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Bill Adams, U.S. Air Force, Korea (Interviewed March 3, 2011) Bill Adams wanted to be in the Air Force in 1950 but really had no designs on being a mechanic. But that where the Air Force needed him so he learned the craft and for the next four years kept B-29s in the air. Not in frigid Korea where the war was going on but among other places in steaming hot Saudi Arabia. Bill Adams is one of those many veterans who served his country not in combat but in still needed jobs that kept America safe
Billy Joe Adams, U.S. Army, WW II (A&M Class of ‘41) (Interviewed June 15, 2005) Retired Lt. Col. Billy Joe Adams was a veteran of the fighting in the European Theater during World War II and of post-conflict Korea. During World War II, he was assigned to the A Battery of the 414th Field Artillery Battalion. He was the Field Operations Officer for the 414th.
Ray Akins, U.S. Marines, WW II (Interviewed Oct. 8, 2009) Most every World War II Veteran counts themselves lucky to have survived to tell their story when so many did not. Ray Akins’ service came near the war’s end, but included 82 days fighting in the Pacific’s bloodiest battle... Okinawa. The battle that killed more than 12,000 Americans and left another 36,000 wounded. As a member of a special weapons unit in the 1st Marine Division, his was the third wave to storm the beach that April 1st, 1945. Okinawa was to be a main staging area for the ground assault on Japan that never happened because of the dropping of the Atomic Bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Here are some of Ray Akins’ war Stories, but some of his stories of a legendary 38-year high school football coaching career, one that produced a quarterback named Marty Akins who went on to run Darrell Royal’s wishbone attack at Texas. And he’ll talk about Ray Akins, the proud Grandfather of another quarterback you may recognize... a fella named Drew Brees.
Ray Akins, U.S. Marines, WW II (Interviewed Oct. 8, 2009) Most every World War II Veteran counts themselves lucky to have survived to tell their story when so many did not. Ray Akins’ service came near the war’s end, but included 82 days fighting in the Pacific’s bloodiest battle... Okinawa. The battle that killed more than 12,000 Americans and left another 36,000 wounded. As a member of a special weapons unit in the 1st Marine Division, his was the third wave to storm the beach that April 1st, 1945. Okinawa was to be a main staging area for the ground assault on Japan that never happened because of the dropping of the Atomic Bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Here are some of Ray Akins’ war Stories, but some of his stories of a legendary 38-year high school football coaching career, one that produced a quarterback named Marty Akins who went on to run Darrell Royal’s wishbone attack at Texas. And he’ll talk about Ray Akins, the proud Grandfather of another quarterback you may recognize... a fella named Drew Brees.
Dr. Philip Alexander, Computer Artist (Interviewed July 19, 2007) College Station Physician Dr. Philip Alexander has a unique skill beyond health care. He’s an artist. Not with a palette and brush, but with a computer. And uses this unique talent to express his passion for the military and for veterans through his amazing art. This TV Show will exhibit many of his works.
John Anderson, U.S. Army, Vietnam (Interviewed Aug. 25, 2005) John Anderson is quick to say that his one year duty in Vietnam was not combat filled. He did not fly the gunships but he flew above them, in his 01 single engine bird dog aircraft, guiding the gunships and identifying landing zones. He was with the 75 Rangers
Jeff Bailey, U.S. Army, Viet Nam (Interviewed Feb. 26, 2009) This is the incredible story of service of First Sergeant Jeff Bailey of Bryan -- a 20-year Army veteran who served overseas in Germany twice, in Korea, and two tours of Viet Nam, first with the 18th Infantry and later with the 12th Cav. He was wounded during each Viet Nam deployment, earning 2 Purple Hearts and the Silver Star, among many other awards and medals. Between his Vietnam Tours, he served on the streets of Southside Chicago, helping to diffuse the devastating riots in the days following the April 4, 1968 assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. He also served three years at Ft. Greeley Alaska, on the edge of the Arctic Circle. As you can imagine, his is a remarkable story of service.
Jeff Bailey, U.S. Army, Viet Nam (Interviewed Feb. 26, 2009) This is the incredible story of service of First Sergeant Jeff Bailey of Bryan -- a 20-year Army veteran who served overseas in Germany twice, in Korea, and two tours of Viet Nam, first with the 18th Infantry and later with the 12th Cav. He was wounded during each Viet Nam deployment, earning 2 Purple Hearts and the Silver Star, among many other awards and medals. Between his Vietnam Tours, he served on the streets of Southside Chicago, helping to diffuse the devastating riots in the days following the April 4, 1968 assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. He also served three years at Ft. Greeley Alaska, on the edge of the Arctic Circle. As you can imagine, his is a remarkable story of service.
Leroy Balmain, Merchant Marines/Air Force, WW II/Korea (Interviewed March 17, 2011) Leroy Balmain was in boot camp at Catalena Island when the Atomic Bomb was dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August of 1945. As a Merchant Marine and later in the Air Force, he did not see combat duty but served his country first as a fireman aboard the SS Alfred C. True and then eventually as an Administrative Supervisor. He and his wife Marita were married in 1946 and his assignments took them from Alaska to Topeka to Alabama to Washington DC to Shreveport to the Philippines and finally back to the States and in 1972 to Bryan, where he served four years as an Air Force Recruiter. After he retired from the service, he spent 19 years as Executive Director for the Better Business Bureau here. So you see his entire adult life has been one of service.
Gary Banta, U.S. Army, Vietnam (Interviewed Feb. 11, 2010) Gary Banta joined the Army in 1967, well into the Vietnam War. he both drove and rode shotgun on truck convoys, delivering supplies to the hotspots where choppers and aircraft could not land. It was a year tour that certainly had it’s danger. Later he was assigned to Ft. Knox where he did indeed see the gold! And he was a chaplain’s assistant in Germany.
Gene Barber, U.S. Navy, WW II (Interviewed May 9, 2007) Gene Barber served the people of Williamson County as its sheriff for seven years, sold cars and lumber and delivered the mail in the years before that. But that all came after his 33 year months at sea, serving aboard the carrier USS Corregidor during four major battles of World War II’s Pacific Campaign. Plus, you will not find a bigger Bob Wills fan. They were both born in Kosse, Texas.
Garland Bayliss, U.S. Navy, WW II (Interviewed June 17, 2010) Join the Navy and see the World! And indeed Lt. Commander Garland Bayliss of College Station saw most of it in his two-year service aboard Auxiliary Personnel 149, a Troop Transport Ship during World War II. It was a vessel built only as a transport and ferried up to 3,000 from one town or island to another. It took some back home from war and some from home into war. He was on the water both in the Pacific and Atlantic for two years and traveled some 125,000 Nautical Miles. In all Garland Bayliss spent 30 years in the Navy and the reserves and then later spent 34 years as professor of history at Texas A&M.
