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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.
