AUSTIN, Texas— Today, Texas Land Commissioner and Veterans Land Board (VLB) Chairwoman Dawn Buckingham, M.D., is proud to introduce the next installment of the series highlighting the VLB's Voices of Veterans oral history program. This week, we highlight the service of 2nd Lt. Ben Fuelberg who served in the Texas National Guard during WWII.
Born in December 1916 in Washington County, Texas, Fuelberg said he grew up on a cotton farm and joined the National Guard in 1934, mostly for financial support. "The National Guard paid for meetings and we had four paid meetings a month, and a summer camp of 15 days, and of course the pay wasn’t very high, but a dollar was worth a lot more in 1934 than it is now," he explained about joining.
Fuelberg said he joined Troop E, 124th Cavalry in Brenham, Texas and was called into active duty in November 1940, a year before the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. "Of course we were called to active duty for one year, which the Congress had extended the call for six months and then Pearl Harbor happened and of course it was obvious we wasn’t gonna get out of the service for some time."
Fuelberg said he remembers the moment Pearl Harbor was attacked, where he was, and how he learned he'd be in it for the long haul.
"We didn’t have television at that time, the news went out over the radio for all servicemen to return to their post, and the announcement of course was that the Japanese had attacked Pearl Harbor, and of course things changed a whole lot," Fuelberg explained. "Everybody that was in the service I’m sure returned to their post. I know I did."
Fuelberg said things immediately changed. Before the attack on Pearl Harbor, the men were "permitted to wear civilian clothes up to that time" but that was not the case after the attack by the Japanese. These changes were just the beginning.
"My unit had been called to active duty. We were stationed first at Fort Bliss in El Paso and from there we were sent to various posts along the border," he explained. "My unit, second squadron 124th was stationed at Fort Ringoll, which is an old post up the river from Fort Brown where they camped at Brownsville."
The idea of being "sent overseas quickly" wasn't something Fuelberg said concerned him. The Air Force at that time, he said, was expanding and "a lot of people were volunteering." He explained that they had people "in our unit who actually transferred out into aviation cadet schools and became pilots."
Fuelberg would eventually get his call to go overseas and play a role in WWII when he was sent to northern Burma, which is officially known as Myanmar.
"I don’t remember exactly when we realized what our mission would be, but it was known that we were gonna be what was called a Morris Taskforce and we were going to go into northern Burma to drive the Japanese away from an airstrip that they had taken over up there," Fuelberg explained. "They had brought in some of their zero fighters and they were shooting at our planes, our transport planes that was carrying supplies into China. Our mission really was to drive those Japanese, take over that airstrip, and drive the Japanese south so they wouldn’t endanger our air supply system."
To listen to 2nd Lt. Ben Fuelberg tell his story, click the button below:
Veterans can email VoicesofVeterans@glo.texas.gov to tell their stories. Please note that the Veteran must be a resident of Texas at the time of their interview.
Voices of Veterans is a state agency's first Veteran oral history program. It records the stories of Texas Veterans through their time in service and after returning home from combat.
The VLB records interviews with Veterans over the phone or in person. Their interviews are then permanently archived in the Office of Veterans Records at the GLO, where they join the historical documents of other Texas heroes such as Sam Houston, Davy Crockett, Jim Bowie, and William Barret Travis.
Veterans' interviews are also available to researchers, historians, genealogists, and the public. These precious records inspire future generations and remind us of our Veterans' sacrifices.
To listen to the over 500 archived stories of Veterans documented through the GLO's Voices of Veterans oral history program, click the button below:
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Texas Land Commissioner Dawn Buckingham, M.D., brings a lifetime of experience to the Texas General Land Office (GLO). In 2016, she became the first Republican elected to the Texas State Senate from Travis County and the first woman to represent Texas Senate District 24. She made history again in 2022, winning a statewide election to become our state’s first female Land Commissioner.