Harold was one of the last men wounded in action in WWII, just before the Atomic Bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. As a teenaged college student, he might not have had to serve at all, had he not insisted that the draft board answer his questions about his status. Harold Marburger was born in 1926 in Clearfield, Iowa. He graduated from High School in nearby Coggon in May 1943, and then attended Iowa State University for one year. On a weekend visit home from college he met a local girl, Betty Wenger, at a "skating party" for his cousin. During the Summer break from college in 1944, Harold received his draft notice. Harold was inducted into the Army at Fort Snelling,...
WWII
HERBERT SPIRO – ARMY – WWII
This is a Horatio Alger story if there ever was one. Escaping from Germany and the coming holocaust just before the outbreak of WWII, Herberts family settled in San Antonio, Texas. He enlisted and returned to Europe with the 11th Armored Division and was wounded in Belgium. After the war this naturalized American veteran earned his PhD at Harvard and then became a distinguished political scientist, educator, author, politician and United States Ambassador. He is also a charter member who played a big part in establishing Chapter 1919 of the Military Order of the Purple Heart in Austin. Herbert Spiro was born in Hamburg, Germany, in 1924. Members of his family had lived for...
L.C. CASTRO – ARMY – WWII
The Gold Star mother of this Castro family of Austin, Texas sent four sons off to WWII, three of whom were awarded the Purple Heart. L.C.'s brother, Arthur, wounded in the Battle of the Bulge, died many years ago, but brother, Joe, a combat medic wounded on Saipan, is also in Chapter 1919 and you can read his Purple Heart story by clicking on this link...Joe S. Castro L.C. was the only member of his 10-man bomber crew to evade capture when their aircraft was shot down over occupied France. This story tells how he did it. Ladislao C. (L.C.) Castro was born and spent his growing-up years in Austin. He attended Guadalupe Catholic School and then Austin High School. In Austin...
LESLIE R. HEREFORD, JR – Army – WWII
Leslie says he was in combat for 15 minutes, and in the hospital for 22 months. As disabled veteran, amputee, he obtained a graduate degree, had a long and successful working career, and lived his life to the fullest. Leslie Hereford, Jr. was born in 1921 in Tow, Texas. The family farm was located on land that became lake-bottom when Buchanan Dam was built, so the Herefords moved to Lometa in adjacent Lampasas County. Leslie graduated from Lometa High School and then went to Tarleton College in Stephenville for two years. He then transferred to Texas A&M, and he was there at College Station when the United States entered the war. He graduated at mid-term, January 1943,...
ROBERT H. HARWOOD – ARMY – WWII
Robert H. (Bob) Harwood was born in Milam County, Texas. His family lived at Gause and Bob graduated from the nearby High School in Hearne. Bob was working on road construction when he first met Roberta Cole, a Southwest Texas State College girl on a weekend visit to Gause. Roberta graduated at San Marcos and got a job teaching school in Burnet County, not far from her family home in Bertram. Robert and Roberta had stayed in touch but didnt see each another very often until Bob's company sent him to build the highway between Buchanan Dam and Llano. That made it convenient for a lot of Saturday night dates going to the movies in Burnet. Then the war came. Bob enlisted...
STEVE CONDITT
This Navy WWII veteran survived the sinking of the Cruiser, ASTORIA in the battle of Savo Island, off Guadalcanal. Later, Steve served with distinction aboard the new Cruiser SANTA FE. He then traveled and made public speeches in War Bond Drives with the famous screen actor, Cesar Romero, whom he greatly admired. Postwar, he was a foreman for Bill Milburn Homes, helping make them the biggest homebuilder in Austin. Until Steves death in 1999 he treasured the many personal correspondences that he had exchanged with Cesar Romero through the years. Here is Steves story. Lyster S. (Steve) Conditt was born in Hillsboro, Texas in 1919. His family moved to Austin where Steve...
J. D. STALLINGS – ARMY – WWII
This colorful figure became a rodeo performer at age 7, a horse cavalryman (Texas National Guard) at age 14, a skilled trick-rider as a teenager, and was a stunt rider for Republic Pictures in 1930s western movies. He was also wounded eight times in the Pacific while serving in the 112th Cavalry Regimental Combat Team. This is his story. Jesse Daniel (J.D.) Stallings was born in Terrell, Texas, in 1915, and he spent his early years on a ranch near Bryan. He rode in his first rodeo in Navasota, at age seven; and by the time he was a teen-ager he was an accomplished stunt rider, particularly skilled at taking an intentional fall without injury from a galloping horse. In 1929,...
RUFUS DYE, JR.
This is a fighter pilots story, shot down behind enemy lines, parachuted into the middle of a major German withdrawal, and pedaled to safety by a French boy on his bicycle. In WWII, Lieutenant Rufus Dye was a 9th Air Force fighter pilot in the 392nd Squadron, 367th Fighter Group. The 392nd was a squadron of P-38 Lightnings that normally flew missions of Bomber Escort, Armed Reconnaissance, Interdiction, or Close Air Support. On the evening of September 8, 1944 his unit had been ordered to do something unusual, that was to conduct a very late in the day raid into Germany. Normally the 367th Fighter Group was a daylight operations unit. The squadron bombed a rail marshalling...
JOHN M. BRYANT – ARMY – WWII
John suffered a grievous wound in the air over occupied France that put him out of the war. Over 50 years later he and his wife became the subject of a personal interest story in the Air Force Museum at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. This is his story. John Bryant graduated from Harlandale High School in San Antonio in May 1940, and so did his girlfriend, Ruth Byrom. John went into the Army shortly after Pearl Harbor, and was quickly accepted for flight training. He spent almost all of 1942 successfully completing training courses at Waco Army Airfield at Waco, Texas. Finally, on January 13, 1943, John was commissioned as an Army Aviator. Johns parents drove up from San...
HARRY A. SWAN
Harry Swan was born in Passaic, New Jersey, in 1921, and he grew up there. He was inducted into the Army at Newark on February 20, 1943. He stood six-foot-two, weighed in at 195 pounds, and was a hard as nails twenty one year old. The Army thought he would make a good paratrooper and Harry volunteered. He soon found himself in training at Camp Macall, North Carolina. The paratroops were considered experimental until 1941, so the Airborne was still very much in its infancy at that time. Harry was assigned to Company G of the newly created 511th Parachute Infantry Regiment of the 11th Airborne Division and he went through the rigorous training program with them. The unit...
MILFORD R. DAVIS – USMC – WWII
Milford was a North Texas school teacher and football coach for seven years before the beginning of WWII. His advantages from that maturity and experience quickly advanced him from draftee to Captain in command of an Infantry Company in combat in Europe. It may also be the reason Milford is the only person we know who did not get flustered when in the presence of General George Patton. Milford Davis was born and grew up in Eliasville, Texas, a picturesque old-Texas community on the banks of the Brazos River a few miles downstream from Fort Belknap. His grandfather had come to Texas from Tennessee after the Civil War and initially settled in Coleman County; but finding...
BILL KERR – ARMY – WWII
After the fighting in North Africa, Bill Kerrs hometown newspaper in Missouri carried a feature article announcing his award of the Distinguished Service Cross, the Silver Star and the Purple Heart with Oak Leaf Cluster. Here are some excerpts (in italics) of that news clipping. Following that is Bills personal story about an almost amusing instance of Field Artillery being used in an Air Defense role. Blond Billy Kerr, who went from the University of Missouri into the Army and now wears three ribbons on his khaki shirt was decorated for extraordinary gallantry (in an action) February 15, 1943 at Sidi Bou Zid when Field Marshal Erwin Rommel staged his big tank smash...