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Paul Hixenbaugh
Paul was engaged to Harriet Louise Morgan on February 29, 1944. They met at a Young Methodist Church group party while Paul was stationed in Laramie, Wyoming, and Harriet was attending college at the University of Wyoming. They were married on May 5,1946 after Paul was discharged from the Army Air Corps. They raised two boys and two girls and now have seven grandsons. After spending a year at the University of Wyoming, Paul was then shipped to San Luis Obispo, California, for amphibious assault training, and to several camps along the Southern California coast. Although Paul was only in the war for about four months, he experienced combat. Some of the places he served at included the Ruhr River Valley Pocket, Central Germany, and Czechoslovakia. He was an armor artificer (performing weapons' repair) of a combat infantry company and was a private first class. In addition to serving as an armor artificer, Paul served as a combat messenger, and the captain's bodyguard. Paul received the Silver Star Medal for his service at the south end of the Ruhr Valley Pocket. Paul paddled a plywood assault boat back and forth across a river under enemy fire. Regarding this incident, Paul said, "Our division moved to the southern end of the Ruhr Valley Pocket and replaced the division that was along the south bank of the Seig River and contained the German army. We continued to hold that position for about a week until a warm Sunday afternoon when we were ordered to begin an assault over the river. No bridges were available and the engineers were to bring plywood assault boats and paddles to the edge of the river for us to use. The engineers were to paddle the boats back and forth over the river to ferry us over to the other side, but the engineers were not there when we arrived so we had to paddle ourselves. We began our approach without getting any attention from the Germans until we were close to the river, where we began getting some mortar and machine gun fire. The portion of the river that we were crossing was a dogleg where the German machine guns were firing directly down that leg at these boats. The mortars were also firing at the boats and hitting several while they were full of troops. The boat I was in crossed over without casualties, and once over, I was among those who returned the boats and brought others across. In one boat that I returned, I brought a wounded soldier back for medical attention. This action on my part earned me the Silver Star Medal. The battle for Seigburg was a success that night." Paul noted that his unit crossed another river without difficulty, but then ran into some more enemy fire. He said, "I was following at the rear of our company when orders were passed back to me to report to the captain (near the other end of the line). I started for the captain and had to detour towards the river. I ran towards a tree to take cover, but fell flat on my face as a German 20 mm cannon started firing. A voice from beyond the river bank told me to look at the tree; I raised my head to look at the tree I was going to take cover behind to discover that one 20 mm shell had cut it down about 4 feet above the ground. Had I not fallen, I would have been hit by that shell in the middle of my back! As I continued along the line toward the captain, I found three soldiers lying face down in the mud, each with a 20 mm shell hole in their back. I didn't like carrying that message to the captain, but as a messenger, that was part of my duties." Paul came home from Europe and was given a month's recuperation furlough (August, 1945) at Fort Dix, New Jersey. He was then sent to various places in the South Pacific. Near the islands of Guam and Yap, the weather deteriorated rapidly into a hurricane. The waves went over the upper deck of the ship for over a week, and Paul and his crewmates were confined below decks for three weeks. Paul's ship was sent to Japan where his unit was turned into a motorized MP unit which destroyed military installations, fought fires, and kept peace and quiet. In late January, 1946, Paul began his journey home for discharge. He went from Niigata, Honshu, Japan to Tokyo to catch a troop ship home to San Diego. He was discharged from the Army in February, 1946 at Camp Atterbury, Indiana.
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| Last page update: March 2, 2008 12:12 PM |
Paul
E. Hixenbaugh was born on August 22, 1922 in Akron, Ohio. During his third
year at the University of Akron Engineering College, Paul received his
draft notice in early February, 1943. He was to report a week later for
transport from Akron to Fort Hayes in Columbus, Ohio. After that, he was
shipped to Jefferson Barracks in Missouri for Army Air Corps basic training
and testing on various skills. 