Guadalupe World War 2

Guadalupe County residents answer the call for support
    By Robin Blackburn-Jerkins, G-E Staff Writer
    When the United STates entered into World War II, Guadalupe County's residents answered the calls for soldiers, war bonds, supplies and other means of support for the troops.  The Seguin newspapers from 1941-1945 are full of news from Guadalupe County boys abroad; some tell of promotions, victorious battles or medals but many tell of combat deaths, injuries and time served as prisoners of war.
    Two highly decorated officers, Alvin Mueller and Roy Calloway, hailed from Guadalupe County, as did countless other soldiers who either volunteered or were drafted into the armed forces.  The women of Guadalupe County, too, played parts in the war effort, from joining tje WACs and WAVES to helping sell war bonds and raise funds for the Red Cross.
    Clemes L. Bode was one of the soldiers.  He said he was drafted into the Army on May 21, 1943, and was discharged on Jan. 6, 1946.  Bode served in the Phillippines.
    Bode was a rifleman who served in the anti-tank company of the 161st Infantry Regiment.  He said he saw combat, and fighting was the hardest thing about the war.
    Bode participated in the Battle of San Manuel on Luzon, the biggest island in the Phillippines.  He was part of the group who pushed back Japanese forces on Luzon, 100 miles north of Manila, facing enemy tank and machine gun fire.  The attack lasted for four hours.
    General Douglas MacArthur visited the front before the fall of San Manuel and gave the entire regiment a commendation for their work.
    A member of the Seguin American Legion, Bode said veterans organizations do help to bring former soldiers together and provide fellowship, but as far as combat goes, "No one talks about it that much."  
    Ted Billnitzer is another World War II veteran from Guadalupe County.  He said he was drafted into the Navy in July of 1943 and went overseas to Encland in February of 1944.  Billnitzer was a corpsman who took care of injured soldiers during the D Day invasion.
    Billnitzer said the troops in England practiced landing invasions until the real thing happened.  The invasion was originally scheduled for June 5, 1944, but a storm blew in and delayed operations until June 6.  
    "I remember General Eisenhower coming over and making his famaous talk," Bilnitzer said.
    When the troops sailed to Omaha Beach for the invasion, Billnitzer said, it didn't take long for wounded soldiers to start coming in.
    "We saw bodies floating by in the channel...that was the first sign of the horror (of the battle","   he said, adding that he lost many brothers in arms.
    The sea tank Billnitzer was on made about 17 trips across the English Channel, picking up and dropping off the wounded.
    "I was one of the lucky ones.  Nothing happened to me," Billnitzer said.  "I just picked them up and brought them back."
    Billnitzer said being in the European theater was hard for him, because he is of German descent and still had relatives in Eugrope.  He said the injured German soldiers would talk to him because he knew German.  Since the Germans would talk to him, Billnitzer said, he became a sort of interrogator for the wonded.  He said he remembered one German soldier asking to be let go because he had never shot at an American.
    During the war, the troops were helped immensely by the support of the American citizens, who made a national goal of "whipping Hitler," he said, adding, "Everyone was behind us 100 percent."  
    Billnitzer had just turned 18 when he was drafted; he had graduated from high school in Marion just the year before he entered the Navy.  When he came back from the war, he went to college and got married to Marie Jo Saegert.  He enlisted in the Army Reserves and retired as a major.
    "A lot of people stayed in the reserves because they were afraid they'd be called back," Billnitzer said.

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