Burleson County in World War II

Company E mattered more than its size. Caldwell was the smallest town in Texas to field a full infantry company, with soldiers who were all volunteers from Caldwell, Somerville and the farms. The company was headquartered here from 1898 through 1940, when it became part of the Thirty-sixth Infantry Division. Many of its men were captured by the Germans at Salerno in 1943 and were prisoners of war until Germany surrendered in 1945. Their years in the National Guard began long before the war the plaque describes.

What the plaque says

Burleson County in World War II During World War II, out of a population of 18,000, close to 1300 men and women of Burleson County joined the military, with 450 who attended Caldwell High School drafted or voluntarily enlisted. Many had never been outside the county before their service, but they deployed around the world in defense of freedom. Area residents sacrificed for the war effort abroad and at home from the onset of American combat. At Pearl Harbor, Seaman 2/C Thomas J. Gary of Somerville died aboard the U.S.S. California while giving his life to save his crewmates from burning. The Navy posthumously awarded Gary the Navy Cross and named two ships in his honor. Local National Guard Unit Company E, 143rd Infantry, 36th Division, sustained heavy losses at Salerno, Italy, with dozens of men killed, wounded, or captured. Other prisoners of war included 1st Lt. Hubert Womble, shot down over Romania during the Ploesti Oil Field raids, and USMC Major Paul Brown, who survived the Bataan Death March in the Philippines but died in a Japanese prison camp. The county's citizen soldiers stormed Normandy Beaches on D-Day and fought in European and Pacific Theaters. Many women joined the Army and Navy Nurse Corps, and scores more worked in defense plants. Recycling drives around the county maximized the homefront war support effort. Some families received citations as "Agriculture Victory Leaders" for continuing farming operations during the war, even while short-handed at least five county families had five children at once serving in the military. Dozens of Burleson County men were killed during World War II, on battlefields overseas and in training accidents on American soil. Through countless heroic and unselfish acts, citizens demonstrated commitment to restoring liberty to the world. (2008)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Lake Somerville State Park and Trailway — 18 mi
  Two park units on an 11,000-acre lake between Austin and College Station, joined by a thirteen-mile trailway for hikers, cyclists and riders with primitive camps along the way.
• George H.W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum — 21 mi
  The library of the forty-first president on the Texas A&M campus, opened in 1997, where George and Barbara Bush and their daughter Robin are buried in a family plot on the grounds.
• Independence and Old Baylor Park — 25 mi
  A crossroads north of Brenham that was the richest town in Texas when it won Baylor University in 1845, refused the railroad, and lost the college to Waco and Belton in 1886.
• Milam County Courthouse and Jail — 28 mi
  Cameron's 1892 Renaissance Revival courthouse and the 1895 St. Louis-built jail beside it, now the county museum, are listed together on the National Register.

More markers nearby

• John Mitchell — steps away
• Burleson County — steps away
• City of Caldwell — steps away
• Burleson County C.S.A. — steps away