Updated 2022

In honor of Veterans Day, the next two blog posts feature military veterans who were among the first neighbors in Brentwood and Crestview more than 60 years ago. Most of them remained here for the rest of their lives. Here are a few stories of their service.

BILL WILLIAMSON, AL KIRBY, AND JOHN CARLSON

You can read more about Bill here, Al here, and John here.

We interviewed Bill on October 7, 2007; Al on March 29, 2009; and John and his wife Judy on September 5, 2009. All have since died—Bill and Al in 2012, John in 2019, and Judy in 2015.

JIM BAUER

“After Officer Candidate School, I received a commission in May of ’53. I was assigned to a destroyer out of Pearl Harbor, the USS Sproston, and joined it south of Tokyo. There we had aircraft guard duty. The squadron of destroyers would make sure no submarines or anything got close enough to the aircraft carrier during take-offs or landings to be able to torpedo them. We came back in June of ’54, and Mickey and I got married in August of ’54. St. Louis Catholic Church was built by January of ’53, and we were the second couple married in the original church building.”

We interviewed Jim and his wife Mickey on May 15, 2010. Jim died September 30, 2017.

DON GRESSER

“I was U. S. Navy attached to the Fleet Marine Forces. I joined the Navy to stay out of a foxhole and have a dry bunk. Instead, I spent most of my time in a foxhole! Most didn’t have indoor plumbing or roofs over them. That’s just the way it was.” According to Don’s obituary, his service was “from anti-aircraft battalion to marine infantry assault platoon, from the Solomon Islands to Okinawa and China.” When he returned to Austin, he married Gladys in April 1946. They were involved in our community for many years; you can read more here.

We interviewed Don and Gladys on March 7, 2009. Don died February 15, 2011. Gladys died March 6, 2022.

Next time—Part 2 of our special series in honor of Veterans Day.