her nuptuals with Lannes were like
many wartime weddings, the result of a
quick decision not long before the pros-
pective groom shipped out to serve Uncle
Sam.
Unlike many of those unions, the
Hopes' lasted. They celebrated their 50th
-wedding anniversary last year.
"Twice as many wartime marriages
ended in divorce as peacetime mar-
riages," said Lannes, who became a psy-
chologist and taught at Texas A&M for
more than 30 years.
Both Hopes said they had an advantage
in that they knew each other awhile be-
fore getting married. They met during
the summer of 1942 when Lannes, who
played trumpet with his National Guard
unit's band, ended up passing through
Peggy's hometown of Comanche.
But Peggy's roommate found a photo of
him and urged her to get back in touch,
so she sent him a Valentine in 1943.
One Saturday night in November they
decided to tie the knot By 10:30 the next
morning they were hitched and on their
way to Fort Worth for a honeymoon of
sorts.
The Hopes said their knot stayed tied
because of lots of good humor and hard
work.
Mine sweeper captain: World War II was kind to me
By JIM HINEY
Eagle staff writer
Sweeping the ocean for
enemy mines is only danger-
ous "if you hit ~ mine," says
Alton Giesens.:h!ag, whC'
helped make the waters
the World War II South P
fic safer for American sh-a.
and men.
He says the war was kind
to him. He avoided injury
while commanding a mine
sweeper in the South Pacific,
he met the woman who
would become his wife and
he emerged from the service
a better man.
"I was kind of a bashful
person when I went into the
Navy," said Giesenschlag, 74,
of College Station. "The war
made me feel more at ease
tloing things, making de-
cisions. I felt I was more
lI'own up."
He's been out of the Navy
for almost 49 years, but his
mind wanders back to the
South Paciflc from time to
time.
"The war doesn't go
away," he said. "I kind of like
to think about it"
Giesenschlag, a Snook
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native, was a Texas A&M
student when he learned
from the draft board that he
couldn't get a student defer-
ment from the Army. One
day, he passed a sign on
campus that said students
could get deferments by join-
ing a Navy outfit in the
Corps. .
Giesenschlag transferred.
"I knew I had to go to war,
and I didn't want to be in the
infantry," he said."
He graduated with a voca-
tional agriculture degree in
the spring of 1942. By Oc-
tober of that year he began
naval training that took him
to Chicago, where he met the
future Ruth Giesenschlag at
a party.
"We always say.if it wasn't
for World War n we wouldn't
be manied," he said.
About 15 months later,
Giesenschlag found himself
aboard the YMS-51, a mine
sweeper looking for mines in
the waters around Papua
New Guinea. He commanded
the vessel during some of its
most dangerous mine sweep-
ing missions near Borneo.
The war ended for Gie-
senschlag near Borneo.
~beatrour
brother.
You beat_
brother's friends.
You beat
.
your COUSIns.
And their friends.
You beat that
one ."', Brad,
who said he
couldn't be
And beat.
you beat
them all bad.
*******************
~ .
: Wife honors :
: husband who :
: thundered :
~ *
: across Europe :
~ *
~ By MRS. MORRIS M. *
~ HOFFMAN *
~ *
~ Special to the Eagle *
~ *
~ My husband, Morris ..
~ M. Hoff'man, served in *
: World War II with the :
: 157th Infantry, 7th :
.. Army, 45th Division, *
.. called the Thunder- *
~ birds. *
: He was a staff ser- :
.. geant during his *
: European campaign, :
.. and he received the *
: Purple Heart, Bronze :
.. Star and two Bronze *
.. Battle Stars. He fought *
.. through the Siegfried *
: Line, called "The Tiger :
~ Teeth." He also fought *
.. the battle of the Rhine *
: River, where they drove :
.. the Germans across *
: France and back to :
.. Germany, ending up in *
~ Munich. *
: His unit liberated Da- :
~ chau - established in *
: 1933 as the Nazis f'rrst :
.. concentration camp. He *
: was given the honor of :
~ carrying the American *
~ flag and leading the *
: honor guard across Da. :
.. chau's camp parade *
.. grounds. His war story *
: has been videotaped for :
.. inclusion in the new *
~ Holocaust Museum. *
~ *
.. *
~ . Mrs. Morris M. Hoffman lives *
: in Navasota.:
~******************
Are
you
beat
the rld~
WO .