Norman Beal, U.S. Marines, Korea (Interviewed Oct. 29, 2009) Some call it the forgotten war, but Norman Beal of rural Brazos County has not forgotten a thing about his 2nd Battalion, 5th Marines assault on the Korean coast in 1950. Nor has he forgotten the horror in the cold of that winter, scaling the cliffs at the beaches of Incheon, nor the card game that kept him in Korea to fight even longer. The Korean war cost 54,000 American lives and another 8000 were missing and Norman Beal counts himself very lucky to have survived to tell his story of service.
Jon Bennett, KAMU TV/Station Manager (Interviewed 2010) This Show was with KAMU Station Manager Jon Bennett, talking about the more than five years of Veterans of the Valley. Just a review of what at the time, was 145 shows.
Alfred “Whitey” Birdwell, U.S. Army, WW II Interviewed May 27, 2010 Alfred “Whitey” Birdwell was a Sherman tank driver in World War II's European Theater, after D-Day, but during the final push and in the Battle of the Bulge and until victory in Europe. He was overseas just more than a year but probably covered more miles per day served than just about anyone. He vividly recalls when he drove the first American tank over the Rhine River for the 3rd Armoured to spearhead. A Purple Heart recipient, he drove a tank every day except for those 10 days he was laid up because of shrapnel wounds.
John Blasienz, U.S. Navy Seabees, WW II (A&M Class of ‘47) (Interviewed May 31, 2007) It's a simple fact that World War II could not have been fought, much less won, without Naval construction Battalion, better known as Seabees. Today you will meet John Blasienz of Bryan, but I dare say that many of you already know him. After all, he has lived all but 10 of his years in Bryan. He was born in Bryan, a proud member of the Stephen F Austin high school class of 1942 and Aggie class of 1947 and a proud sailor with the 105th Seabees serving the Pacific Campaign in Australia, New Guinea and the Leyte Gulf.
Anne Boykin, Project Hold (Interviewed 2008) This is a very interesting program with then Director of College Station’s Project HOLD, Anne Boykin. She brought with her several photos from the Project HOLD collection, those that reflected the military commitment in the Brazos Valley and at Texas A&M. The photos are all described in the TV Show. Anne Boykin has been a great supporter and helper for the development of Veterans of the Valley.
Cal Boykin, U.S. Army, World War II (A&M Class of ‘46) (Interviewed June 7, 2007) Cal Boykin was a proud member of the 814th Tank Destroyer Battalion in World War II’s European Theater. He can best tell its story because he was an historian of his unit, as well as a gunner, aboard his M8 Armoured car, on recon duty mostly, patrolling the French roads behind Normandy, through Belgium and Holland and on to Germany. Cal Boykin’s story could not be told in just one Veterans of the Valley episode -- it took two.
Cal Boykin, U.S. Army, World War II (A&M Class of ‘46) (Interviewed June 7, 2007) Cal Boykin was a proud member of the 814th Tank Destroyer Battalion in World War II’s European Theater. He can best tell its story because he was an historian of his unit, as well as a gunner, aboard his M8 Armoured car, on recon duty mostly, patrolling the French roads behind Normandy, through Belgium and Holland and on to Germany. Cal Boykin’s story could not be told in just one Veterans of the Valley episode -- it took two.
Joe Brewster, U.S. Army, Vietnam (A&M Class of ‘69) (Interviewed May 3, 2006) Being an Aggie is in Jor Brewster’s blood -- his father, his grandfather, great uncle, and sons all Aggies. Like his father Olin Brewster, he served his country in combat. Olin was a decorated survivor of the Battle of the Bulge in World War II. Joe Brewster was a ground Infantry fighter in the jungles of Vietnam and Cambodia.
Tom Browning, Army Military Police, WW II Interviewed Feb.1, 2006 As important as any military detail of World War II was the Military Police -- providing personal protection for those conducting the war, and from time to time dealing with those soldiers whose behavior might undermine the unity of a mission. Sergeant Tom Browning of Bryan was a member of one of the very first military police battalions of the US Army, as a member of the 503rd and 504th MPs, he was quickly promoted from PFC to Corporal, then to Sergeant then First Sergeant and as a result of his duty, was in December 1944, awarded the Bronze Star Medal for what his Captain called meritorious service in connection with military operations against an enemy of the United States and France. Later, as a member of the 512th military police, Sergeant Browning was attached to General George Patton's 3rd Army.
Bob Bruner, U.S. Army, Desert Storm (Interviewed Nov. 6, 2008) Four months may not seem like a long time to most of us, but for Bob Bruner of the 1st Squadron 4th Cavalry, US Army, the four months starting on New Year's Day of 1991 was a period in time he'll never forget. Bob Bruner drove a Hum-vee in Operation Desert Storm’s ground war and saw the war up close from start to finish. Yes his was his unit that took the airfield at Safwan, Iraq where the ceasefire was negotiated.
Frank Buell, U.S. Navy, WW II (Interviewed Feb. 5, 2009) World War II, of course, was fought primarily in Europe and the Pacific, but there was never any guarantee that the enemy from either side would not find its way to United States shores. Frank Buell got permission from his mother to enter the U.S. Navy at the age of 17. That was 14 June 1944, just 14 months before Japan surrendered. While waiting for an opening to go to flight school, we was assigned as a bombardier, flying B-24s and later PB4Y2s. Out of 24 crews, his was one of four assigned to stay stateside and train, while at the same time guarding the east coast from deployments mainly in Florida.
Curtis Burns, U.S. Air Force, Vietnam (A&M Class of ‘52) (Interviewed Nov. 10, 2006) Major Curt Burns was an airman with plenty of passion and little fear. He grew up in a home about where G. Rollie White Coliseum once stood. He piloted five different jet fighters during his service in Europe and Vietnam. He spent 20 years as an Air Force pilot and logged more than 5,000 hours in the air. In retirement, he was the coach of A&M’s National Champion Pistol team.
