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Allen E. "Bud" Denton's father was a signifi- rain. Not only was the terrain tough, it was hard to
cant influence in his life. His father was a coal mine be re- supplied and because there were few roads
lawyer in Kentucky, where Bud was born, and a and what there were, were in poor condition. A lot
lawyer with the Attorney General's office in of materials had to be hauled in by mules. The prob- .
Washington, D.C., where he spent his younger lem was we had American mules and Italian mule"
years. The family eventually moved to Texas, where skinners and they had problems communicafing.
he was encouraged by his father, a WWI veteran, to We finally solved it by putting Italian mule skiniers -
enroll at Texas A &M. with Italian mules and American mules Nith
"My dad, being a veteran of WWI, thought American mule skinners. They then began to under-
A &M and the Corps of Cadets would be a lot better stand each other better. A good cussing is only
for me than the University of Texas and its fraterni- effective if you understand what is being said."
ties and sororities. He was right. I enrolled in Denton and his company were involved it the.
September 1941 but because of the war, was draft- Northern Apennine Campaign and the Po Valley
ed into the Army in January 1943: I was able to Campaign, finally finishing the war at the Brenner
finally graduate after the war." Pass in the Italian Alps. Most of the time, these
Denton was sent to Camp Walters, Texas, for campaign were conducted in terrible weather and
basic and heavy weapons training. The colonel in tough terrain. .
charge of the training was an Aggie, so he picked all "Fighting in the Italian terrain was tough. You
the Aggies that were in training and sent them to were mostly fighting uphill against dug -in German f
NCO school. Denton came home after his NCO . troops who were experienced and excellent sol -
training to marry his wife Alice. He and Alice were diers. It got so tough sometimes that you felt like
then on their way to Florida for more, training until you would just like to throw up your hands, but you :
he got the call to head overseas. didn't dare."
"We got off the boat at Naples, Italy, and were After the Po Valley campaign, that is what the
sent for additional training as replacements. We Germans started doing - throwing up their hands
were being trained by veterans who had been and surrendering. The will of the American soldie
wounded but were healthy enough to help with our had prevailed over the will of the German soldier. :-
training. When those guys told us something, we "Near the end of the fighting, our platoon was
believed it. Also, this training was supposed to get allowed to ride on some tanks to help round up
you accustomed to mortar and artillery fire. But no some more Germans, but those Germans had tanks •
amount of training can prepare you for the real also and weren't ready to surrender. The next thing
thing." I knew, we were being fired on by a German tank
Denton and the other replacements were The tank I was on immediately swung its turret to
• loaded on to trucks and driven to the front lines just return fire, which knocked me off the tank, and th3 �^.
north of Rome. blast prevented me from hearing for several hours.
"Four of us were directed to report to It reminded one that the war in Italy wasn't over."
Company E., 349th Battalion of the 88th Infantry Denton is proud of the performance of the
Division, the first "draftee" infantry division in 88th. "We were the first draftee division and we
WWII. Despite all of my training and preparation, I proved to be one of the best." Of the 45,000 ohs
was not prepared for what was occurring. My com- men on its rolls, 15,173 were killed or wounded.
pany was in full attack and within thirty minutes Most of the dead are buried at the American
after I got there, an artillery shell hit behind me. I Cemetery in Florence, Italy.
• was hit in the back of my leg and I remember think- Denton was discharged on November 11,
ing: 'I have only been here 30 minutes and already 1945. After graduation from A &M, he spent the rest
wounded.' Fortunately, when I examined the back of of his career in public education and 18 years in :he
my leg there was no blood and then realized I had athletic department at Texas A &M under Coaches
been hit by a clod of mud instead of a shell frag- Meyer, Foldberg and Stallings. e,
ment. That was my introduction to combat." Allen E. "Bud" Denton's name can be fount on
"Where we started the Po Valley campaign, we the Brazos Valley Veterans Park Memorial. If you
were so thapkful to be able to look down in the would like to make a contribution or know some :„
Valley and see flat ground. We thought we should veteran whose story should be published, please 0
have had our legs examined because we were so contact the Brazos Valley Veterans Memorial at
sure that one leg had to be shorter than the other www.veteranmemorial.org or Bill Youngkin at
after spending so many days in mountainous ter - 260 -7030.
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