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Guzardo stands with a copy of Rudyard Kipling's book, Captains Courageous
In a show of appreciation for all those who have served in the United States Armed Forces, teachers, students and staff of Port Neches Middle School are participating in a weeklong celebration of veterans culminating in a first-ever Mr. Louis Rayford Guzardo Day. The distinction honors resident World War II veteran and POW (Prisoner of War) Guzardo, who is also a longtime civilian partner of the campus and avid education proponent.
At 98 years old, Guzardo has long since been removed of a life of gunned downed fighter planes and living off the land while held captive as a prisoner of war – but those days are almost as vivid in his mind’s eye as the good books he read to get him through those tough times.
Sitting with The Examiner in an interview prior to the Port Neches program, Guzardo described being held prisoner for months in hostile territory after the “Lucky 13” bombardment plane he tail-gunned for was shot down over Hungary in July 1944. As was common during his time fighting in World War II, it wasn’t the first time 19-year-old Guzardo took on hostile fire.
“Some missions didn’t have any trouble at all – not too often, though,“ Guzardo said.
According to his calculations, upwards of 139 fighter planes were shot down during the first year the young enlistee had been in commission.
Pilot Edward Murphy, his report of the Lucky 13’s demise contained in Lyle McCarty’s “Coffee Tower,” said the mission started off well enough, but quickly deteriorated once an explosion of flak shell burst below the plane, soaking ball turret gunner George Treut in gasoline. Stuck between a rock and hard place of either jumping from the aircraft or bringing it in for a rough “belly” landing on enemy soil, the crew opted for the latter.
“It took the Hungarian peasants (about 30 of them), both men and women, a few minutes to round us up and then discuss what to do with us,” Treut expanded on Murphy’s recitation. “The men were pointing to a suitable tree for hanging, but the women were saying ‘no,’ and we were all relieved when three soldiers appeared – one German and two Hungarians.”
Guzardo, Treut, Murphy and the seven other men in their crew were marched to what looked like a prison to Treut and locked in a dungeon with other prisoners who appeared to have been badly burned before, or during, their capture.
“Our days of flying missions were over and our introduction to fleas and ersatz everything had begun,” Treut remembered.
At the POW camp, the men were separated and integrated in with the roughly 12,000 other soldiers held there, Guzardo said. Routine luxuries in the POW camp where Guzardo stayed were minimal, but Guzardo said he didn’t think it was the worst.
“The prison camp was OK. Pretty nice,” he said, before rethinking his original analysis. “Well, not really nice, but we were comfortable.”
Guzardo and his fellow captives at the camp did what they could to pass the time as best as possible.
“Some guys learned three or four languages while we were there,“ Guzardo said. His comfort, however, was found in the written word of the English language. Thanks to Red Cross efforts and care packages, Guzardo was able to get his hands on several books, the stories unfolding on the page keeping him company while he was held hostage in a foreign land.
“They are all my favorite after I read them,” he joked of not being able to pick just one “favorite.”
Among the many reads that gave Guzardo comfort through the long winter ahead for the teenage prisoner of war, Rudyard Kipling’s 1897 novel, Captains Courageous, left a lasting mark. Now, he hopes, the century-old novel that follows the adventures of 15-year-old Harvey Cheyne Jr. will also leave a mark on the students of Port Neches Middle School (PNMS), where copies signed by the local celebrity veteran will be awarded to students in celebration of Mr. Louis Rayford Guzardo Day on Nov. 12.
Eighth Grade American History Teacher Monica Deese has been working with Guzardo for years, the WW2 veteran always there to give a hand when asked, and with frequent book donations to the campus’ library without even being asked.
“One year, I found him on the computer on the POW list. So, I called him up out of the blue and told him who I was and what I did for a living,” Deese, a 34-year educator, said of her intro to Guzardo. She asked him to tell his WW2 experience story to her class, which he humbly agreed to do. “Mr. Guzardo and I have been friends ever since then. He’s such a kind soul.”
“He always told stories of how he escaped (the confines of a war prison), in a way, getting lost in a book,” Deese said, and, over the years, Guzardo has graced his teacher friend with his personal list of the “best 100 books.” Sure enough, Captains Courageous made the cut. Since Guzardo couldn’t be at the middle school he’s been visiting for years on Veterans Day in person this year, the school’s principal sprung for 50 copies of the Captains Courageous book that Guzardo has so loved – all signed with an inspirational note by Guzardo himself.
In addition to the solace soldiers enjoyed in books sent overseas while at war, those deployed also took comfort in Hershey’s Field D Ration Bars – a chocolate bar that could be rationed during a time when such amenities were scarce, even though not as taswty as its state-side counterpart. Students will also have the opportunity to win one of several dozen special Hershey “ration” bars courtesy of Deese, these special bars also marking a special occasion – they, too, will be used to commemorate Mr. Louis Rayford Guzardo Day and bear the details on specialized wrappers.
During the week celebrating veterans, students read inspired written works for the VFW, the Varsity Choir performed at a flag-raising ceremony and luncheon held with guest veterans, visiting veterans offered presentations and those with veteran family members campus-wide added to walls and windows adorned with patriotic pride.
“As it turns out,” Deese said, “about a third of our campus has a family member who is a veteran.”
Deese said it wasn’t difficult to find support for the extensive show of veteran appreciation celebrated at the middle school. Fellow history teacher Chasity Viator, choir director Laura Escamilla, librarian Kelsey Crippen, and Principal Kyle Hooper, to name a few: “I really couldn’t do it without them,” Deese said.
“We do something every year,” she explained. “It’s history and I want them to understand it.”
Access to veteran stories and the men and women who have put their lives on the line for others to live the “American Dream” offers insight to a wealth of information and civility Deese believes all her students should possess.
“This is something they want to know,” Deese said. “This is something they need to know.”