| Braune
was a member of the famous 36th Infantry Division during World War II, but he
probably joined that outfit before the war, in 1940, when the 36th was a Texas
National Guard unit. Like so many other young men, Braune went from being a citizen
soldier to a full-time warrior when America entered the war. On that "day of infamy"
when Japanese planes attacked Pearl Harbor, December 7, 1941, the life of this
young Cost boy would drastically change, as would the lives of all Americans.
Braune fought
with the 36th in North Africa and Sicily, but it was the bravery he displayed
during the invasion of France that earned him the Soldier's Medal for heroism.
The February
15, 1945, issue of The Gonzales Inquirer contained an article about Marvin Braune.
It told of how the Cost soldier risked his life to help rescue a number of men
from a landing craft that had been hit by enemy fire.
The newspaper quoted excerpts from the citation that accompanied Braune's medal:
"In the invasion of Southern France a large landing craft approaching the coast
was struck squarely by an enemy glider bomb. The seriously damaged vessel, loaded
with heavy artillery ammunition and personnel, drifted ashore in flames and the
ammunition began to explode. "Although
the personnel of the Headquarters and Service Company had been moved inland from
the beach to escape the hurtling shell fragments, Tec. 5 Braune and some comrades
returned to the shore near the burning ship and began rescue work."
According to the citation, many of the soldiers onboard the burning craft sought
to escape by jumping into the water. Braune and his fellow rescuers worked until
midnight, swimming around the ship and dragging men ashore.
The citation ended as follows: "Tec. 5 Braune and his comrades did not cease their
unselfish and hazardous work until they had saved 75 men from drowning and had
treated another 15 for burns, wounds and shock." Young
Braune and the other men risked their own lives to save 75 men! Think about that
for a minute or two. Although we have no way of knowing what happened to those
75 servicemen in future battles, we do know that because of Marvin Braune's bravery;
their lives were spared on that day.
It just might be that some of the folks who knew the son of Mr. and Mrs. E.F.
Braune, may never have known what Marvin did "over there." Soldiers, who have
actually experienced the horrors of war, seldom sit around bragging about it.
I like to think
of it this way, at that time and in that place, Marvin Braune and his comrades
saved 75 families from receiving that dreaded telegram. The one that contained
the words, "We regret to inform you…."
Lone
Star Diary
Published with author's permission.
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War II | 
