DR. JACK HETZEL, WW2 Army Veteran, Tyler, Tx.
Jack was born on November 18th, 1921, in West Monroe, Louisiana. His family left Louisiana when he was 5-years old. Jack had one brother, John, who served 21 years in the Army. His dad was a preacher in Louisiana and Texas, where he started 17-churches in the two states. Two of them, Assemblies of God, were in Mineola and Grand Saline, and both are still in existence today. “He said it, I did it,” laughed Jack who acknowledge his father had a tremendous influence on his life.
Early Childhood:
When Jack was 16 his family moved to Mexia, Texas. His dad took three people and started a church there. “They were building Camp Bowie, which was in Brownwood. In a 10-mile radius there was 41- churches my dad built,” said Jack.
“I was working with my dad for $1 a day, 10-cents an hour, for 10-hours a day. Eventually, I got a raise to 35-cents an hour and that was a big step. I was running a Mexican Steam Shovel, meaning a ditch digger,” laughed Jack. “I dug a lot of ditches.”
“Before the end of the first day, the superintendent came to me, and he said, go to the toilet. So I went and smoked a cigarette. Then I came back and got into the ditch. My dad always told me, if you hire out for 10-cents a day, you owe the man a day’s work. He told me to go back to the toilet, because he thought I was trying to show the other workers up. But my dad knew I was just trying to do a day’s work. At the end of the week, he promoted me and gave me a 12 ½ cents raise. That was a big raise in those days.
There was a comic book strip back in my days called Major Hoople. If someone else was doing it, he was too. Hoople said, if someone else could do it, I can top it. My dad taught me early in my childhood that I could do anything someone else could do, or even better. My dad came up with this Phrase, If Hoople could do it, Jack could do it.” Laughed Jack.
“On my first day of school, we went over one of these red clay hills and it was raining and we got stuck. Everybody on the bus unloaded. I was the last one on the steps to reload and the bus jerked back and I fell and the wheels spun on me. We didn’t go to the hospital in those days. So, I was in the bed for nearly a year. I was eight when I finally started school and I lost that first year with the school bus accident. When I was 13, I was in the 3rd grade I was bigger than everybody else, and I decided it was time for me to quit. My dad was for it because I was big enough to work, and I could run a cross-cut saw.”
Receives High School Diploma at age 99:
In 1948 Jack received his GED and received his High School Diploma at age 99. In 1977 he received his Doctorate in Counseling Psychology from Texas A&M University. This all from a man who only had a 3rd grade education.
“The first General I worked for I was given the title of a Senior Administrator, with my 3rd grade education. At Texas A&M I was teaching Military Science, in uniform of course. I enjoyed that because it was all military teaching at that time. They went co-ed the next year. My Doctorate is an Honorary Doctorate and at the time I was preaching at a church in Big Sandy, Texas. After that I was referred to as Dr. Jack Hetzel. My son was with me at the time and this Honorary Degree made me feel BIG. He was grinning from ear to ear,” Laughed Jack.
August 18, 1941, Jack volunteers for the Army:
“I went to the draft board and told them to send me my draft letter. So, that is how I volunteered. I was 21 years old. I had good friend of mine got drafted and so I went down to the draft board and asked them to send me my letter, I was ready to sign up. I was officially drafted when I got my letter, and it also took some pressure off my mom and dad.
I was drafted into the United States Army Air Corps (USAAC).”
The Army Air Corps was the aerial warfare service of the United States Army from 1926 to 1941. During WW1, it evolved into the Army Air Service, which was a precursor of the United States Air Force. It was dedicated to aerial warfare and air combat aviation.
Jack went to Boot Camp at Carswell Base in Fort Worth, Texas.
