R.C. Gazzaway was one of the 997,000 men who served in World War II as well as the Korean War. R.C. served in one of the elite Army units in WWII, 104th Division, 9th Army – better known as the “Timberwolves” for their ruggedness and tenacity. Then Sgt. Gazzaway exemplified the spirit of the Timberwolves and was awarded ten medals during his service in WWII, three being awarded within one month.

One of the least known events from World War II is the Germans’ sinking of the HMT Rohna. Unfortunately, it is also the most catastrophic.

On Thanksgiving Day 1943, the HMT Rohna set sail from North Africa as part of a 24-ship convoy heading to the China-Burma-India Theater. The ships would sail through an area of the Mediterranean Sea known for German attacks. On November 26, 1943, on their second day at sea, German bombers attacked the convoy in two separate waves, neither of which were successful. Just as the allied ships felt they were safe, a lone bomber returned, launching and steering a radio-guided missile straight into the side of the Rohna.

Sandwiched between the end of World War II and the beginning of the Vietnam War, the Korean War is often referred to as “The Forgotten War.” Beginning on June 25, 1950, and lasting until July 27, 1953, 1.8 million U.S. military personnel served in Korea at various times. Of those 1.8 million, 33,686 died in combat on the Korean Peninsula. Brothers James Thomas Hamilton and Kenneth Carroll Hamilton are included in those numbers.

On November 4, 1922, E.V. and Bertha Davis became the proud parents of George Dorrell Davis. George was born in Hastings, Oklahoma, but the family soon moved to Pampa, Texas. George was the second of four sons. His older brother, Glenn, served in WWII as a Captain in the U.S. Army. His brother, Bobby, served in the Army in the Korean War. His youngest brother, Don, also served in the U.S. Army and was stationed in Berlin in the mid-50s.

It isn’t often we find information about World War I Veterans. It is even more unusual to find a story that also includes a photo of the Veteran. The following excerpts from a story about PFC Wesley M. Adamson, from Donley County, was written by Larry E. Hume, Chief Master Sargeant, US Air Force, Retired. He gathered the information from Ancestry.com, The El Paso Times Newspaper dated August 29, 1921, FamilySearch.org; catalog.archives.gov, and the National Archives.

Joseph Hunt Bourland was raised far from the ocean in Quail and attended school in Clarendon, graduating from Clarendon High School. But the smell of salty water must have reached the Bourland Ranch! Joe received his appointment to the United States Naval Academy after spending one year of college at Texas A&M University.

On March 21, 1919, James Michael “Mike” Sweeney was born on the high desert of eastern New Mexico in the village of Tucumcari to Mary Alice and Alonzo Bennett Sweeney. He was the youngest of three children – a sister, Lonnie B and brother Patrick. In 1922 Alonzo was killed in an oil field accident and Mary Alice and her three children made their way home to Amarillo where her parents lived.

Coy Buel Allison was born in Hollis, Oklahoma on September 4, 1914, but was raised in McLean. He was a graduate of McLean High School and went on to graduate from Hardin Simmons University. He returned to the Panhandle and was working in the oil fields when he enlisted in the Army Air Force in June 1941.

Bobby Frank Galbreath was born in Amarillo on December 1, 1930. His father, Frank, worked for the Amarillo Globe-News. His mother, Mary, was a homemaker, and Bobby Frank was their only child. Bobby graduated from Amarillo High School and went on to attend West Texas State University, as it was then known. Bobby was a talented musician and began playing the accordion on the radio at age five. But Bobby’s passion was flying. Many remember him as an instructor with the Amarillo Flying Service at Tradewind Airport. And one of his ‘claims to fame’ is as the aviation consultant to the 1964 film, “Flight of the Phoenix” starring Jimmy Stewart.

Sam, Morse, and Jack were first cousins. All three graduated from McLean High School. Sam, the oldest, was a rancher in Gray County when he enlisted. Morse was attending John Tarleton Agricultural College when he entered the Army. Jack’s draft card also lists him as a student when he entered the Army. Numerous other brothers and cousins from these families also served their country in battle during World War II.

Roy Elton Hughes was born on March 17, 1921, in Friona, Texas. He was still a boy when the eight years of massive dirt storms began, eventually known as the Dust Bowl. Combined with the Great Depression from 1929 to 1939, life in Parmer County was dire.

Murray looks like my kind of guy. He’s a twenty-year-old young man leaving the cotton fields of Plainview, Texas for the rolling seas of the United States Navy. The clothing left hanging out of the suitcase and the thumb-out looking for a ride leaves me to believe he’s in a hurry to start his adventure.

Charles Ashley Austin, Jr. was born in Motley County on April 16, 1918, but spent most of his life in Skellytown, Texas with his family – father C.A. Austin, Sr., his mother, Ethel Austin, and sisters, Laverne and Christine. Charles graduated from White Deer High School in 1937 and was voted most popular boy during his senior year while he was captain of both the football and basketball teams.

On February 5, 1940, Charles joined the US Army 13th Armored Division…

In March 1966, PFC William Anthony (Tony) Thomas was trapped along with other soldiers from the 1^st Cavalry Division in an unnamed valley in Binh Dinh Province, Vietnam. They were surrounded by the Viet Cong. 

Tony’s brother, PFC L. V. Thomas, Jr., was also in the 1^st Cavalry Division, 1^st Squadron, 9^th Cavalry, B Troop. L. V. served as Light Weapons Infantry and was a paratrooper. During the Operation Masher/White Wing, UH-1D Helicopters were used to rescue infantrymen trapped behind enemy lines dozens of times.

L. V. was manning the door gun on the Huey helicopter that was dispatched to pick up his little brother, Tony. 

Tony made it home safely, unharmed. L. V. did not. 

Eligah Tice Autry, Jr., was born in Dustin Oklahoma on May 6, 1920, but his family moved to LeFors, Texas a few years later. Eligah’s father was an Army Veteran of World War I; his mother, Carrie Lanhan Autry, was a homemaker. As a teenager, Eligah not only looked like the comic strip character, Popeye, but did an impressive impersonation of the spinach-eating cartoon character singing “Popeye the Sailor Man.”

The Battle of Chosin Reservoir in the Korean War is considered by many to be the most brutal wartime battle in American history. The battle raged for seventeen days, from November 26, 1950, until December 13th, on some of the toughest terrain in Korea during extreme winter conditions. 2,836 Marines and Army personnel lost their lives at Chosin; 13,000 more were wounded, many from frostbite and other weather-related injuries. Cpl. Huey Pierce French’s unit was part of the Task Force MacLean/Faith, which suffered 88% casualties.