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- My heart goes out to all the many young men and women, and their families, whose lives were lost fighting for their country to aid France in trying to break the Seigfried Line. Surely when they view the many graves in France, they can recall how many Americans gave their lives.
My brother-in-law, Lt. Joseph "Joe" T. Texada was wounded by machine gun fire and was in the hospital when he learned they needed more men to help break the line. He wrote a note to his best friend, Dr. Fred Van Hoof, stating, "This is it! I want to be buried beside my comrades. Take care of my mother." His men loved and regarded him so highly that they named an airfield in Czechoslovakia in honor of him.
This information was passed on by a medic, who felt sorry for the wounded soldier as he put on the woolen uniform over his wounds to go out and fight. When this medic met Joe Texada's uncle Pintard Texada, a pharmacy salesman in Shreveport, he passed on this information about the brave young man. How could the French forget how much the Americans helped them, sacrificing the lives of so many?
Joe Texada is buried in Lorraine American Cemetery and Memorial St. Avoid near Paris beside his buddies. There are 10,489 graves and a memorial wall inscribing the names of 444 Americans who gave their lives in the service of their country but whose remains were never recovered or identified.
Texada, a graduate of Louisiana State University, worked his way through college by being a night watchman at a local bank. His father was killed in an automobile accident. Upon graduation, he was trained at Fort Benning, Ga and then was sent to France in October 1944 as an officer of the 104th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Battalion.
His brother, Rhorer, enlisted in the Navy the first day war was declared and later his youngest brother, David Ker, now a retired priest, joined the Army.
Bettie Texada
Alexandria
The Town Talk, 20 Apr 2003, Sun, Page 25
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