Chester joined the Army on September 15, 1939 at 19 years of age. On Sunday December 7th, 1941, he was driving back from his wife’s parent’s house in Divine Texas to Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio where he was based, when he heard the news of the attack on Pearl Harbor. At Fort Sam, Chester was assigned to the 15th Field Artillery of the 2nd Infantry Division. He participated in the famous maneuvers that were held over thousands of acres in Louisiana, where armored units were for the first time, used as a separate offensive machine, not just supporting infantry.
Chester was originally trained as a cryptographer, and traveled the country instructing soldiers in the super secret codes of the time. He was shipped overseas in January 1945 to southern France and docked in Marseille. He was assigned to the 70th Infantry Div. as an ordinance platoon Sergeant at this time, and eventually linked up with Patton near the Ardennes Forest, famous for the Battle of the Bulge.
The winter of 1944-45 was known as one of the coldest in European history. Chester experienced what it was like to have your feet frozen, as did many who participated in the European campaign during this time. And that’s not all, at one point, Chester was attempting to hitch up a trailer to an army truck that was next to a bombed out building. As he moved the trailer, a blast blew up the building and Chester with it. The German’s had booby trapped the trailer. Thankfully he lived through it, but his feet were not getting any better. He was transferred to a hospital in Holland for frostbite, and that’s where he was when the war ended.
Chester served during the occupation of Germany, even though he was married with a family, and had enough “points” to get out. A certain Colonel thought he was really good at his job, and delayed Chester going home until after the Japanese surrender.
Chester finally made it back to Fort Sam Houston and out of the Army in December 1945. He worked for a freight line for over 30 years finally retiring in 1980. He makes his home in Garland Texas.
Chester feels bittersweet about visiting the WWII Memorial. He says that at 91, he has lived a long life and is glad to visit his memorial. However, most of his army buddies are not with us anymore, and of
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