B-24 production line in Ft. Worth, Tx. 1943
During the 1940s, Fort Worth played a significant role in the U.S. military’s efforts during World War II. The city became a center for aircraft production, particularly through the establishment of Carswell Air Force Base, which was established in 1942 and later renamed in 1948. The base was crucial for training pilots and crews to operate the B-24 Liberator bombers, with over 4000 students trained at the facility. The Consolidate Aircraft Corporation, which operated the Bomber Plant, contributed to the war effort by producing thousands of aircraft, including the B-29 Superfortress and the B-36 Peacemaker. This period marked a significant transformation of Fort Worth, as it transitioned from a bustling city during the Great Depression to a key player in the global war effort. SOURCE: oldschoolamerica.com
“In Boot Camp I had the attitude that if someone else could do it, I could do it,” said Jack sitting in his chair at the Texas State Veterans Home in Tyler, Texas.
“I was in good shape for Boot Camp with all the physical work I had done with my dad. It was a simple life.”
Camp Kearns, Utah 1940s
“From Boot Camp, the military sent us to Camp Kearns, Utah for close order drills. This is where I learned to carry a rock in my left hand. When the Sargant yelled, right turn, I would go left,” laughed Jack. “I learned my right from my left the first day. That was a heavy rock too. They yelled at us all day, right turn march, left turn march, right turn, left run, you learned to march the right way, their way from day one. What you learned was, to act without thinking.”
Jack was a Private in the military and President Truman declared that anyone with at least 6-months of Good Service in the military would be promoted to Private First Class. “I was promoted to PFC by the President of the United States,” laughed Jack.
Japanese attack Pearl Harbor:
“I was working in Brownwood, Texas as a carpenter when I heard the news we had been attacked at Pearl Harbor,” Jack paused to collect his thoughts. Eight-five years later, the memory of that day still has a lasting influence for Jack. “My attitude at the time was, let me at em.” Said Jack emphatically.
“I was paid $10 a day when I first went into the military, and I got paid one day a month. Big paycheck man,” laughed Jack. “I volunteered for overseas, and they sent me to England instead. In those days the military did not look at your education, they looked at what you could do. I was good with the “Mexican Steam Showel,” as Jack demonstrated he was a good “Ditch Digger.”
“We went over to England on the “Orion” Troop Ship. This was an English ship that had been taken from the Germans.
I was in Camp Kilmer New Jersey for about 30-days waiting for my orders to come thru to go to England. The first night I got to England I went out to dinner with an English couple. In England, I became a Telephone Switchboard Operator. I had two boards, and each board had 40 openings. I stayed very busy.
There was a young lady working with me there and she was in the Royal Air Force. She later became my wife. A funny story about this is a military friend of mine tried to get a date with her and we bet $1. that she would not go out with him. She turned him down twice and he got really upset. I said, Sargant, you don’t know how it is done. I walked over to that girl and told her, she did not know what she was missing,” and we both laughed hysterically. “I have had that arrogance all my life,” said Jack. “We wound up getting married. A marriage which lasted 65-years.”
Operation Overlord:
“The AAC listed me as a Telephone Switchboard Operator but in reality, I was the Squadron flunkey. I did something nobody else knew how to do. I spent three-years in the Army Air Corps. Later I spent three- years in the Air Force and then fourteen-years in the Army. Of the three Branches of the military, I enjoyed the Air Corps the most.
In June of 1944, I was stationed in Straubing, Germany on D-Day. Straubing was located about 2 miles from the Czech and Austrian borders. I remember I was sleeping behind the switchboard, and I heard someone say, WE HAVE INVADED FRANCE. I jumped up and grabbed my rifle, and said, Let’s go get em. I had no idea or scuttlebutt of anything to do with Operation Overload. It was a total secret to all of us.
I was in a casual squadron where you did small details that others didn’t want to do but you did it for the cause. I was transferred into a fighter squadron called the 511 Fighter Squadron, 405th Fighter Group.”
405th Fighter Group:
The 405th Fighter Group was a fighter bomber unit of the United States Army Air Force in World War II. They group flew P-47 Thunderbolts in the European Theater of Operations (ETO) starting with the buildup to the Invasion of Normandy on “D-Day”, through the end of the war in Europe. The 405th Fighter Group was a unit of the Ninth Air Force, IX Fighter Command, IX Tactical Air Command, 84th Fighter Wing. The 405th was primarily assigned to support Patton’s Third Army. The group consisted of the 509th, 510th, and 511th Fighter Squadrons, plus headquarters elements. The Group consisted of 73 aircraft.
