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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.
