Rowland
was born January 9, 1924 in Yoakum, Texas. In 1938,
He attended high school and was involved in basketball,
football and tennis. This is when he met his wife to
be, Mag, when they were fourteen years old. He was elected
to as President of his Sophomore Class as well as his
Junior Class and President of the Student Council during
his Senior Year. Mag was also elected to the student
council. They both graduated May 1941.
Following
the lead from his two older brothers and several cousins
Rowland enrolled in Texas A & M. He was able to get
a job as a time checker for the general contractor building
the then new Foster AAF in Victoria, TX, which was being
built to train pilots. Later he was able to obtain a
job in the Library, while working on his studies and
participating in the band.
In
March 1943, the Junior and Senior class was taken out
of class and inducted into the Army Corps, with the
classes being split into their respective branches as
enrolled in school. Infantry was to go to Camp Wolters
at Mineral Wells, Artillery to Fort Sill in Oakland
and Calvary to Ft. Hood at Killeen. Several other units
went to Fort Sam Houston at San Antonio and others went
to Fort Bliss at El Paso. Other units went to some place
in Louisiana.
The
whole thing was a mess. We were told where to report
and when to report, but nothing was said about how to
get there. Several of the Infantry Band hitchhiked to
Fort Worth and spent the weekend and then on the following
Monday continued to hitchhike to Camp Wolters in Mineral
Wells and reported in. They spent the rest of the week
getting shots, taking tests and getting all of their
uniforms and other Government Issued materials. Then
they brought in a troop train and hauled then all back
to College Station.
After
finishing up the trimester in April, the Batt announced
that they were all being taken out of the school. The
seniors were to go to OCS (Officer Candidate School)
in which ever branch they were in while at school and
after sixteen weeks they received their commissions.
The
juniors, which included Ball, were to go to basic training
in their respective branches and then go to OCS and
get their commissions.
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