Freestone County Times
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Page: 1 

Veteran’s Day Remembrance
Thru the Eyes of Freestone Co. Vet

With approximately 1,000
of our World War II
Veterans leaving us every
day, we are running out of
time to gather their stories.
Who were these “Greatest
Generation” men and women
who “volunteer” to serve
God and Country when they
learned that Pearl Harbor had
been attacked?
This is Bill McSpadden’s
story. Mr. McSpadden has
lived his entire life in Teague,
Texas, except for the time he
spent in the Army Air Corp.
On the day after Christmas
- 1941, Mr. McSpadden left
Teague with six friends. All
have passed away, two in the
war.
In February 1942, his
grandmother passed away.
He was given a $25 roundtrip
passenger train ticket to
come home to the funeral.
As so many men were doing,
Mr. McSpadden married his
sweetheart, Marie Harley
while he was home. That was
67 years ago and the marriage
is still strong. They have two
daughters
It was by train that Mr.
McSpadden made his way
home in 1945. His bride
was at the train station in
San Antonio to greet him.
Interestingly enough, the
train had come through Mexia
on its way to San Antonio. He
reported that the men had a
big time trying to pronounce
“Mexia.”
Having attained the rank of
Staff Sergeant, Mr. McSpadden
received many medals and
ribbons, including three
battle stars.
Mr. McSpadden is an
unpretentious man, a mail
carrier for many years - the
first in Teague. He is a man
of respect, honor, valor, and
modesty, telling me that he
did not do much since he was
not an infantryman. Here is
his story:

There were six of us young
guys that decided we would
volunteer right after Pearl
Harbor. We left for Dallas the
day after Christmas 1941 and
were sworn in to the Army Air
Corps. We had hoped to stay
together but were shipped
out to different parts right
away.
I trained in Texas, Georgia,
and Illinois. I came home
in February ‘42 to my
grandmother’s funeral and
while I was home, Marie
and I were married. It was
February 25, 1942. Marie
came to visit me in Georgia
right before we were to leave
for overseas - I left in early
September ‘42 from Fort Dix,
New Jersey and didn’t see
her again for three years.
Our unit boarded the Queen
Mary, docked in New York and
left for parts unknown. We
made it to Scotland in record
time - four and a half days
- and went by train through
Scotland, down to a large air
base in Burtonwood, England.
We trained there for two
months or so and then shipped
out again for unknown places -
but we knew we were headed
somewhere that would be a
“hot spot” and our very first
encounter with hostile fire.
About two days out, we were
finally told where we were
going and our mission. We
would be part of the Invasion
of North Africa, also known
as “Operation Torch.” We
would be going into the central
part of the invasion of Oran,
Algeria. General Patton was
bringing forces in from the
U.S. and another unit would
hit around Algiers, Algeria.
When we turned in to the
Straits of Gibraltar and the
Mediterranean Sea, I have
never seen so many ships, a
whole armada and many were
being attacked by German
Stuka Dive bombers and other
aircraft besides the submarine
(U-Boats) of the Nazis.
Our supply ship, beside our
ship, was torpedoed and blown
completely up. We had one of
our men on that ship and just
knew he was lost. However,
we later found him covered in
tar and disoriented.
We finally got off of our ship
and onto a landing craft that
carried us up closer to shore,
but we still had to wade water
up to our waists with our rifles
over our heads and backpacks
on. We mostly made it to shore
safely under fire.
Our objective was to take
and put in service, as quickly
as possible, the Air Base at La
Senia, the Air Base for Oran,
a large city. We marched five
miles. The Germans, Italians,
and Vichy French, holding the
airfield didn’t seem to want
to give up so easily, but with
the help of other units, we
took control. It was our job
to get the field ready so we
could start receiving supplies
and other things from England,
mostly. Having lost all of the
things we needed so badly
when our supply ship was blown
up, we were having a time. We
survived on hard tack (biscuits)
and orange marmalade for a
week or so. The Germans, or
“Jerries” as we called them,
had uncontested control of the
air and sea for so long that we
were bombed, mostly at night,
constantly.
After we began receiving
supplies and the runways were
all opened up, things changed.
We could get our planes into
the air and give them a fight.
We would be in North Africa for
a while as the desert fighting
ahead was not going well and
the ol’ “Desert Fox” Rommel
had us in retreat. Things
looked real bad for a while,
but our fighting units began to
put it all together and, along
with the British, were doing
much better.
Our unit received the
Meritorious Unit Citation for
our part in the invasion.
We would later move on to
Italy where the new fighting
was. Some of our group served
time on the small island of
Pantelleria, off the coast of
North Africa and also Sicily. We
would be waiting to move up,
but things would be held up by
the fighting to take Cassino.
Germans held the monastery,
overlooking the valley below,
and many lives would be lost
by Poland, New Zealand and
other countries besides U.S.
and British troops before it
was taken. We moved up to
Pisa for a short period and
used the “Leaning Tower” for
observation. Later, we moved
on further north on the Adriatic
to the small town of Cattolica
and set up our last Air Force
Depot to service and repair our
fighting planes and medium
bombers. A-20s and B-25s.
Our unit received Battle Stars
for our campaign (three years
overseas in England, North
Africa and Italy), ribbons for
Rome/Arno and the North
Appennines Campaign, as well
as the Invasion of North Africa.
Two of my friends I had joined
up with did not make it home.
One was shot down in the
North Sea after a bombing raid
in Europe, and the other went
down in the Mediterranean
Sea. Their bodies were not
recovered. God bless them
and their families