WWII vet steals show at Libby High event

As he inched his way toward the podium, Earl Hyde Jr. let out a roar.

“Takes a little time,” the 96-year-old Hyde Jr. yelled. The World War II veteran tossed his walker forward, shifted right to face the crowd of Libby High students and doubled down on exuberance.

“Hey, you Loggers, howdy,” Hyde Jr. said.

With the signature rip-roaring style of the Greatest Generation, Hyde Jr. stole the show Tuesday when a group of veterans spoke about the importance of Veterans Day.

To here him tell it, Hyde Jr. was in his final year at the University of Missouri studying civil engineering when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941. A member of the school’s Reserve Officers’ Training Corps, Hyde Jr. said he felt compelled to act.

“I said ‘The heck with it, I can’t study those books with the war going on,’” Hyde Jr. said. “The next thing I knew, I was over in Casablanca, Africa.”

The 30-year Army veteran went on to detail some of the highlights of his military career. He vividly recounted a mission that nearly claimed his life.

“One evening they gave me a mission to go into unclaimed German territory,” Hyde Jr. said. “Another lieutenant was driving, and I told him to floor that sucker so we don’t get identified.”

As Hyde Jr. and his partners drove on the wrong side of the enemy line, they noticed two Germans run across the highway with machine guns. Hyde Jr. quickly instructed his fellow lieutenant to follow a driveway up to a hilltop, stopping short of the bridge the men expected to cross.

The move confused the Germans. Hyde Jr. and two other men spotted the Germans below and took aim. One U.S. soldier with a carbine rifle aimed at the German on the right, while Hyde Jr. and another man aimed at the German on the left with .45-caliber pistols. The German on the right went down, but Hyde Jr. did not know if his man was alive. Seeking to avoid future problems, Hyde Jr. led his men down the hill.

“Then, all of a sudden, that German was firing his machine gun,” Hyde Jr. said. “I fired back at him with my pistol and got him.”

During the gunfight, Hyde Jr. stood before a cement wall. All but one of the German bullets missed, instead bursting bits of the wall that shredded into Hyde’s body. The luckiest bullet, the one that struck him, clipped the tip of his nose.

“That’s how close I came to saying goodbye,” Hyde. Jr. said.

Hyde Jr.’s zest - he works out four days a week - and compelling life story affected the feelings platitudes often try and fail to kindle on the day of remembrance. The audience was inspired.

“Oh my, it was just fantastic,” Hyde Jr. said. “The kids shook my hand, and I enjoyed the heck out of it. Made my day.”

Jack Helber, a Vietnam War veteran, and Tom Gallagher, an Iraq War veteran and Libby Elementary School teacher, also spoke at the event.

Gallagher discussed the sacrifices he and his family made during his two tours of duty in “one of the worst places I have ever been in my life.”

Fighting back tears, Gallagher recounted how many of his daughters’ birthdays he missed.

“I have the greatest respect for them and what they have been through,” Gallagher said of his family. “I have missed so much of their lives. I will never be able to get those days back.”

Helber, a Vietnam veteran, implored the youth to enjoy their freedom to the maximum.

“There is room for everyone in the promise land,” Helber said. “There are no bad experiences, only tougher ones. Get out. Go jump in a lake.”

The annual school assembly attracted a handful of area veterans and parents. While Gallagher and Helber impacted the crowd, Hyde Jr. was the only speaker to earn a standing ovation. Considering his appearance was such a hit, Hyde Jr. said he was open to returning next year, and the year after.

“If they invite me back next year, I have a lot of stuff I’d like to share,” Hyde Jr. said.

When dreaming of one day earning the title of oldest veteran in the U.S., long-term plans are welcome..