Veteran’s Day Essay
by Emilia Humphries
Have you ever wondered what it
would be like to serve in World War II? I have two great grandfathers who
served during the war. One served in the Navy and the other was in the Army,
but only one fought during the war.
On April 3rd, 1943 a
young 20 year-old boy was drafted to join the 914th Army engineers. The
9th out of fourteen children, he had never traveled far from home. That
young boy was Willard Giles Humphries, my great grandfather.
One day, while in the Philippines the
Company Commander wanted to go up to the front lines but he couldn’t find his
driver. He asked if any of the men could drive a truck. My great grandfather
told him he had never driven an Army truck but had driven a truck at home. So
he was elected. After this, he was a truck driver taking supplies and food to
the front lines. He also drove a jeep taking officers to different places. On
several occasions he had bullets hit the cab of his truck when he was driving.
Great grandpa Humphries saw 165
days of combat as part of the gun crew. He never like to talk about those sad
days. All we know comes from his written history and documents he left behind.
It is from his history that we now know that any time he saw children throw
away food he was reminded of the children in the Philippines who would eat
anything, even out of a trash can.
I am thankful to both of my great grandfathers
for their service. I am grateful for the
sacrifices they and their families made so that I can have food, attend any
school of my choice and to be safe when I am with my family.
