Texas is not only a big state, and though in 1940 our population was sparse, Texans were big contributors to the country’s fight to maintain our liberty in World War II.
You might recognize the names of some individuals who served in our military then – General Dwight D. Eisenhower, Colonel Oveta Culp Hobby, and Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz who is near and dear to our hearts here at the National Museum of the Pacific War. There were thirty-three Texans who earned the Medal of Honor! But, over 700,000 other men and women from Texas also served in uniform during WWII – ordinary people who did the extraordinary to protect our freedom.
Our Texas Heroes series posts endeavor to tell the stories of everyday Texans who served or supported the war effort – focusing primarily on those who served in the Asiatic-Pacific theater.
We hope you will enjoy reading these stories and will even look further to our sources to learn more about the everyday heroes we feature. Most, if not all, of these stories can be found in the Museum’s digital archives in the form of oral histories. You can listen to or read these first-hand accounts.