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HomeMy WebLinkAbout Fowler B. (Barney) Welch, Brazos Valley HeroesBy Bill Youngkin Special to The Eagle First of Two Parts When the Class of `69 arrived on the A&M Campus in '"` the fall of 1965 we were given a "campusology book" that was filled with things that we, as "fish", needed to know and recite to any upperclassmen who asked. One important athletic and historical question was: "Who was the first Aggie to score a touchdown at Memorial Stadium in Austin?" The answer was Barney Welch. What that "campusology book" didn't tell us was how ` well Barney served his country during World War II. As recalled by Welch, "I was born September 3, 1922, in Hico, Texas, but moved to Stephenville when I was about four or five. Both my parents were orphans so we had no extended family for support, so we had to manage as best we could to get by. "When I was 14 I fibbed about my age and enlisted in the Texas National Guard. We would train on the courthouse square for $1 per drill day and about every three months I received between $12 and $15, which was a difference maker for me and my family. We would go each summer to Palacios to Camp Hulen for camp. I was so afraid they would find out I wasn't 18 so I would go down early each morning to "shave" so they wouldn't see I had no reason to shave. My membership . lasted until 1940, when the Texas National Guard was activated into the 36th Infantry Division. "In 1940 I graduated from Stephenville High and enrolled at A&M to play football. In December 1941, during my sophomore year, I was walking back to my dorm from DeWare Field House when I heard that Pearl Harbor had been bombed. I didn't know where Pearl Harbor was, but I knew our lives were about to change." When asked about being the first Aggie to score a touchdown at Memorial Stadium, Welch responded, "It was the fall of 1942 and the touchdown came on a punt return of 72 yards. The clearing blocks for me were made by Willie Zapalac, who later coached with Darrell Royal for many years at Texas, and 'Boots' Simmons, who was one of the veteran stories sometime back. I scored untouched because of their blocks." Welch joined the Enlisted Reserve Corps, which allowed him to stay in school longer. In the spring of 1943 he entered the army at Camp Wolters, Texas. After basic training and additional schooling at East Texas State Teachers College in Commerce, Welch was assigned to the 99th Infantry Division, "The 99th was a Pennsylvania outfit, basically coal miners. They were rough and tough, didn't like Texas, didn't like Camp Maxey and didn't like smart-ass college boys. It took awhile for us to be accepted. "In September 1944 we sailed out of Boston to England and from England to Le Havre, France. We were sent into the line at Hurtigen Forest to relieve the 9th Infantry Division. That forest was beautiful but eerie. We got into our foxholes in a line that stretched almost 90 miles. "On December 16, 1944, at about 5 a.m. all hell broke loose. The most horrible artillery barrage I had ever been exposed to started. I had my nose pushed into the snow and mud for two hours, not knowing where the next shell was coming from or where it was going to hit. During the middle of that barrage, I became very peaceful. I thought I was going to die and as a Christian I knew I would be all right. That was the most peaceful I have ever been in my life. I've never felt that peaceful since." That barrage was the start of the Battle of the Bulge. During the fighting, Welch would be separated from his unit and would end up behind the German lines. "We didn't know where we were or where we needed to go. We had no officers, no maps with German soldiers and German tanks all around us. I was with my friend Guy Harrison from Stephenville, and we had a Jeep we were using to try to get back with our guys. We started getting shelled over our heads, so we bailed out of the Jeep and ran for cover. I never saw him again until after the war was over. "I ended up in a small town somewhere in Belgium in a cellar with about 20 guys I had never met. We could hear the German tanks roll by and the Germans talking to each other. One of the guys wanted to surrender, but we talked him out of it. We were glad we did, because the Germans were killing all of the pGisoners they captured. Finally, they went on by and we were able to sneak out of the cellar. "We finally managed to find a line of our soldiers that were following a major who couldn't have been much over 5 feet tall. There were now about 500 of us, and that little major took us through and behind the German lines. You could hear. the Germans on either side but they never located us, which is amazing when you consider how many of us there were following this little major. "The worst part though wasn't the Germans, it was the weather. You would try to find a depression or foxhole and the next morning when you looked out the area was flat, as we would be covered in snow. Some guys actually suffocated to death under the snow. We began to stick our rifles in the air each night so we could keep a breathing hole open. We would sleep with our canteens between our legs to keep them from freezing and our extra socks under our armpits. All we were able to do was concentrate on staying alive, getting something to eat and hoping we would get some help soon." Next Sunday's paper will have the conclusion of Barney Welch's story. Barney Welch's name is found on the Brazos Valley ""F". Veterans Memorial. If you want fo have a name added '-. to the Veterans Memorial, need more information or !' want make a contribution, or if you know ~ 'orld War 11 ; veteran whose story needs to