Henry T. Waskow

Infobox Person
name = Henry Thomas Waskow


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birth_date = birth date|1918|9|24
birth_place = DeWitt County, Texas
death_date = death date and age|1943|12|14|1918|9|24
death_place = San Pietro Infine, Italy
body_discovered =
death_cause =
resting_place = Sicily-Rome American Cemetery and Memorial
resting_place_coordinates = coord|41|27|55.08|N|12|39|30.18|E |region:IT_type:landmark |display=inline |name=Sicily-Rome American Cemetery and Memorial
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nationality = American
ethnicity =
citizenship =
other_names = "Snort"
known_for = The loyalty and affection of his troops during World War II, inspiring a noted article and two films
education = Bachelor of Arts
alma_mater = Trinity University (Texas)
employer = United States Army, Service # O-407112
occupation = Officer
years_active = 1939-1943
home_town = Belton, Texas
title = Captain
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religion = Baptist
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children =
parents = Frank Carl August Waskow
Mary Goth
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Henry Thomas Waskow (September 24, 1918, in DeWitt County, Texas - December 14, 1943 near San Pietro Infine, Italy) was a US Army captain memorialized in Ernie Pyle's dispatch "Death of Captain Waskow," which in turn inspired the movie The Story of G.I. Joe and informed and publicized the documentary The Battle of San Pietro by John Huston [cite web |url= http://www.texasmilitaryforcesmuseum.org/36division/archives/waskow/sect1.htm |title= Appointment at Hill 1205: Ernie Pyle and Captain Henry T. Waskow |accessdate= 2008-10-10 |accessmonthday= |accessdaymonth= |accessyear= |author= |last= Sweeney |first= Michael S |authorlink= |coauthors= |date= |year= |month= |format= |work= |publisher= Texas Military Forces Museum |location= Austin, Texas |pages= |language= |doi= |archiveurl= |archivedate= |quote= ] [cite book |last= Atkinson |first= Rick |authorlink= Rick Atkinson |coauthors= |editor= |others= |title= The Day of Battle |origdate= |origyear= 2007 |origmonth= |url= |format= |accessdate= |accessyear= |accessmonth= |edition= |series= |volume= |date= |year= |month= |publisher= Macmillan |location= |language= |isbn=0805062890 |oclc= |doi= |id= |pages= |chapter= |chapterurl= |quote= |ref= ] .

Ernie Pyle wrote of Captain Waskow [cite web |url= http://www.pbs.org/weta/reportingamericaatwar/reporters/pyle/waskow.html |title= Reporting America at War: The Death of Captain Waskow |accessdate= |accessmonthday= |accessdaymonth= |accessyear= |author= |last= Pyle |first= Ernie |authorlink= Ernie Pyle |coauthors= |date= 1944-01-10|year= |month= |format= |work= |publisher= PBS |location= |pages= |language= |doi= |archiveurl= |archivedate= |quote= The full text of Pyle's article.] :

Biography

Childhood and adolescence

Waskow was the seventh of eight children by children of German immigrants. His parents were cotton farmers, and moved around in various places in Texas until settling in Belton, Texas when Henry was two years old. He attended the public schools and graduated from Belton High School in 1935, as president of the student council, receiving top grades and showing a particular aptitude for mathematics.

College and early military career

He attended Temple Junior College on a scholarship, often commuting by foot from his parents' home, and taking on custodial duties on campus. During his college years he enlisted in the Texas Army National Guard, in the 143rd Infantry Regiment, 36th infantry division with his two older brothers, John Otto Waskow, and August Waskow [Sweeney, p. 5] .

Following his two years in junior college, Waskow was offered a position as a teacher but turned it down to attend Trinity University, which was then in Waxahachie, Texas. He graduated with a bachelor's degree on June 5, 1939, and was offered a job at Belton High School. He turned it down, expecting to be called for full time military duty.

World War II

When President Roosevelt put the National Guard under federal control and activated the 36th infantry division, the Waskow brothers were transferred to Camp Bowie in January of 1941. Waskow was given his officer's commission as a lieutenant on March 14, 1941 and received training in Fort Benning before being assigned to Company B, First Battalion, 143rd Regiment [Sweeney, p. 5] .

