Over the last few weeks, I’ve been back to researching Florence Stratton. I’ll get into her life in more detail later this month, but regular readers of this blog know that I’ve been researching her since 2012. My ongoing endeavor—collecting all of her “Susie Spindletop’s Weekly Letter” articles from February 28, 1926, to January 23, 1938 (the final letter, dated January 30, 1938, was written by someone else)—continues.
I do have most of the letters, but my goal is to obtain legible photocopies of every Weekly Letter, and that has proven to be a challenge. While all of them were scanned at some point, many of those on microfilm—as well as some available online—are barely readable. If you do the math, that’s about 520 letters. It’s not an overwhelming number, but it will still take time. Physical copies exist at the Sam Houston Regional Library and Research Center (the Sam Center) in Liberty, which adds another layer to this already lengthy project. We’ll see how it goes.
The new year also came with a resolution to find new homes for some of my books. Between 2012 and 2016, I acquired many volumes that are difficult—if not impossible—to find unless you’re physically at the Sam Center. Phase one of this effort resulted in a donation to the Jefferson County Historical Commission (JCHC) library. Phase two is still undecided, as I’m not yet sure where the remaining books will go—except for my Florence Stratton books. I know exactly where those are headed.
One of my prized possessions is the Willie Cooper Hobby memorial book, which was never formally published. I assume it was distributed only to a select group of people. I’ve seen only two other copies: one at the Lyndon B. Johnson Library (which holds Willie Cooper’s papers) and another at the Tyler County Historical Commission in Woodville. Willie Cooper Hobby was the first wife of William P. Hobby, Governor of Texas from 1917 to 1921; the daughter of Sam Cooper, who was instrumental in securing Beaumont’s deepwater port; and the best friend of Florence Stratton. I’ll leave a link here for those interested in Willie’s story:
In other news, last week I attended a ribbon-cutting ceremony at Spindletop Park on Port Arthur Road. The event showcased new interpretive panels commemorating the 125th anniversary of the Lucas Gusher and the beginning of the Spindletop oil boom. The park has been in disrepair for some time, but the Beaumont Heritage Society (BHS) applied for and received a grant from the McFaddin-Ward Foundation to fund the panels, which are designed to last at least 25 years. A big shout-out to Shelby Brannan, director of BHS, for making this happen.
Judith Linsley was the main speaker that day. Along with her sister Ellen Rienstra and Jo Ann Stiles, she co-authored Giant Under the Hill: A History of the Spindletop Oil Discovery at Beaumont, Texas in 1901, an excellent and highly recommended book. Also in attendance were descendants of August Nelson of the Nelson & White surveying firm, who brought along a 1913 map of Jefferson County and a 1902 map of the Spindletop oil field. I’ve added photos of these items.
This was one of the first events I’ve attended in quite a while, and I truly enjoyed it. I also dusted off my camera and photographed the event—doing a respectable job, considering how long it’s been. Here’s a link to the photo set:
On Wednesday, I played hooky from work because I was invited to tour a rice dryer. Most people probably wouldn’t find that exciting, but I have a long-standing obsession with these structures and have wanted to see the inside of one for years. Thanks to the owners, I finally got my chance—and I wasn’t disappointed. I’ll share a few photos here, but I will say this: riding the elevator is an experience. Now I know what a torpedo feels like when it’s fired in slow motion.
I hope to dive deeper into this subject later in the year, but lately I’ve felt the urge to cross more items off my bucket list. On that note—does anyone happen to have a B-17, B-24, or T-6 Texan with an extra seat? I feel a strong need to expand my list.
Thursday morning found me back at work, but that wasn’t so bad because I was working at the tower at Jack Brooks Regional Airport—always a treat, especially when you can watch takeoffs and landings. Being there also reminded me of the history of Marine Scout Bomber Squadrons VMSB-931 and VMSB-932, which were based here briefly in 1944 for dive-bomber training. Below is a recap of research I conducted in 2019.
It was fall 1944, and the war was still raging on both fronts. Like most periodicals across our nation, local SETX newspapers centered on the liberation of Belgium and the European theatre. The heavy fighting on Peleliu and throughout the Pacific were occasionally mentioned, but these events seemed to take a back seat to the success in Europe. It would be at this theatre that Marine Aircraft Group 93 (MAG-93) would train its pilots for battle. MAG-93 began in April 1944 at Cherry Point, North Carolina. Its first squadron was commissioned on April 15th under the command of Major John L. Dexter and was known as Marine Scout Bomber Squadron 931. Other squadrons, such as VMSB-932, would also be commissioned into MAG-93 and would spend countless hours (round the clock, for a brief time) in training centered at Jefferson County Airport. However, the Marine Scout Bombing Squadron (VMSB-931) will be our main focus in this article.
