Lone Star Gazette (Dublin, Tex.), Vol. 1, No. 21, Ed. 1 Saturday, July 1, 2000 Page: 4 of 8
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A Salute to
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they wouldn’t shoot us down. table. When the table next to
them was empty Gen. Patton
Then we landed in
Scotland. We stayed at an old got up, pulled the table over
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and invited us to sit with them
castle — it was a beautiful
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Home (254) 968-2244
Store 1590 N. Graham
STEPHENVILLE. TEXAS 76401
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If you enj oy reading our paper,
chances are your customers do to!
battleship, which you’re not
supposed to do. The only
thing I knew to do was to
flash SOS the whole time so
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Chris
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at a two chair table in a cafe
there, and the place was
saw that it was a big explosion
but Carl drove up to the site in
a jeep and he told me, years
later, that it just blew the hell
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ASSOCIATED SERVICES
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gave us coverage,” Mr. Keller
says. “And Carl Crimmins,
(now deceased) was in the
infantry in Africa and in Italy
and since we bombed in
support of ground troops 1
Patton and Brigadier General
Theodore Roosevelt, Jr.
There wasn’t an open table
and they had no place to sit.
We got up and gave them our
DANNY & JANA KARNES
Danny's
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Bramlett Implement Inc.
Hwy 377 South
Stephenville, Texas 76401
Fax 254-968-5938
their Arabian horses. It was
the most beautiful horse I’ve
ever ridden.”
While stationed in Tunis
Mr. Keller got the thrill of a
lifetime.
Edwin Keller
Born: Dublin, Texas
Current hometown: Stephenville
Branch of Service: U.S. Army Air Corps (95th Squadron, 17th bomb group, 12th Air
Force.)
Pictured above is Edwin Keller, left, and the crew of the New York Central, II and below
a young Lt. Edwin Keller. Courtesy photos.
Family: Wife Carol, daughters Carol Lee Garrett, Edwina Ferguson, Janet Keller and
Laura Golightly (deceased). Grandchildren Worth Golightly,. Holly Wiese, Les Garrett,
Wade Garrett and Callie Johnson. Great-grandchildren Austin Wiese, Amy Wiese,
Kennedi Golightly and Karl Golightly.
Special Interests and Hobbies: Fishing
Business: Erath County Veteran Service Officer (within that capacity has increased Erath
County veteran’s benefits from three million to six million dollars.) Former Erath County
Attorney, Special County Judge and practiced law for 43 years.
Decorations and Citations: European Campaign Medal with four bronze stars, Croix de
Guerre ayec palme, Air Medal with seven oak leaf clusters, World War II Victory Medal,
Presidential Unit Citation and the Distinguished Flying Cross.
Mr. Keller took some
spectacular photos during the
war, including some from the
window of a B-26. Those
offer a fascinating airborne
look at other planes in
formation, exotic cities, and
snow covered mountains.
“Our plane was called the
“New York Central” because
the employees of the New
York Central Railroad bought
enough bonds to pay for it.”
Mr. Keller remembers
bombing sites not far from the
Leaning Tower of Pisa, and
the warnings the bombers
received not to accidentally
blow up the famous landmark.
“We were bombing
through the clouds once, and
they were just covering
everything up. It didn’t look
like I was going to get to
bomb. The target was a
bridge next to the Leaning
Tower of Pisa and I knew I
had to be awful careful But I
found a little break in the
clouds and I bombed the
bridge. Didn’t hit the tower,
although it might have shaken
it a bit. I don’t know what
they would have done to us if
we had bombed it,” he says.
Mr. Keller’s role in each
bombing mission was very
involved — and by all accounts
(including the U.S. Army Air ■
Corp’s) he was among the •
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22
By LAURA KESTNER
Gazette Editor
LITTLE ANTIQUE SHOP
“We buy gold and silver”
best.
The citation
accompanying the
Distinguished Flying Cross
reads: uFor extraordinary
achievement while
participating in aerial flight ।
as bombardier of a B-26 type j
aircraft. On 9 February
1944, Lieutenant Keller flew 1
as lead bombardier of an
eighteen-plane formation
attacking an enemy troop
concentration near Anzio,
Italy. Displaying utmost |
determination and
professional skill as he
directed his pilot on a
precision run through a heavy |
barrage of anti-aircraft fire,
Lieutenant Keller enabled his
M & J Army Surplus
Camping Equipment • Camouflage Clothes
Woolens • Down Sleeping Bags
We Make GI Dog Tags
BILL & JO STEM
STEM’S
COINS & THINGS
& O’S
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"A Salute to our Veterans” is brought to
you courtesy of the following businesses.
