HomeMy WebLinkAbout Ivo D. Junek, Brazos Valley HeroesBy Bill Youngkin
Special to The Eagle
No D. Junek of Bryan, formerly of Snook, was
an artillery gunner during World War II, but his only
experience as a pilot almost cost him and several
others flying with him their lives.
As told by Junek, "I was born on June 6, 1923,
on a farm near Snook. I attended the Snook schools,
graduating in 1940. Jobs were difficult to come by, so
I joined the CCC or what we called the "Tree Army." I
thought I would get to go to someplace exotic like New
Mexico or Arizona. Instead, I was sent to Madisonville.
Later, I worked on the Longhorn Cavern Park at
Burnett.
"I also helped my family with the farm but finally
managed to get a job with a company constructing the
Texaco refinery in Port Arthur.`The war was now on, and
on a trip home, I learned that the eight other boys in my
class at Snook were all in the service. I stopped by my
draft board in Somerville to check my status because
I hadn't received my draft notice. I was informed that
my employer had requested a deferment for me without
telling me. I told them I didn'# want a deferment. That
was on Monday, and by Friday of that same week, I
received my draft notice. It was the quickest I've ever
known the government to take action.
"I was sent to Fort Knox, Kentucky, to the armored
force replacement training center for basic training.
From there, I was sent to Camp Hamilton, Kentucky, to
be part of the 26th Armor. In May of 1944, they canceled
all schools and training and we were all sent to Camp
Kilmer, New Jersey.
"We boarded a converted English luxury liner named
the "Aquitania." We thought we would be ridding in
class until we went down, down, down into the area
we were to sleep. They had taken all of the "luxury" out
of that area of the ship. We traveled without an escort
and it took eight days to cross the Atlantic. We would
change directions every eight minutes to avoid being
sunk by German submarines. You can imagine what all
that swaying back and forth caused.
"We landed in Scotland, and on my 21st birthday,
June 6,1944, the D-Day invasion started. We landed in
Normandy in August, but it was decided that we were
needed to replace troops in Italy instead of France. We
flew out of Cherbrough, France to Pisa, Italy, stopping in
Lyons, France for the night.
"On the flight to Italy, the pilot came back to fix
himself a meal and asked me if I would like to sit in
his seat. I said sure and was sitting next to the co-pilot
with him showing me how they flew the plane. We were
and I pulled back as hard as we could, just missing that
mountain. He told me after, 'You will never come this
close to death again without dying than you did a few
seconds ago.' Years later I went back to the Swiss Alps
on vacation. The mountain we almost flew into that day
was the Matterhorn.
"When we got to Italy, I was assigned to a 155 gun
battery on a gun crew. It was rainy, wet and muddy. So
muddy that we had to hand carry the howitzer shells.
On November 11, 1944, it started snowing and then
freezing, which made the conditions better. At least
we were on solid footing and not in knee-deep mud
anymore. From the time I got there until the war was
over, we had our guns pointed north. We shelled the
German positions and they shelled and strafed us. They
were dug in at a place called Livonia and the fighting
there was pretty fierce. Livonia changed hands between
us and the Germans three times in one day before•we
finally took control.
"I remember taking the bodies out in mattress
covers. They were mostly frozen and they were stacked
onto trucks like cordwood. When we left Livonia, there
were no walls in that town left standing over eight feet
high.
"We fought through the Po Valley, always fighting
uphill. I remember it being pretty scary taking a 155
over the Po River on a pontoon bridge. We ended up
near Tieste on the Yugoslav border. I didn't know the
war in Italy was over until my brother Ralph, who was
in the Pacific, wrote me a letter telling me the war was
over. On our way home, it was announced on board the
ship that Japan had also surrendered. That made us a
happy bunch of guys."
Junek returned from the war to Snook as did his
brothers Ralph, Fred and Joe. Junek worked at Shell
Chemical in Houston until retiring after 38 years and
returning to the Brazos Valley.
As recalled by Junek, "Guys get close in combat.
Most of my buddies I had lost track of, but several years
ago they started having outfit reunions and I have re-
established ties with some. I did go the World War II
Memorial with my family last year, and I recommend
that trip to every World War II veteran. After the war,
-tended to forget that period of my life and went on with
my life. I wouldn't want to go back to that time in my life
but I wouldn't trade for it. It made me a better man."
No Junek's name is on the Brazos Valley Veterans
Memorial. If 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