Gene Scruggs
| Date and Place of Birth: | October 12, 1925, Abilene, TX |
| Date and Place of Death: | April 1, 1945, Remagen, Germany |
| Baseball Experience: | College |
| Position: | Unknown |
| Rank: | Private |
| Military Unit: | Company B, 47th Infantry Regiment, 9th Infantry Division US Army |
| Area Served: | European Theater of Operations |
Gene A. Scruggs was born October 17, 1925, in Abilene, Texas, to Guy and
Bess Scruggs. His father had been a minor league pitcher with Corsicana
and Sherman in the Class D Texas Association in the 1920s, and became a
physical education instructor at Abilene Christian College (ACC) when
Gene was young.
Gene never attended school anywhere but on the ACC campus. He entered
Abilene Christian Training School in the first grade, and remained
through high school and college. Coached by his father, Gene lettered in
football, baseball and basketball in high school, and baseball in
college. He was a state junior badminton champion and shared the state
junior doubles title one year. In September 1944, he played for the ACC
softball team that was formed to play against military teams from the
nearby army air field and the 11th armored division.
A math and science major, Scruggs was just one semester away from
graduation when he entered military service with the army. He was
initially stationed at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, with the corps of
engineers service unit, but with the drive into Germany by Allied
forces, every able bodied man was needed on the battlefront, and Scruggs
was transferred to infantry training before being hurriedly shipped
overseas.
On March 18, 1945, Private Scruggs joined Company B of the 47th Infantry
Regiment, 9th Infantry Division as it became the first U.S. regiment to
cross the Rhine River via the Ludendorff Bridge at Remagen, Germany. On
April 1, 1945, after just 13 days in combat, Gene Scruggs was killed in
action. He was just 19 years old and had been in the army just seven and
a half months.
In May 1945, his parents received a letter from Richard W. Day,
protestant chaplain of the 47th Infantry Regiment, stating that, "[Gene]
was killed while courageously performing his duties with his company
against the enemy. He died instantly and suffered no pain...although he
was with us only a short while, he fought most gallantly as a member of
a rifle platoon in our drive into central Germany. He was a brace
soldier and served his country in the highest traditions of the United
States Army."
Gene Scruggs was initially buried with his comrades in Europe, but after
the war's end, relatives had the opportunity to have their loved ones
returned home for burial. Gene Scruggs returned to Abilene in February
1949, with a memorial service at ACC for burial at the Abilene Municipal
Cemetery.
Sources:
The Optimist, April 21, 1944
Abilene Reporter News, May 28, 1945
The Optimist, February 2, 1949
Prickly Pear, ACC Yearbook 1943 and 1944
Date Added: May 21, 2017
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