HomeMy WebLinkAboutRobert J. "Bob" Gallery, Brazos Valley Heroes Ok. »- f r
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One in a series of tributes to members of "The Greatest
� Generation who served our country during World War II 4'
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1, The most difficult requirement for 17 year old Robert were strafing us constantly. but we held on."
J. "Bob" Gallery to join the Navy was not getting his moth- "The next morning General Patton has us issued one
er's permission, it was making their required weight. box of K rations and said 'Let's Go'. We marched 37 miles
"After I convinced my mom to sign for me to join, I that day with no resistance. The Germans were running.
went to the Navy to enlist. They had a requirement that you Then they started surrendering."
' had to weigh 120 lbs. and I only weighed 119. They told me "Outside of one town a German staff car approached
to go back home, eat all I could and come back in a couple under a white flag. They wanted to take some Americans
of days. I did that three times and never made it to 120." back to their troops so they could formally surrender. Three �
"After the third time, I went to the draft board and told of us got in with them and accepted their surrender. We
them I was 18 and wanted to sign up for the draft but would were surrounded by hundreds of Germans and all they want- �
like to go in immediately. They asked me what branch of ed to do was surrender and party. That night as they were
I: service and I told them the Navy, so they stamped the marched off to the POW camp the metal soles of their boots
4 papers 'Navy' and was told to come back in two weeks for made a very distinct sound. I can still hear that sound in my
I induction. When I came back and was inducted, the papers mind."
had been changed to read 'Army'." Patton wanted to go to Berlin but received orders to
"I was sent to Little Rock, Arkansas for basic then to
� go to Czechoslovakia instead. It was there they received
£ New Jersey for more training where we were given our cold some resistance, as not all Germans wanted to surrender.
weather gear and were' hauled to the Queen Elizabeth. We One of Gallery's buddies was machine- gunned down as they
sailed to Scotland, being chased by German subs most of approached a small town. While there, Gallery was
the way. In Scotland we were off loaded on to a train to the approached by a Czech woman who indicated some
English Channel, loaded on a boat and crossed the Channel Germans were hiding in a barn nearby. Gallery followed her
to France and loaded on a troop train to Belgium. We got off to the barn by himself where she pointed out an entrance to
the troop train, were loaded on trucks and hauled directly to the basement of the barn where the Germans were hiding.
the front line where we were issued rifles and ammo. I spent "I shouted for them to come out with their hands up
my first night in Continental Europe in a foxhole in 2 -4 feet in my best German version of that order. When no one came
of snow. It sure didn't take me long to go from a 17 year old out, I fired one shot into the opening and finally they started ''
civilian boy in Saginaw, Michigan to an Army infantryman in to come out."
a foxhole on the front line." "When they started out I realized it was several
Gallery soon discovered the first rule of war in the fox- German soldiers and some were reluctant to turn loose of
hole. "Never stick your head out of the foxhole during the their weapons so I fired a shot into the wall which rico- s
day because if you did, the German snipers would get you chetetl, hitting one of them in the leg. Then they all came out
s for sure." dropping their weapons. t finally got them out of the barn
He also found that the night had its concerns too. "At and into the yard. The total number was 38 Germans in that - t
night we would go out on patrol. We would go right through basement but the guy I shot happened to be a Frenchman
the German lines. Sometimes we were so close to them in who they had with them." 'M
their foxholes, you could hear them talking. You had to be Shortly thereafter, the war ended and Gallery was sent
careful and step in each others tracks so as to eliminate to Camp Swift in Bastrop. Texas to prepare for the invasion
noise. That was also the way • s
y you came back so you didn't of Japan.
I want to have them waiting for you. One night a German "One day I was in the motor pool and they told me to
patrol followed behind our patrol as we were returning to get into my class A uniform and report to the parade r .
our lines and captured our outposts that were waiting to let .x '
P P g grounds. When I got there, they took me and two officers up
us back through." on the reviewing stand. When I started to move to the side
That spring Gallery and his unit.moved out of the fox- of the officers, they made me stay where I was. What they
hole position and were engaged almost daily with the were doing was awarding us medals and mine was the last
Germans. "We were relieved in the line and sent back to one awarded. Much to my surprise it was the Silver Star for
those very same foxholes, only this time, they were full of capturing those 38 Germans. Fortunately the citation didn't
water." say anything about accidentally shooting that Frenchman." ;
I When Gallery and his unit went back into action, it was After the war ended, Gallery was mustered out of the
as members of Patton's 3rd Army. "We went real fast then. service in 1948 and entered the car business in California
We didn't know where we were going but we knew we were He eventually moved to Bryan and started Gallery
headed to Germany." Nissan /Datsun which he operated for 18 years before selling
Gallery and his unit were sent to take the bridge at out and retiring in 1989. r
' Remagen. "My Lieutenant, my platoon sergeant, another Bob Gallery's name can be found on the Brazos Valley
buddy and I were the first four to cross the bridge. When we Veterans Park Memorial. For more information, to make a 5 ?
F got over. it was through hanging on. We eventually estab- contribution, or to nominate a veteran, contact the BVVM at
lished a two mile perimeter across the river but the Germans www.veterans memorial.org, or Bill Youngkin at 260 -7030 :',.
threw everything they had at us. Infantry, artillery and planes >
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