WWII programs planned for January and April, 2026
Greenville, Texas -- Locals from northeast Texas will find the initial 2026 programs presented by the WWII History Roundtable, Audie Murphy Chapter, to be exceptionally linked to the region. The first presentation will feature Baylor University’s Dr. Stephen Mayes Sloan with a lecture entitled “Tattooed On My Soul--Texas Veterans of World War II.” This will be Thursday, January 22, 2026 at the Audie Murphy/Cotton Museum in Greenville at 7 p.m.
One of those WWII participants spotlighted will be Colonel Jimmy Doolittle’s co-pilot, the late Richard E. "Dick" Cole, who was interviewed in 2009 by Dr. Sloan as part of Baylor’s Institute of Oral History.
This presentation will be fodder for the April 23 program to be given by Columbia University professor and attorney, Michel Paradis. The public is invited to attend both. There is no admission fee.
Platinum sponsor for the 2026 lecture series is Dr. Jerry Ransom. Gold Sponsors for the 2026 lecture series are: Dr. Larry “Rocky” Clinton, Robinson Family, Greenville Electric Utility Services (GEUS), Alliance Bank, Frank Treadaway, Lou King, Audie Murphy American Cotton Museum, and the East Texas A&M History Department.
Those area residents who study the 1942 Tokyo Raid are familiar with not only Dick Cole but with two other Texas flyers on that first air strike against Japan after the Nippon attack on Pearl Harbor.
Dean Edward Hallmark was pilot of bomber #6 on the USS Hornet, taking off behind Cole. Greenville native and former Sulphur Springs resident Nolan Herndon was a navigator two back with crew #8. Hallmark played football for East Texas State Teachers College and Paris Junior College. His crew ditched after dropping its bombs. Herndon’s B-25 diverted to Russia, but the crew eventually made their get-away in late 1943.
Those attending the Sloan program are encouraged to bring along any interviews they have completed with their own family participants.
