What are you reading right now? - Page 27

AgFrogfan

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3:55a, 6/9/26

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ABATTBQ87

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In reply to ABATTBQ87 • 6:25p, 6/15/26

AG

ABATTBQ87 said:
Brave Men
By Ernie Pyle
Copyright 1944

Chapter 17: Beachhead Fighters
Page 259

Major Rollin Elkins, sometimes known in fact as R. Lafayette Elkins, used to be a professor at Texas A. & M., College Station, Texas. He was one of that old gang. His nickname was "Satch," and he went around in the green two-piece coverall of the infantry. Everybody loved him.
That memorable night in Tunisia, I excitedly went away and left my helmet and shovel lying under a half-track in which Major Elkins was sleeping, and never saw them again. In our reminiscing, I told the major how, when I was home, several people told me that my steel helmet was in somebody's house on Long Island. How it got there, I haven't the remotest idea.
But I had another helmet then, and Satch Elkins had another half-track, "Bird Dog the Second," to replace the old one that was shot out from under him that awful Tunisian afternoon.

More about Major Rollin L Elkins

Texas A&M College Years (Class of 1933)
During his undergraduate years at Texas A&M College, Elkins was incredibly active on campus and in the Corps of Cadets:

Military Rank: Served as a Second Lieutenant of Troop D Cavalry, sparking a career-defining interest in cavalry tactics and the transition from horse to mechanized armor.
The Aggie Band: Played in the Fightin' Texas Aggie Band as well as the Guion Hall Orchestra (19311932).
Campus Activities: He was a member of the Palestine Club, the Press Club (The Battalion), the Gathright Bucket Brigade, and served as the Intramural Athletic Manager.
Post-Graduation: He remained at the College as a graduate student and later a Professor of Economics (listing his address at Box 72, Faculty Exchange, College Station, Texas) before being called to active duty.

World War II Combat Service & Heroism
Entering active service in 1941, Elkins was right at the cutting edge of the U.S. Army's new mechanized warfare strategy.

1st Armored Division (North Africa): Stationed initially at Fort Knox, Kentucky, with the newly formed 1st Armored Division, he deployed to North Africa as a Major commanding a mechanized cavalry unit.
The Battle of Faid Pass (Tunisia, 1943): During the heavy Axis push in early 1943, his forward command half-track took three direct hits from German artillery shells. While cleaning a carburetor filter to keep the vehicle moving, the third shell set the vehicle on fire. Elkins was wounded during the fierce desert fighting but managed to evade capture. Famed war correspondent Ernie Pyle later chronicled "Satch" Elkins' harrowing escape, noting that a local Arab helped save him by hiding him in a well ditch and covering him with a rope until it was safe to move.
80th Infantry Division (European Theater): Later promoted to Lieutenant Colonel and eventually Colonel, he served with the 80th Infantry Division during the relentless push through Central Europe. On December 28, 1944, during the bitter winter fighting of the Ardennes Campaign (Battle of the Bulge), he was awarded for extraordinary heroism. While directing artillery fire that successfully destroyed multiple German artillery pieces, machine gun nests, and mortar positions, he was wounded in the right elbow by exploding shell fragments. Disregarding his own painful injuries, he refused to back down and continued controlling barrages directly in front of the advancing American infantry.

Military Decorations (as noted on his headstone)

BSM (Bronze Star Medal): Awarded for meritorious and heroic achievement in combat.
PH (Purple Heart): Awarded with an Oak Leaf Cluster for wounds received in action both in Tunisia (1943) and the Ardennes (1944).

Colonel Elkins survived the war, was discharged from active duty in late 1945, and later returned to the College Station area, leaving behind a profound legacy as a combat commander, educator, and true Texas Aggie.

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Aggie Pharmer

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9:24p, 6/16/26

AG

Has anyone read "The ******* Brigade"? I listened to that one a couple of weeks ago. Interesting story about the US's operations to destroy the Nazi's fledgling nuclear program via the Alsos Mission.

That book led me to listen to "Quantum: Einstein, Bohr, and the Great Debate about the Nature of Reality". Another really interesting book where the story leads to the Solvay Conference of 1927. Pretty detailed in showing the connections between late 1800's physics and how it led to quantum physics of the 1920's and beyond. Would probably be better in print than as an audio book though.

I'm now listening to "The Age of Entanglement: When Quantum Physics was Reborn". Haven't listened to enough of this one to really have much of an opinion.

As a chemistry major at TAMU, these books would have made certain parts of CHEM102 and PCHEM 2 make so much more sense.

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Smeghead4761

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In reply to ja86 • 1:25a, 6/17/26

ja86 said:
I need to get that book...

It's excellent so far. I've had the interesting experience of reading through a section and realizing that I've heard the author give it in a lecture.

In this case, the section at the beginning of the February chapter on the differences in US, Soviet, and German tank production. And this lecture, given at the WWII Museum in 2013.

ABATTBQ87

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6:44a, 6/27/26

AG

Queens Die Proudly copyright 1943
W.L. White

During the devastating opening days of World War II, the bond between a bomber crew was forged in shared hardship and profound loss, as movingly detailed in W.L. White's 1943 chronicle, *Queens Die Proudly*. The book recounts the perspective of pilot Frank Kurtz as he discovers the tragic aftermath of the attack on Clark Field in the Philippines, finding his crew killed in an irregular line on the ground. Among the fallen was his beloved co-pilot, Lieutenant Arthur Gary of San Marcos, Texas. Fondly known as "Tex," Gary was a former Texas A&M boxing champion remembered for his big, broad shoulders and a good-natured, devil-may-care spirit that once saw him flying their first Boeing B-17, "Old 99," in nothing but shorts to brave the blistering tropical sun. Sitting beside his fallen friend whose body was still warm from the blast, Kurtz made a solemn vow to uncover the reason behind the tragedy so it would never happen again.
Before leaving his crew for the last time, Kurtz went down the line alone to collect the personal items they valued mostdiaries, billfolds, and photographsto return to their grieving families. At the end of the line lay Tex, and Kurtz knew he had to retrieve his friend's prized Texas A&M Aggie ring to send to his mother. In a final, heartbreaking moment that mirrored Tex's stubborn, playful nature in life, the ring initially resisted coming off his finger. It felt to Kurtz like his friend was simply "playing horse" and wrestling with him one last time before giving in. With a gentle, reassuring word and a soft tug, the ring slipped free, marking a deeply personal conclusion to the story of a brave young pilot who loved his family, his school, and his crew.

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