HomeMy WebLinkAboutDr. Richard Davison, Brazos Valley Heroes
One in a series of tributes to members of "The Greatest
i( Generation" who served our country during World War II
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First of two parts
By Bill Youngkln
SpecIal to The Eagle
One of television's most popular miniseries is the Wond War
11 epic MBand of Brothers." Dr. Richard "Dick" Davison, a retired
professor of chemical engineering at Texas MM, may write a
book about his experience in World War II, except he plans to call
it -A Band of Strangers." .
"WIlen I entered the war in December 1944, ~ was as a
replacement for Company G, 318th Infantry Regiment, 80th
Division of the 3m Army. The platoon I was assigned to, at full
strength, contained 40 soldiers. They had fought at Bastogne in
the Battle of the Burge and were down to five surviving members.
"Thirty-five of us, as replacements, were added to the
platoon. By the end of January 1945, 1Dofus were left. With new
replacements, we were back to full strength and by the end of
February after we attacked the Seigfried Line, we were down to
20 men in the platoon.
~Ouring this same time, 1 lost three foxhole buddies. They
were the guys you dig and share your foxhole with. One was
lightly wounded but enough to be taken to the hospital. The I.
second foxhole buddy was seriously wounded but survived, while
the third foxhole buddy was killed. That is why we were mostly
a collection of strangers and not brothers. No one seemed to be
~ there long enough to establish much.of a relationship with or get
to know personally."
Davison had graduated from Marlin High in 1943 at the age of
17. He turned 18 on April 3, 1944, and by May 1944 was in the
Army. He received his Infantry training at Ft. McClelland, Alabama,
and by December 15, 1944, had landed at Marseilles, France. The
Battle of the Bulge started the next day.
"When I landed, I was part of the 70th Division. We moved to
the Alsace area of France. One morning at assembly, our captain
said we needed to send replacements to the Battle of the Bulge
and I was one of the ones chosen.
"We left right away on a open truck and traveled for 16 hours'
in freezing weather to an old castle in luxemburg, where we
were allowed to sle,ep on the floors. Those cold 5k!ne floors were
a lot warmer than the back of that truck.
"The next morning there were hundreds of replacements
assembled. The captain in charge called out several names
for certain units. With hundreds of us still there, he stopped
calling names and said, "The rest of you are assigned to the 2nd
Battalion, 31ath Regiment."
"It was obvious to all of us that they must have been almost
wiped out. One of the replacements raised his hand. and asked
the captain, 'What are our chances?' The captain replied, 'Most
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of our causalities are lightly wounded.' Which meant to me, when
you get hit, maybe it won't be lethal.
"My platoon was placed into the line in a quiet part of the line.
We 'got shelled, but that was about all. After a while, as an' Infantry
ma'n, you take shelling for granted. After a few weeks you almost
welcome shelling because it meant the Germans hadn't sent out
their patrols and you coulo get som~ sleep that night.
"One night, not long after going into the line, my platoon was
sent on a combat patrol. I soon learned to hate combat patrols
because patrols never had enough men to inflict any damage; you
just got your people killed.
"We were to check a small village and were walking in about
a foot of snow. About 20 feet In front of me an explosion went
off. I was close enough that my face was stung by the powder. It
killed the guy on my left, but 1 didn't have a scratch on me. One
of our guys jumped up and started running, setting off three more
explosions. We had stumbled into the middle of a mine field.
"I put my feet back in the tracks I had made in the snow as
best I could and backed our way out of that mine field. That night
35 of us left to go on the patrol. When we got back, 21 members
of ttle platoon had been killed or wounded, including our platoon
leader.
"A few days later we were ordered to take the town of
Boursheid, Luxemburg. I was near the rear as we approached '
the town. We were in an open area approaching the town when
a bullet whizzed past my ear. I put It in gear and headed downhill
toward the town and got behind a hedge. The guy behind me had
been hit and killed. I scrambled onto a back porch area of a house
and got behind as much junk as I could. We had a hail of bullets
hit that porch when one of our guys told me to 'do something
because they've put two bullets through this table I'm hiding
behind.' I found where the fire was coming from and when we
provided some effective fire back, the Germans abandoned their
position.
"We went around and Into the house. where we were pinned
dOwn by machine gun fire. I pulled out my ratiOns and started to
eat breakfast. About that time a shell slammed into the house. I
kept eating breakfast. One of the guys said, 'How can you eat In
all this?' My response was, 'I might as well die.on a full stomach.'
I was too tired and too hungry to be scared. M
Next week. Part Two of the story.
Dr. Richard MDick~ Davison's name can be found on the Brazos
Valley Veterans Memorial. "you know at a World War II veteran
whose story needs to be told or would like to add someone s
name to the Brazos Valley Veterans Memorial, contad Bill
YourIflkin at (979) 260-7030.
