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Holly Rees, U.S. Army, WW II (Interviewed Feb.8, 2006) Holly Rees caught the tail end of World War II, but Purple Hearts were being earned even then. It was after the Allied victory in Europe had been won but well before the battle in the Pacific was finished. June 21, 1945 -- that’s when Sergeant Holly Rees, Company 1 of the 184th Infantry, was wounded in the foot during the brutal battle at Okinawa. He had been on the ground just 32 days when he had to put down his rifle. But it was 32 days he’ll never forget.
Hugh Shockey, U.S. Marines, Korea/Viet Nam (Interviewed November 15, 2007) Hugh Shockey joined the Marine Corp in 1948 at age 17. In the fall of 1950, he was assigned to Inchon, North Korea with the Fifth Marines.
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.
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.
Jack Upham, U.S. Army, WW II/Korea (Interviewed Feb. 15, 2006) Ask Jack Upham about his nearly 15 years of military service and he will be the first to tell you that his generation simply did what needed to be done, what needed to be done by all men and women who love their country. Nonetheless, his service in World War II and then in Korea were significant slices of his life. He was a ground soldier with the 27th Infantry Regiment in Luzon that spent a record 162 consecutive days in combat without relief. Then in Korea he realized his dream to be a pilot. It was a military career well served by Jack Upham of College Station.
James Rothermel, U.S. Navy Seabees, WW II (Interviewed Aug. 3, 2005) World War II could not have been fought, much less won, had it not been for the work of the Navy Seabees, the Construction Battalion. They were builders -- airstrips, bridges, piers and everything from hospitals to Quonset Huts...even builders of bomb shelters. Company C Painter First Class James Rothermel was stationed on perhaps the ultimate hotspot of the Pacific at Guadalcanal as a member of the 14th Seabees. He’s a retired educator and a mainstay of development of the Washington County Veterans Memorial in his hometown of Brenham, Texas.
James Wade, U.S. Army, WW II (Interviewed Aug.6, 2009) James Wade arrived in Europe and there was only two more months of fighting and left in World War II. But in that short time, plus the time he spent there in occupational duty, he saw plenty of what now you read about in history books. That included serving guard duty over the witnesses of the Nuremberg trials. The stories don't in there. Here is James Wade of College Station.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Jim Robbins, U.S. Army, Vietnam/Desert Storm (Interviewed May 28, 2009) You can tell by just spending few minutes with Jim Robbins that he is quote proud of his 38 years of military service to our country. And we all should be. A veteran helicopter pilot of the Vietnam War and later in El Salvador and Operation Desert Storm, his federal service included mostly Army duty, but he also had Marine basic training, worked for the Navy, the FAA, and did service in the National Guard. But perhaps his most compelling story, is how his life changed in 1998, three years after he retired from military service.
Jim Saunders, U.S. Army, Vietnam (Interviewed Jan. 22, 2009) For 17 years Jim and Doris Saunders owned and operated Saunders Sausage Shop in South College Station. Since they sold the business in 1983, they’ve enjoyed retirement, much of it viewed out the windows of their well-traveled RV. Jim and Doris met after his World War II service in the 1st Cavalry F Troop; stationed in the Philippines near the war’s end. He was on one of the ships at Tokyo Bay on Sept. 2, 1945 when the peace treaty was signed on the USS Missouri and it was his band of brothers in F Company that served as General Douglas MacArthur’s honor guard on his march into Tokyo six days later.
Jim West, U.S. Marines, Vietnam (Interviewed April 26, 2006) Look up Marine in the dictionary and you might just see a picture of Jim West. Well you certainly should. This former Madisonville Police Chiefs spent nearly 3 years as a ground fighter in Vietnam. Jim West was not a spit-and-polish kind of Marine at all. He was a fighter who didn't mind bending a rule or two if it meant protecting his fellow Marines. If it weren't for those wounds he suffered 30 years ago he said that even at the age of 66 he'd volunteered to fight in Iraq. Sadly within a month of our interview Jim West died after suffering a rattlesnake bite on his own ranch.
James Woodall, Navy/Army, Korea/Vietnam (A&M Class of 1950) (Interviewed January 17, 2008) James Woodall tried to enlist at the age of 15, even as a youth raising money to help the British fight off the Germans. He did enlist in the Navy Reserves in 1947 and retired in 1982, a 35 year military career that took him to Germany, Korea, Vietnam, and the Army War College in Pennsylvania. He was Commandant of the A&M Corp of Cadets until his retirement.
