He enlisted in the Texas National Guard at the age 19 on November 20, 1940. He was shipped to the South Pacific in November of 1941 and left Pearl Harbor just two days before it was bombed by the Japanese. In March of 1942 he was captured by the Japanese on the island of Java and spent 3 ½ years as a prisoner of war. He was a member of the 2nd Battalion, 131st Field Artillery later known as the Lost Battalion and while in prison camp worked on the Burma "Death" Railroad and the Bridge over the River Kwai. He was the recipient of 3 Bronze Stars and the Purple Heart. 