DUANE
Duane's take
Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about General John Augustus Hulen — so let the record show where this story comes from. Now, some men seem like they were just born to wear a uniform. John Augustus Hulen might have been one of them — though the uniform didn't find him right away.
He came into the world in Missouri, in 1871, and when he was still just a boy, his family brought him to Texas in the 1870s. Could've ended up a rancher. Could've ended up a lot of things.
But something pointed this young man toward the military life. He went east to attend Virginia's Staunton Military Academy — came back to Texas with a little more polish and a lot more purpose. He joined a militia unit, and that was just the beginning.
Because when the Spanish-American War came calling, Hulen answered. And when that war sent him on to the Philippines, he answered that too. The Philippines were no easy posting.
And whatever John Hulen did out there — whatever moments of courage or leadership the records captured — they earned him a Silver Star and a Congressional Citation. That's the kind of résumé that follows a man. Then came the World War.
The first one — the one that shook the whole earth loose. Hulen served there too, and when it was over, he came home carrying a French Croix de Guerre and a U.S. Distinguished Service Medal.
Two different nations recognized what this man had done. That's worth sitting with for a second. But here's what I find remarkable: after all of that — after the Philippines, after France, after all those decades of soldiering — John Hulen turned his energy toward building something lasting right here on the Texas coast.
In 1925, he was instrumental in establishing Camp Palacios. And in 1930, the camp was renamed Camp Hulen in his honor. A place that bore his name, built in part by his own hand.
In 1935, he retired from service holding the rank of Lieutenant General — the highest rank in the militia. He had started as a young Missourian in a Texas militia unit, and he finished at the very top. John Augustus Hulen died in 1957.
Citizen soldier. Railroad executive. And a man with a camp on the Texas coast that carried his name long after he hung up the uniform.
What the marker says
General John Augustus Hulen Missourian John Augustus Hulen (1871-1957), citizen soldier and railroad executive, came to Texas with his family in the 1870s. He later attended Virginia's Staunton Military Academy and returned to Texas. He joined a militia unit and later served in the Spanish-American War and then in the Philippines. There he earned a Silver Star and a Congressional Citation. In World War I, he earned a French Croix de Guerre and a U.S. Distinguished Service Medal. After the war, he was instrumental in establishing Camp Palacios in 1925, renamed Camp Hulen in 1930 in his honor. In 1935, he retired from service a Lieutenant General, the highest rank in the militia. (2002)