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1670 S. LOOP
Stephenville, Texas 76401
Complete floor Coi'ering
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with devastating effect upon *
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reflected great credit upon P |
himself and the Armed Forces I
during the war I had bombed a of the United States.” ’
cadet training school that had
been filled with ammunition. I ’
“One of my jobs was to see them,
that we had enough gas,” he
" says. "I had to delay the trip
few times because we had
d headwinds and I wanted to
make sure we didn’t run out
of fuel and crash into the
' focean. Finally we got to the
— point where we couldn’t wait
- any more, and I reluctantly
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■ Edwinaeller- World War II Veteran
338888 , .5
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Xx Editor's note: This is the sixth in an ongoing series recognizing veterans from the
-- following counties: Erath, Hood, Somervell, Hamilton and Comanche. I know, in this
/ limited format, that we will not be able to really get to know these veterans the way we
g should But we will share as much information as we can each issue. I appreciate the
folks who helped me get the word out about this column — we had several responses —
but we will need more veterans to interview in the coming months. If you are a veteran
(from any war or any branch of the service) please call us. Or if you know of a veteran
(could be a relative, friend, business person or neighbor) that we can honor in this
, column please call 254-445-2654.
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place. Then we flew from the - said he would buy our
^^^Mitip of England, 1499 miles to dinner. That was the most
Casablanca. We had to fly exciting thing. Gen. Patton
.way out around France so the was absolutely brilliant - he
' - German fighters couldn’t get was such an interesting man.
us.” He knew every bridge I had
That leg of the trip was bombed, in every town. And
especially memorable for Mr. Roosevelt was very smart. I
( Keller. feel fortunate to have met
; X “One of my jobs was to see them.”
that we had enonch coc ” he There were two men that
a Mr. Keller wouldn’t meet until
many years later, when they
became good friends in
Stephenville, but they shared
many war time experiences —
from a different perspective.
“Colonel R.D. Lancaster
\ - any AIUIU, anu ± iciulianuy was a fighter pilot and when
told them I thought we’d we moved from Africa to
/ make it. When we landed on Sardinia his fighter squadron
WHy the runway in Casablanca,
7 before the plane could reach
" the end of the landing strip,
X we ran out of gas.
. “After that we went on to
“-Trmis in North Africa - we
> M/aA h-MMAD--.....-........
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John and Mary Brown
Mon-Sat 9am-6pm t
4061 E. Hwy. 377 8 •
Granbury, Tx. 76049 g
Email: mrb@hcnews.com :3
_ ■ _________ _)
To advertise in the Lone Star Gazette call 254-445-26541
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.Memories: “I was flew missions out of there. All
bmbardier/navigator," Mr. the carts had Arabian horses
' Keller says. "We lef Presque pulling them, beautiful horses.
0 Isle, Maine and flew to I’ve always loved horses, I’ve
0 B Canada and then we went to been riding since 1 was five
5Greenland. In Greenland the
Ejords are so high you can’t
trn planes around there. We Legion post and rode one of
the night and then flew
over the ice cap, which is
f 12,000 feet high, to Iceland.
I A lot of planes are still there,
they’re discovered every now
n and then and they dig them
S" nout, some planes just never
' . ‘made it over the ice cap.
- From there we went to
Deland, then to England. We packed,” he says, “when in
' scared ourselves to death walked General George
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950 S. E. LOOP e4m-efa
P.O. BOX 16 E2:m28i
STEPHENVILLE, TX 76401 •9
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Full Service Aquarium & Pond Center
1590 N. Graham • Stephenville, Texas 76401
10 AM-5:30 PM Monday - Friday
10 AM-4 PM Saturday
(254)965-2033
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bombed right in front of him the entire bivouac area. On
all the time. He was a CPA more than 40 combat
and years later we would end missions, this steadfast
up in offices next door to each devotion to duty and "
other in Stephenville — we outstanding proficiency have J
years old. One time in Algeria would talk for hours after our reflected great credit upon
I went out to a French Foreign offices closed. One time himself and the Armed Forces 1
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Kestner, Laura. Lone Star Gazette (Dublin, Tex.), Vol. 1, No. 21, Ed. 1 Saturday, July 1, 2000, newspaper, July 1, 2000; Dublin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1528125/m1/4/: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Erath County Genealogical Society.