Get Ie y_r 1ee.1
.LOCK.unu: YlDIO. ......
..... -'p ... It., ""'. U~.
AIIHI ..Ir. _ .... _rW.
~~_m
_-::~".*I"lIIIllltQlf
No~~.Yad__~"""ao
~~~-:-:~~
~.-:=-=w..--~~==
=~~~.....~::
~"'~Fl333O'l.
ta~,~. ~20 1~7an-~pllege Stanon Eagle I I ,,~~~dar, ~une. 5/ ,19.94
Fifty Yan After
A letter home tells of the first Americans ashore in Japan
several weeks, but I know
that is impossible, so it
would be best if we could get
underway for the Philippines
shortly. Ifwe have to make a
trip again within the near fu.
ture, I hope to go to Hong
Kong or Shanghai. The truth
of the matter is that when we
get back to our home base,
we will be badly in need of a
rest. By that time we will
have travelled 9,000 miles
within a period of about 6
weeks. At an average speed
of approximately 9 knots, you
can see we have not been idle
during recent weeks.
The Japs are coming down
to the waterfront in droves
today - the word has got
around quickly that we won't
beat them, etc. The truth is
that I haven't seen a civilian
that looked or behaved in an
antagonistic manner. Of
course, the story may be
different when we go into
Tokyo (about 15 miles north
of here). . . .
P.S. One day later- cen.
sorship has just been aboli-
shed in the Navy so am send-
ing this letter out from here
(Tokyo). [The envelope bears
a stamp saying "PASSED BY
NA VAL CENSOR"]Hope it
doesn't get there too late.
Will write again ifwe don't
leave for Okinawa too soon.
By ENSIGN A.F. CHALK
Special to the Eagle
'-", ~
Y'
~
~.
'"
."
EdJtor's Dote: Ensign AF. Chalk
wrote this letter to his wife, Marie, who
now lives in Bryan. Chalk joined the
Navy in March 1944 and returned to
the United States two years later.
Chalk served OD the USS LST 718,
which had a flat bottom and was about
a block long. It carried everything from
tanks and guns to food. After the war,
Chalk was with the economics depart-
ment at Texas A&M. He died in Sep-
tember 1985.
2 Sept. 1945
A great deal has happened
since I last wrote you. We are
now beached at Yokohama
(the port for Tokyo) & have
completed the discharging of
our cargo. One other LST
came up from Manila with us
and we were the first LST's
in the Pacific to beach in To-
kyo Bay. We carried cargo
with a high priority - it, one
of the items was Gen. MacAr-
thur's Cadillac car. We bea-
ched yesterday, the 1st of
Sept., which was the day be-
fore the peace terms were
signed on the Missouri.
There is so much I would
like to say that I scarcely
know how or where to begin.
Perhaps it would be best to
start back at Manila & "work
forward" with the narrative.
As I wrote you previously,
we were given 24 hrs. to load
at Manila & get started on
our way north. Because of
the slow speed ofLST's, they
anticipated we would have
difficulty getting here by the
2nd of Sept. ("V J" day om.
cially). However, we ran our
engines at emergency speed
for 8 days & got here early on
the 1st of Sept. after a rather
rough trip. Some of our expe-
riences were a bit thrilling,
but I don't think I should
write about them now-
perhaps later when censor-
ship regulations will permit.
