Hellcat News, (Springfield, Ill.), Vol. 33, No. 2, Ed. 1, October 1978 Page: 3 of 28
This newspaper is part of the collection entitled: Abilene Library Consortium and was provided to The Portal to Texas History by the The 12th Armored Division Memorial Museum.
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HISTORIAN'S
♦ COLUMN ♦
A WW II POET?
The U. S. combat forces of WW
II boasted of many famous
names in all categories of life.
Those G.I.'s had made their
claim to fame before donning the
Army khaki. During the war,
many more achieved a plateau of
renown for services rendered to
the various components of the
military. We can think of a few
pen, ink and typewriter names
that helped to lighten the load
with humor and stories that ap-
peared on the news pages at
home and abroad. For instance,
who can forget Ernie Plye's writ-
ings about G. I. Joe? Or, Bill
Maudlin's cartoons and Milton
Caniff's portrayal of Lace? How-
ever, in thinking back, who do
you remember could have been
classified as the WW II poet?
WW I had Joyce Kilmer, who did
we have? It took awhile to come
up with a name, but then it was
clear as a bell. Who other than
our own Bob Saehloff? Bob was
contacted for a story on his poet-
ry background that lead to his
writings during WW II. Here it
is.
As a boy, Bob used to write
lines of poetry for his own am-
usement and for the enjoyment
of his friends. His high school
class voted him their Poet Laure-
ate at graduation time. He suc-
ceeded in having a few of his
works published in poetry books
prior to his entering the Army.
Through the months of training
at Camp Campbell and Camp
Barkley, Bob continued to write.
Only now his lines were directed
to people he met in camp and
in the surrounding towns. He re-
calls writing a poem for a lady
who worked behind the counter
at the PX. He couldn't recall her
name but he did come up with
several from the Abilene area
that might ring a bell with some
of our readers: Rudy Jo Mar-
shall, Kay Gay, Spunky Funk -
and Mary Little from Breckin-
ridge. Bob remembers one rainy
day he sat in the field house list-
ening to a lady playing the piano.
He penned a seven verse poem
praising her piano talent and
thanking her for the listening
pleasure. He handed the lines to
the lady's youngster. When the
Oct. 1978 HELLCAT NEWS Page 3
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HEIDENHEIM CASTLE
THE SUBJECT .... A CASTLE,
HEIDENHEIM . . . THE PLACE,
MAJESTIC, INSPIRING, POETIC,
ARTISTICALLY SOARS INTO SPACE,
ITS SPIRES KISS THE SKY
AS CLOUDS BRUSH SWIFTLY BY,
ITS TOWERS TOUCH THE BREEZE . . .
LIGHTLY, AS A FEATHER DOTH A SNEEZE,
AND THE BRIGHT STAR
YOU SEE FROM AFAR —
RESTS ON THE PINNACLE
OF ITS CREST SO CYNICAL,
SUGGESTIVE OF ROMANCE
OF A KNIGHT, A KING OR QUEEN PERCHANCE,
OF A DUEL FOR A MAID
TWIXT A HEART AND A SPADE,
A BANNER OF THE PAST . . .
YES, TIME HAS GONE TO FAST
TO FULLY IMMORTALIZE
THIS EDIFICE BUILT INTO THE SKIES.
LINES
A SOLIDER LEADS A LIFE OF LINES,
FROM DAWN 'TIL DUST HE'LL WAIT,
THEN AFTER HOURS, SOME BABE DEVOURS
THE LINE HE THROWS AS BAIT.
HE MUST GET IN LINE TO MARCH,
ITS THE SAME ROUTINE FOR CHOW,
BUT HE DOESN'T DELAY, GETTING IN LINE FOR PAY,
CAUSE BROTHER, HE'S EARNED IT — AND HOW!
HE IS ON THE LINE WHEN HE FIGHTS,
HE USES LINES WHEN HE WRITES,
AND GOD ONLY KNOWS, THE EXTENT OF HIS WOES
IN THE LINES OF HIS PRAYERS AT NIGHT.