P.K. Carlton, U.S. Air Force, Pentagon on 9/11 (Interviewed Aug. 19, 2010) Lt. General P.K. Carlton Jr’s career of service in the United States Air Force is without doubt one of the most compelling and fascinating that we’ve ever had the honor to share on Veterans of the Valley and we will hear it over the next two editions of our show. The son of a World War II B-29 pilot who eventually commanded the Air Force’s Military Airlift, P.K. Carlton Jr. knew as early as age 8 that he wanted to be in the Air Force and wanted to fly. But a Depth Perception problem on his flight physical sent him on another path...medicine...surgery... and a career that placed him in a position to help create and implement changes that indeed have saved the lives of literally countless numbers of military personnel, indeed surgical methods and concepts that he and his teams have brought to exist, are saving lives right now in Afghanistan and Iraq. We sadly hear every day of the numbers who have died. You’re about to hear things you don’t know about the numbers who have lived. He is the former Surgeon General of the Air Force and since his retirement in the winter of 2002, General Carlton has been Director of Homeland Security for the Texas A&M Health Science Center.
Dan Chadbourne, U.S. Marines, World War II (Interviewed Oct. 23, 2008) Dan Chadbourne flew the PBJB-25 Mitchell in World War II. His first wish was to be a tail gunner on a SBT-Dauntless. Instead he was a radio gunner on the B-25. He flew 38 Missions in the Pacific Theater in 1945. His 443rd Marine bombing squadron would strafe and bomb and serve as an escort for the fighters of the 1st Marine Wing in Okinawa -- Operation Iceberg.
Jerry Congleton, U.S. Air Force, Vietnam (Interviewed Oct. 18, 2007) Jerry Congleton flew 213 combat missions in the Vietnam War. He was a forward air controller for 113 of those. He Graduated from Evansville University and was commissioned the day he graduated. He volunteered for the military.
Dr. Jim Cooper, U.S. Navy, WW II (Interviewed March 1, 2005) Dr. Jim Cooper practiced medicine in the Brazos Valley for nearly 60 years and was a Navy doctor who served from ship to ship during both World War II and Korea. He is quick to say that he did not serve in combat during either year but was instrumental in saving the lives of those who did.
Dr. Jim Cooper, U.S. Navy, WW II (Interviewed March 1, 2005) Dr. Jim Cooper practiced medicine in the Brazos Valley for nearly 60 years and was a Navy doctor who served from ship to ship during both World War II and Korea. He is quick to say that he did not serve in combat during either year but was instrumental in saving the lives of those who did.
George Cox, U.S. Army, WW II (Interviewed May 4, 2005) 23-year-old tank commander George Cox of rural Brazos County, was a member of the 746th Battalion when he starred the horror of the war straight in the face. June of 1944 was when George Cox was one of those who lived to tell the story of D-Day and the stand made at beaches called Juno, Gold, Sword, Omaha and Utah. He recounts the final months of the war, when he earned his Purple Heart and Silver Star as a player in five major battles.
Walter Cronin Jr., U.S. Army, Korea/Vietnam (Interviewed June 7, 2006) Walter Cronin was 16 years old when he graduated from high school but as you will find out, Colonel Cronin was on the fast track just about all his life, certainly during a distinguished military career that spanned 27 years, It was a career that sent him to service not only in the United States, but to Japan, Korea, Paris, London and Vietnam. He kept up with World War II as a schoolboy, joined the merchant Marines and then the Army in 1946. He was coming into military service just as the fighting was wrapping up in the Pacific. It's an intriguing story of service and we are proud to welcome Colonel Walter J Cronin Jr.
Jack Currie, U.S. Army Air Corps, WW II (A&M Class of ‘64) (Interviewed July 24, 2008) Jack Currie is an Aggie, but before he ever entered A&M, there was a war to fight in World War II's European Theater. And that's where he and his B-17 crew flew some 50 combat missions in 1944 and 1945. It was a time in our history that included D-Day, the Battle of the Bulge and eventually victory in Europe. He has some interesting stories to tell but none more compelling than his mission on May 12, 1944, when his Flying Fortress was shot up so badly it really had no business staying at aloft. But it did, and thus Jack Currie is here to tell that story and many more.
Gen. Thomas Darling, Air Force, Vietnam (A&M Class of ‘54) (Interviewed Sept. 27, 2006) From the summer of 1987 to the summer of 1996, Major General Thomas G Darling served as Commandant of the Texas A&M Corps of Cadets. But his years of service to our country started long before that, 33 years before to be exact. As a member of the class of 1954 -- two months after graduation he was active-duty Air Force. He learned to fly and fly he did it, more than 7000 hours, 500 of those piloting the giant B-52 on some 46 combat missions in Vietnam.
Gen. Thomas Darling, Air Force, Vietnam (A&M Class of ‘54) (Interviewed Sept. 27, 2006) From the summer of 1987 to the summer of 1996, Major General Thomas G Darling served as Commandant of the Texas A&M Corps of Cadets. But his years of service to our country started long before that, 33 years before to be exact. As a member of the class of 1954 -- two months after graduation he was active-duty Air Force. He learned to fly and fly he did it, more than 7000 hours, 500 of those piloting the giant B-52 on some 46 combat missions in Vietnam.
Dr. Rex Davis, Navy, Air Force, Army, WW II (Interviewed Feb. 18, 2010) Dr. Rex Davis tells an incredible story of service that includes action in both World War II, where he was aboard an LCS during the invasion of Okinawa, and later his service as a medical doctor in Viet Nam. He served in the Navy, the Air Force and the Army. Between World War II and Nam he returned home to Gidding, Texas, finished high school, college and med school before starting his career as a doctor. An accomplished writer, Dr. Davis has penned many of his accounts of service in the form of fascinating short stories. We will read from some of those as we visit with Dr. Rex Davis.
Dick Davison, U.S. Army, WW II (Interviewed June 21, 2006) Dick Davison does not dwell on the ribbons and medals that passed him by for his service in World War II. As you will discover PFC Davison was a soldier not looking for recognition; he was a fighter, simply looking to defeat the German enemy. A ground soldier – and as he admits, an independent thinker who didn't always go along with conventional ways. What he saw along the way is and incredible story that he was proud to tell.
Dick Davison, U.S. Army, WW II (Interviewed June 21, 2006) Dick Davison does not dwell on the ribbons and medals that passed him by for his service in World War II. As you will discover PFC Davison was a soldier not looking for recognition; he was a fighter, simply looking to defeat the German enemy. A ground soldier – and as he admits, an independent thinker who didn't always go along with conventional ways. What he saw along the way is and incredible story that he was proud to tell.
Dick Deiterich, U.S. Army, WW II (Interviewed March 10, 2011) The path that Dick Deiterich took from Bloomsburg Pennsylvania to the Brazos Valley included an 18-month hitch in the Army that started soon after Japan surrendered but before President Truman officially declared the end of hostilities in December 1946. So he served stateside, sent from base to base and eventually to Fort Knox, Kentucky to help forward mail to returning servicemen and those heading back overseas for post-war duty. His is one of those stories of service that he might not call remarkable but we call essential as it was for anyone who gave up the important time of their youth to serve their country.