In any event, we arrived
safely at the entrance to To-
kyo Bay early on the morn.
ing of the 1st of Sept. It was a
dreary morning - one that
made me terribly homesick
for Texas fall weather. The
sky was covered with a thick
overcast of clouds, rain was
falling intermittently and it
was very cold. There wasn't
the elation among the men
on the ship that you might
have expected. I think all of
us were mentally keeping
our rmgers crossed, for we
couldn't believe we were go.
ing to take the Japanese
homeland without a struggle.
Our powerful3rd Fleet was
anchored in the Bay, so we
knew there was no basis for
our uneasiness - yet the
lingering doubts still per-
sisted. The boys on the com-
Photo courtesy 01 Mrs. A.F. Chalk
The LST 718 was one of many such ships that ferried men, equipment and supplies throughout World War II.
had been completed & they
were surprised to find every-
thing quite calm.
This afternoon I found
some odds & ends in a partia-
lly burned Jap warehouse & I
will send them to you
through the mails within a
few weeks. . . . Wish I could
get back here a couple of
months from now & buy
some nice silk things from
the stores in Tokyo. No one
can get into Tokyo yet (a few
correspondents sneaked in
for a few hours & violated
regulations).
A day later (Sept. 3). We are
awaiting orders to leave, but
the sailing date is uncertain.
I would like to stay here
bat ships were anchored in
the Bay, but we were gOing to
land on the shore before the
peace had even become offi.
cial & before the regular oc.
cupation troops were to land.
We had no way of knowing
what kind of "reception" we
would receive. . . .
As soon as we beached, I
borrowed an Army jeep &
started for the downtown
business area of Yokohama. I
was probably a damn fool, for
no one knew whether the
J aps were all completely
"sold" on the idea of peace.
As it turned out, there were
very few Japs on the streets
& they just ignored me - all
of which pleased me immen-
sely. The fmancial district is
practically untouched by
bombing - it is only in the
outlying industrial areas
that the fire bombs did their
work of destruction. On the
whole, the place looks quite
modern & it certainly hasn't
been battered like Ma-
nila... .
None of the shops were
open - almost all the people
locked themselves in their
houses or fled to the hills.
They were victims of their
own propaganda - they
thought we would treat them
just as they would ha"e
treated us under similar cir-
cumstances. I noticed today,
however, that many 11l0re
people were on the streets -
they got wise quickly to the
fact that they would be safe.
The occupation troops came
in today after the peace
ceremony on the Missouri
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Remembering World War II
'.: ~ryall~Co'if&~-Sia'tron Eagle"- 1_,: ~'~~lmdaY',-June 5; \1'~'94
- f''' . '"
"" ,
Page- F21
Paratroopers first to arrive on French soil on D-Day
By ROBERT C. BORDEN
Eagle staff writer
When American troops
stormed ashore on the bea-
ches of Normandy at dawn
on June 6, 1944, Louis Hud-
son and his fellow para-
troopers were waiting for
them just a few miles inland.
The 82nd Airborne Divi-
sion had parachuted around
the town of Ste. Mere Eglise
east of Cherbourg around
midnight to blow up the
bridges over the Merderet
River, mine the roads and set
up roadblocks to keep the
Germans from rushing rein-
forcements to the beaches of
Normandy.
For Hudson, a Somervllle
native, it was his fIrst jump
in actual war conditions.
Little more than a year be-
fore, he was still in the Corps
of Cadets at Texas A&M.
Hudson entered A&M in
the fall of 1940 to study ani-
mal husbandry. Life had set.
tled into a routine of study
and drill on campus, but
Sunday afternoons were free
for the students. "We could
either go ride the artillery
horses or go to the movie,"
Hudson said. On the after-
noon of Sunday, Dec. 7, 1941,
Hudson had chosen the mo-
vies at the Campus Theater
for his entertainment.
"They stopped the movie
and cut on the lights. A man
came on stage and said he
had just heard on the radio
that the Japanese had
bombed Pearl Harbor. He
said we would probably go to
war with Japan," Hudson
said.