FOREVER HE'S HAUNTED BY LINES,
THERE'S NO IFS, BUTS OR WHYS,
ITS HIS DESTINY TO ETERNITY
CAUSE HE'S LAID IN A LINE WHEN HE DIES.
lady received and read the lines,
she started asking who the author
could be. By that time, Bob had
put on his rain coat and helmet
and looked like every other G.I.
in the place. The lady's youngster
was at a loss to ascertain who
had given the piece of paper.
The author, remaining anonym-
ous, left the building.
There was another time that
Bob recalls a humorous situation
that he recorded in poetry having
to do with, at that time, Lt.
Robert C. Allen of the 495th. Lt.
Allen was to take a detail of men
out to the range in a covered
truck. Which he thought he was
doing when he told his driver to
proceed. However, on the range,
he yelled to the truck "dismount"
and nothing happened. What he
thought was a truck loaded with
G.I.s, was a truck loaded with
chairs. In poetry, the story
sounds even better.
While we were in combat in the
ETO, Bob continued to write. He
was a contributor to the Germay
edition of Stars & Stripes. Some
of his poetry from those editions
has since been picked up and re-
run in the Legion's magazine
stateside. Bob recalls that he
used to sign all of these poems R.
Saehloff. His brother Ray, in the
119th Engineers, used to get a
ribbing from his buddies. They
accused him of writing the lines.
These are but a few of the
stores that have enriched Bob's
life as a result of his poetry. Al-
though he still has copies of some
of his poetry, he regrets not sav-
ing copies of the many he gave
away to people for their own en-
joyment.
If you search your memory
way, way back, you might re-
member reading these lines in
the Stars & Stripes under the
name R. Saehloff:
And of course, to the many 12th
AD G.I.'s who remember the
castle that overlooked Heiden-
heim, the birthplace of our as-
sociation, these lines should bring
back memories:
SLUMBERLAND
SLUMBER . . . PLEASE WAIT
TIL I'VE HAD MY NIGHTLY SOAR —
TO BYGONE TIMES OF SOME PAST DATE
AND MEMORIES OF BEFORE.
YOU KNOW THIS TIME IS ALL
I'M EVER REALLY ALONE,
SO WON'T YOU PLEASE FORESTALL
TIL I REVIEW GOOD TIMES I'VE KNOWN?
YOU KNOW A SOLDIER'S PLEASURE
LIES IN MEMORIES DATING BACK,
AND THAT ALL HIS FUTURE PLANNING
IS EMBRYONIC IN HIS SACK.
PLEASE DON'T DESTROY THIS DAY DREAM
BEFORE IT ENDS AS PLANNED,
THEN I SHALL BE QUITE READY
TO ENTER SLUMBERLAND.
Bob said that the telling of this
stoy brought back many memor-
ies. However, he says, like the
words in the Rubaiyat of Omar
Khayyam "The moving finger
writes; and, having writ, moves
on: nor all thy piety nor wit shall
90808.
Dues and booster together wth
a letter from John Williams (Div
Hq) who makes his home in
Tampa, Fla. also received. John
writes to say Hello and informs
us that he is recovering from a
heart attack that he suffered last
winter and that he is doing OK
so far but still restricted from
doing most of all the activities he
used to do. He continues his
letter: Got a phone call from
Bob Nolan. He lives close by,
haven't got to see him in person
as yet but hope to in the near
future. Also got a letter from
LaVerle Kennedy. Both he and
lure it back to cancel half a line,
nor all thy tears wash out a word
of it." Each set of poetry lines
is a time, a place and situation of
years gone by.
Clint Seitz, Historian
his wife spent a short time in the
hospital. Also got a letter from
Pappy Bennett. Veterans in this
area are very fortunate to have
here in Tampa one of the finest
V.A. hospitals in the south. He
concludes thanking George Moss
for sending him back issues of
the HCN. He guesses his sub-
scription got lost or side-tracked.
He wishes good luck to all the
endeavors of the 32nd annual re-
union. The Div Hq Group toget-
her with all members of the as-
sociation join in wishing John a
speedy and complete recovery.
Wayne Newlin (Div Hq) re-
news membership from Morton,
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Twelfth Armored Division Association (U.S.). Hellcat News, (Springfield, Ill.), Vol. 33, No. 2, Ed. 1, October 1978, newspaper, October 1978; (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth410031/m1/3/?q=war: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting The 12th Armored Division Memorial Museum.