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HomeMy WebLinkAboutSeth Groce, Brazos Valley HeroesBy Bill Youngkin Special to The Eagle First of Two Parts The significance of a single soldier's action in battle is seldom if ever known by the individual soldier himself. Most will say they were doing the job they were trained to do, but the result and significance of doing their job remains forthe most part unknown to them. The exception to this was Sgt. Seth Groce of Caldwell, a member of the 36th Infantry Division and what will always be known as the "Texas Division." n occurred at a place called Salerno, Italy. Seth S. Groce's story began in the Volney Community of Burleson County on January 21, 1920. As related by Groce, "I was born on a farm and finished the ninth grade at Volney School, which was as far as you could go at Volney School. After school, I went to work on the farm and had various jobs in Caldwell. In 1940 I was working in a gas station in Caldwell when I was asked to join the Texas National Guard. I signed up thinking this would be an easy way to earn some additional money. "In October of 1940 I was sent, along with a fot of other boys from Caldwell, to Camp Bowie at Brownwootl, Texas for basic training. In November of 1940 we were mobilized into the regular army. I was now part of E Company,143rd Infantry Regiment, 36th Infantry Division, the Texas Division. We trained at various sites across the south and east coast, ending at Ft. Dix, New Jersey. On April 1, 1942, we boarded ship and headed for North Africa. We landed at Casablanca on April 13, 1942. The fighting in North Africa was over by then. "We began to train in Oran for a beach landing, and during thattime my commander decided to promote me to sergeant and assigned me to our cannon company. I was placed in charge of three 75-mmself-propelled guns, and I had to assemble the crews to operate them. I had never been involved with these type of weapons or been trained on how to effectively utilize them. My commanding officer told me to learn and team quick. "In August we were loaded aboard a LST and on September 9, 1943, we landed on the beaches of Salerno, ttaly. The action on the beach was hot and heavy as we headed to shore. We all wondered about how we would react in combat. And now we were going to find out my ino trac possible German tank counterattack heading toward our beach head. The only thing we could send was my half- track. Weheaded up aroad and got behind a rock building next to the road. On the other side of the road was a rock fence. I was looking for signs of German tanks through my binoculars when a shell hit and went through the fence next to us. I saw where it came from, so we backed out onto the road so we could return fire and started firing." Groce and his crew did not know that their single 75- mm haft-track was facing an opposing force of 13 German tanks. An excerpt from the Associated Press account in the New York Times of that encounter is as follows: "A gun crew composed of a young Texas lieutenant and four enlisted men shot it out with 13 German tanks on the day the Fifth Army came ashore in Italy, and they probably saved the whole American beach head from being cut to pieces. Lieutenant John Witaker, 18 years old, of Fort Worth, Texas, and his men were bringing their one 75-mm self-propelled up the road when German armor struck. They were five men alone on a road without any other artillery, but they went into action immediately. The bald official report does not attempt to describe how a lone gun crew remained squarely in the center of the road pumping shells from its gun. Nor, how they kept serving the gun coolly and rapidly, as seasoned veterans, while the tanks continued to approach from three sides. They held them at bay until additional anti-tank weapons arrived." The official report states, "All during the engagement they were subjected to near cannon and machine gun fire and displayed conspicuous and extreme bravery under fire. They destroyed three tanks and assisted in the destruction of two others." As recounted by Groce: "When the fight started, the German tanks were about 700 yards away. They kept coming until the closest one we stopped was 200 yards away before they turned and left. I have no idea how many rounds they fired at us, but no one in our crew was hit. The fact that no one was hit is a miracle, because it was nothing but a death trap for all of us." And so ended the first day of combat for Sgt. Groce and his crew - a group who had began the day wondering if they would tlo their duty in combat. For their actions in a most critical situation, all five men were awarded the Silver Star for valor in combat. the second we hit shore. Of the three hall-tracks in Next week, the conclusion of Seth Groce's story. section, two of us made it to shore but one became Formoreinformation, to makea contribution, orifyou perable after setting ashore, leaving us with one half- know a World Warll veteran whose story needs to be told, k -mine. contact the BWM at www. veterdnsmemonal.org or Bill "Later that morning we were called to help stop a Youngkin at (979) 260-7030. By Bill Youngkin Special to The Eagle Second of 1Vvo Parts On September 9, 1943, Seth Groce and the boys he grew up with in Caldwell and Burleson County landed on the beaches of Salerno, Italy, as part of the 36th Infantry Division, the division that will always be known as the "Texas Division." This former Texas National Guard