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One in a series of tributes to members of "The Greatest Generation"
t who served our country during World War II
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Jesse
Heine
By Bill Youngkin There were ten men in a crew, so that left eight of us with me,
Special to The Eagle now in charge. We set up some machine guns on our flanks ,.
for protection because we didn't know where the Germans
Second of Two Parts were or where they might attack from. In setting up one of ,
IC the machine guns, one of the men accidentally set offa burst,
which was like announcing where we were.
r Fourteen days is not a long time, especially as you get ,
older. In the spring of 1945 Jesse Heine, now of Robertson "We came to learn that this town had been taken and .
0 County, spent 14 of the longest days of his life in no -man's lost three times before we arrived. I set up our guns and_
land between the German and American lines. A time spent zeroed in on what we had been told would be our targets.
trying to survive being shelled both armies. A time he thought Then came daybreak. That was when all hell broke loose. We'
would end with death, as he had no thought of surviving. were getting shelled by the Germans but soon realized that
afi, Heine's story began 86 years ago in the Birch Community our infantry was behind, not with us, and we were getting '
i on Yegua Creek outside of Somerville, Texas. According to shelled by them also
iN Heine, "I attended Birch School and graduated from Caldwell "There was no place to run or nothing we could do except
3 High in 1941.1 attended Sam Houston State Teachers College stick it out. Two days later our tanks did come in to protect us. ,;
in Huntsville for two years and received a teacher certificate. One of the tanks sent in took a direct hit right in front of our ';,;;
It was about time for me to be called into the service, so I left position, killing the entire crew. This shelling listed for 14 days t ""
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Sam Houston and taught school at Prairiedale School outside straight. The guy I had trained with at Camp Hood, E.J. K
of Caldwell. It wasn't long before I received my draft notice had a shell hit right next to his foxhole. The concussion was so
., in December of 1943.1 entered the army at Ft. Sam Houston great it killed him without leaving a wound. —`
in San Antonio and then went on to Camp Bowie near "When we got a call to take out a German command post
Brownwood, Texas, for infantry basic training. we were asked, not ordered, because they were located in a
';" "We also trained at Camp Wood near Temple, where I church to our front. We accepted the fire mission. But we only
r ° became part of the 648th Tank Destroyer Battalion and then had 13 rounds left. The first round went over and I pulled it
, went to Ft. Jackson, South Carolina. Because of my education down and we started shoving shells into our gun and into
and teaching background, I had been pulled into the company that church. The Germans pulled out. Finally, after 14 days of
headquarters as a company clerk. However, when the company constant shelling, we were able to shower, eat some hot food
went to the firing range, I scored higher than anyone. That's and change into some clean clothes - things we were very .
when the army decided that l was better suited to be a gunner grateful for. After that, the rest of the war was pretty much .
", and was sent back to Camp Hood with another man from my chasing the Germans across Germany to the Danube River.
company, E.J. Klys, for advanced gunner training. One other incident I will always remember was shortly
,- "When we completed our training we were sent back to after we arrived into the line near the end of the Bulge. We =
our unit at Ft. Jackson to train with.the 76.2 mm gun, which had captured some horses the Germans used to pull their
was pulled by a half- track. We headed to Europe out of New guns into place. Since a bunch of us were Texans, we decided
Jersey on December 8, 1944, on the Queen Mary to Camp we would ride them. I rode one up to the top of a hill and
el
' Blackshemore, England. By early 1945 we were involved immediately was shot at by the Germans. That was the end of
in the push back against the Germans during and after the my playing cowboys and Indians."
Battle of the Bulge. With the war's end, Heine was discharged in April 1946,
"As a tank destroyer battalion, we were sent wherever we and returned to the Brazos Valley, where we eventually had a
were needed to be used against the German tanks. We would career at Montgomery Ward for 33 years. Since his retirement,
assist with one army one week and another army the next he has been in full -time ranching in Robertson County. When
2 week. It was run here and run there until Forback, France. asked about his experiences and their effect on him, Heine
4' responded, "I learned a whole lot about life. I did the best I
" Forback was located on the France /Germany border P
could for m country and I know the other fellas did too"
and was in a horseshoe shape. We arrived in early evening to y y vA
f move into position. The streets were small and it seemed like If you want to have a name added to the Veterans
the Germans were lined up on both sides of each bar ditch. Memorial, for more information, to make a contribution, or ,
We finally got into position and got dug in and camouflaged. if you know a World War II veteran whose story needs to be
g The driver of the half track left so it would not be spotted told, contact the BWM at www.bvvm.org or Bill Youngkin
I and our gun commander left with him, I think for a meeting. at (979) 260 -7030.
The Eagle
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