Dr. Henry Dethloff, Author “Texas Aggies Go To War” Interviewed Jan. 4, 2006) It's no secret that Texas A&M's contribution to our country's war efforts have gone above and beyond those of most other universities. We have had the honor of featuring many former students on Veterans of the Valley. Well now they have a book dedicated to their service “Texas Aggies Go To War” authored by one of the foremost historians of Texas A&M, Henry Dethloff Professor Emeritus of History at Texas A&M, along with former student John A. Adams. Texas A&M sent more than 20,000 to serve in World War II alone, more than 14,000 as commissioned officers. It's an extraordinary account of Aggie military service.
Dr. Henry Dethloff, Author “Texas Aggies Go To War” Interviewed Jan. 4, 2006) It's no secret that Texas A&M's contribution to our country's war efforts have gone above and beyond those of most other universities. We have had the honor of featuring many former students on Veterans of the Valley. Well now they have a book dedicated to their service “Texas Aggies Go To War” authored by one of the foremost historians of Texas A&M, Henry Dethloff Professor Emeritus of History at Texas A&M, along with former student John A. Adams. Texas A&M sent more than 20,000 to serve in World War II alone, more than 14,000 as commissioned officers. It's an extraordinary account of Aggie military service.
Lawrence DeZavala, U.S. Air Force, WW II (Interviewed June 21, 2007) The path that Lawrence DeZavala took from his birthplace in Louisiana to his vineyards near New Baden, Tx included three years of service as a radio operator/gunner, flying some 21 combat missions with the Air Force’s 379th Bomber Group. Their mission aboard their B-24 was to take out rail yards and bridges in Austria and other positions near the war’s in. He counts himself lucky to have returned uninjured and counts himself even more fortunate to have lived the life he has. He and his wife Rachel own and operate DeZavala Vineyard where some of the tastiest blackberries, blueberries and raspberries can be picked.
Frank Dickey, U.S. Army, Vietnam (Interviewed June 28, 2006) Frank Dickey refuses to call himself a hero but most might disagree. He says that in Vietnam he fought alongside heroes but he, like many who went, who fought, who came home, prefers to reserve the label hero for those who did not come home. He was not an officer, nor a company commander nor a Phantom pilot. Frank Dickey’s role in Vietnam was as the guy who laid his rifle on the line with every patrol -- just infantry army soldier, search and destroy, chopping away at the jungle in search of the enemy. Yet by many standards a hero and it's our honor to have spoken with him on Veterans of the Valley.
W.S. Edmonds, U.S. Army, World War II (A&M Class of ‘38) (Interviewed June 8, 2005) World War II was won by men and women all pulling their weight, doing their job, whether was fighting on the front lines or serving in the chow lines. When Bryan’s W.S. Edmonds, A&M class of 1938, enlisted in 1942 (just two months after the attack on Pearl Harbor), he had field artillery in mind. He spent a lot of his time in the Army training ragtag replacements stateside for overseas duty. But when his branch’s orders were changed to postal duty in Louisiana, that was not how W.S. wanted to spend the war. If he was going to stay in the states, he wanted to be where the action was so he got himself transferred to Washington DC, the Pentagon, a part of the Army’s Courier Transport Service. It was mostly top secret and it had to get from one place to another, and W.S. Edmonds was one of the soldiers the Army depended on to get it there. He is a past commander of the American Legion and a member of the VFW.
Ed Eyre, U.S. Marines, WW II (Interviewed Nov. 9, 2005) December 19, 1941 and Ed Eyre was among the first to volunteer for service following the attack on Pearl Harbor. It took a while and a little maneuvering to get where he wanted to be -- as a Marine. He wanted to fight for his country in the Pacific and eventually he found himself in the middle of it as a member of the 5th Marine Division, 28th Regimental Weapons Company. Charging the sands on D-Day at Iwo Jima, February 19, 1945. He saw that US flag flying atop Mount Suribachi -- The flag etched in American pride by the famous photograph of the Marines who mounted it there. He fought day and night and he would fight for 10 days, until shrapnel from a mortar round eventually ended his combat service. Ed Eyre was a winner of the Bronze Star and the Purple Heart -- live out his life in rural Brazos county.
Robert Fliedner, U.S. Army, WW II (Interviewed Oct. 22, 2009) Robert Fliedner had pretty much decided that the Army didn't want him after his high school graduation in 1940. He had tried to enlist twice but poor eyesight disqualified him both times. But then after the US got involved in World War II, after Pearl Harbor, his eyesight must have improved because he was drafted. First assigned to limited service, then General service and then to duty in both the European and Pacific theaters of the war, Robert Fliedner built stuff -- camps for incoming inventory, sewer lines for those camps, tank farms to store gasoline, and he maintained gasoline pump stations that pumped fuel to the front lines. His overseas duty started in England, then landing in Normandy at Utah Beach, and it ended more than two years later at Bataan, in the Pacific.
Arnold Foltermann, U.S. Army, WW II (Interviewed Nov. 15, 2006) Arnold Foltermann and his wife Minnie were married some 60 years and worked for the phone company after he served in Gen. Patton’s 3rd Army during World War II. He saw action at the Battle of the Bulge in Europe. Just a “doughboy”, fighting for his country.
R.F. “Sonny” Franze, U.S. Army, WW II (Interviewed June 22, 2005) “Sonny” Franze recalled well leaving his farm near Kurten and going into the Army -- learning to climb telephone poles and set communication wire and eventually taking that training across the North Atlantic to Europe front lines. He landed at Normandy on D+10 and that led to bravery that won him five Bronze Stars. He also saw the horror that his unit discovered at the concentration camp called Buchenwald.
Bob Gallery, U.S. Army, WW II, (Interviewed July 21, 2010) Bob Gallery was just 17 years old in 1944 and didn’t know that he was about to take the fast track from his home in Saginaw, Michigan to a Foxhole on the front lines of the War in Europe. But that’s pretty much exactly what happened when he was drafted into the Army near war’s end. A 38-year resident of Bryan, Bob Gallery’s 99th Infantry saw conflict eyeball-to-eyeball as he puts it, and counts himself fortunate to have come home uninjured.. indeed to have come home at all, as so many who served did not.