The 405th (Dive) Bombardment Group was organized on 4 Feb 43, at Drew Field near Tampa, Florida, and activated on 1 Mar 43. The group was initially equipped with a few Douglas Dauntless and Curtis Helldiver dive bombers. The group gained some P-39 Aira cobras before they left Drew. The group was redesignated as the 405th Fighter Bomber Group on 15 Aug 43. In September 1943, the group moved to Walterboro, South Carolina. In Walterboro, the group was outfitted with original “razorback” designed P-47 Thunderbolts. In February 1944, the group moved by train to a point of embarkation (POE) camp near New York City. The group soon embarked onto the RMS Mauritania for transport to England. After six days at sea, in hurricane conditions, the group disembarked at Liverpool. The group traveled by train to Southampton, then, via lorries to Christchurch, Dorset.
From 29 March to 29 June 44, the 405th operated out of the RAF Christchurch base. After setting up camp and training over England, the group began combat operations over France. During this period their primary task was ground attack ahead of the coming invasion of Normandy, Operation Overlord.
The group disrupted German positions and transportation infrastructure. Train locomotives were a favorite target. The group destroyed the Seine River bridge at Mantes-Gassicourt, northeast of Paris, just before the invasion, to inhibit movement of German materiel. The group was grounded during the 6 June 44, invasion activities because Allied command was concerned that inexperienced antiaircraft batteries would mistake P-47s for German FW-190s. The 405th resumed flying on 10 June, providing close air support to the Normandy beachhead. On 18 June 44, the group was redesignated the 405th Fighter Group. A few weeks after the invasion, the 405th packed up and moved to a POE near Southampton.
The group’s most notable action was the destruction of an entire German armored division near the town of Avranches, France on 29 July 1944. After immobilizing leading and trailing elements of the 3-mile-long column, the rest of the tanks and trucks were systematically destroyed with multiple sorties.
The 405th also accepted the surrender of the highly decorated Luftwaffe ace, Hans Rudel, and his officers at the end of the war.
“Eight German planes surrendered to us because they didn’t want to surrender to the Russians. We were out of the runway and these eight planes came in. Our orders were to stand at ease in our Class-A uniforms. They dipped their wings to let us know they were surrendering and ended up surrendering to our 405th Fighter Group.”
Charmy Downs Airfield, England:
“When I first got to Charmy Downs Airfield our Squadrons was flying the P-47s. We didn’t communicate with the officer pilots at all. They were training all the time, and our job was to keep the planes of the 511 Fighter Squadron flying. Each of us had a job to do and we did it.
After seven months stationed in England, we started moving with our Squadron following and supporting General George S. Patton’s Army blitz across Europe. “I thought Patton should quit acting like a private and start acting like a General,” quipped Jack. “He took a tank and three times he went behind the lines, as a tank driver. Now, he is a General. The infantry had to form a wedge and get him out. I felt like he was a man who wanted to be killed in war. He was finally killed in a jeep accident in Europe, and some have said was not an accident.”
“The first town we went to after we left England was Saint-Jean-de-Daye France. The town was liberated on July 7th of 1944. It was the first town liberated by the Allies in France.”
They included U.S. 120th Infantry Regiment, 105th Combat Engineer Battalion and the 743rd Tank Battalion all three from the 30th Infantry Division. Also, the 852nd Engineer Aviation Battalion and the 366th Fighter Group, 71st Fighter Wing of the 9th Tactical Air Command.
“This is the town where I started learning to speak French,” said Jack. “I was told if I could just learn one word a day and within a hundred days I could carry on a good conversation.”
405th Fighter Bomber Group/511th Fighter Squadron
The 405th Fighter Group — which included the 509th, 510th, and 511th Fighter Squadrons — began its combat career with a mix of aircraft before settling on its primary type.