As an officer, Waskow proved to be a principled and compassionate leader, giving those under his command individual attention. He attended various training programs throughout the country before rejoining his unit in Camp Edwards in Falmouth, Massachusetts. While there, he was promoted to captain [Sweeney, p. 5] .

In early April, the 36th was shipped from New York harbor to Oran, Algeria and was then stationed in Rabat in Morocco. The unit was kept in reserve until September 9th, when he landed on Red Beach near the ancient city of Paestum in the Campania region of Italy as part of Operation Avalanche. Waskow saw combat for the first time in the struggle to hold and enlarge the beachhead and for the Chiunzi Pass, where he commanded company B. His brother August was wounded and sent home during the battle [Sweeney, p. 6-8] .

Waskow and his men fought their way north past Naples, relieving the 3rd division near Mignano and then marched on, largely on mountain trails to Hill 1205, near San Pietro Infine. On the evening of December 12, on his way up from the treeline to launch an attack on the summit, a shell hit near him and his men. Shrapnel caught him in the chest, and he died almost immediately [Sweeney, p. 7] .

Ernie Pyle

Riley Tidwell, who had been Waskow's assistant throughout the war, left Waskow's body where he had died and went down from the mountain to notify Waskow's superiors that he had been killed. On the way he encountered Ernie Pyle, the noted war reporter [Sweeney, pps. 7-11] .

Pyle waited the three days it took to recover Waskow's body. It was when the body was unloaded from the back of the mule, and his men made their farewells with the body, that Pyle was inspired to write the dispatch that memorialized Waskow. Pyle published his column on January 10th, and stacks of letters started arriving to Waskow's survivors in Belton afterwards [Sweeney, p. 12] .

Following his wishes, Waskow was buried in Italy. His grave is at the Sicily-Rome American Cemetery in Nettuno. His grave is on Plot G Row 6 Grave 33. [cite web |url= http://www.abmc.gov/cemeteries/cemeteries/sr.php |title= Sicily-Rome American Cemetery and memorial |accessdate= 2008-10-11 |accessmonthday= |accessdaymonth= |accessyear= |author= |last= |first= |authorlink= |coauthors= |date= |year= |month= |format= |work= |publisher= American Battle Monuments Commission |location= |pages= |language= |doi= |archiveurl= |archivedate= |quote= ]

A memorial was held for him in his home town when his mother died a few months later, and he was posthumously awarded the Legion of Merit [Sweeney, p. 12] .

Legacy

Pyle wrote the column about Waskow a few days after his death, in Caserta, where he had been depressed and was drinking heavily. He asked AP correspondent Don Whitehead to read the columns, exclaiming, "I’ve lost the touch. This stuff stinks. I just can’t seem to get going again." It was first published, the Washington Daily News gave it front page billing, and sold out its entire edition. The entire column was read on the radio by Raymond Gram Swing and Arthur Godfrey. It was reprinted in TIME magazine, and was used for a war bond drive [Sweeney, p. 1] .

In his last will and testament, Waskow wrote:

cquote|God alone knows how I worked and slaved to make myself a worthy leader of these magnificent men, and I feel assured that my work has paid dividends--in personal satisfaction, if nothing else. ... I felt so unworthy, at times, of the great trust my country had put in me, that I simply had to keep plugging to satisfy my own self that I was worthy of that trust. I have not, at the time of writing this, done that, and I suppose I never will. [From Henry T. Waskow's last will and testament]

Pyle's story informed John Huston's documentary The Battle of San Pietro (released in 1945) and heightened interest in it. The character of Captain Bill Walker (played by Robert Mitchum) in William Wellman's motion picture The Story of G.I. Joe is based on Waskow [Atkinson, p. 293] .

Henry T. Waskow High School in Belton is also named after Waskow [cite web |url= http://www.bisd.net/waskow/history.aspx |title= Henry T. Waskow High School history |accessdate= 2008-01-11 |accessmonthday= |accessdaymonth= |accessyear= |author= |last= |first= |authorlink= |coauthors= |date= |year= |month= |format= |work= |publisher= Henry T. Waskow High School |location= Belton, Texas |pages= |language= |doi= |archiveurl= |archivedate= |quote= ] .

References