Spec Gammon, U.S. Army, World War II (Interviewed June 1, 2005) Army Infantry Tech Sergeant Spec Gammon was the long-time Sports Information Director at Texas A&M, but long before that, he fought as an Army Infantry soldier in World War II in Europe. He was wounded at the Battle of the Bulge. He speaks highly of the British soldiers he met and people who endured so much destruction during the war, and he recalls the weather during the Bulge. “I’ve never been so cold in my life”, he says.
Jim Gordon, Army Air Corps, WW II (Interviewed June 14, 2006) Sometimes we forget exactly how young some of our World War II veterans were when they lay their short lives on the line for us. On October 26, 1944, Jim Gordon of College Station flew his first of 24 mission over Austria. The next day he celebrated his 19th birthday. He would fly 34 more missions over Europe, most of them with a crew that had been together since their training days in Lincoln, Nebraska. One of those missions earned him a Purple Heart. It was all part of the life of a World War II tail gunner.
Noble Goza, U.S. Marines, WW II (Interviewed July 15, 2010) Noble Goza is a World War II Veteran for sure, although by the time he was drafted in 1945, little did he know that the war was about to end. His 4th Marines Division has been sent to Maui as replacement troops for the 4th Marines survivors returning from Iwo Jima. While training for what everyone figured would be a ground war with Japan, the bomb was dropped -- and soon after, the war was over. He spent another year in Hawaii and soon was discharged thinking he’d never ever see combat. He was quite wrong. Fast forward to 1950 when then Marine reserve Noble Goza was re-deployed, this time the fast track to Korea, were he was on an LST to the Cliffs at Inchon. Then later to North Korea where his 7th Marines Division was on its way to the Chosin Reservoir when he was wounded and his military service came to a quicker than expected end. His is a fascinating story of service in two wars.
Mike Guidry, Navy Seabees, Iraq (Interviewed Aug. 6, 2006) Mike Guidry was a proud member of the 28th Seabees, He initially spent 6 months in Fallujah in Iraq, attached to the 2nd Marines Expeditionary Force. As a Seabee, he helped build things to help fight the war on terror. We did three shows with Mike Guidry, the second and third featuring his own videos he made to show the work of his unit in Iraq.
Mike Guidry, Navy Seabees, Iraq (Interviewed Aug. 6, 2006) Mike Guidry was a proud member of the 28th Seabees, He initially spent 6 months in Fallujah in Iraq, attached to the 2nd Marines Expeditionary Force. As a Seabee, he helped build things to help fight the war on terror. We did three shows with Mike Guidry, the second and third featuring his own videos he made to show the work of his unit in Iraq.
Mike Guidry, Navy Seabees, Iraq (Interviewed Aug. 6, 2006) Mike Guidry was a proud member of the 28th Seabees, He initially spent 6 months in Fallujah in Iraq, attached to the 2nd Marines Expeditionary Force. As a Seabee, he helped build things to help fight the war on terror. We did three shows with Mike Guidry, the second and third featuring his own videos he made to show the work of his unit in Iraq.
Bill Hamilton, U.S. Army, Vietnam Era Interviewed Dec. 13, 2006 Bill Hamilton is a veteran who did not serve in any overseas combat, but the battle he fought since January 1980 is one that he wins every day. He's a volunteer and an assistant chaplain of the Disabled American Veterans. He sings and writes poems and you'll understand how he turned a personal nightmare into hope and faith. Meet Sergeant Bill Hamilton, Vietnam veteran.
Gen. Joe Hanover, U.S. Army, WW II (A&M Class of ‘40) (Interviewed Nov. 20, 2008) Gen. Joe Hanover lived in the Brazos Valley most of his life. He spent the last 25 years of his service with the 420th Engineering Brigade on Carson Street in Bryan. He was already in uniform when Pearl Harbor was attacked in Dec. 1941. Immediately following he was assigned to duty in San Francisco, under the Golden Gate Bridge. He was a Civil Engineer with Coast Artillery. Then he headed up a combat engineering unit and eventually was sent to Europe in 1945. (As I type this, we mourn Gen. Hanover’s death yesterday, May 22, 2017, at the age of 99).
Al Hanson, Army Air Corps, WW II (Interviewed Aug. 31, 2005) It was on Al and Ruby Hanson's backyard porch that Tom Turbiville first started his passion for telling the story of Brazos Valley Veterans. Al Hanson was a radio operator of the 55th troop carrier squadron US Army Air Corps. He lost count of how many air missions he flew in World War II -- his craft delivering supplies to the troops on practically every island of the Pacific Campaign.
John Happ, U.S. Air Force, Vietnam (A&M Class of ‘67) (Interviewed Jan. 24, 2008) John Happ is a flier with more than 40 combat missions in Vietnam. He loves to fly and he loves to talk about where he’s been, like his some 29 landings on the icy runways of Antarctica. John Happ is a former city councilman in College Station and the former manager of A&M’s Easterwood Airport.
Bill Harper, Operation Ivy, Post WW II (Interviewed Oct. 10, 2010) Bill Harper does not have any real war stories to tell from his two hitches and more than five years in military service, but the one that he does tell is indeed a witness to history. November 1st, 1952, from the deck of the USS Estes near Eniwetok Island in the Marshall Islands, Bill Harper was one of those who watched the result of “Operation Ivy” -- the very first Hydrogen Bomb Explosion. Bill Harper has never discussed his specific duties in regard to Operation Ivy, and he never will. But he can describe in detail the incredible site and effect of the detonation of a bomb some 500 times more powerful than the Atomic Bomb that ended World War II some seven years earlier. And there are other fascinating stories to tell... like how he got to Texas by sailing down the Illinois and the Mighty Mississippi Rivers from Lake Superior to the Gulf of Mexico.
Thomas Hatfield, Rudder Author (Interviewed March 4, 2011) It was natural that Thomas Hatfield would write the definitive biography of General Earl Rudder. Afterall, as a student he worked summers at the Texas Land Office when General Rudder was its commissioner and later served in an Army reserve unit that was under Rudder’s command. But that’s not why Thomas Hatfield wrote the book “Rudder: From Leader to Legend”. You see Thomas Hatfield is a life long educator and like General Rudder, was a college president and now is one of the foremost historians on World War II and military history. He is a senior research fellow at the Dolph Briscoe Center for American History at the University of Texas and is director of its Military History Institute.
Jim Hester, U.S. Army, Vietnam (Interviewed Sept. 21, 2005) Jim Hester of Bryan was an Army lifer. That was interrupted by four years he spent in the Air Force. He served one tour in Germany and three tours of Vietnam. He was a medic and a nurse. He was wounded three times and earned several commendations. After 9/11, he re-upped and trained troops to serve in the war on terror. He’s proud of his 35-year career in uniform.