From February 1944, the group trained with the A-24, A-25, and P-39 before transitioning fully to the P-47 Thunderbolt for combat operations SOURCE: SOURCE: US MILITARIA FORUM. The P-47 was the group’s primary aircraft throughout the war, used for ground attack, close air support, and escort missions in the European Theater.
The 511th Fighter Squadron (originally the 626th Bombardment Squadron) followed the same progression: it began with A-24 Banshees and P-39 Airacobras, then moved to P-47 Thunderbolts in August 1943, with which it flew until the end of the war. Source: SOURCE: Wikipedia.
“We moved from Saint-Jean-de-Daye to Saint-Lo and then into Sainte-Mere-Eglise in France.”
As Patton continued his trek across Europe, Jack and his 405th Fighter Group continued their support with aerial bombardments across Europe ahead of Patton’s Army. Their next and final push was behind the lines and the final major battle by the Germans at the Siegfried Line known as the BATTLE OF THE BULGE, in September 1944.
“I never met George Patton, but the closest I got was about 2-miles.
When our squadron was stationed in Belgium, I overheard the conversation from my superiors about needing parts for our Fighter Squadron. I volunteered to scour the countryside looking for those much-needed parts. I told them, give me seven days and I can get those parts. So, I was given seven days orders to France. I would head to some of the depots around the country and when I found the part they would help me fill out the work order. I got every part we needed. I was told by the officers those parts could not be gotten. They didn’t even promote me for it. I took on responsibilities that only officers should have taken. They should have promoted me to E-7 on the spot,” laughed Jack.
Battle of The Bulge:
“The Battle of the Bulge was the last battle I was involved with,” said Jack.
The Battle of the Bulge was a major German offensive campaign during World War II, taking place from December 16, 1944, to January 16, 1945. It occurred in the Ardennes region of Belgium, Luxembourg and France, and was Adolf Hitler’s last major attempt to split the Allied Forces and capture the port of Antwerp. The battle is notable for being the largest fought by the United States Army and involved significant casualties on both sides, with many atrocities committed against captured soldiers and civilians. Ultimately, the Allies were able to repel the German forces, leading to a decisive victory. Source: Britannica
“In the back of that 6×6 the steel is cold, and I still have frostbite from that battle. The wet cold went right thru your socks and boots.We lived in tents and piped in gasoline to keep the temperature up somewhat. I would go to the mess hall and steal bread and then we would toast it on that heater. I carried an M-1 carbine everywhere I went. I met a few Germans, but I wasn’t mad at them or wanted to hurt them.
We stayed in tents the entire time I was in Europe and we followed behind George Patton’s Army all the way to the Battle of the Bulge.
We were bombarded every night and day. When we finally took down our tents there were over a thousand fragment rips in my tent. I had a small piece of shrapnel lodged in my ankle. But, I never put in for a Purple Heart.”
Jack was later diagnosed with “Shell Shock,” today known as PTS (Post Traumatic Shock) from his time in Europe. “I stayed in that tent the whole time, even when bombs were dropping all around us,” said Jack.
Going back:
Jack told me he had a chance to back to Europe and to Normandy. He still has lifelong friends he met at Normandy. Many of his friends were PFC or Privates working on the tanks in the daytime and at night they wanted to go to Jack’s tent. “It was warm there. There is something about my life that elevates others,” said Jack. “Maybe it is the Holy Spirit working thru me to motivate others to build churches with over a million membership.”
War is Hell:
“The war in Europe, was never easy. Me being in the Air Corps we always had tents. A few times we slept on the ground, but not very often.
I wasn’t personally involved with any of the liberation of the concentration camps, but some of our pilots were. The German people have always been good people. Hitler was a rogue. If he didn’t like a woman he slept with the night before, he would kill her. That is the kind of person he was.
We got to a certain point in Berlin, but we had promised Russia they could finish the job there. We had to sit in a holding position until the Russians came in and took over.” That left a sour taste in the minds of the Americans and their allies. “We had done all the fighting and all they did was come into Berlin and take over. It was not to the American advantage at all. Russia has always hated America, but they will act like they like America.”