"The place was paCked and
it suddenly got quiet. Sud-
denly, somebody hollered,
'Let's go get those Japs' and
everybody started hollering
and ran out of the theater."
In an effort to prepare the
Aggies as quickly as possible
for the war, A&M went on a
year-round trimester sched-
ule. There wasn't time for
Hudson's Class of '44 to go
away to summer military
camp, so those students
would have to attend Officer
Candidate School when they
graduated.
"So many of my friends
joined the Marines or the
Navy because they didn't
want to miss the war," Hud-
son said.
Like his buddies, Hudson
was anxious to get into the
fighting as soon as possible.
So, in late April 1943. "with-
out telling my parents,"
Hudson, 21, went to the regis-
trar and resigned his com-
mission.
On an earlier Sunday out-
ing to the Campus Theater,
Hudson had seen a short f1lm
on paratrooper training at
Fort Benning, Ga. "I was so
impressed I went to the li-
brary and read everything I
could about it," He said.
Hudson asked to join the
paratroopers, but was told
no. Instead. he was sent to ar-
tlllery school at Fort Slll.
Okla. "They tried to get me to
go to OCS or pilot training,
but I kept saying no. Finally
they let me go to paratrooper
school," Hudson said.
He arrived at Fort Benning
in the early fall of 1943. "Par.
atroopers had to volunteer
and then they tried to make
you quit," Hudson said. The
only thing the Army made
easy was for the prospective
paratroopers to quit. "If after
two or three weeks you didn't
quit they'd move you over to
jump school at Fort Benning
for four weeks of gradual
training."
After three weeks of train-
ing, Hudson made his first
jump. "It was just so beau-
"The Army ended up
with people you
couldn't drive off. It
paid off because we
had the bravest men I
had ever known. Most
of them paid for it with
their lives."
LOUIS HUDSON
82nd Airborne Division
tiful. I had never been in an
airplane until I had to jump
out of one," Hudson said.
"After the fIfth jump, you
couldn't quit the para-
troopers unless you died or
were wounded so badly you
couldn't function or unless
the war ended. The Army
ended up with people you
couldn't drive off. It paid off
because we had the bravest
men I had ever known. Most
of them paid for it with their
,lives," Hudson said.
Hudson was assigned to
Gen. Matthew Ridgway's
82nd Airborne Division,
which had made the frrst
massive airborne assault
ever on July 9, 1943, at Sicily.
The division was transferred
to the English Midlands in
January 1944. Everyone
knew the paratroopers were
in England to prepare for an
invasion of Europe, but no
one knew when or where it
r..................~
would come. "England was
full of spies," Hudson said. -
"The British didn't want to
use airborne troops," Hud.
son recalled. "They con.
vinced us we'd be annihi-
lated."
Three or four days before
D-Day, the paratroopers were
rounded up and put inside a
barbed wire stockade and
told their objectives for the
invasion. The time element
still was kept secret. There
were guards with orders to
shoot any paratrooper who
tried to speak to anyone out-
side the fence. "We couldn't
even speak to the cooks who
brought us our food." Hud-
son said.
"Everybody was edgy and
cross," Hudson said. "The
guys who had been in Italy
said, 'Ain't nobody coming
out oftbis one.' "
By the after noon of June 5,
everyone knew the time to
leave was near. Chaplain
Wood gathered the men and
told them to get down on
their knees and ask God for
forgiveness of their sins. "I
don't know anybody who
didn't get down," Hudson
said. Brig. Gen. James M.
Gavin, who later commanded
the 82nd Airborne, read from
the book of Isaiah: "And the
young men will mount up
like Eagles and run and not
be faint."
"We began loading up
right after dark," Hudson
said. The planes carrying the
paratroopers flew through
"lots of ground frre" over
Cherbourg. "We could see a
lot of tracers." Hudson said.
Hudson didn't know at the
time, but his half brother
Lloyd DuPree was serving on
the USS Raven, the frrst
minesweeper to sweep the
waters off Utah Beach, where
the Americans would land in
a few hours.
