| Description | Attorney. His experiences in the North African and European Theaters during World War II. Education at the South Texas School of Law, Houston, Texas, 1936-40; employment with the Shell Oil Company, 1936-41; induction into the Army, December 2, 1941; basic training, Camp Wolters, Mineral Wells, Texas, 1941-42; Officer Candidate School, Fort Belvoir, Virginia, 1942; assignment to Corps of Engineers topographic battalion, Fort Custer, Michigan, and Camp McCoy, Wisconsin, 1942; decision to volunteer for the Airborne Engineers, 1942; Parachute Command training, Fort Benning, Georgia, 1942; assignment to the 307thAirborne Engineers, Fort Bragg, North Carolina, 1943; shipment to North Africa, April 29, 1943; parachute training, Ouijda, French Morocco, 1943; attendance at the British 8th Army mine school, 1943; invasion of Sicily and capture of Gela airfield, July, 1943; invasion of Italy at Salerno, September, 1943; convalescence from hepatitis at Oran, Algeria; mine laying during the Battle of San Pietro; Anzio invasion, July, 1944; combat around Nettuno and Cisterna; evacuation to Ullesthorpe, England, in March, 1944; preparations for the Normandy invasion; meeting and courting his future wife, Beryl Barton; the crash of his glider during Operation MARKET-GARDEN, September 17, 1944, and subsequent rescue; combat around the Waal River; liaison duty with British 1st Army headquarters; the Ardennes Offensive and the Battle of the Bulge, December, 1944-January, 1945; transfer to a signals and information unit in Bournemouth, England, 1945; his marriage to Beryl Barton, March 26, 1945; his transfer to the 104th Infantry Division in Germany; mustering out of the service and postwar employment with Shell; his wife’s move from England to the United States, March, 1946. |
