top of page
Search
Elmer Tarbox – Texas Tech All-American, WWII Pilot, Inventor, Texas Legislator
Elmer Tarbox once said that when he made his first bombing run in a B-25, “I had a knot in my belly as big as a sweet potato. My hands...
Public Affairs Chair
Jan 29, 20193 min read
“The Good Lord Was Always with Me” – Elton Wilson, WWII “Hump Pilot”
West Texans are friendly folk, quick to smile, eager to help, private with their emotions, strong in their convictions. Robert Elton...
Public Affairs Chair
Jan 21, 20194 min read
SSgt Edward Ward – “If You’re Not Scared, You’re Lying”
Ed said these were words to live by during combat duty in WWII. He had numerous close calls during his time in France and Germany. He...
Public Affairs Chair
Jan 12, 20193 min read
Fred Watson – Faith Helps Him Through Korean War Memories
Fred Watson saw his body floating and transparent. He felt if his spirit floated through the ceiling he would not come back. He credits...
Public Affairs Chair
Dec 14, 20184 min read
Ted Hill – WWII P-47 Thunderbolt Pilot
In the spring of 1945, Lt. Ted Hill and his P-47 squadron were returning from a mission over Germany to their base in Kelz, Germany. The...
Public Affairs Chair
Nov 30, 20184 min read
Pipeline, Purdue, Petroleum and People Like Us
It was late November 1944. Bob Kiser and his buddies were in their tents at the end of the runway of the 14th Air Force near Yunnanyi,...
Public Affairs Chair
Nov 7, 20183 min read
Crew Chief to Two of the Air Force’s Fastest Bombers
Welby Smith was one of the first to join the newly named United States Air Force. The former Army Air Forces became the U.S. Air Force on...
Public Affairs Chair
Oct 25, 20183 min read
Smart and Lucky: How Wayne Owen Survived WWII
Many survivors of war talk about how lucky they were to survive. Here is one such story. During his training during WWII, Wayne Owen’s...
Public Affairs Chair
Oct 22, 20183 min read
32nd Infantry ‘Red Arrow Division’ - First In, Last Out
Pfc. R.L. Owens was in water up to his neck in a jungle in New Guinea and the Japanese were laying down heavy fire on his company. It was...
Public Affairs Chair
Sep 28, 20183 min read
The 1000 Mile War: The Aleutian Islands
From 1944 to 1945, TSGT Nathan Luger was sent to one of the most remote islands in the world. Attu Island is at the end of the Aleutian...
Public Affairs Chair
Sep 13, 20183 min read
Lucky #13 and the “Miracle Survivor”
Heheard and felt the two B-17s collide in mid-air and Sgt. Robbie Gill knew his crew was in trouble. His plane, the Black Cat #13, had...
Public Affairs Chair
Aug 29, 20184 min read
“Li’l Bit” Greenway – an Early Pioneer in the WAF’s
Jannie Greenway was born during the Great Depression in 1932 in Dalton, Georgia to R.W. and Selma Greenway and was the middle child of...
Public Affairs Chair
Jun 21, 20183 min read
Iwo Jima Vet Passionate about Spreading Freedom’s Message
Seventy years after the battle of Iwo Jima, former Marine Sgt. Bill Pasewark continues to urgently enlighten the public about the cost of...
Public Affairs Chair
May 23, 20183 min read
A Life of Service to Country and Community
Don Jones knows about service. Now 89 years old, he can look back on a long distinguished career and say, “I have been blessed.” Don...
Public Affairs Chair
Apr 10, 20183 min read
Spreading Freedom's Message
Seventy years after the battle of Iwo Jima former Marine Sgt. Bill Pasewark continues to urgently enlighten the public about the cost of...
Public Affairs Chair
Apr 3, 20183 min read
A Patriotic Calling
Wilma was born to William L. and Alberta Green on October 5, 1923, in Minglewood, TN. She moved as an infant to New Orleans where she...
Public Affairs Chair
Mar 26, 20183 min read
“Can Do” – Life as a Seabee in WWII
C.B. Martin learned about the bombing of Pearl Harbor watching a movie with a buddy in downtown Lubbock on Sunday Dec. 7th, 1941. As C.B....
Public Affairs Chair
Mar 13, 20182 min read
Survivor of Three “Wars”
Dominic Tartaglione was drafted in the Army in New York City in 1941. He took his basic training in New Jersey and was trained in recon...
Public Affairs Chair
Mar 7, 20182 min read
"Dedicated to Family and Country
Lena “Lyn” Skaggs Duncan (a friend from school didn’t like Lena and said “I think I’ll call you Lyn” and the name stuck) was born on...
Public Affairs Chair
Mar 7, 20183 min read
The Million Dollar Wound
WWII was over early for Orville Fleming but he didn’t know it at the time. He enlisted in the Army in 1944 in San Francisco, CA. Jobs...
Public Affairs Chair
Mar 7, 20183 min read
"From Texas South Plains War Stories: Interviews with Veterans from World War II to Afghanistan © 2021 Larry A. Williams and Katherine McLamore by permission of McFarland."
bottom of page