HomeMy WebLinkAboutFrank Litterst, Jr., Brazos Valley Heroes ' . y . "04,- ( e
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One in a series of tributes to members of "The Greatest
4z Generation" who served our country during World War II :,
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.1:. Frank Litterst, Jr., a junior at A &M, was And his injury worsened. "My knee got to be a
horseback riding in the Trinity River Bottom big, round, swollen mess. They wouldn't operate
when Pearl Harbor was attacked but rushed back in that cliiiiate, so they sent me home."
to College Station as soon as he heard the news. After a 17 -day trip home, Litterst landed in .,.
"We were all excited. I figured we'd go right San Pedro, California, on August 8, the day the
over and take the Japs that afternoon." Japanese surrendered. It was late at night, but
The entire Texas A &M Class of 1943 with all the lights you would have thought it was .
shipped out on January 23, 1943, the only class high noon. A big orchestra was playing and
at A &M to be commissioned en masse. Dinah Shore was singing. We all cried our eyes 01,
"I wanted to be a hero so bad, I tried out for out I remember fried chicken, tomatoes, lettuce,
d' the Air Corps," recalls Litterst. But he failed the and real milk. There was nothing better." '
physical and was not accepted. "I was happy about whipping the Japs, but
"They shaved our heads, handed us a uni- 'I . never was a big hero. I didn't do what I wanted
form and sent us to artillery school." to do. When I entered the hospital in California, I
Litterst shipped out to New Guinea on a ended up in bed next to my best friend from
destroyer loaded with 500 -pound bombs. "We A &M who had been wounded in Europe. We left
sat on those bombs the whole way over." New to fight the war together and ended up recover-
Guinea was taken back from the Japanese at the ing from the war together."
same time as Guadalcanal. Litterst and his bat- Litterst returned to Texas to be a rancher. • " gi
talion were acting as the army of occupation. He was a feef specialist and taught animal sci-
"New Guinea was a terrible place. People were ence at A &M from 1965 until he retired in 1989. :
still eating each other. They were Frank Litterst's name can be found on panel .
"We would go up into the mountains look- B2 of the Brazos Valley Veterans Memorial. For "
I ing for Japs in isolated areas. On one of those more information, to make a contribution, or to
trips, I banged my knee up pretty good." nominate a veteran, contact the BVVM at
Litterst was in New Guinea for two years www.veterans- memorial.org.
R and lost 32 pounds. "All you could see was com-
' bat boots and a cap, nothing much in between."
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