HomeMy WebLinkAboutB. J. "Bill" Kling, Brazos Valley Heroes lk
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. "Bill"
King
When B. J. "Bill" Kling went to work on a two- "It was reinforced concrete pill boxes, tank barri-
. week job as a member of a survey crew in Matagorda ers and gun positions camouflaged and located in il
F County in 1937, he had no idea it would be something homes. It was tough going. It took us a few months to
= ' he would be involved with for almost 70 years. Kling get through it."
had graduated from Kosse High School in Kosse, Texas By now, Kling had been assigned to the intelli-
Y • in 1936, and had held several jobs until then, including gence section of division artillery, helping to interro-
being a waiter in a pig stand, the forerunner of the gate prisoners. With information he obtained, he went
aboard a small plane so he could see where to con - Srg
• "I found I enjoyed the survey work and stuck with centrate the fire.
it until October 1941. The draft had been instituted and "We took off at 3:00 am. You could look back at
1 thought I would enlist, serve my time and then get our lines aad see the gun flashes when the guns were
back to work. That changed with the bombing of Pearl fired and Then see where the shells exploded. With
Harbor." good intelligence and being able to physically see what IN
Kling was sent to Ft. Sill for artillery training as a you need to target, by using the plane. it became the
member of an artillery survey crew and later with the most effective means we had to direct our fire."
45th Artillery Division at Camp Barkley near Abilene. After the Battle of the Bulge, which according to
"At Camp Barkley, we were sleeping in tents in a Kling was fought along a 50 -mile front and in the worst
cotton patch. I finally was awarded a weekend pass and weather conditions imaginable, Kling and his division
6 4 ; decided to go to Dallas to visit family. You could go to crossed into Germany, crossing over the Ruhr River.
the travel bureau and ride with someone for a small Soon after the initial crossing into Germany, the
fee. I caught a ride with a fellow in a 1940 La Salle, German resistance lessened. Kling and his division
• which was about a block long with a big trunk. I were now the farthest north of all of the American
V thought I would be riding to Dallas in style. Twenty troops.
miles out of town we had a flat, and I volunteered to "In May of 1945, we made it to the Elbe River.
change the tire. I found that the trunk was full of old where we ran into the Russians. We were some of the
worn -out tires. I changed tires about every 20 miles, all first to meet the Russians. We had a sergeant who was
the way to Dallas." of Polish descent who spoke Polish and they had some
Kling was assigned to Ft. Devens, Mass., and guys who spoke Polish so we were able to communi-
later to East Falmouth, Mass., near Martha's Vineyard cate. We had Germans crossing the Elbe day and night
to develop tactics for conducting combat beach land - so they could surrender to the Americans. We ended
ings. He was eventually moved to the Adirondack up with over 20,000 German prisoners."
Mountains along the Hudson Valley near Lake Huron in Kling was involved with setting up the German
upstate New York. civil government and getting it back into operation.
"It was so cold, and about that time the army put "We put the Germans in charge of everything and
out a request for volunteers for OCS. I decided OCS held them responsible. The did the planning and the
• training t Ft. Sill would be a whole lot warmer than Lake work and we oversaw everything."
Huron, so I volunteered." In December 1945 Kling headed home to
Kling was accepted and in December 1942 was America and was discharged in 1946. After discharge. F..
commissioned as a second lieutenant of field artillery. he headed back to work on the survey crews.
Kling served at various posts including service under "In 1949 Florence and I got married and I realized
>R: James P. Hannigen, who, after the war, would become I needed more education. I enrolled at A &M under the -
7., Dean of Students at A &M. In the summer of 1944, G.I. Bill. Florence went to work for the Ag Department
Kling headed to Europe, landing at Cherbourg, France. and in 1953 I graduated with a civil engineering degree ..
. Paris was being liberated and Kling was assigned to and three sons, Stewart, Kit (Chris) and David. Mr.
help operate the "Red Bali Express." Spencer Buchanan who had been one of my profes-
"There was a major need for supplies on the front sors, asked me to go to work for his company in Bryan.
• lines. The army assembled approximately 500 trucks to I started Kling Engineering in 1975 and have been
• move the supplies from the beachhead to the front involved with that business since. God has been good
lines. We took the main road through France and it to me and I'm grateful for it."
turned into a one -way road and on another road com- B. J. "Bill" Kling's name can be found on the
ing back, we did the same thing. We put two drivers to Brazos Valley Veterans Memorial. For more informa-
• each truck driving this big oval 24 hours a day. The tion, to make a contribution, or if you know a World
truck engine never stopped unless it broke down." War II veteran whose story needs to be told, contact
K ling's first exposure to combat was moving the BVVM at w wwveterans- memorial.org, o r Bill
• through the Siegfried Line. Youngkin at 979 - 260 -7030.