All those that served faithfully with our military, and in particular with the T-Patch Division during WW II, will pause tomorrow to remember those that served with us. Reading the questions, answers and stories written to this 36th Division Forum will serve to focus our thinking on what America was like in 1940, who we were, how we felt, what tasks we performed and those that fell. We-the lucky ones-that came home have a debt to pay to those that fell. No spin, tell it like it was. I believe the forum is extremely important; and not at all because there are veterans writing there, but for the respect and love shown especially by family members.
I have a daughter that lives near Fort Rucker in Alabama, she's an army brat, and thinks that I'm the only soldier that General Eisenhower really needed. Never mind the fact that I didn't have any heavy medals except been there and done that, including arrow heads, and a Purple Heart from back when they had a number on them (on the edge).
That said, it has been a real feel good and prideful event to have helped in winning WW II. We can square our shoulders when asked where were you during the war.
We no longer think that we need a moment of fame we have more of that than I still have trouble believing. It is ours by default.
In 1940, I was attending Polytechnic High School in Fort Worth, Texas. I was not a particularly good student. I hated math, and English, but loved history, and ROTC. We had a rifle range in the basement of the new Poly High and free ammunition plus issued .22 cal heavy barrel rifles to shoot. My family wanted me to be something special and believed that I should be a musician, therefore, I was sentenced to carry a B-flat clarinet in four pieces in a small substantial case. I'm still not a musician, in fact, over time the band director gave me cymbals to slap together rather than hear my clarinet sounds. It proved useful to get me into the football games and twice I used it in the case to slam a guy named Floyd. Wham!! almost the next day, instead of school work I was in the Army of the United States November 25, 1940.
I had joined the 133rd field Artillery (NG) in Fort Worth in 1939; however, in November 1940 we couldn't move into our new camp at Brownwood, Texas, until January 1941.
When we did everyone of us thought we were ten feet tall. Most of us at seventeen and eighteen didn't know how to drive, nor did we own cameras, bicycles or even jobs that paid much. I'll always believe this was a plus for what was ahead. We were all fired up to get in training but few of us believed at first that we would go to a war.
Those of us in the National Guard got early promotions and at Camp Bowie I earned Staff Sergeant stripes probably because I knew how to march others in close order drill and conduct range firing. Those of us that came in in 1940, had much more training than the divisions that would follow us. Some historians today marvel at the length of our training. Much of that came about because we were forced to train groups that came directly to Camp Bowie bypassing basic training. Then there were cadres for new units that we trained.
After reorganizing the division many units and personnel left Bowie for all kinds of assignments. Some of the artillery units were grabbed for armed guard duty on Merchant Marine ships that were having 3" and 5" guns as well as machine guns installed (later 20 mm Anti-Aircraft guns). Those that trained at Camp Bowie had to mount hugh square wooden platforms on rockers that had a 75 mm Artillery piece strapped to the center and crew that piece as groups of men on each side rocked the gun. This was a gunner and all canoneers change places and loading wile rocking drill.
OK enough for tonight. I'm reliving it as I do often. I was a platoon sergeant in "A" Company 636th TD Battalion until North Africa when I got into it with our First Sergeant, But that's a whole 'other story.
Rufus Lester
I have a daughter that lives near Fort Rucker in Alabama, she's an army brat, and thinks that I'm the only soldier that General Eisenhower really needed. Never mind the fact that I didn't have any heavy medals except been there and done that, including arrow heads, and a Purple Heart from back when they had a number on them (on the edge).
That said, it has been a real feel good and prideful event to have helped in winning WW II. We can square our shoulders when asked where were you during the war.
We no longer think that we need a moment of fame we have more of that than I still have trouble believing. It is ours by default.
In 1940, I was attending Polytechnic High School in Fort Worth, Texas. I was not a particularly good student. I hated math, and English, but loved history, and ROTC. We had a rifle range in the basement of the new Poly High and free ammunition plus issued .22 cal heavy barrel rifles to shoot. My family wanted me to be something special and believed that I should be a musician, therefore, I was sentenced to carry a B-flat clarinet in four pieces in a small substantial case. I'm still not a musician, in fact, over time the band director gave me cymbals to slap together rather than hear my clarinet sounds. It proved useful to get me into the football games and twice I used it in the case to slam a guy named Floyd. Wham!! almost the next day, instead of school work I was in the Army of the United States November 25, 1940.
I had joined the 133rd field Artillery (NG) in Fort Worth in 1939; however, in November 1940 we couldn't move into our new camp at Brownwood, Texas, until January 1941.
When we did everyone of us thought we were ten feet tall. Most of us at seventeen and eighteen didn't know how to drive, nor did we own cameras, bicycles or even jobs that paid much. I'll always believe this was a plus for what was ahead. We were all fired up to get in training but few of us believed at first that we would go to a war.
Those of us in the National Guard got early promotions and at Camp Bowie I earned Staff Sergeant stripes probably because I knew how to march others in close order drill and conduct range firing. Those of us that came in in 1940, had much more training than the divisions that would follow us. Some historians today marvel at the length of our training. Much of that came about because we were forced to train groups that came directly to Camp Bowie bypassing basic training. Then there were cadres for new units that we trained.
After reorganizing the division many units and personnel left Bowie for all kinds of assignments. Some of the artillery units were grabbed for armed guard duty on Merchant Marine ships that were having 3" and 5" guns as well as machine guns installed (later 20 mm Anti-Aircraft guns). Those that trained at Camp Bowie had to mount hugh square wooden platforms on rockers that had a 75 mm Artillery piece strapped to the center and crew that piece as groups of men on each side rocked the gun. This was a gunner and all canoneers change places and loading wile rocking drill.
OK enough for tonight. I'm reliving it as I do often. I was a platoon sergeant in "A" Company 636th TD Battalion until North Africa when I got into it with our First Sergeant, But that's a whole 'other story.
Rufus Lester
