Where History Comes Alive! To all of our veterans, we salute you! Thank you for serving our country and protecting our freedoms! The Museum of the American G.I. is privileged to share the stories of many local veterans like Ed Eyre, Holly Reese, Alton Meyer and Bert Day Mullins. Ed Eyre enlisted in the Marines at 18, twelve days after the Japanese bombings on Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941. He initially served as a mortar man, first in the 3rd Marine, then the 4th Marine Divisions. Hoping to see action quickly, Eyer volunteered for the Paramarines earning his jump wings. While taking longer than he hoped, Eyre finally saw action as part of the 1st Marine Parachute Regiment on the Bougainville in 1943. The Paramarines and the Marine Raiders were disbanded in 1944 to provide manpower to the existing four divisions and two new divisions being formed, when Eyre was transferred to the 5th Marine Division. He soon was to see his next, and last action, on Iwo Jima. As part of the 28th Regimental Weapons Company, he charged the beach on D-Day at Iwo Jima on February 19, 1945. Eyre received a Bronze Star for his actions that day when he kept his 37mm M3 anti-tank gun in action while fully exposed to enemy fire. He went on to fight for 10 days until shrapnel from a mortar round ended his combat service but not before he saw the US flag flying atop Mount Suribachi. After the war was over, Eyre eventually relocated to the Brazos Valley where he worked as a salesman before retirement. In his 80s after he lost his wife of 61 years, Eyre volunteered at the Museum of the American G.I. where he was instrumental in helping restoring the type of military weapons he used as a US Marine on Iwo Jima. Ed Eyre peacefully passed away on Saturday, March 29, 2014 at the age of 90. The Museum of the American G.I. is proud to display Ed Eyre's uniforms. Holly Elias Rees registered for the draft in January 1944 on his 18th birthday and he joined the Army upon his high school graduation. On May 11, 1945, at only 19 years old, Rees was assigned to I Company, 184th Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division as a replacement. The division was severely depleted having incurred 5681 casualties in the first 40 days of combat during the Okinawa campaign. After a brief rest and with the addition of the replacements, I Company continued to fight. During his first engagement as a replacement, Rees received a Bronze Star "for exemplary conduct in ground combat against the armed enemy". Unfortunately for Rees and I Company, the weather turned against them, raining 30 inches in 10 days. Rain or not, the men of I Company continued to fight earning a Distinguished Unit Citation for action on Horseshoe Hill. Rees and his fellow replacements fought for 32 straight days in close combat with the Japanese soldiers, before Okinawa was declared secure on June 21, 1945. On that day Holly Reese was struck in the foot by a Japanese sniper becoming one of the very last, if not the last, casualties of the war and one of the youngest surviving combat wounded veterans of WWII. After 21 months in the Army, Rees returned home. In 1957, Rees and his wife Betty whom he married in 1950 moved to Bryan, where he worked as the supervisor of the Social Security Administration. He retired in 1984. Rees wrote his book, Three Flags and Two Brothers in 2016. He graciously donated his World War II artifacts to the Museum of the American G.I. Alton "Al" Benno Meyer enrolled at Texas A&M in 1956 and graduated in 1960. Commissioned into the United States Air Force, he began training as a navigator at James Conley Air Base in Waco. Meyer married his wife Bobbie in October 1960 and continued his training. He traveled to the Philippines and was assigned to the Takhli Royal Thai Air Force Base in Thailand in 1967. April 26th of that year, Meyer flew his last mission, but his time in Vietnam was far from over. On his 36th mission over North Vietnam, flying about the cloud cover, his plane was hit by a surface to air missile. For the next five years, eleven months and ten days, Meyer was held as a Prisoner of War in North Vietnam. Upon his capture, Meyer was transported to the notorious Hoa Lo Prison, or the "Hanoi Hilton". He was subjected to extreme interrogation, abuse and mistreatment for a number of days before receiving medical treatment for his broken leg and other injuries sustained in the crash. Enduring isolation, meager provision, and unsanitary conditions, POWs communicated by tapping a code on the cell wall and a series of coughs. In September 1970 upon the death of Ho Chi Minh, the treatment of the POWs drastically improved. Finally on Sunday March 4, 1973 Alton Meyer was released from captivity. After returning from Vietnam, Meyer returned to Texas A&M receiving his MBA in 1975. For his service to his country, Meyer was awarded two Silver Stars, two Purple Hearts, a POW medal and numerous other awards. He retired from the Air Force in December 1980 after which he worked with various oil companies before founding Alton Meyer Consulting. Meyer was a dedicated husband, father and active member of the veteran community. Lt. Col. Alton Meyer passed away on December 24, 2017 at 79. The Museum of the American G.I. is honored to tell the story of his service, sacrifice and heroism through a special display include a cell door for the Hanoi Hilton, POW clothing, and a number of special items on loan from the Meyer family pertaining to Lt. Col Meyer's time as a Prisoner of War. Bert Day Mullins, the oldest son of a WWII B-17 tail gunner, knew the war in Vietnam would be his generation's war. On July 28, 1966, although a student at Texas A&M, Mullins elected to enlist in the Marines graduating from boot camp as Platoon Honorman receiving an automatic promotion to Private First Class and a complete Marine Corps Dress Blue uniform. Upon graduation from boot camp, Mullins was assigned the MOS 2533 - Radio Telegraph Operator. Mullins finally arrived in Vietnam on November 12, 1967 and was assigned to the 1St Battalion, 9th Marines also known as "The Walking Dead" because of the high number of casualties the battalion sustained. On January 22, 1968, the 1/9 was deployed to the hills in support of the Marine Combat base at Khe Sanh where they worked to fortify their positions by building trenches and bunkers all the while hoping that the approaching Tet Truce would provide some respite from the fighting. However, that was not to be the case and Siege of Khe Sanh had just begun. Over the next 77 days, approximately 20,000 North Vietnamese troops surrounded and isolated the 5,500 Marines at the base. The Marines were ordered to hold the base and they did but at a significant cost. When the siege was finally broken, 274 Americans were dead and 2,541 wounded. As a Radio Telegraph Operator, Mullins, had unique view and understanding of the combat situation at Khe Sanh not offered to most of the other Marines present. After leaving the Marines, Mullins returned to Texas A&M obtaining a degree in account. Bert Mullins died on August 30,2022 from cancer believed to caused by his exposure to Agent Orange during his time in Vietnam. The museum is working on a display detailing his service in Vietnam. The Museum of the American G.I. is dedicated to honoring our Veterans by educating the public about their service and sacrifice. 19124 HWY 6 S, College Station, TX 77845 www.americangimuseum.org | (979) 690-0501