Wayne and Wade Rutland of Stockdale Wilson county Texas...... beat the odds in life and at sea.
At almost 98 years of age, two World War II veterans from Stockdale have seen a thing or two — and cheated death on more than one occasion! What makes their story unique is that many of their adventures have been side by side throughout their lives.
Twins Wade and Wayne Rutland were born at home Sept. 14, 1920, in Bend, Texas, to Roy and Lena (Cate) Rutland. One weighed 3-1/2 pounds; the other only 3 pounds.
Although Lena didn't think the tiny twins would make it, her mother, Mollie Cate, recorded the boys' births in the family Bible. The twins were placed in shoeboxes in a dresser drawer near the stove, to keep the tiny babies warm. Each box was labeled with their names, so family members could tell them apart. Sadly, when they were only seven days old, their mother passed away from blood poisoning and complications.
Their father was beside himself with grief and didn't have any family who could take care of the babies and still allow him to work his job. Since Roy and Lena had been living with her parents, her mother insisted the twins stay with her while Roy continued working as a pecan buyer, which required a lot of travel. Roy just couldn't stay in the room where Lena had died, so he moved out. Grandmother Mollie's 14-year-old daughter, Lucile, was still at home; she helped bottle-feed the twins every two hours and walked the floor for hours when the babies had colic.
Wade and Wayne thrived, and were "two peas in a pod." As they grew older, they realized that people couldn't tell them apart. They even fooled their grandfather!
The family moved to El Paso in 1923, and Grandma Mollie passed away in 1924. Lucile fell in love, and got married in 1926. The twins' grandpa, John Calvin Cate, packed their bags and they moved again.
The boys were 8 years old by then, and started school in Llano. The twins were known for getting into mischief. On the first day of school, when the recess bell rang, the boys left school and walked home. When their grandpa asked them why, they said they thought school was over!
In 1932, Lucile and her husband moved to San Angelo, and the twins and their grandpa moved in with them. Then the family moved to Comanche. This is when their grandfather remarried. After that, Wayne and Wade no longer lived with their grandpa; they lived with a family named Speck. They were around 12 years old at the time.
Wade and Wayne lived with many different family members around Texas. They never knew where they were going to end up; with all the moving, they ultimately attended 17 different schools.
It was the height of the Depression, and the twins learned to work hard to help support the families with whom they lived. Occasionally, they got to keep their earnings and go see a movie.
By this time, Wade and Wayne were in high school; they settled into living in Stockdale with their aunt and uncle. Both played sports, and Wade competed at the District and Regional levels in track. Their uncle got transferred to San Antonio, where the boys enrolled at Harlandale High School.
The twins, now juniors in high school, didn't like the school and wanted to return to Stockdale. A gentleman named Audie Stadler and his wife, Dora, invited the young men to live with them in 1937. They worked hard for Mr. Audie, and saved up money to buy their first car, a Model A Ford, which cost $22.50. They boys only had $10 between them, and borrowed the rest from their uncle.
Wayne and Wade graduated from Stockdale High School in 1939. Both enrolled in vocational school when they were 19, learning the steel trade.
After America entered World War II, both twins enlisted in the military. Wade chose the U.S. Coast Guard, while Wayne enlisted in the Navy, serving in the "Seabees" — the construction battalion.
Wade was stationed in Louisiana and Philadelphia. He used to swim in the polluted Delaware River.
Both twins cheated death a few times. Wade was in a serious car accident where he almost bled to death; he sustained a head wound that caused amnesia. He also developed a bone infection while in the military, and his doctor did not release him back to active duty. The ship he was supposed to sail on sank, and all hands were lost.
Wayne was stationed in the South Pacific in the Marshall Islands when Pearl Harbor was attacked. The scariest thing he ever lived through, he said, was when the Japanese bombed the mess hall his battalion had just completed building.
"We had to hide in the water during the bombing," Wayne recalled. "That was the only safe place to go; there was nowhere to hide on the island. It was a terrifying 15 minutes. Amazingly, not one man was lost in the aerial bombing attack."
In 1944, Wayne brought home a couple of coconuts from the island. The family still has them; one is proudly displayed on the fireplace mantle.
One of Wayne's favorite moments during his service was when Admiral Chester Nimitz — from Fredericksburg — gathered the troops and asked for "all the boys from Texas" to step forward. They did, and Nimitz granted all of them liberty. Everyone else was sent back to work! Wayne smiled with a twinkle in his eye at the memory.
After his Navy service, Wayne worked at Goodfellow Air Force Base in San Angelo, servicing the BT13 planes used by Navy pilots during training. It was there he met his future wife, Imogene Foreman, a parachute-packing inspector. They were married for 53 years.
Eventually, he moved back to Stockdale "to punch cows," as he phrased it, returning to work for the Stadler family.
Wayne and Imogene had four children. "I had three boys and a girl, and Wade had three girls and a boy," he said with a grin. "That makes me the winner!"
Wayne became a deacon at the Stockdale Church of Christ, and spent 15 years preaching, teaching, and volunteering at the Connally Unit in Kenedy, part of the Texas prison system. After Imogene passed away, he remarried.
Wayne also delivered liquid feed in a bobtail truck to farmers until he retired at the age of 91.
An avid dominoes player, Wayne still loves to play at the Frank M. Tejeda Texas State Veterans Home, where he now lives.
Wade, like his brother, was in the civil service, ranched, and farmed. After retiring, he became a charter member of the Stockdale EMS, where he served for 15 years. He also was a member of the Stockdale Volunteer Fire Department. He's become less conversant over time; he currently lives at the Stockdale Residence and Rehabilitation Center.
His daughter, Babs McGuffin, wrote a book documenting Wade's life. He was quite a character, and had several adventures with his wife, Betti, and their four children.
From their precarious start in life, these brothers beat the odds to not only survive, but thrive — for nearly a century!
Thank you for your service, Wayne and Wade Rutland!
Advice for life
"Work hard and live straight! Stay out of trouble." That's Wayne Rutland's advice for young people.
His favorite president was Richard Nixon; his least favorite, Bill Clinton. His favorite TV show was "Bonanza."
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Wade H. Rutland of Stockdale, Texas, passed away Wednesday, May 23, 2018, in Stockdale at the age of 97.
Wayne Rutland passed away on Wednesday, Aug. 8, 2018, at the age of 97.
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COURTESY / Wilson County News