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4lt;\17E Pledge Allegiancf ™ To the Flag of th# United States of Amrrica# and to rhe Republic for which it stands; oneN r ion%indivisible, with Liberty andfor all.President Franklin I), K ostvelWith The Men-*- In ServiceSanta Barbara, California,October 21, 1944. “I’ve got good reasons for killing Nazis,” stated Corporal Thomas Tru-ax, Silver Star holder, decorated inwas a guy always ready for a fight.’Earlier that memorable morningthe 23 year old sharpshooter, crouchecbehind an old stone grinding wheelnear a farmhouse, observed severalGermans moving about. “That wasthe time I almost got two Nazis withone bullet — Two of them, close together were lined up in my sights,but just as 1 started to squeeze thetrigger, one of them moved away. Igot the other one though—a major.Later on we found more informationthe same action with Lieutenant Er- on his than you could shake a sticknest V. Childers, who won the nation’s highest military honor, the Congressional Medal of Honor.“My brother was killed in the Merchant Marine by a Nazi submarine. If it had only been his ship that was sunk, I guess I wouldn’t have beer so bitter—but he was killed in a lifeboat that was shelled by the sub.’’Corporal Truax told his story in the comfortable atmosphere of the Army Ground and Service Forces Redistribution Station for overseas returnee? where he is temporarily stationed%The young soldier from the Hondo Valley, New Mexico, estimates hr killed nine Nazis near Oliveto, Italy, the day he won his award.Advancing on a German held hill, his battalion, atempting to join force? with another infantry battalion, of the 45th Division, was pinned down by murderous fire from three enemy machine gun nests, dug in on the terraced hillside. Volunteering, Corporal Truax, an expert sharpshooter, offered to wipe ou» the German gun positions with Lieutenant Childers.Snaking their way up the slope, the young marksman and the Lieutenant each chose a nest for themselves. Hugging the ground, they circled to the rear of the gun emplacements as crackling concentrated fire from their rifle company kept the German gunners’ heads down so the Nazis were not able to observe the two soldiers until they were virtually on top of the gun pit.“As I approached the nest I saw three Germans,” said the New Mexico infantryman. “Two of them were firing light machine guns—I got up in a half crouch and one of them spotted me—as he tried to swing his gun on me I let them have it from the hip—the whole eight rounds. I killed them all.”Almost simultaneously, Lieutenant Childers, who had been fighting all day with a broken ankle, slew the Germans in the other nest. Teaming up, the soldier and the oficer wiped out the Nazis in the third gun emplacement.As a result of Corporal Truax’s and Lieutenant Childers ’ heroism, their batalion stormed and captured the hill, joining forces with the other outfit. They then assisted in evacuatingthe wounded.In officialdom's precise language,! Corporal Truax’s citation reads, “Hisj superb courage and devotion to duty reflect great credit to his and to the men of the Armed Forces.“I liked going on patrols with the Lieutenant” grinned the corporal. “Helt;lt.99Twenty minutes later, on this action crammed day, an enemy sniper tried to pick off a captain heading the Corporal’s platoon. Figuring outthe direction of the sharpshoter’s shots, the youthful infantryman belly-crawled through thick brush to a:reek bottom where he located theft* Nrzi sniper. I nailed him with oneshot.”Corporal Truax fought on Sicily as well as all through Italy, taking part in the first landings at Gala. He also fought in the bitter struggle for Ras-3ani Airport, and at the “Battle of Bloody Ridge” in northern Italy. Pride in his outfit, the renowned 45th Division, is strong.Sergeant Bill Mauldin of that out-fit, Stars and Stripes cartoonist,famed creator of “GI Joe,” is one ofhis many friends. An experience of the Corporal’s gave Mauldin the idea for one of the cartoonists most well received drawings.Attributing his rifle marksmanshipto a boyhood passion for hunting, thegood looking young south westernerrecalled, “My brother and I always hunted together. If you saw one of us and looked close ec nugh, you’d be sure to see the other.” Wistfully he added, “I’d i'ure like to hit some hunting this year.” He thought for a moment . . . “But there’ll be other years.”Quavered at the Hotel Miramar in the Army’ s restful Redistribution Station, Corporal Truax is undergoing processing and reclassification amidst peaceful surroundings, where he thoughtfully thinks of the future.With a hopeful note in his voice hespoke of his Dad’s 280 acre farm. “I’d kind of like to drift back there after the war.” Formerly a student at Carizozo High School, New Mexico, this earnest young man wants to continue his interrupted education. He%wishes to study industrial chemistry,a subject he is vitally interested in.Under the GI Bill of Rights, heplanning on four years of college.Peace, after the war, can and willbe maintained, if the nations of theworld get together with the peoplebehind them, the New Mexico soldieravows. He believes American soldierswho have been overseas, developed an understanding and sympathy of otherpeople and this will help matters. Favoring a world securtiy organization. Corporal Truax has one qualification, “Politics should be kept out of it.” The war veteran has a philosophy regarding Nazis. Grimly he aid “The best lesson for a Nazi is a bullet— that’s what they had cooked up forus.
Newspaper Details
Carrizozo Lincoln County News
Carrizozo, New Mexico, US
Fri, Nov 10, 1944
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CO, USA 08 May 2020
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