Ed Higgins, U.S. Air Force, WW II (Interviewed Feb. 14, 2008) Meet Ed Higgins of College Station. As a World War II forward navigator on six B-17 missions over Europe, he experienced his share of uncertain moments -- like his very first mission to Brandenburg (the gateway to Berlin) a navigator of the number two plane in a 1000 plane group. There were 3 missions where the beaches at Royan, France was the target, then over Dresden and finally Ingolstadt. After his tour of Europe he be became a pilot and as a captain was the ranking student officer in-flight training at Bryan Air Force Base.
Henry Hill, U.S. Air Force, Viet Nam (A&M Class of ‘56) (Interviewed Feb.7, 2008) Technically Colonel Henry Hill is retired, but actually he's never been busier. We could do a whole show on Henry Hill’s service since his military service ended. But let's meet Colonel Henry Hill, the Vietnam B–37 pilot, who flew 360 missions, including some of the most dangerous missions during the 1968 Tet Offensive.
Duke Hobbs, Army/Air Force, World War II (A&M Class of '47) (Interviewed June 5, 2008) Duke Hobbs' career in service includes his service with the 79th Infantry in Europe during World War II and later in the Air Force working reconnaissance in Europe during the Cold War. Texas A&M class of 1947. He's a veteran of the Battle of the Bulge who recalls the unbearable cold of that winter of 1945. He was a member of a traveling variety show postwar the show was called "You've Had It Joe".
Fred Holland, U.S. Navy, WW II (Interviewed Aug.2, 2007) “You call, we haul” was the motto of boat pool 15, a Navy unit during World War II where Fred Holland of Bryan was first a Coxswain and then a motor mechanic. His job in the Pacific was to transport Marines onto the beaches on LCMs. LCM were best known as the landing craft that delivered troops to the beaches of France on D-Day, but they were also critical in the Pacific Campaign.
Lannes Hope, U.S. Army, WW II (Interviewed Oct. 26, 2005) Col. Lannes Hope did not land on Omaha Beach on D-Day, but he watched he watched it happen from off-shore that day. The next day, June 7, 1944, (D+1), his unit brought the first tanks to Normandy. An eyewitness to what Hollywood called “The Longest Day” and an eyewitness to the horror of death the invasion left behind. A west Texas boy and a musician and a member of the Texas Tech band of the 1940’s.
Gen. Ted Hopgood, Marines, Vietnam (Interviewed Sept. 4, 2008) General Ted Hopgood’s 31-year career in the Marine Corps was followed by six years as Commandant of Cadets at Texas A&M. He had three tours of Vietnam, the first one with the 3rd Battalion, 4th Marines Kilo Company on the ground, in combat. One of his earliest battles was the most intense. His recollections of his career are vivid, especially his time in the National Military Command Center during the start of Operation Desert Storm.
Gen. Ted Hopgood, Marines, Vietnam (Interviewed Sept. 4, 2008) General Ted Hopgood’s 31-year career in the Marine Corps was followed by six years as Commandant of Cadets at Texas A&M. He had three tours of Vietnam, the first one with the 3rd Battalion, 4th Marines Kilo Company on the ground, in combat. One of his earliest battles was the most intense. His recollections of his career are vivid, especially his time in the National Military Command Center during the start of Operation Desert Storm.
Louis Hudson, U.S. Army, World War II (A&M Class of '44) (Interviewed Nov. 15, 2005) Texas A&M sophomore Louis Hudson was sitting in the campus theater when Pearl Harbor was attacked. Indeed the theater manager came out to tell the patrons about the attack that started the U.S. involvement in World War II. Louis Hudson was a paratrooper who got his training at Fort Benning, Georgia. His career included jumping over the lines during Normandy into St Mere Eglise and later as a paratrooper, part of the US mission Operations Market Garden. His is truly a remarkable story.
Dr. Jeffrey Huffman, U.S. Army, Iraq (Interviewed May 27, 2011) Dr. Jeffrey Huffman is also Lt. Col. Jeffrey Huffman is a urologist at the College Station Medical Center. His story is about as unique as they come because it was age 51, after the attacks of Sept. 11th, 2001, that Dr. Huffman heard President Bush speak to congress and the country and tell them that this war effort in Iraq would take the help of all Americans. So it then that Dr. Huffman knew the President was speaking to him. He also knew there was a critical shortage of surgeons in the war zone so he closed his practice and his tenured professor position at Southern Cal, where he’d been for 21 years, got commissioned for the first time into the military, and in 2005 was sent to the American Military Hospital in Balad, about 45 miles north of Baghdad. That was a five-month tour during the surge. In 2009, he returned for a three-month tour. Dr. Huffman fixed people, American military, Iraqi military and civilians, and yes, even the enemy, Al-qaeda. That’s just part of his amazing story. Dr. Huffman was awarded the Meritorious Service Medal by the President of the United States.
Carl Huss, Army Air Corps, WW II (Interviewed June 4, 2009) Carl Huss joined the Army Air Corp before US involvement in World War II started with the bombing of Pearl Harbor. He was just looking to learn a trade, and indeed he did. As a radioman stationed first for nearly 3 years in Alaska, then in the Philippines near war’s end. He became pretty well versed in American- Russian relations during the War and that’s just a part of his fascinating story of service.
Dale Jackson, U.S. Army, WW II (Interviewed Feb. 12, 2009) Soon after Dale Jackson entered the Army at Age 18, he was shipped off to Omaha, Nebraska for Ordnance Repair School, learning how to fix military equipment and vehicles. Just 15 months after he entered the service, on 6 June 1944, he would find himself at another Omaha -- Omaha Beach, part of the 3rd Wave at Normandy on D-Day. He recalls that historical event with amazing clarity because he was there, because he was wounded there, because he served there. He says he was there when General Eisenhower addressed the paratroopers the day before the invasion and indeed identifies himself in one of the War’s most famous photographs.
Jules Jacquin, U.S. Army, WW II (Interviewed Feb. 22, 2007) Jules Jacquin of College Station is one of many proud Aggies whose education was interrupted by World War II. But there was plenty to learn in the Army, as a member of Company K of the 102nd Infantry Division that swept through France, Belgium and Holland on its way to Germany near war’s end.
Mike Jarvis, U.S. Army, Iraq (A&M Class of 2006) (Interviewed Nov. 2, 2005) Mike Jarvis, with the Texas A&M Veterans Association, talks about what Texas A&M does for its students who have served and are returning for their education, or are about to start service. Jarvis served in Germany and Bosnia in the mid-90s as a combat engineer. He blew stuff up and built robots that did it. He started his service at the age of 17.
