I was born in October of 1931, on a farm southeast of Heidenheimer. My father, who was a farmer, was also a member of the Texas National Guard - 143rd Battalion, Company D - located in Temple. That unit did see action in World War II and trained at Camp Bowie at Brownwood for one year before war was declared.
When I was 6 years old in 1937, we moved to Killeen to live with my grandmother. Her house was the first house coming into Killeen along the Santa Fe railroad, on the east side of town. I can remember men who were riding the rails, who hitched a train ride being called hobos. They would leave the train and come to our back door asking my grandmother if she had any wood to cut or any kind of work they could do for
a plate of food. My grandmother always fed them even if they did no work. It might not have been fancy food, but she always cooked extra food everyday because she knew there would be someone asking for food.
My grandmother’s name was Amy Jones. I am sure that word of mouth told men of Widow Jones in Killeen who would feed you no matter what time of day it was!