Allied bombers spent the
early part of the night drop-
ping their loads up and down
the French coast, as they did
many nights. That night, the
bombs set fll"e to part of Ste.
Mere Eglise. Some of the
paratroopers dropped on the
city by accident and they
were illuminated by the
blaze, making easy targets
for the Germans in the area
as they floated earthward.
"They killed so many of us,"
Hudson said.
The Germans had flooded
much of the surrounding
countryside as a precaution
against invasion. Many of
the paratroopers landed in
the flooded fIelds and quickly
drowned because of the
weight of their heavy packs.
Hudson landed on dry land
Photo courtesy 01 Louis Hudson
Louis Hudson, right. and his half brother Lloyd DuPree both participated in D-Day,
Hudson parachuted into F~ance hours before the first troops came ashore,
just outside Ste. Mere Eglise. saw there. Bodies were still
"I was just exhausted from in the camp ovens. The sur.
emotion, but I was still run. vivors were little more than
ning on adrenaline," Hudson skin and bones.
said. Gen. Gavin was so appalled
The men of the 82nd Air- by what he found that he
borne kept three German di- forced the townspeople to dig
visions from reaching the up the mass graves of the
Normandy beaches. The Jewish victims and give
Americans held on for three them proper buri?ls.
days before the frrst of the The 82nd Airborne then
troops that came ashore at was pulled back into France
Normandy reached them 30 before the Germans surren.
miles inland. dered. Gavin wanted to vol.
On Sept. 17, 1944, the 82nd unteer to fight the continu-
Airborne jumped in Holland ing war in the Pacific. "He
and captured the bridge over said, 'Every man who'll jump
the Rhine River at Nijmegen. on Tokyo with me take one
The 101st Airborne Division step forward.' Everyone did,"
took the bridge at Eindho- Hudson said.
ven, but heavy resistance
prevented the British First But instead the 82nd Air-
Airborne Division from cap- borne was sent to Berlin and
for those brave men the war
turing the final bridge at was over.
Arnhem.
When the Germans tried to Hudson was sent home on
break out at the Bulge in Bel- the cruiser USS Philadelphi-
gium in December 1944, the a, arriving in New York har-
82nd and 101st Airborne di- bor on Christmas Day 1945.
visions were trucked 150 By New Year's Day, Hudson ....
miles from their base at had been discharged. He was
Rheims, France. to join in shipped to Fort Sam Hous-
the fIght less than 24 hours ton, where he caught a bus
later, allowing trapped Allied for Brenham and then
forces to escape. Somerville.
Later, the men of the 82nd He returned to A&M in the
moved into t~ Ruhl' :u:p~ ~ fall of 1946. He was a teacher
Germany .~ere they liO:- and administrator for the
erated the Wobelein cone en- next 37 years before retiring
tration camp at Ludwigslust. as principal of Bryan's Ste-
Hudson still has difficulty phen F. Austin Junior High
talking about the horrors he School in 1985. . -A-I
. ~ L -tk., ~t\AJ k..
~~~~ <DL'k ~ t~~ ~
~~~~, *"L~~~(.&\<2..J;
\i~ ~~~~~~ ~~
Page F22 Bryan-College Station Eagle
Sunday, June 5, 1994
Fifty Yon After
Bryan Army Air Field helped pilots learn to fly blind
Area residents pitched in to purchase Texas-made P-51 Mustang
By ANTON RIECHER
Eagle staff writer
A crowd of 20,000 people
were on hand at Bryan Army
Air Field when the first
sleek, propeller-driven P.Sl
Mustang built in Texas lpp-
ded during dedication " ,. ,
monies for the new
years ago Monday.