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.
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).
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Keith Youngblood, U.S. Army, Iraq (Interview August 20, 2009) Keith Youngblood packed an incredible life of service into the 20 years between 1987 and 2007. His service started in Germany, continued with 5 months in Operations Desert Storm, and back to Iraq for Operation Intrinsic Action. He served two years working part-time in President Clinton's Communications Detail, three years back at A&M as a Military Advisor, and finally back to Iraq for 13 months as a Military Marksman in a Roving Sniper Unit. Keith Youngblood also tells his personal story of battling PTSD.
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.
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.
Larry Stewart, U.S. Navy, Vietnam (A&M Class of ‘65) (Interviewed Sept. 8, 2009) Most local folks know Larry Stewart today for his public service as a member of the College Station City Council. But long before he ever even thought about entering local politics, he served 20 years in the U.S. Navy as a Pilot, most of those years flying the P-3 Patrol Plane. A 1965 graduate of the United States Naval Academy, the first six months of his service was flying missions out of the Philippines to Vietnam during the war. The remaining 19-plus years sent him most anywhere there was an 8,000-foot runway. He spent 2 1/2 years based on the carrier USS Lexington. “The Lex” as it’s well-known today to many a tourist to the Corpus Christi Bay area. It’s a fascinating military career.
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.
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.
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.
LeRoy Schoenemann, Army Air Corps, WW II (Interviewed Oct.9, 2008) After Leroy Schoenemann graduated from Snook High School in 1941 his first stop, Guadalcanal, as a member of the 64th Troop Carrier Wing piloting C-47s just about everywhere and carrying just about everything. He eventually went from C-47s to B-47s and that was quite a leap. After World War II he was reactivated and spent most of the Korean War at a lonely outpost in Libya. Here is Lt. Col. Leroy Schoenemann.
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.
Mark White, U.S. Army, Iraq (A&M Class of 2003) (Interviewed December 4, 2008) Mark White was deployed in Iraq as a member of Alpha Company 111th Engineer Battalion. His job was security, as he helped arrange and provide security for visiting government officials, Presidents, and even Hollywood stars. The detail involved in these visits will surprise people. It was his job to make sure the visits went smoothly.
Memorial service for Alan B. Shepard, Jr., held August 1, 1998. Speakers at the service are: Peter B. Vanderhoef, Christopher C. Kraft, Jr.,John H. Glenn, Jr., M. Scott Carpenter, Walter M. Schirra, Jr., L. Gordon Cooper, Jr., Edgar D. Mitchell, James A. Lovell, Jr., Lisa Beeson, and Daniel S. Goldin.
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.
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.
Mike Sherman, A&M Head Football Coach, Iraq Trip (Interviewed July 20, 2010) This is indeed a special Veterans of the Valley because instead of visiting with a Veteran, Aggie Head Football Coach Mike Sherman and I are going to talk about those who are serving our country right now. In May, Coach Sherman, with the tremendous help of the Aggie Network, had the opportunity to visit Iraq to see first hand the work of the brave men and women there; and to get a personal view of the day-to-day challenges they endure while proudly wearing American military uniforms. And as you can guess, he met with plenty of Aggies on his 6-day stay that took him from Kuwait to Camp Adder, to Camp Victory, to Camp Prosperity. As he wrote in his journal, he discovered the outstanding leadership we have in Iraq, the horrible quality of life the Iraqi people endured for so many years under Saddam Hussein, the passion that our military have for their job and their service, and the passion that they have for football.
Mike Southerland, U.S. Army, Vietnam (Interviewed Jan. 26, 2011) The Brazos Valley and particularly residents of Bryan know Mike Southerland for his service on the Bryan City Council since 2006. Many others though know of his 22 1/2 years of military service in the U.S. Army. One year of that, from Feb 1969 to Feb 1970, was spent as a chopper Pilot in Vietnam, flying some 900 hours of mainly what they called Ash and Trash missions between Chu-Li and 80 miles south of Da Nang. There are some stories to tell of reconnaissance, transport and occasional assault. After Viet Nam, Mike Southerland spent another 19 years in uniform, ending his military career stationed at Bryan’s 420th Engineering Brigade, under General Al Jones.
