Historic Walker County
An illustrated history of the city of Huntsville, Texas, and the Walker County area, paired with the histories of companies, families and organizations that make the region great.
An illustrated history of the city of Huntsville, Texas, and the Walker County area, paired with the histories of companies, families and organizations that make the region great.
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Africa, Italy, Southern France, and on the<br />
French-German border. The battles of Salerno,<br />
San Pietro, Liri Valley and Anzio in Northern<br />
Italy were particularly difficult for <strong>Walker</strong><br />
<strong>County</strong> families. U.S. casualties for these<br />
operations included many local soldiers<br />
including J. J. McNeil, James H. Honeycut,<br />
Henry Roberts, Donald Sowell, Henry Steffen,<br />
and George Melvin White, the first <strong>Walker</strong><br />
<strong>County</strong> soldier killed in the Second World War.<br />
By war’s end the 143rd regiment had lost 9,000<br />
men, captured 7,500 German prisoners and<br />
won five Medals of Honor and five Presidential<br />
Unit Citations, all within 386 days of combat. 87<br />
During the war, dozens of soldiers from the<br />
area perished in the fighting, giving their lives<br />
for their country and their ideals. Soldiers from<br />
<strong>Walker</strong> <strong>County</strong> fought and died in all theatres.<br />
Boyd W. Crawford suffered as a Japanese<br />
prisoner on Corregidor, Forest Cauthen<br />
perished in North Africa, Loye Humphries died<br />
in the Normandy Invasion, and Harvey Rigby<br />
lost his life in the liberation of France. Many<br />
Texas enlistees actively volunteered for<br />
dangerous flight training in the newly formed<br />
Army and Naval Air Corps. The life expectancy<br />
for pilots and their crews during World War II<br />
was on average twenty missions. Robert Small,<br />
whose plane crashed in the Pacific and James<br />
White, lost on a bombing raid over Belgium,<br />
were among those <strong>Walker</strong> <strong>County</strong> aviators who<br />
died for their country. Brothers and C-47<br />
transport plane pilots Harry Joe Bruce and<br />
Revees Murphee Bruce perished in wartime<br />
accidents over Germany and New Guinea.<br />
Several local servicemen and women received<br />
accolades for their sacrifices during wartime.<br />
Colonel M. B. Etheredge, a native of Huntsville<br />
and graduate of SHSTC, remains the most<br />
famous figure from the area. Etheredge enlisted<br />
in the army after learning of the Japanese attack<br />
on Pearl Harbor. Throughout his gallant service,<br />
he earned numerous medals and other wartime<br />
commendations, making him one of the<br />
most decorated war heroes of World War II—<br />
second only to Audie Murphy. On August<br />
22, 2000, under ordinance number 2000-15,<br />
the City of Huntsville dedicated a street in<br />
honor of Etheredge. 88<br />
Lieutenant Eula Fails Borneman also carried<br />
a heavy burden during the war. A native of<br />
Huntsville and graduate of Sam Houston State<br />
Teachers College, Borneman was on the island<br />
of Corregidor when the Japanese Army overran<br />
it in 1942. She and 68 other nurses were taken<br />
prisoner and moved to Manila, where they were<br />
❖<br />
The 143rd Infantry, Company F, 36th<br />
Division, on the east side of the<br />
Huntsville square.<br />
COURTESY OF THE HUNTSVILLE<br />
ARTS COMMISSION.<br />
C h a p t e r V I ✦ 3 9
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