The fighter repre
still another importan~
It was the fll'st time a
front community had
together to purchase
plane to donate to the
"The Spirit of Bryan
was the name stenc'
the side of the airplan_
On Monday, the
marks the SOll} aMi"
of D-Day. One year b
lied troops hit the
Normandy, Bryan
turned out in strengthf
opening of the local . ,-
installation that w
their biggest contr
duringWorld,War.ll. - "
Former Army Air F
lot Louis Newman Jr. .
at Bryan Field in AprlIf
and stayed on to train
pilots until July 1944. Yi-. ,~
military pilots were ,-
great dift1culty Ie
fly using instruments alone
- "flying blind.'~ Techniques
were dangerously outdated
for the faster, heavier air-
craft in use. a
Newman credits Bryan
Field's commanding officer,
Col. Joseph B. Duckworth, a
former airline pilot, with
improving instrument train-
ing.
"Duckworth was one of the
first pilots to fly through a
hurricane," Newman said.
"Another thing he did was
show the Army that a B-26
could land using only one
engine. Up to that point, pi-
lots were simply ditching the
planes if they lost one eng-
ine."
During the war years,
Bryan Field turned out more
than 8,000 instructors quali-
fied to teach pilots to fly by
instruments alone, training
fll'st in AT -6 trainer aircraft
and, later, B-17 bombers. De-
spite the hazardous training,
Bryan Field acquired an out-
standing safety record.
Also graduated were 3,600
instructors skilled in USing
the first aviation ground
trainers, devices that are ba-
sically cockpits that pivot in
''The Spirit of Bryan Field" on its dedication on June 6.1943. The P-51 Mustang later was lost in a training mission in England.
response to the pilot's com-
mands to better simulate
fight.
So urgent was the need for
instrument instructors that
two classes graduated before
Bryan Field's formal dedica-
tion on June 6, 1943.
Newman, interviewed in
1991, remembered Bryan
Field more for its collection
of tar-paper shacks around a
runway than for its perma-
nent hangers. Eleven prime
contractors and thousands of
workers labored to fmish the
field's two-square-mile site
seven miles west of down-
town Bryan.
Lost to history is the name
of the worker who suggested
that everybody on the payroll
contribute a day's salary to
buy a fighter for the Army.
Local banker Travis Bryan
took up the crusade, solicit-
ing donations from Bryan
businesses and residents.
Elementary student Annie
Learnard christened the
community's P-Sl Mustang
by smashing a cloth-wrapped
bottle across its nose. Instead
of champaign, the bottle was
filled with Brazos River
water in the belief that
anyone who drinks the water
of the Brazos is fated to
someday return.
"May it be possible that it
(the fighter) soon will return
to its home field, having
flown many missions, bathed
in glory of a record of having
brought fear and destruction
to our enemies. . .," Travis
Bryan told the record-
breaking size crowd.
Ed Higgins, a member of
the Confederate Air Force,
once researched the history
of the air field. His best recol-
lection of the fate of "The
Spirit of Bryan Field" is that
it was lost on a training mis-
sion over England without
ever flying in combat.
With a monthly payroll of
$900,000, Bryan Field brought
a healthy injection of war-
time dollars into the local
economy. Bryan residents
were far more charitable to
soldiers than other commun-
ities, Newman said.
"In San Antonio, where I
was a cadet, there was a sign
on one business that said
. Soldiers and dogs keep
out,''' Newman said. "In
Bryan, the military was
unique. We had the universi-
ty here and there was respect
for the military."
Still, a few eyebrows must
have been raised by worried
city fathers when, only two
days after the dedication
ceremonies, a front-page
story in The Bryan Daily
Eagle quoted Army officials
as warning about the need
for new measures to control
venereal disease.
So urgent was the
need for instrument in-
structors that two clas-
ses graduated before
Bryan Field's formal
dedication on June 6,
1943.
For the rest of the world,
the bi~ event of June 1944
was the D-Day invasion. Lo-
cally, it was a visit by Holly-
wood model Shirley Childs,
chosen as Miss Bryan Field
from 31 photographs submit-
ted by post personnel. The
reward for her sponsor, Pvt.
