Tuesday, January 31, 2023
  • Advertise
  • Submit Story Idea
  • Submit Event
  • Calendar
Arlington Today Magazine
  • Home
  • Categories
    • Arlington News
    • People
    • Community
    • Commentary
    • Business and Education
    • Featured
    • Wellness
    • Scene
    • Design and Interiors
    • Uncategorized
  • Digital Editions
  • Join the Newsletter
  • Subscribe
  • Contact Us
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Categories
    • Arlington News
    • People
    • Community
    • Commentary
    • Business and Education
    • Featured
    • Wellness
    • Scene
    • Design and Interiors
    • Uncategorized
  • Digital Editions
  • Join the Newsletter
  • Subscribe
  • Contact Us
No Result
View All Result
Arlington Today Magazine

Heroes rally for the last roundup

Kenneth Perkins by Kenneth Perkins
March 3, 2020
in Community
0 0
0
Heroes rally for the last roundup

Harry Miller and Mark Hatchel stand before a sign signifying a significant spot in Belgium during WWII. (Photo courtesy of Mark Hatchel)

0
SHARES
196
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
C&W Antiques Oct 2020

We seem to have arrived at a place where World War II veterans are often thought of as this once majestic species now dwindling close to extinction. Spotting one is cause for awe or celebration or reflection, or a fusion of all three.

I remember reading a newspaper article a few years back making the case rather explicitly how WW2 veterans were dying at 348 a day. It read like an informational piece on how to save the Atlantic Goliath Grouper.

Related posts

January 3, 2023

January 2, 2023
Harry Miller and Mark Hatchel stand before a sign signifying a significant spot in Belgium during WWII. (Photo courtesy of Mark Hatchel)

Of course, we can’t “save” WW2 veterans. They can’t be repopulated. As great as this generation is said to have been, escaping death would be quite the Houdini act.

Mark Hatchel understands. For some time now, Hatchel, whose father, Joe, served with the 740th Tank Battalion, has filled in as a kind of reunion ringmaster, staging local gatherings in honor and remembrance of the unit’s role in WWII.

Over the years, Hatchel has led tours to Germany and Belgium, where the 740th Tank Battalion is treated like rock stars. It was a top-secret unit using searchlight tanks designed to blind the enemy at night in desert warfare. No matter how quick-footed the Infantry was, they managed to keep up and, as Hatchel puts it, “Hit anything they fired at.”

Hatchel’s first reunion of the 740th was in 1975 in Dallas, accompanying his father. “I was fascinated by what they did and who they were,” Hatchel says of the veterans.

In 1996, Hatchel joined a group of veterans heading back to Belgium and Germany. (Joe would die four years later.). Since then, Hatchel led veterans and their families back multiple times. Each trip Hatchel watched the number of veterans dwindle.

Last May, he assembled a group to Belgium, for the 75th Anniversary of the Battle of the Bulge, the last major German offensive campaign where the 740th played a pivotal role.

He’s pretty sure it will be the last trip, at least with a significant number of veterans.

“We only have a few veterans remaining, as most of them are 95 years old or older,” says Hatchel. “We have the memories, we have the books, but it’s a very different thing to get firsthand accounts of what it was really like.”

What a joy it’s been for these travelers. One of the few remaining Arlington veterans is Harry Miller. In WWII terms, he’s a young blood at 91. He was allowed to enlist in the Army at age 15, thanks to a missing birth certificate (you had to be at least 17). Miller’s mother died when he was three, his father when he was 12.

“’This happens all the time’ is what they said to me about walking in there without a birth certificate,” Miller recalls. “So I was in.”

Miller also served in the Korean and Vietnam wars before retiring and working as a safety inspector at the University of Texas at Arlington.

“My wife and I used to live for the times we got together with the gang,” Miller says. “In Belgium, they were as nice as can be. You thought I was Eisenhower the way they treated me.”

Belgium children would rush the veterans, “thanking us for their freedom and liberation. It was heartwarming how they teach their kids that kind of history.”

