DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Now, if you ever wanted proof that a county — one county — could carry the weight of a war on its shoulders, pull over and listen to this one. We're talking about Company F, 2nd Battalion, 142nd Infantry, 36th Division, Texas National Guard, out of Randall County.
And right here, right where you're standin' or drivin', is where part of that story ended up. The 36th Division of the U.S. Army served with distinction in World War II.
That's the official language, and official language tends to understate things considerably. So let's unpack it a little. When Company F was mobilized, it was made up primarily of Randall County soldiers.
Neighbors. People who knew each other's families. And I do mean families — because among those men were ten sets of brothers.
Ten. And if that doesn't already tell you something about how deep this county reached into itself, there was also a father and a son who went together. Think on that for a moment.
The unit deployed for Italy in 1943 and was among those landing at Salerno — one of the war's harder landings, and these men were in it. They spent four hundred days in combat. Not a weekend.
Not a campaign. Four hundred days. They participated in two assault landings and earned seven campaign streamers for their service across the European theater.
Eight local men lost their lives. Eight. And two of their own received the Distinguished Service Cross.
After the war, the company came home — and from 1951 to 1968, when it finally disbanded, the men of Company F trained right here, at a National Guard Armory at this very site. Seventeen years of keepin' the tradition alive, until the day it was gone. Ten sets of brothers.
A father and a son. Four hundred days. That's Randall County's bill of fare for one war, and this ground remembers every bit of it.
What the marker says
The 36th Division of the U.S. Army served with distinction in World War II. When mobilized, Company F of the Division's 142nd Infantry consisted primarily of Randall County soldiers, including ten sets of brothers, as well as a father and son. The unit deployed for Italy in 1943 and was among those landing at Salerno. The men actively served in the European theater of operation, spending 400 days in combat, participating in two assault landings and receiving seven campaign streamers. During the war, eight local men lost their lives and two received the Distinguished Service Cross. From 1951 to 1968, when it disbanded, the company trained at a National Guard Armory at this site. (2005)