Russia invades Germany:
These coordinated military actions came about as the result of intensive and prolonged diplomatic negotiations between the Allied leaders, Roosevelt, Churchill and Stalin, who became known as the “Big Three.” In February 1945, the “Big Three” met at Yalta in the Crimea. The Yalta Conference was the most important, and by far the most controversial–of the wartime meetings.
Recognizing the strong position that the Soviet Army held on the ground, Churchill–and an ailing Roosevelt–agreed to a number of things with Stalin.
At Yalta, they granted territorial concessions to the Soviet Union, and outlined punitive measures against Germany, including Allied occupation and the principle of reparations. Stalin guaranteed that the Soviet Union would declare war on Japan within 6 months after the end of hostilities in Europe.
While the diplomats and politicians engaged in trying to shape the postwar world, Soviet forces from the east and Allied forces from the west continued to advance on Germany. After a fierce and costly battle, Berlin fell to Soviet forces on May 8, 1945, after Allied and Soviet troops had met on the Elbe River to shake hands and congratulate each other on a hard won impending victory. Although the war in Europe was over, it would take several more months of hard fighting and substantial losses for Allied forces to defeat the Japanese in September 1945, including the first use of the atomic bomb. In accordance with the Yalta agreements, the Soviet Union declared war on Japan in early August 1945, just prior to Japan’s surrender in September.
The alliance between the United States and the Soviet Union during World War II developed out of necessity, and out of a shared realization that each country needed the other to defeat one of the most dangerous and destructive forces of the twentieth century. Ideological differences were subordinated, albeit temporarily, to the common goal of defeating fascism. As a result of this cooperation, the groundwork for a new international system was laid, out of which came the United Nations organization. The Soviets had suffered tremendous human and material losses during the war. Approximately 20 million people were killed, thousands of villages, towns, and cities were destroyed, and the Soviet Union’s economic infrastructure was devastated. Despite the subsequent postwar controversies and the beginning of the Cold War, nothing can diminish the importance of the wartime cooperation between the United States and the Soviet Union. Source: Office of the HistorianBureau of Public Affairs, U.S. Dept. State, May 2005
VE Day:
“I happened to be in Paris that day when the announcement came over the war in Europe was over. The Germans had surrendered. They carried me up and down the streets on their shoulders. It was a big day for Europe.” Even though America and her Allies were rejoicing in the streets of Paris, the other war, the Pacific was still raging.
“We were preparing to go to war in Japan and getting everything packed up for shipping.” said Jack.
On June 6th 1945 the United States dropped bombs on Hiroshima and then Nagasaki, on June 9th. “We didn’t have to go to war with the Japanese” smiled Jack .“We thought that was a smart move on Truman’s part. We had the equipment, so use it. Both Hiroshima and Nagasaki are still leveled today. Those bombs saved a lot of American lives.”
Your advice to those joining the Military today:
“I would tell them, get in and do your best, and move up in rank as fast as you can. I talked to the son of some very good friends of mine and their son had just been promoted to Seargant. After several conversations, I told that man, do your job and do the best you know how and let other people decide if you are doing well or not.”
“I laugh at those who tell me I am part of the “Greatest Generation.” All we did was be there. We had to be there, and we had to do our part. If you do your part the rest of it will come out ok.
A Captain once told me, Jack you will be given assignments that you don’t know anything about, just do it.”
Written Eleven Books:
“I have written and published eleven books and my favorite is Don’t Fret Fear or Worry. It is very short, you can read it in about two minutes. In this book, you are practicing the presence of God. He says, I am with you, always, even to the end of the ages. If he says I will be there, he will absolutely be there.” (You can purchase many of Jack’s books on Amazon.)
It was an honor for me to sit down with Dr. Jack Hetzel and listen to his memories of his military career.
Thank you for your service to our country.
NOTE: Meet other Veterans from around the country by going to the top of www.meetourveterans.com and click on Our Veterans. On the drop-down menu, click one of the (5) branches of services and read each of our veteran’s stories.
“Every Veteran has a story to tell.” Phil Smith
GOD BLESS OUR VETERANS AND GOD BLESS AMERICA
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