Ivo Junek, U.S. Army, WW II (Interviewed Feb. 21, 2008) Before Ivo Junek enlisted in the Army, he was a member of the Tree Army, also known as the Civilian Conservation Corps. A member of the 91st Infantry Division in the European Theater, he spent most of his combat days in Italy. While he was serving in Europe, his three brothers served in World War II in the Pacific. Ivo was a Snook native.
Gordon Kennedy, U.S. Army, Korea/Vietnam (Interviewed Jan. 29, 2009) Gordon Kennedy had seen a lot of the world during his 31 years of military service. Service that included a 15-month tour during in Korea during that War, and then a year in Saigon, near the end of the Vietnam War. When he left his final tour of duty, in Jamaica, he had hardly even heard of Bryan, Texas...It was his next duty assignment as an intelligence specialist. He and his wife Lucille were married some 60 years.
Bill Kling, Army, WW II, A&M Class of 1949 (Interviewed Feb. 22, 2006) Bill “BJ” Kling started Kling Engineering in 1975 but by then his own surveying skills had been tapped in most every arena you can imagine, including in World War II as an infantry soldier with the 102nd. His unit sailed overseas late in the European campaign in 1944, in time for the Battle of the Bulge and in time to witness the surrender of thousands of German troops -- many soldiers who were interrogated by Bill Kling. After the war, Bill Kling entered Texas A&M as a 30-year-old freshman. After the war he met Florace and they were married for some 60 years.
Frank Kocman, U.S. Army, WW II (March 25, 2005) It was December 1944 and America's involvement in World War II was in its fourth winter. Rewind seven months and teenager Frank Kocman Jr. had just graduated from Stephen F Austin High School and Uncle Sam was already calling. In fact Frank needed a student deferment just to finish high school. By July, 18-year-old Frank Kocman was drafted and was on his way to Fort Sam Houston and on to what he thought training to fight the Japanese in the South Pacific but that changed.. It was a fast track from high school to the front lines of the war.
Edward and Yolanda Kozlowski, U.S. Air Force/Army, WW II (Interviewed together Oct. 12, 2005) By the end of World War II Capt. Edward Kozlowski had flown 88 missions over the combat territory of the European Theater. His life's path took him from his boyhood farm in Wisconsin, through his military service as a pathfinder navigator, to Houston and NASA. That's where he designed and installed the heat shields used on the Apollo missions. But perhaps his most rewarding mission was that to win the heart of Yolanda Frisch, an Army nurse in World War II. That too was no easy challenge. Yolanda Frisch of the 100th Evacuation Hospital, always set up near the front lines; following Patton's Army through France, Belgium, Holland and Germany. She was a triage and a surgical nurse. Both former Texas A&M employees both have passed away now but their story is indeed a testament to the bravery and determination of all those men and women who served for freedom.
Durwood Lewis, U.S. Air Force, Vietnam (A&M Class of ‘60) (Interviewed Jan. 24, 2007) Maj. Durwood Lewis was a F-4 back-seater who saw a great deal in his 12-month assignment in Vietnam. It was one year out of more than 20 years of service in the U.S. Air Force.
Ron Lewis, U.S. Army, Vietnam (A&M Class of ‘64) (Interviewed June 30, 2005) Captain Ron Lewis served his country as a helicopter pilot, assigned to lift duty for Cav One in Vietnam. His ship flew low and fast over the jungles, setting down in landing zones that barely existed-- dropping soldiers and picking up soldiers, hopefully alive, but many times not.
Frank Litterst entered Texas A&M in the fall of 1939, a proud member of the Class of '43 (the Class that won the War.). He was a Ross Volunteer and the Commander of Battery “A” Coast Artillery. During World War II, Frank's class left A&M en masse prior to graduation, and Frank was commissioned as a Lieutenant in the U.S. Army. He served in New Guinea as an artillery officer from 1943 to 1945.
Frank Litterst entered Texas A&M in the fall of 1939, a proud member of the Class of '43 (the Class that won the War.). He was a Ross Volunteer and the Commander of Battery “A” Coast Artillery. During World War II, Frank's class left A&M en masse prior to graduation, and Frank was commissioned as a Lieutenant in the U.S. Army. He served in New Guinea as an artillery officer from 1943 to 1945.
Ken Loveless, U.S. Army, Viet Nam (Interviewed Feb. 15, 2008) Once you hear the story of College Station’s Ken Loveless you will say that it's a miracle that he's here to talk to us at all. Col. Loveless flew choppers in Vietnam, attack helicopters. And he can count at least five times in his career that he crashed, the first time he should not have survived. A helicopter pilot for Gen. Westmoreland and Gen. Abrams in Vietnam, his history of service is indeed an amazing one to hear.
Ken Loveless, U.S. Army, Viet Nam (Interviewed Feb. 15, 2008) Once you hear the story of College Station’s Ken Loveless you will say that it's a miracle that he's here to talk to us at all. Col. Loveless flew choppers in Vietnam, attack helicopters. And he can count at least five times in his career that he crashed, the first time he should not have survived. A helicopter pilot for Gen. Westmoreland and Gen. Abrams in Vietnam, his history of service is indeed an amazing one to hear.
David Marion, U. S. Army, Vietnam (A&M Class of '65) (Interviewed Aug. 10, 2005) David Marion was a military advisor serving in the jungles of Vietnam during the hottest time of that war in 1968 and 1969. He says his most memorable service was that along side maybe swift boats. He has quite a story to tell.
H.J. Marsh, U.S. Army, WW II/Korea (Interviewed June 25, 2009) H.J. Marsh considered his timing quite fortunate. A 1945 high school graduate of San Jacinto High School, by the time he joined the Army, World War II was over. His unit served occupational duty in postwar Korea and while he says there was not much action at that time, his service was still valuable in keeping the peace that had been hard earned in the Pacific Theater. Korea, after all, was under Japanese rule during the war -- and after the war, the split between North and South Korea was even more defined. HJ Marsh says it was then that he first heard the word communism, during his service between World War II and the Korean War, which started in 1950.
