The Wilmington morning star. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1909-1990, 1944-01-04
With
The AEF
By KENNETH L. DIXON

WITH THE BOTH DIVISION IN
ITALY, Dec. %. Delayed p
When this story is told, my nam.
will be Mud from the Panhandle
to the Rio Grande and my Texan
wife will slam the door in my
face when I come home again.
The legends of the Lone Star
scrappers have sprung up by the
score and from the surf at Salerno
| to the slopes of the Apennines, this
Texas outfit has made those tales
look tame.
But all the Texans" in this out.
lift did not come from Texas and
the captured ferries say they can
mot tell the difference between
San Antonio soldier and a battler
from the Bronx.
It's terrible thing to have hap.
pen to Texas and the only face.
saving solution is that by asso.
citation it may be that even the
men from Maine and Massachu-
lsetts have picked up a touch Of
Texas il the way they walk and
talk and fight.
In any case, here's the story AZ
it's told by German prisoners o.
WAR:
Before they met the Texans on
the beaches at Salerno, they were
told they were up against a bunch
of wild men," T h e'y knew, of
course, that all Texans are born
with a feel Of six gun in their
fingers and have carved at least
1.-TWO notches on it before they're
even old enough to vote the straigh
democratic ticket. They also knew
that Texans are wise in Indian
lore and love fight.
After they met, they agreed on
one point: Texans are fighting
fools who don't know when they're
Whipped.
They'd held seemingly impreg-
nable positions but h e Texans
fought right on up the Stoves in
face of certain death.
When told to take a position,
Texans took it even when wave
after wave of them were moved
down. They let out wild yells,
stood up and heaved grenandes,
and in between the granades, they
tossed rocks to snake the Nazis'
NERVES and make him give away
his position.
They started up one hill at sun
set when they could be seen, then
in the dark they reversed their
field, slipped around the foot and
attacked the Germans from the
Irear. When dawn came, the hill
was theirs.
All of which convinced the Ger.
mans that it was true what they
said about Texans One prisoner
took a great deal of pride in the
fact that he'd been captured by
a Texan. Another got drunk when
his comrades told him he was too
old to fight and came across no
mans land to take a Texan pris-
oner and prove how tough he was.
Needless to say, it messed up
the Nazi morale when they learned
that one of the best leaders of
scouting patrols was a kid from
Seattle-that the chief thrower of
rocks in one battle hailed from
New Jersey-that the guy W h o
planned the hill capturing trick
came from Ohio-that the captor
of the proud prisoner was a ma
tive of New York and that both
the Texans" who took the souse
in hand wilen he came stumbling
into the lines were born in Illinois.
The prisoners listened apatheti-
cally while the Interpreters res
ident of Long Island - explained
that no division can be composed
entirely Of men from on state and
that, besides, requirements for the
heavy casualties in the old Texas
national guard outfit came from
a score of states.
Finally they agreed that Texans
are just as tough as they thought
they'd be. but that they couldn't
tell the difference between them
and other Yanks.
That's because we trained them
all the Texas way" said a real
Texan. 1 hope that explanation
satisfies the folks back home be-
cause up until now some of my
best friends were Texans.