Captain Henry T. Waskow of Belton served in the 36th Division after joining the Texas National Guard in 1935 and entering active service in 1940. Born in 1918 to Frank and Mary Waskow, he was one of eight children, graduated with top honors from Belton High School in 1935, became a lay pastor at Taylor's Valley Baptist Church, attended Temple Junior College, then transferred to Trinity University and graduated in 1939. Though offered a teaching position at Belton High School, he declined because he expected military duty. In 1941 he received a lieutenant's commission and transferred to Company B, First Battalion, 143rd Infantry Regiment, earned captain's rank in late 1942, and in April 1943 sailed with his division to North Africa, where it trained before landing at Salerno during the Allied invasion of Italy in September. Beloved by his men, Waskow was killed in combat on December 14, 1943, when shrapnel struck him in the chest during operations to capture Hill 1205 north of San Pietro after months of fighting against German forces. Three nights later his men brought his body down the mountain on a mule under cover of darkness. War correspondent Ernie Pyle wrote his most famous and endearing column after seeing Waskow's soldiers pause by his body to express their grief and affection, and Pyle later won a Pulitzer Prize for his report on Waskow's courage and on the soldiers' reaction to their captain's death. Waskow was one of 14 officers and 125 enlisted men killed in the operations at San Pietro, and although a memorial service was held in Belton on February 22, 1944, and a place was marked for him in Belton North Cemetery, he was buried in the American National Cemetery in Italy. His story also inspired Robert Mitchum's character in the film The Story of G.I. Joe.