Gerald McCaskill, U.S. Navy, WW II (Interviewed September 18, 2008) When Gerald McCaskill boarded the Battleship USS Tennessee in June of 1944, it was the first ship he had ever seen. He would see plenty of it over the next 15 months, including combat action throughout World War II’s Pacific theater. The Tennessee had already seen plenty of warfare, including on 7 December 1941, docked at Pearl Harbor alongside the ill-fated West Virginia and Arizona on that day that will live in infamy. Over HIS time on the Tennessee, it’s travels took it to Saipan, Guam, Tinian, Guadalcanal, Palau, the Philippines, back to Pearl Harbor and Saipan and within a mile of the beaches of Iwo Jima for that Marine invasion to Mt. Suribachi.. on to Okinawa, and eventually to Japan. The Tennessee was badly damaged at least twice after the attack on Pearl Harbor, an attack at Tinian and later a suicide attack to the quarterdeck.
Lee McClesky, U.S. Air Force, Vietnam (Interviewed April 24, 2008) Lee McClesky entered the U.S. Air Force Academy in 1956, came out in 1961 and immediately went to flight training school in Georgia. He was a flight instructor, teaching T-37 & T-38. He flew the A-26 Air Commando in Vietnam, assigned to truck killing missions on the Ho Chi Minh Trail and in Laos. His most memorable flight came on 22 Feb 1967.
Col Alton Meyer, Air Force, Vietnam P.O.W. (A&M Class of ‘60) (Interviewed Sept. 28, 2005) It was six years of life he will never get back but Lt. Col. Al Meyer of rural College Station will certainly never forget that time from the Spring of 1967 to 1973 that he spent as a captive of the North Vietnamese Army -- a P.O.W. Sitting in the back seat of his F-105, he was shot out of the sky. His pilot didn’t survive. His wife Bobbie didn’t know for three years that he was alive at the Hanoi Hilton, as the prison camp was called. It’s an amazing story of physical and mental victory.
Bob Middleton, U.S. Army, Korea (A&M Class of ‘51) (Interviewed Sept. 14, 2005) 2nd Lt. Bob Middleton is proud of his service in what’s sometimes called the “Forgotten War”. He was one of some 1900 Aggie who fought in the Korean War. 63 Aggies lost their lives. Bob took the fast track from A&M to the front lines at Heartbreak Ridge. That's where they did battle, mostly in the pitch dark of night, often in the snow. Bob Middleton left Korea with many memories of survival and with the Army’s Silver Star medal.
Gen. John Miller, U.S. Marines, WW II, Korea/Vietnam (A&M Class of ‘46) (Interviewed April 5, 2007) When Lt. Gen. John H. Miller and his wife Virginia moved to College Station, by his count, it was their 37th move of their married life. Such is the life of this career Marine who served his country in 3 wars -- World War II, Korea and Vietnam. He call his service not all that distinguished, but it was indeed distinguished enough to earn 3 Purple Hearts, 2 Bronze Star Medals, 2 Legion of merits and the Navy Distinguished Service Medal. And that’s just to name a few.
John Millholland, U. S. Air Force, Vietnam (Interviewed March 9, 2005) When he was searching for his purpose, John Millholland and his buddies started watching military aircraft take off. He was hooked and decided he was going to join the Air Force and he was going to fly. In March 1966 he was a fighter pilot, a top gun, strapped to the back of an F4. He will never forget Christmas Day of 1966. It is a remarkable story of survival.
Haskell Monroe, Texas A&M Historian (Interviewed 2005) Haskell Monroe never took a class at Texas A&M but he taught a bundle of them and if there is anyone who could be considered a foremost historian of Texas A&M it is Haskell Monroe. This six part series of Bravo Brazos Valley is indeed fascinating. Haskell Monroe the encyclopedia of Aggieland.
Jim Moore, U. S. Army, Vietnam (A&M Class of '49) (Interviewed July 31, 2008) You would have a hard time finding anyone who knows more about feeding a massive number of people than Colonel Jim Moore. His first cooking job was as cook’s helper at Fort Bliss. That was a job he hated by the way. He spent eight years as the associate director of food services at Texas A&M. He learned a lot of his craft in the Army towards the end of World War II and in Korea and in Vietnam.
Glenn Morgan, U. S. Navy, World War II (Interviewed March 16, 2005) Glenn Morgan served aboard the USS Indianapolis, he was one of its buglers. He was a board that fateful ship when it was torpedoed and sunk in the Pacific Ocean, 30 July 1945, after delivering the parts of the bomb to Tinian island. Glenn Morgan was one of 317 survivors who floated for four days and four nights floating in the Pacific, fighting off shark attack and exposure to survive. This is one of the most remarkable stories of World War II. Glenn Morgan -- survivor USS Indianapolis.
Claude Mounce, U.S. Navy, Cuban Missile Crisis (Interviewed April 5, 2006) October 18 to the 29th of 1962 was the Cuban missile crisis. Claude Mounce saw it up close and personal, but he'll tell you that at the time he had no idea it was such a big deal. As a pilot off a carrier that was part of the blockade, it was his job to fly the photographer to where the Russian ships were approaching. Photos were taken and sent back to Washington, where Pres. John Kennedy and his military advisers were convinced that the Soviets were planning to stockpile warhead missiles to bases in Cuba. It became one of the most critical political standoffs in our history.
Brent Mullins, Museum of the American GI, Collector (Interviewed Dec. 7, 2005) Brent Mullins is a collector and his collection of war and military memorabilia is vast. So vast in fact that it now fills a museum in South College Station called the “Museum of the American GI”. In addition to the show with Brent, is a second radio feature on Brent’s generous gift to friend and veteran Ed Eyre, a veteran of the Battle of Iwo Jima. Brent took Ed back to Iwo Jima as a thank you for his service and for the volunteer work Ed did in restoring many of Brent’s vehicles and other war machines.
Ty Newton, U.S. Air Force, Vietnam (Interviewed March 28, 2007) Ty Newton of College Station could have pursued a pro sports career if he hadn’t loved flying more than he loved baseball. He was pretty good at both but flying was in his blood. He was an instructor pilot both before and after his 4 1/2 years of service in Viet Nam, and even pulled duty as then Congressman Lyndon Johnson’s personal pilot in the late 50’s. Ty Newton flew C-130s during Viet Nam... at the time classified missions that included everything from re-supplying the Laotian Army to dropping flares for U.S. Fighters to better see their targets. It was a mission he could not talk about then, but can now.
Don Nicholas, Air Force, Korea/Vietnam (A&M Class of '48) (Interviewed April 26, 2007) Don Nicholas was a Texas A&M quarterback from 1947 to 1949, not a star player, but he certainly made his mark in service for his country in Korea and Vietnam. During the Korean War he flew 20 B-29 missions from his base in Okinawa and later he served three tours in Vietnam where he flew 69 B-52 missions. After he retired he and an Air Force buddy spent 15 years as one of the top senior tennis doubles teams in Texas.
