Nacogdoches in World War II


Book Description

Nacogdoches, the oldest town in Texas, has a long and colorful history starting in 1716, when the first mission, Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe de los Nacogdoches, was founded. The people of this rich area have since come together countless times to survive challenges. During World War II, patriotism brought everyone closer as the young men of the area left to fight for their country. College enrollment declined drastically until a masterstroke by its president brought the nation's first WAC school to the campus. An unexpected ice storm killed valuable timber, bringing Nazi POWs to the area to harvest the pine trees. On the home front, everyone got involved in the war effort. They knitted, rolled bandages, collected scrap metal, bought war bonds, grew victory gardens, and participated in rationing and blackouts; but most of all they sacrificed their sons. They came together during those years and still come together today to celebrate the historic town's past and to honor its veterans of all wars.




Texas Women in World War II


Book Description

Women are all too easily forgotten when it comes to war. In this unique volume, Cindy Weigand tells the individual stories of female WWII veterans now living in Texas. These courageious women reveal their war experiences detailing physical exams, troop train rides, and coping with the reactions of their families. They describe the trials of seeing fiances one day and losing them the next, healing the emotional and mental as well as the physical wounds, and enduring extreme conditions in service to their country.










Why Stop?


Book Description

This guide to more than 2,500 Texas roadside markers features historical events; famous and infamous Texans; origins of town, churches, and organizations; battles, skirmishes, and gunfights; and settlers, pioneers, Indians, and outlaws. This Sixth edition includes more than 100 new historical roadside markers with the actual inscriptions. With this book, travelers relive the tragedies and triumphs of Lone Star history.




Creek to Creek: The Life and Legacy of Charles Raymond Bright


Book Description

Business leader, friend, preservationist, visionary, and humanitarian. In the small East Texas town of Nacogdoches, Charles Bright created a lasting legacy through a lifetime of hard work, kindness, and integrity. Having never lived more than two miles from the house in which he was born, Bright created a resounding impact on the poultry industry that reached around the globe while never forgetting those who collectively made up the community he called home throughout his life. Explore his life of philanthropy and generosity and the example he set for those who looked up to him as he left a trail of good deeds in his wake wherever he roamed.




Texas and Texans in World War II


Book Description

Texans in World War II offers an informative look at the challenges and changes faced by Texans on the home front during the Second World War. This collection of essays by leading scholars of Texas history covers topics from the African American and Tejano experience to organized labor, from the expanding opportunities for women to the importance of oil and agriculture. Texans in World War II makes local the frequently studied social history of wartime, bringing it home to Texas. An eye-opening read for Texans eager to learn more about this defining era in their state’s history, this book will also prove deeply informative for scholars, students, and general readers seeking detailed, definitive information about World War II and its implications for daily life, economic growth, and social and political change in the Lone Star State.




Nazis in the Pineywoods


Book Description

During World War II, more than 400,000 German and Italian prisoners were interned in the United States. Nearly 80,000 of them, mostly Germans, were in Texas.




Deep in the Brush Country


Book Description

Take a journey deep into South Texas, where Lucille Thomas Kruse grows up as a young girl in Falfurrias during the 1920s and 1930s. The Thomas familys fate is determined when Grandfather Thomas moves all his belongings and farm animals, including his beehives, to Falfurrias in an immigrant railroad car. In letters from 1907, he praises the lush and fertile land with fl owing artesian water. It also turns out to be a great place to grow up, and Kruse recalls life as it used to beexploring the farm she grew up on where she rode horses and found adventure around every corner. When she became a teenager, excitement consisted of climbing onto the roof of the courthouse or trying to outrun a jackrabbit in a car. Kruse also recalls her sophisticated city relatives who streamed in to visit and experience the family farm. Eccentric ranchers, older folks who remember battling Indians and hunters who rely on their hound dogs to go on wolf hunts all fi gure into this historical account. See how life used to be and discover a forgotten piece of America as you venture Deep in the Brush Country.




Ernst Clement Helpenstell and Daniel Seelbach Families of Prussia and Texas


Book Description

Ernst Clement Helpenstell was born 23 October 1775. His second wife was Anna Cathrina Deutser. Their son, Johann Wilhelm Helpenstell, was born 16 September 1816 in Helpenstell, Prussia. He emigrated and settled in Texas. Descendant Jewell Huntington Helpinstill married Mina Elizabeth Seelbach, descendant of Daniel Seelbach.