Lt. Col. William Edward “Ed” Dyess was born August 9, 1916 to Richard T. Dyess, a judge, and Hallie Graham-Dyess in Albany, Texas. Dyess grew up working on the family farm and also held a number of odd jobs. He was a Boy Scout, but had trouble attending meetings while he was also working. The story is told of him that one week, a carnival had performed in Albany about the same time as he brought home a poor report card from school. He is said to have told his parents that it was all right, he was going to join the carnival anyway when he got older.
Category: world war 2
July 4, 1946
World War II had gripped the country for the better part of the last five years. This was the first peacetime July Fourth celebration in many years and for some cities, the first celebration of any kind since 1940 or 1941. Around the state, newspapers reported how it was observed:
Walter Cronkite, Jr., World War II Correspondent
Walter Leland Cronkite, Jr. is not a name that most people would associate with the State of Texas, but he had Texas roots. Walter, Jr. was born November 4, 1916 to Dr. Walter L. and Helen Lena Fritsche Cronkite in Missouri. The surname Cronkite is thought to be derived from a similar sounding Dutch name. However, traditional genealogical sources show that this particular Cronkite family had resided in the United States as far back as the middle 1600s with similar spelling, though for a time it was spelled “Cronkhite,” with an h after the k. Dr. Cronkite was a dentist like his own father had been. The family moved to Houston, Texas when Walter, Jr. was ten years old when Dr. Cronkite had accepted an offer to teach at a local dental school.
Continue reading Walter Cronkite, Jr., World War II Correspondent
Congressman James Mitchell “Jim” Collins
Jim Collins was the son of Carr P. and Elza Ruth Woodall Collins. He was born on April 29, 1916 in Hallsville, Harrison County, Texas. Jim was a third generation Texan. His grandfather was born in Hardin County, Texas and his father was also born within the state. His great grandfather had come to Texas in the mid 1850s, before the Civil War. Carr P. Collins was a successful businessman in the insurance field and founded Fidelity Union Life Insurance Company. Carr was active in the Democratic party and worked many years in party politics and organization and to the best of our knowledge, Carr did not run for a public office. Jim grew up in Dallas and graduated from Woodrow Wilson High School, earned a bachelor’s degree from Southern Methodist University and master’s degrees from Northwestern University and Harvard Business School.
Japanese Balloon Bombs Reach Texas in WWII
Earlier this summer, World War II historian G. P. Cox posted an excellent blog entry in his blog Pacific Paratrooper about Japanese balloon bombs reaching the United States. His article was reblogged here immediately before this post. If you are interested in World War II in the Pacific, we highly recommend this blog.
Texas History Notebook 