unit, composed tlf boys from the farms, small towns and cities of Texas, was to be the first American force to land on the continent of Europe during World War II. The last battle action for the 36th had been in World War I, and their opposition awaiting them were veteran, battle-hardened German troops. For the first few days after the Salerno landing, the outcome was in question. Every communique to the "Texas Division" commanders said "Fight or drown." Fight they did until the'American foothold on the European Continent was secured, but with great loss. It was reported that 3,487 men were casualties through September 15.Of those losses, none were greater than within the ranks of Seth Groce's original outfit, E Company, a company composed of boys from Burleson County and surrounding Central Texas communities. The November 5,1943, edition of the Caldwell newspaper listed 44 Burleson County boys as killed, wounded, captured or missing in action after Salerno was taken. According to Groce, who was at the time a member of the 36th's cannon company, "It was pretty tough going for all of us, but I don't think anyone had it tougher than E Company. It turned out that many had been captured and were now prisoners of war, which was a fate none of us wanted for ourselves. But a good many of those captured did survive the war. "We moved off the beach at Salerno to Alte Villa, which was where we lost Lt. Whitaker. While in Alte Villa, '' some of our guys were pinned down by a machine gun located in a church steeple. They asked us for help and we reluctantly put several rounds through tha church, silencing the German machine gun. Fifteen years ago at a reunion meeting of the 36th, one of the guys from Waco came up and said he was one of the ones pinned down by the Germans in the church and he wanted to shake my hand for helping them that day. "After shelling the church, Lt. Whitaker sent for us to come to his position. To get there, we had to run a gauntlet of German fire. When we arrived, we were being, shelled by German artillery. They hit our half-track, knocking it out and wounding Lt. Whitaker. We were now afoot but found a Jeep and we loaded Lt. Whitaker onto the windshield. They got him out and he wa's later sent home on a hospital ship. That day was also the day we had everyone sent into the line, from cooks on up, We thought we were going to get whipped, but dangetl if the Germans didn't stop and pull out. "From there on, it was head north up Italy until we got bogged down in the mountains. We didn't realize it at the time, but the 36th had received a lot of positive press in the American newspapers for what we did in Italy. My family collected a lot of the articles and put them in a scrapbook, which I have kept all these years. I don't think I would have ever forgotten the events that took place, but that scrapbook has helped me remember the names of the fellas I served with. Our VFW Post in Caldwell is named after one of the boys we lost, Campbell Williams." It would be in the mountains where Groce lost yet another. half-track, and it was here he would be involved in an action for which he would receive his second award for valor in combat, a Bronze Star. "We were in the mountains when we were hit by German artillery, knocking out my half-track one more time. One of our units had taken a hill called Hill 1205. Supplies, including ammo, had been delivered to our area for them, which they needed badly. To deliver the supplies, we formed a carrying party of about 25 of us. We took what had been delivered on mules as far as the mules could go. That spot was where the dead had been delivered from off the mountain. When we got there with the mules, one of the bodies was Capt. Wasco, who was from Groesbeck. We had known him since the beginning, and all of us loved and respected him. "From there we carried the supplies by hand, climbing up to their position. At the same time, the Germans were dropping mortars on us on the way up and on the way down. We had to break up into groups of three and run and hide behind whatever we could find. We made it up and back without losing anyone. When we got downy we took Capt. Wasco's body with us." Groce left Italy in May 1944 and was sent to Camp Hood, Texas, where he became part of the training team for the new soldiers coming into the army. He remained at that position until the war's end. While he was at Hood he was surprised by a ceremony in which he was awarded the Bronze Star for the action described above. He was discharged on August 17,1945, and returned to Caldwell. In September 1945 he went to work for I jumble Oil and stayed until retiring in 1981. He moved back home to Burleson County to the farm he had purchased and where he resides today. Groce returned to Salerno, Italy, in 2000 for a reunion of the Texas Division. "We had a reunion at Salerno and I tried to locate where we landed and the rock building and rock wall where we fought the tanks. But it had all changed and I was unable to locate the exact spot. Italy was torn up during the war. Now it is just beautiful. ('appreciate the discipline I received in the army. It helped me as it helps everyone. But the Good Lord had a lot to do with me coming home." If you want to have a name added to the Brazos t/alley veterans Memorial, for more information, to make a contribution, or if you know a World War 11 veteran whose story needs to be told, contact the BWM at www. veteransmemorial.org or Bill Youngkin at (979) 260-7030.