Joseph P. Azzarella, was a
dinner date with Childs,
covered in detail by the post
newspaper, The Panel.
When World War II ended,
Duckworth returned to civi-
lian life in September 1945
and, in October, Bryan Field
was placed on inactive sta-
tus. On Oct 31, Sgt. Murray
D. Pickens of Greenville blew
final retreat on his trumpet,
signifying the closing of the
post.
During the Korean War,
Bryan Field came back to life
as Bryan Air Force Base.
That reincarnation ended in
1958. Today, what remains of
the military installation
lives on as the 1,991.acre
Texas A&M Riverside cam-
pus on Texas 21.
..
Photos courtesy of Travis B. Blyan Jr,
Elementary student Annie Learnard christened the community's P-51 Mustang by smashing a cloth-wrapped bollle of Brazos
River water across its nose,
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Bryan-College Station Eagle
Sunday, June 5. 1994 Page F23
Remembering World W.r II
Eagll pUtollBln Meeks
A lock and key were brought home to the Stales from a Tokyo warehouse (above).
Posters made the point about loose lips during World War II and were common in
public places. These items, and many others, are displayed at the Bryan library.
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What if D-Day were today?
The Associated Press
What if!
What if Germany conquered
Europe, overwhelming Belgium
and France and forcing their al.
lies to retreat? But what if the
year was not 1944 but 1994, and
the combatants had all the
materiel and strategy develOped
in the past half -century?
How would the United States
and its allies try to retake
Europe?
Two professors at the National
Defense University in Washing-
ton agreed to refight D-Day from
the perspective of the 19905.
Capt. Bud Cole, a 29-year Navy
veteran who teaches naval and
military history, looks at the
nuts and bolts of a 1994 D-Day -
assuming that mutually assured
destruction prevents the use of
nuclear weapons, that the same
powers are at war in the same
European positions, and that the
American armed forces have
been expanded through the draft
to full force.
Dan Kuehl retired from the
Air Force in March after a
22-year career; he was among
the planners of the air campaign
in the Persian Gulf War, played
a key role in assessing the war's
conduct after it was completed,
and will teach military strategy
and joint operations. He looks
more generally at how techno-
logy has changed warfare in the
past 50 years.
Horrors of war and ravages of peace
came firsthand for Japanese native
By KARA SOCOL
Eagle staff writer
Hiding during bombing
raids, watching her home
burn down and seeing people
die all around her wasn't the
worst part of living in Tokyo
during World War II for
Bonnie Goodwin.
The worst part, she said,
was wondering if the next
day would see enough food
for her and her family to sur-
vive in the months following
the war.
Goodwin, 64, a native of
Japan, has lived in College
Station since her husband re-
tired from the U.S. Army in
1975. Her husband, Bill
Goodwin, died four years
ago.
Although she rarely speaks
of her teenage years in war
torn Tokyo, Goodwin said
it's important to keep the his-
tory alive so that younger
generations avoid repeating
it.
"I just don't want my chil-
dren to go through what I
went through." she said.
Goodwin was about 11
years old at the beginning of
the Japanese involvement in
World War n. News of war
was nothing new to her, as
Japan had been involved in
conflicts with China for as
long as she could remember.
This war, though, was much
more personal - it was at
home.
Goodwin said that when
she watches a war movie, she
can still feel the bombs near
her as they come whistling to
the ground. The horror
wasn't over, though, after the
bomb exploded. The shock
waves from the impact
caused high-velocity winds
up to 100 mph that sucked
people into their path.
"Then, I see other people
die," Goodwin said of the
after effects.
Other bombs dropped by
American planes were in-
cendiaries - fIre bombs.
They burned everything they
hit, including Goodwin's
house and her family's book-
store.
"The books burned a long,
long, long time and a neigh-
bor complained because they
thought it would be a target
for another bombing," she
said.
Goodwin's family managed
to fInd a small house to
which they could relocate.
