Carl W. Kluck served in the United States Army Infantry as a rifleman. His service was located in Germany in which he was involved in two campaigns, the Central Europe Campaign and the Ryland Campaign.
Carl Kluck
Kluck was drafted into the war in a very unique way. He was one of the last young men in his small town in Texas to be drafted. He was deferred for two years because his work on the farm with his father was considered to be necessary for the welfare of the country.
Kluck mentioned how he was a member of a small rural Methodist church. At his church there were about twenty young men who were already serving in the military. "I was about the only one left," he said, "and these little mothers of sons who were serving somewhere wanted to know why I was still at home and it became emabarrasing, in time, for me."
SERVICE
BEING DRAFTED
Carl W. Kluck is a man of faith who loves his family. Being able to meet him and talk with him, I learned how passionate he is about ministry, education and saw how optomistice about life he is. He loves to brag on his children and is geniune in his relationships. It was an honor to meet Carl W. Kluck, a true Undercover Hero.
When his deferment ended, he told his father that he did not want any more deferment. Together, they notified the Draft Board that he was available service and just a few days later he was inducted into the Army.
LIFE IN THE MILITARY
FAITH IMPACT
While the Army was not the particular branch that Kluck would have preferred he was happy to finally be able to serve his country. He knew the need for replacement riflemen was the greatest need at the time and where he would be able to best serve his country.
BEING AWAY FROM HOME
LACK OF COMMUNICATION
HOME SWEET HOME
SCRAMBLED EGGS
AWARDS HONORED
LIFE AFTER WAR
"It wasn't the most
pleasant life."
The war, of course, was well underway when he entered in 1944. Most people were drafted as a riflemen if they were physcial able or had a specific expertise. Kluck did not have a special expertise, but was physcially able to be a replacement rifleman in the U.S. Army the Fourth Infantry Division.
There was not a long time period of training Kluck mentioned. Training took place in Tyler, Texas, for sixteen weeks. This is known as Basic Training. During training, Kluck was taught general things such as rifle range, survival tips, military discipline, etc. When Basic Training was over, him and his unit were shipped overseas where they were stationed in Germany.
"It wasn't the most pleasant life," Kluck expalined about being away from home. "We lived out on the farm and were not financially able to travel a lot so I had never been away from home for any length of time so I was homesick for a couple of days."
However, with the war being in full swing there was no downtime to really sit and think about being home. "I was so involved from early in the morning to late in the evening that I forgot about that," said Kluck.
Kluck was very postive when talking. He stated that though war was not the most pleasent life, he had had a lifestyle since then in areas that were probably more unpleasant. It was just a lifestyle that he was not used to he explained.
"I never did spend a lot a time thinking about whether or not I would come back," stated Kluck. "I had been a follower of Christ for about twelve years."
He explained how he was not a perfet person for all humans have a sinful nature. "If I came back home," he said, "wonderful. If I didn't come back I knew the Lord and I felt that secutiry. I came back by God's grance. I feel like my life was spared becasue he had something for me to do."
Little did Kluck know that he later would be called into the minsitry.
Unlike today, the only way those in the war were able to communicate was through letters. It would take about three weeks for a letter to reach home. Kluck shared how once they wrote a letter every word was edited. "If we wrote something that we shouldn't have it was taken out and obliterated," he said. Even with letters, however, communication was still rare.
Communication among the commander and company headquarters was mainly through two-way radio contact; but it was, of course, not for personal use. Kluck explained how they operated on the buddy system. The only time he was ever by himself was when he was doing guard duty, but that was a frequent occurence.
After a month of furlow, Kluck's division had been deactivated so his division was split up. He soon became a Second Cook. Once the First Cook was discharged, he took the FIrst Cook's place. "We prepared meals for our company which consited of about two-hundred men," he explained.
He was a First Cook until he was then shipped to Fort McClellan, Ala. "I had the experience of my life," he said. "I don't know if you've ever have ridden or tried to cook on a train," he laughed. "The train we were on would make sudden stops."
Kluck and the rest of the cooks had about sixty dozen eggs fall on the train. Needless to say, they cooked the eggs they could and had scrambled eggs for breakfast.
When Kluck and his division were out on the battlefield they did not know when their next shower was going to be. They did not have beds either. "We usually slept in a pup tent that could accommodate two people," he explained. "We were never guaranteed rest. It wasn't a comfortable life at all."
"It was a great day," said Kluck when asked what it was like retunring home. "It was a great day."
After Kluck returned home his late younger brother convinced him to enroll in summer courses at Baylor University in Texas. "I had no idea what I was going to do so I agreed to go," he said.
Because of summer courses, "I met my girlfriend that summer," he said, "and became involved in what some people call love at first sight."
Within a year he married his wife, Margie, who he still adores today. Kluck only had been on one date priot to meeting Margie.
After graduating in three years, he realized the Lord was calling him into the ministry. He followed that call by attending Southwestern Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas, for another three years. It was his call to a church in Atkins, Ark., that brought him and his two children to Arkansas. He served there for three and a half year before moving to Arkadlephia, Ark, in 1960.
In Arkadelphia, he pastored Second Baptist Church for thirty-one years. He and his wife have not left Arkadelphia since.
Kluck was awarded a Purple Heart, a Good Conduct Medal and other individual awards for duties and battles that he was in. He was also honored unit awards such as a Bronze Star and a Combat Infantry Badge.
