THE HIGGINBOTHAM BROTHERS
OF EAST TEXAS

I. Introduction
II. Merrion Higginbotham, Thunderbolt and Mustang Pilot
III. Murphy Higginbotham, Ranger at Normandy
IV. A German Soldier's Last Letter
V. The Home Front: anecdotal stories, sample letters and photos

Introduction
By John Troesser

Shortly after publishing Victor Lively's Pearl Harbor Story, by Sandy Feidler, we heard from Maurice Higginbotham who also lives in Anderson County. Maurice told us of his four older brothers (Marvin, Merrion, Murphy and Milton) who were all in uniform during WWII. Since they weren't drafting 10 year-olds, Maurice had to sit out the war. His brothers help make it possible for him to marry the girl next door - which he did. Maurice has since inherited the role of family biographer, since, we're sad to say, his brothers have all passed away.

Maurice has collected the correspondence between the family and the four far-flung brothers and had nearly 500 letters plus photographs published in book form. For our readers who live in Anderson (or neighboring counties) it's available in the Palestine Public Library.

We've separated the Higginbotham Family History during WWII into five parts listed above.


I hope you'll find the stories as interesting as we did. Dodging V-2 Rockets, crash-landing in Belgium, and taking French real estate away from Germans again and again - it's enough to make you wish you were back in East Texas milking the family cow. - Editor

Our special thanks to Maurice and Edna Higginbotham for sharing these stories with us and our readers.