During one of the ceremonies, a Belgium woman walked up to Miller and asked if one of his buddies had made the trip. He had. Miller pointed him out. In tears, the woman told the man it was he who, during a curfew, bent the rules and drove her in his jeep to the hospital – where she gave birth to a son. She introduced her son – now a grown man – named after the soldier.

“There are so many stories like that,” said Hatchel, who is writing a book.

Only seven veterans from the 740th remain, “and only two of us are mobile,” Miller says. “Others are bedridden or have Alzheimer’s or something. It’s too bad to see them all gone. What great men. I served in Korea and Vietnam, but my World War II buddies were a different breed. I miss them dearly.”

 

Related Posts

  • True Heroes

    The 740th Tank Battalion Assocication holds a local reunion to honor and remember the unit’s…

  • Mayor's Community Prayer Breakfast

    Snapshots the 5th Annual Mayor’s Community Prayer Breakfast hosted by the Greater Arlington Chamber (Photos:…

  • Thanksgiving

    Read more: Here

Tags: Around Town
Donna J. Smiedt

Follow Us

  • But first   coffee    The Arlington Dunkin    located at 5801 Office Park Dr  today announced it will help keep the community running with a happy hour celebration offer throughout the remainder of August  Every day beginning now through Monday  August 31  guests can power through the rest of the month and receive a FREE  Medium Hot or Iced Coffee with any purchase from 2-6 PM   On behalf of local Arlington Dunkin    franchisee  Hiren Patel  Dunkin    is proud to keep Arlington running throughout the month of August
  • Nothing soothes the soul like a trip to the Majestic Smoky Mountains  Read all about the Greene family   s    COVID-cation    and travel safety in the link in our bio
  • Read the latest message from UTA   s interim president  Teik C  Lim  by clicking the link in our bio
  • The City of Arlington announces Unity Council  Read all about this positive way for the city in the link in our bio
  • Here   s to the All Stars  Click the link in our bio to find the complete list of Arlington Today   s 2020 All Star businesses in over 160 categories
  • Put DFW Restaurant week on YOUR calendar  Support your favorite Arlington and local DFW restaurants this August 31-September 6 during restaurant week    For more info and participating restaurants  click the link in our bio
  • This Arlington radio station is making movie magic   Read all about Crystal Vasquez and her upcoming documentary about local radio station     The Ticket     by clicking the link in our bio
  • With the school year starting soon  it   s important to know what   s going on  Read all about AISD and MISD   s back to school plans in the link in our bio
  • August is for the All Stars        Click the link in our bio to read our latest edition of Arlington Today and check out your local All  Star businesses
  • 12 Mighty Orphans: There’s a fascinating ‘story behind the story’ regarding this fine film

    12 Mighty Orphans: There’s a fascinating ‘story behind the story’ regarding this fine film

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • March Scene

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • The Visionary Who Didn’t Give Up

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Boot-scootin’ Boogie

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • In case of emergency: Mansfield Fire Department introduces the ‘Vial of Life’ initiative to keep residents on the ready

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
Arlington Today Magazine

Arlington Texas Area News and Events Magazine

Follow us on social media:

Recent News

  • (no title)
  • (no title)
  • (no title)

Category

  • Arlington News
  • Business and Education
  • Commentary
  • Community
  • Design and Interiors
  • Featured
  • People
  • Scene
  • Sports
  • Uncategorized
  • Wellness

Recent News

January 18, 2023

January 18, 2023
  • Advertise
  • Submit Story Idea
  • Submit Event
  • Calendar

© 2022 Arlington Today - Designed by Advent Trinity Marketing Agency Web Design

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Categories
    • Arlington News
    • Community
    • People
    • Commentary
    • Business and Education
    • Featured
    • Wellness
    • Scene
    • Design and Interiors
  • Digital Editions
  • Join the Newsletter
  • Contact Us

© 2022 Arlington Today - Designed by Advent Trinity Marketing Agency Web Design

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password? Sign Up

Fill the forms bellow to register

All fields are required. Log In

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In

Add Arlington Today Magazine to your Homescreen!

Add