be told, coot 'he BWM ?? at www. veteransmemoriaLorg or Bill YounyK~n at (979) 'I 260-7030. By Bill Youngkin Special to The Eaqle Second of Two Parts In last week's story Barney Welch's unit, the 99th Infantry Division, bore the brunt of the initial attack by the three German armies that attacked through the Ardennes Forest. Welch and hundreds of other soldiers would be left behind the German lines, attempting to make contact with their units. Welch would avoid capture and eventually make coritact with his unit and the 82nd Airborne Division, which had been sent into the line to help. When the Battle of the Bulge ended in January 1945, the American forces had suffered almost 81,000 casualties. As recalled by Welch, "After we reconnected with our outfit, we began to push the Germans back. By the end of the Battle of the Bulge, we were back in almost the same spot we occupied when the Battle of the Bulge began, the HurBgen Forest. We had lost a lot of men. When the 99th initially went into the line, the guys already there called us `battle babies.' When the Battle of the Bulge ended, we weren't `battle babies' anymore. "After we had re-captured our original position, we Started to push the Germans back as hard and fast as we could, but we stalled along the Rhine River. We stalled because all of the bridges crossing the Rhine had been blown by the retreating Germans. That was when we heard about a bridge at Remagen that was still standing. We immediately turned back south and headed to that bridge." The railroad bridge at Remagen, Germany, was the last standing span over the Rhine River. Although it had been mined, it was sabotaged and was still standing when U. S. Forcesarrived on March 7,1945. Generfil Eisenhowerstated: "The bridge is worth its weight in gold." It wasthe bridge that Welch and hisfellow soldierswere asked totake and secure. As recalled by Welch, "When we started across, it was already night and it took us most of the night to get across. The Germans were mortaring the bridge.The railroad tracks going across the bridge entered a tunnel on the German side of the Rhine River. The Germans were on top of and behind that hill or mountain that the tunnel ran through and were lobbing the mortars over it and onto the bridge. "We were in teams of three to four guys, and after the mortars hit you rushed onto the bridge and leapfrogged our way acrossthe bridge.The goodthing aboutthe mortarswas that once you got about halfway across, the mortars weren't able to fire overthe mountain and hit on the German side of the bridge. All we had to deal with then was small-arms fire. "Once we got across, we dug in to hold what we had until we could get more men and equipment over. The Germans were also attempting to bomb the bridge with their planes. Our guys were shooting at them, but the shrapnel from our shells was coming down on top of us. That was also the first time I ever saw a jet that the Germans had developed and were using to bomb and strafe the bridge. "After Remagen, we kept the Germans on the run until one day in May 1945, we heard Winston Churchill on the radio tell us the war with Germany was over, A lot of the guys started going home because they had the points necessary. I was transferred to the 1st Infantry Division. "When the 1st formed a division football team, I volunteered, tried out for and made the team. The Army, as I had come to know it, was now over for me. We played football games every Sunday, sometimes before 20,000 to 25,000 soldiers.We even played in the Olympic venue. I was coached by'Dog' Dawson, who had been on the '39 team at A&M and who had been my freshman coach at A&M." Welch came home on December 24, 1945, and was discharged at Camp Fannin, Texas, on January 6, 1945. Welch re-enrolled at A&M and re-joined the football team in time for the 1946 season. "When I graduated in January 1948 I was drafted by the Washington Redskins and they offered me $6,000 to play professional football. That was a lot of money in those days, but I was 27 years old, married and had a child and one on the way. l decided I needed to leave football behind like I had left the Army behind." He did neither. Welch would receive a direct commission into the Texas National Guard, where he had entered the Army as a 14-year-old private. By the time he retired as a major, he had held every rank between private and major. And he continued with football. He was a football official for many years and coached at A&M on Gene Stallings' staff. "After that short stint of coaching I went back into officiating in the Southwest Conference. I even called the `Shootout' game between Texas and Arkansas for the National Championship in 1969. The thing I remember most about that game was getting to meet and shake hands with Billy Graham, who said the prayer. before the game. I may be the only person to have played, coached and officiated in the Southwest Conference." When asked to state what his military experience meant to him,Welch replied,"I don'tthinkthere isevera daythatgoes by that there isn't something I do that I learned in the Army. When I came home from the war, I didn't talk about what happened because I thought there.is no use in telling the folks back home because they probably wouldn't believe it anyhow. I don't know 'rf my experience made me a better man or not, but ft sure made me love my country more." BameyWelch's name is found on the Brazos ~alleyVeterans Memorial d you want to have a name added to the Veterans Memorial, for more information, to make a contribution, or if you know a World War 11 veteran whose story needs fo be told, contact the BVVM at www.veteransmemorialorg or Bill Youngkin at (979) 260-7030.