Most of the other war vic-
tims, however, built shacks
for shelter, she said.
Goodwin's younger
brother and sister were
among the children evacu-
ated from Tokyo during the
war, ostensibly to a safer
place. She and her older sis-
ter, however, remained in
the city with their mother.
Her father died a year before
the war began.
"I know my mother went
through a hard time," Good-
win said. "She lost her hus-
band, then had to send offher
two small children."
Fortunately, though, all of
her family members sur-
vived.
At the time, the concept of
Japan losing the war was lu-
dicrous to Goodwin and her
fellow Japanese.
"We had been at war many,
many times before and we
always won," she said.
The Japanese government
told its people that the war
had to be fought because the
Americans were treating
them unfairly, she said. And
every morning, she and her
fellow Japanese would
gather around a radio to hear
about the progress of the
war.
"They don't tell us how
many we lost," Goodwin said
of the broadcasts. "They just
tell us, 'Japan did it to
them.' "
Like Americans, the
Japanese people came out of
their homes to celebrate ma-
jor victories for their county.
When Japan took Singapore,
for instance, Goodwin parti-
cipated in a candlelight
march to the Shinto temple.
Only after American pilots
dropped their frrst of two
atomic bombs on Japan did
the Japanese people realize
that losing the war was a
possibility, she said.
"After they dropped a
bomb on Hiroshima, the peo-
ple started talking about it,"
Goodwin said. "But just sort
of hush-hush things."
The Japanese learned from
the Americans - not their
own government - that an
end to the war was immin-
ent.
Once the war was over,
however, the suffering really
began, Goodwin said.
Food was unavailable. To
make matters worse, the care
packages that poured in from
the United States contained
dry American products with
no preparation instructions.
About the cover of this special edition
The cover of this special sec-
tion features scenes from the
landings on the Normandy bea-
ches, as well as photos of some of
the key players in the invasion
of Europe.
Dwight D. Eisenhower was
Supreme Commander of the Al-
lied Expeditionary Force. A
Texas native, he was 53 at the
time of the invasion. He was
promoted to brigadier general in
1941 and to major general and
lieutenant general in 1942. In
June 1942, he was promoted over
366 others to commander of
American forces in Europe. De-
spite the bad weather. Eisen.
hower made the decision to in-
vade Nonnandy on June 6. After
the war, he served as president
of Columbia University and
then president of the United
States. He died in 1969.
Omar Bradley, then 41, was
commander of the U.S. 1st Army
on D-Day. Prior to that, he com-
manded the II Corps in North
Africa and in Sicily. After the
war he was the fll'st chairman of
the Joint Chiefs of Staff. He died
in 1981.
Bernard Law Montgomery
was field commander of D-Day
forces; he was 56. In the early
days of the war, he rescued
trapped British forces at Dun-
kirk. He broke the back of the
German army in North Africa at
El Alamain. He was made a vis-
count after the war. He died in
1976.
Miles Christopher Dempsey,
then 47, was commander of the
British 2nd Army. At Dunkirk,
he fought a successful rear-
guard action that allowed the
British army to escape. Like
Montgomery and Bradley, he
was involved in the action in
North Africa and Italy before
taking command of the 2nd
Army in January 1944. He died
in 1969.
Not pictured are the German
commanders Karl Rudolph Gerd
von Rundstadt and Erwin
Rommel Von Rundstadt was
commander in chief for the
West; he was 68. He headed the
German army that defeated
France. he was captured by the
Allies in 1945 but was released
due to ill health. He died in 1953.
Rommel, the famed "Desert
Fox" of the Afrika Korps in
North Africa, was 52 at the time
of D-Day. He was in charge of the
defense of northern Europe. Lul-
led by the bad weather on June
6, Rommel was on his way home
to Germany when the Allies
stormed ashore at Normandy; he
returned to take command of his
troops that afternoon. In late
1944 he was implicated in a plot
to kill Adolf Hitler and commit-
ted suicide.
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