In May, VMSB-931 was transferred to Eagle Mountain Lake, Texas (near Ft. Worth) to begin their operational training. It also became attached to Marine Aircraft Group 33 (MAG-33). The squadron consisted of 18 SBD-5 (Dauntless)-type aircraft with 37 commissioned officers and 160 enlisted men. Records show that only one operational accident occurred during this period, which resulted in the damage and loss of an SBD-5. Fortunately, there was no loss of life, and the squadron continued their training through July, attaining a 43.1% readiness for combat rating by their superior.
By August, it was time for the squadron to begin the second phase of their training; thus, the VMSB-931 were temporarily detached to the U.S. Naval Section Base in Sabine Pass, Texas “for duty in connection with the basing of tactical squadrons of Marine Aircraft Group 33 at Jefferson County Airport, Beaumont, Texas. This duty includes gunnery, dive-bombing, and overwater navigation training,” wrote Commander John L. Dexter in the squadron’s war diary on the first of August. The next week would consist of setting up operations at their new location and finally beginning their overwater flight training on August 8th.
As most of us know, the Gulf can be very unpredictable in September, and 1944 was no exception. On September 9th, a tropical storm formed about 170 miles southeast of Matamoros, Mexico, and began to move north. All planes were evacuated out of the area to where I would assume was back to Eagle Mountain Lake. Their absence would not last long, however, because Tropical Storm Six would move northeast and make landfall at the Mississippi River Delta on the 10th with top winds of 65 mph. Needless to say, all planes were back on September 11th. Training resumed the next day, and here is where our story takes a deadly turn.
During overwater flight training off the coast of the Sabine Pass, 2nd Lieutenant Marion M. Puliz attempted to rendezvous from below the lead plane flown by 2nd Lieutenant Richard L. Savoie, resulting in a mid-air collision. Both planes crashed into the Gulf and sank in 35 feet of water. Both pilots and the two gunners, Corporal Richard R. Stoddard and Private First Class William C. Bathurst, were killed. 2nd Lieutenant Puliz’s body was the only one recovered out of the four.
More tragedy hit 931 eight days later when 2nd Lieutenant William G. Duvall “attempted a slow roll at low altitude. He lost control and went into a progressive stall, hitting the water on the left wing. Plane was observed to explode and sink immediately upon striking the water,” wrote Commander Dexter. Both the pilot and the gunner, Private First Class Albert W. Bitner, perished in the crash, and neither body was recovered.
Amazingly, there are a few newspaper accounts of these tragedies; however, with few of them offer details of the actual crashes. For instance, the Port Arthur News reports consisted of the identities of the victims and, oddly enough, a few mentions of sightings of a body a few weeks later off the coast of High Island. A search for the bodies after each accident occurred was conducted by the Coast Guard, but no remains were found.
An article dated September 27 reported that a swimmer informed the Coast Guard that he had brushed against a body while swimming just off the coast of High Island. A search ensued that lasted until 2 a.m. but was deemed “fruitless” by Coast Guard officials who, in their statement, said that the swimmer “had been mistaken.”
The following day, the Port Arthur News reported, “Louis Welch of Sabine Pass, county commissioner of Precinct 3, also reported seeing the body to Coast Guard officials. According to Welch, he sighted the body floating in the Gulf water about one mile east of the Chambers and Jefferson Counties boundary line.” Welch tried to “tow it ashore,” but a wave swept the body away. The search for the body was resumed, but it was never recovered.
Operational training ended September 21st for the VMSB-931, and the squadron returned to Eagle Mountain Lake a few days later. But this was not the end of the Marine Aircraft Group’s training facilities here in Jefferson County, as the 932 (VMSB-932) would arrive at Jefferson County Airport on September 26th to begin their operational training as well. I am unsure where these brave young men ended up after their training, but I can only guess that a few would have participated in ending this long, drawn-out war. I researched further, but there are thousands upon thousands of war diary documents to sift through and many more rabbit holes that I find myself not capable of going down in a relatively short amount of time. One day, if time permits, I would like to continue on the trail of the 931, but plenty more tales are coming soon.
Sources:
Jefferson County Historical Commission archives
Fold 3
Until next week!
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