Closed Due to Confederadication

Sadly, I am going to have to close this blog down to devote efforts to my  Civil War II:  The Continuing War on the Confederacy blog.  As some time in the future, when the current move to eradicate any and all things Confederate from the United States ends or slows down, I will start this one up first.  But right now, just way too many things are happening to Confederate monuments and all things Confederate and I am trying to keep up with it.

On average, I come across 20-30 headlines from the media about what is happening and with eight blogs, I don't have enough time to devote to the topic.  I have already closed down two other blogs.

I am calling this move by certain groups and politicians Confederadication.  The name just came to me as I was typing a story.  It combines the words Confederate and eradication.  They are trying, and accomplishing, the elimination of all things Confederate.

I had been looking for a term for this statue/flag mess and had been using Confederate Haters, but that just didn't have the right ring to it.   I just dropped the "te" at the end of Confederate and added "dication"  and there was the word.

So, Until Some Future Date, Good Reading.

--GreGen

About the Hoback Boys-- Part 7: The Bible

Raymond was never found.    Several of his company mates subsequently reported seeing him lying on the beach near the water's edge, whether wounded or dead they did not know.

What is clear is that he, along with dozens  others like him, was taken by the tide into the sea.

A word now about Providence, which manifested itself in the form of a package that arrived at our house a few days later.  It was a book sent by a soldier from W. Virginia, who had landed a day after Raymond had gone ashore.

"While walking on the beach on D-Day plus one (June 7),  he wrote, "...I came upon this Bible, and as most any person would do, I picked it up from the sands to keep it from being destroyed."  It was the Bible my mother had given to Raymond for Christmas in 1938.  It was her only tangible connection to her missing son.

She treasured it for the rest of her life, as I treasure it today.

This Story Puts It in Perspective.  --GreGen

About the Hoback Boys-- Part 6: Then Came Telegram No. 2

We were over the freezer (ice cream-maker) cranking away when here was another knock-- another telegram.

"The War Department regrets," the too familiar preamble read, "to inform you that your son, Staff Sgt. Raymond Samuel Hoback is missing in action."

Mom and Dad were overcome with grief and I along with them.

To this moment I can remember nothing else that happened that day.

Time simply stopped.

Two brothers Gone.  --GreGen

About the Hoback Boys-- Part 5: "Family After Family Struggled to Absorb the Blow"

When the company left town in 1941, more than a hundred boys left with it, but by 1944, as a function of reassignments and such, only 35 of them remained in the company, which had been brought up to strength with soldiers from all over the country.

Bedford had been one of the 35.

Throughout the rest of that Sunday, telegrams were delivered all around town, and family after family struggled to absorb the blow.

The next day, in our childish way, my sister Rachel and I thought we might cheer folks up by making them some ice cream.

And, then.  More bad news.

Losing one son and brother is bad enough, but....

--GreGen

About the Hoback Boys-- Part 4: "An Unexpected Knock Came Through the Door"

This account by Lucille Hoback Boggess (Bedford and Raymond's sister) certainly brings out the humanity side of the war.

One Sunday in mid-July (July 15, 1944) everyone was getting dressed to go across the road to church.  An unexpected knock came through the door, and my father opened it to the sheriff.  Looking pained and mumbling a few words to Dad, the sheriff  handed him a piece of paper-- a telegram.

"The War department regrets to inform you," it began, "that your son, Pvt. Bedford Turner Hoback has been killed in action."

The news that  everyone in town had been expecting, had been dreading, was finally here.

It was here-- in our house.  Our house.  We were stunned.

Scarcely comprehending the loss but painfully aware of my parents' grief, I watched my mother's tears begin, and my own followed.

--GreGen

About the Hoback Boys-- Part 3: "Our Concern Became Fear, and Fear, Finally Became Nightmare"

In June of 1944, I had finished my freshman year, I was looking forward to spending large chunks of the summer at Bedford County Lake, and I was a long way from the frontlines.

A few days into the month, though, we learned that our boys were on them.  We did not know who was where or how anyone was, but our faith was strong and our hopes remained high.

In the weeks following D-Day, we heard reports of fierce fighting  as the Allies moved deeper into France.  What we did not hear was any news  about the Bedford company, or from Raymond or Bedford (her brothers).

We were concerned, and as the days passed, our concern became  fear, and fear, finally, a nightmare.

--GreGen

About the Hoback Boys-- Part 2: The Bedford Boys

Raymond received a Bible from my mother as a Christmas gift when he was eighteen.  Receiving your own Bible  was to undergo a rite of passage, and we took it seriously.  Raymond certainly did, and he kept his Bible close at hand.  I know he took it with him when the Bedford company mobilized in 1941.

Before the mobilization, the company would go off to this or that army camp to train for a week or two.  When they came back from the end of  maneuvers, everyone would turn out to welcome them home.  One of my strongest memories is the joy in the faces of those boys  as they climbed off the trucks, because they knew their lives could get back to normal.

Once the company mobilized, though, the boys did not come back except as individuals whenever they could get a pass or furlough.  Their joy of coming home was real enough, but the army a greater reality.

After Pearl Harbor, so was the war.

--GreGen

About the Hoback Boys-- Part 1: Why They Joined the National Guard

From the  DDay.org site.  National D-Day Memorial.

Bedford and Raymond Hoback were one of 33 sets of brothers fighting together on the beaches of D-Day, June 6, 1944.  Of those 33 sets, three were sets of brothers from Bedford, Virginia.  (the Stevens twins and Powers boys).    They were part of Company A, 116th Regiment,  29th Infantry Division.

This is the story as told by Mrs. Lucille Boggess, sister of Raymond and Bedford.

My two brothers, Bedford and Raymond,  joined the National Guard, but the attraction was not financial.  The thing that drew them-- drew Bedford anyway-- was the idea of service.  He believed in it.  I should tell you that when Bedford joined the National Guard, he was no boy.

He found military service to be something he wanted to do-- not full time, of course, but once every few days it felt pretty good.  I think he liked the order the military represented, its discipline, teamwork, and fellowship.

Raymond's  motivation may not have been so well informed, but I must tell you that he too-- was a man.  Although four years younger than Bedford, he was not a kid, but he did have a kid brother's admiration  of his older brother, and that is probably why he came to the Guard.  And I think he liked to dress up in his uniform--  he liked to look and feel like a soldier.

--GreGen