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One in a series of tributes to members of "The Greatest
Generation" who served our country during World War II
YI'
,
'.
B
Second of two parts
By Bill Young kin
Special to The Eagle
Since mankind began organizing into armies, all soldiers have
had certain things In common.
"In combat there are always two things lacking: You never get
enough sleep and you never get enough to eat,~ says Dr. Dick
Davison, now a retired professor of chemical engineering at Texas
MM University.
Davison became a replacement in Company G, 318th Infantry
Regiment, 80th Division, 3rd Army, during the' Battle of the Bulge.
MAtter the Bulge, we moved to the Sauer River, which forms the
Dardar between Luxemburg and Germany. We were now down to 10
men In the platoon and no officer. We received 30 fresh troops and
a new lieutenant to help us In our offensive against the Siegfried
Une.
-The plan was for us to carry boats down to the river's edge at
night and hide in the woods. We were to get an ~rtillery barrage and
then row across and attack during the artillery barrage. I remember
it as being very cold that night, with people stumbling around in
^~ the dark carrying those boats and cussing. Cussing the weather,
cussing the boats, cussing the Army. One thing all soldiers can do
well is cuss.
uWhen the artillery started it was drumfire artillery. Over 100
guns opened up and it went on and on. Even the ground trembled.
After about 30 minutes it slowed down. That was our signal to put
the boats in the water. The problem was that the, young trees grow-
ing next to the river that provided us great cover were growing too
close together to be able to take the boats through to the water.
"At dawn, the Germans opened up on us and we had to run for
cover. Only one company made it across, and they were pinned down
10 yards Into Gennan territory. They wanted us to cross on the river
where a stone house gave us some cover. The Gennans were 100
yards away. No boat got across. One 'guy swam back and when he
was directed to get into another boat and try again, he refused. That
was when they called a halt to that effort.
"That night we crossed the river. What a night it was. After we
got across the Germans were in front, artillery above and around us
and the river 10 yards to our back. Thankfully, we were at the bot-
tom of the hill and because of the curvature of the hill, the Germans
weren~t able to hit us.
uThe next morning artillery covered the German lines with smoke.
They couldn't see and we got the rest of our guyS over. I don't know
why they didn't do that the first day or at D-Day, because a soldier
crossing open wafer' or an open beach Is nothing more than'a duck
on the pond.
uWith our guys over the river, we were able to push the Germans
back..' Once we were able to attack In force, the Germans fled.
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Clearing the woods of Germans was a deadly and a dangerous task..
I was able to take out a German position that had some of our guys
pinned down. My foxhole buddy came up to my position and when
he did, three Germans jumped up and ran away. He swung his rifle
next to my right ear and shot his clip. He didn't hit a thing, but I was
deafened. I was his only casuatty.
"Two nights Jater we attacked Biesdorf, Germany, a small town
comprised of stone houses. I finally made it into a barn. The Germans
were bouncing grenades off the barn wall. I was at the point of
exhaustion and went to sleep on a pile of rocks. I hadn't slept In three
to four days. Maybe 30 minutes here, 30 minutes there. Sleep to me
had become as important as life itself."
Davison and his platoon kept the pressure on the Germans. As a
result,they also kept on the move.
"You never had enough to eat. If they could get food to you, it
would be at nine at night or five in the moming. J remember getting
shelled one morning just as I had filled my mess kit. It was full of dirt,
but I didn't spill any and ate It all.
"Atone point during a German shelling, I found myself in a muddy
cabbage patch. The cabbages had all frozen and were rotten, but In
the middle you could get a golf-bail-size of green cabbage. I don't
know how many rotten cabbages I ate that day, but I enjoyed every
one of them."
By the end of February, Davison had been in combat for over two
months without an opportunity to shower and change clothes.
uWhen the 4th Infantry took our place we were able to take a
shower. We took all our clothes off and threw them in a pile. We had
to peel them off, especially our socks. We all had trench foot. We
-had five minutes to shower. That shower finished the war for me.
The shower warmed my feet to the point where I was now unable
to walk. Before, J was so cold I couldn't feel my feet 1 spent the rest
ofthewarlna hospital.
"After the war, J enrolled at Texas Tech to get my degree, got
married, worked for Uon 011 for a while and then came to Texas
MM for my Ph.D. I remained at A&M as a professor of chemical'
engineering until 2003.
"Before the war I thought I might be a career military man, but
the Army and I weren't compatible. I had the habit of aSking why
. while obeying. That doesn't go over too well in the Army, but Is fine
In an academic environment. And besides, rill a man who likes to be
with my wife, not off on some military assignment."
Dr. Richard "Dick" Davlson's name can be found on the Brazos
Valley Veterans Memorial. If you know of a Wood War II veteran
whose story needs to be told or would like to add someone's name
to tlJe-'Brazos Valley Veteran's Memorial, contact Bill Youngkln at
(979) 260-7030.
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