Milam County Historical Commission
Milam County, Texas
Milam County, Texas
Thanks to Linda, WWII History Being Preserved
by Mike Brown - Reporter Editor
Rockdale Reporter - 2015-09-03
Recently retired longtime Reporter employee Linda Whorton dropped by for a visit.
Several of us sat around the break table for one of our frequent “Let’s Make Fun of Mike” sessions but the talk quickly turned serious.
And important. It’s about the Greatest Generation.
Linda is a historian and genealogist. Since she retired, she’s been working on a pet project of hers. Between June 2, 1994, and Aug. 31, 1995, timed to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the final months of World War II, The Reporter ran an 18-part series of interviews with 18 local veterans.
All of them saw combat, three were physically wounded. All were “psychically wounded.” Trust me on that.
Two were at D-Day, one was at Iwo Jima, one was at the surrender of Japan.
A lot of history.
All but two have now passed away. Some died within a few months of the series being completed. It was an era just before everything was saved on computer. So the only way to preserve all that history has been to go read all those stories on microfilm. Until now.
Linda is re-typing the entire series so we can put it into our digital archives. She is also attaching the obituary information of those veterans who have passed away.
Since her retirement she’s had more time to devote to the project and is now about halfway through.
These are the veterans who were the topics of those 18 stories:
• Adolph McVoy, D-Day invasion, Battle of the Bulge.
• B. F. Cook, turret gunner on bombing missions in Nazi-occupied Europe.
• Perry Luetge, served on sub-killing ship in North Atlantic.
• D. C. Knott, seriously wounded in battle for France’s Vosges Mountains.
• Siegfried Backhaus, participated in four invasions with 45th Division in its march through Europe.
• Wilson Brannon, survived sinking of USS Hornet.
• Willie McDade and George Fair, black soldiers in segregated army, served in South Pacific.
• Chester Oslick, cargo plane on D-Day and afterwards.
• Milford Henry, amazing odyssey to reach duty post in eastern India, flew “over the hump” (Himalayas).
• Martha McGowan, Army nurse in combat field hospital.
• Bill Johnson, survived loss of tank, wounded in battle on Italian lake.
• Gene Luckey, Marine, wounded at Iwo Jima.
• John Stewart, linked up with Russians as European war ended.
• Jack Whiteley, captured in France, in German POW camp, liberated by Russian Red Army.
• Leander Fuchs, medic to Chinese guerrillas in Japanese-occupied China.
• Joe Stiborik, radar operator on plane which dropped first atomic bomb.
• Sam Summers, survived kamikaze attacks on USS Cowpens, present for Japan’s surrender.
• There was also one combined article detailing veterans’ reactions to the death of President Franklin Roosevelt.
In the past few months, Rockdale has lost so much history with the deaths of irreplaceable people like Cliff Simms and Genie Newton.
At least this much of history accessible. Thanks to Linda. And, thanks Linda!
mike@rockdalereporter.com
by Mike Brown - Reporter Editor
Rockdale Reporter - 2015-09-03
Recently retired longtime Reporter employee Linda Whorton dropped by for a visit.
Several of us sat around the break table for one of our frequent “Let’s Make Fun of Mike” sessions but the talk quickly turned serious.
And important. It’s about the Greatest Generation.
Linda is a historian and genealogist. Since she retired, she’s been working on a pet project of hers. Between June 2, 1994, and Aug. 31, 1995, timed to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the final months of World War II, The Reporter ran an 18-part series of interviews with 18 local veterans.
All of them saw combat, three were physically wounded. All were “psychically wounded.” Trust me on that.
Two were at D-Day, one was at Iwo Jima, one was at the surrender of Japan.
A lot of history.
All but two have now passed away. Some died within a few months of the series being completed. It was an era just before everything was saved on computer. So the only way to preserve all that history has been to go read all those stories on microfilm. Until now.
Linda is re-typing the entire series so we can put it into our digital archives. She is also attaching the obituary information of those veterans who have passed away.
Since her retirement she’s had more time to devote to the project and is now about halfway through.
These are the veterans who were the topics of those 18 stories:
• Adolph McVoy, D-Day invasion, Battle of the Bulge.
• B. F. Cook, turret gunner on bombing missions in Nazi-occupied Europe.
• Perry Luetge, served on sub-killing ship in North Atlantic.
• D. C. Knott, seriously wounded in battle for France’s Vosges Mountains.
• Siegfried Backhaus, participated in four invasions with 45th Division in its march through Europe.
• Wilson Brannon, survived sinking of USS Hornet.
• Willie McDade and George Fair, black soldiers in segregated army, served in South Pacific.
• Chester Oslick, cargo plane on D-Day and afterwards.
• Milford Henry, amazing odyssey to reach duty post in eastern India, flew “over the hump” (Himalayas).
• Martha McGowan, Army nurse in combat field hospital.
• Bill Johnson, survived loss of tank, wounded in battle on Italian lake.
• Gene Luckey, Marine, wounded at Iwo Jima.
• John Stewart, linked up with Russians as European war ended.
• Jack Whiteley, captured in France, in German POW camp, liberated by Russian Red Army.
• Leander Fuchs, medic to Chinese guerrillas in Japanese-occupied China.
• Joe Stiborik, radar operator on plane which dropped first atomic bomb.
• Sam Summers, survived kamikaze attacks on USS Cowpens, present for Japan’s surrender.
• There was also one combined article detailing veterans’ reactions to the death of President Franklin Roosevelt.
In the past few months, Rockdale has lost so much history with the deaths of irreplaceable people like Cliff Simms and Genie Newton.
At least this much of history accessible. Thanks to Linda. And, thanks Linda!
mike@rockdalereporter.com
All Credit for this article
goes to Linda Wharton
and the
Rockdale Reporter
goes to Linda Wharton
and the
Rockdale Reporter