Thursday, May 16, 2024
While speaking with Gary Wittie a few months ago, he told an interesting and unique story about his family and their service in the armed forces during World War II.
Six Wittie brothers and their brother-in-law all served in the military, and all came home following the war with no casualties. They were the sons and the son-in-law of Curt and Ella Mae Wittie of Coryell County.
Gary Wittie, who had a thirst for knowledge about his family and their war-time activities during WWII, admitted that in later years, he “pestered the aging brothers for war stories and that in almost every case, waited over 60 years for the few answers I got,” he said.
The eldest of the Wittie brothers were fraternal twins, Herman and Harmon. Herman Lewis Wittie served in the last cavalry unit in the U.S. Army in the China-Burma-India Theater. On his 80th birthday, Herman was quoted as saying “I walked the entire length of the Burma Road staring a mule in the ass.” The Burma Road, 717 miles in length, was an important road during WWII which linked Lashio in eastern Burma to Kunming in China. In later years, Herman lived in Shallowater, Texas. He died in 2002.
Herman’s twin brother, Harmon Owen Wittie, served as a B-29 mechanic in the Army Air Corpa in the Pacific. Following WWII, he remained in the service where he became a master sergeant and was later sent to the Korean Theater. Harmon died in Japan in 1951 at the age of 34 after being injured in an accidental collapse of an airplane landing gear. His body was brought back to Coryell County for burial.
The Wittie siblings had yet another set of fraternal twins, Ray and Roy. Ray Boyd Wittie served in the South Pacific, while his brother Roy Floyd Wittie served mostly in the Philippines. Roy was discharged early from the service due to a severe case of malaria. After coming back from the service, he made his home in Coryell County where he worked as a civil service employee. He later owned and operated Mountain Grocery Store. Roy died in 2015 at the age of 90, while his twin brother, Ray, died in 1996 at the age of 71.
Another sibling, James Arnold Wittie, joined the U.S. Army in 1938 and served in France and Belgium. James was wounded and was awarded the Bronze Star for Valor in the Battle of the Bulge. On his 90th birthday, he was asked about the large war-time scar located on his leg. His answer was “Aww, a bunch of Germans snuck up on us in the brush one night and one of ‘em shot me.” Jim lived until the age of 91, dying in 2010 in Odessa.
Brother William Nathan Wittie served as a sergeant in the Marines in the Pacific. Shortly before his death in 1969, he related a humorous war-time story. Just off the beaches and into the jungle at Guadalcanal, he felt a warm liquid running down his leg and was convinced he had been shot. It turned out that a bullet had pierced his water canteen and what he thought was blood, was water. Wittie did see action in the Iwo Jima campaign. He was a 1940 graduate of Gatesville High School and was a star tackle on the Hornet football teams of 1938 and 1939.
The Wittie brothers also had a brother-in-law to join the family forces during the war. Their sister, Arlee Wittie, was married to Raymond Luther Wigington. He served as an Army Engineer in the European Theater. Following the war, he would later become the chief of police in Cisco, Texas. Wigington died in 1980 at the age of 63.
The Wittie brothers joined the ranks of many other siblings during that era who served their country in various branches of the armed forces. Curt and Ella Mae Wittie were extremely fortunate to have their six sons and son-in-law return home to Coryell County following the war. Speaking not only about his family, but about veterans all over the United States, Gary Wittie said “That was truly the greatest generation.”
