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<p>The rigors of life in early Texas helped to build <em>Curtis D. Renfro</em>’s character traits: self-discipline, determination, honesty, integrity, perseverance and dependability, and he practiced and perfected them throughout his lifetime.</p>
<p>He was born in Proctor, Texas, the fourth of nine children of John Maynard and Eva Callaway Renfro, on 4 February 1899. He graduated from Comanche High School and attended Texas A & M University for one year prior to his Congressional appointment to West Point, graduating with the Class of 1925.</p>
<p>The newly-commissioned second lieutenant began his 30-year Army career in his home state, at Fort Sam Houston, with the 23rd Infantry. From there he was sent to Hawaii, where his duties included being aide to Brigadier General Reeves, whom he accompanied to Fort Winfield Scott, California in</p>
<p>1931, and to Fort McPherson, Georgia in 1932. This was followed by tours of duty at Fort Huachuca, Arizona, Camp John Hay in the Philippines and Fort Lewis, Washington.</p>
<p>Renfro was attending the Infantry School when the United States entered World War II. Instead of returning to Fort Lewis, he was sent directly to Camp Claiborne, Louisiana and assigned to plan and schedule the training of the infantry, artillery and glider units of the 82nd Infantry Division, which was commanded by General Omar Bradley, assisted by General Matthew B. Ridgway. As executive officer and procurement and liaison officer for the 327th Glider Infantry, Lieutenant Colonel Renfro preceded the unit to Reading, England for readiness training for the D-Day invasion.</p>
<p>Renfro, an infantryman, had the distinction of single-handedly capturing the first pilot of a German combat plane. In the first plan for the Normandy invasion, 6 June 1944, the airborne troops of the 82nd Division were to land behind the German lines at pre-dawn, towing gliders behind the planes carrying the paratroopers. However, only a few days earlier, a storm had smashed up the gliders on the airfields in England and they were unusable. Therefore, the glider troops had to cross the English Channel in boats, and it was during this crossing that Renfro captured the pilot.</p>
<p>In addition to the Normandy invasion, Colonel Renfro took part in the invasion of Holland and in the Battle of the Bulge, both while commanding officer of the 401st Glider Infantry, 101st Airborne Division. It was during the Battle of the Bulge, as a member of the staff of General Anthony McAuliffe, that Renfro was present when the General replied to the German demand for surrender by writing only two words, “Aw Nuts!”, on a piece of official stationery in reply.</p>
<p>Renfro’s next assignments within the European Theater of Operations were as commanding officer of the 346th Infantry, 87th Infantry Division, and then of the 354th Infantry, 89th Division, which crossed the Rhine River under the leadership of General Thomas Finley.</p>
<p>After V-J Day, the 354th Infantry operated Camp Lucky Strike Re-Deployment Center. Renfro’s last European assignment was at the Frankfurt Army Headquarters.</p>
<p>After returning to the United States in June 1946, he requested R.O.T.C. duty and was sent to Montana State University as professor of military science and tactics. In 1948 he became senior instructor of the Hawaiian Reserve Corps, and in 1949 he became professor of military science and tactics at the University of Maine. He retired in 1955 and settled in Soquel, California in 1956.</p>
<p>During his retirement years in Soquel and Capitola, California, he enjoyed raising flowers and vegetables and a few sheep, and was a good neighbor, always ready to help.</p>
<p>For his courageous and meritorious service during World War II, Colonel Renfro was awarded two Silver Stars, two Bronze Stars, the Combat Infantry Badge, the Purple Heart, the Croix de Guerre, and citations by the Belgian and French governments.</p>
<p>Several of his former associates have paid tribute to Colonel Renfro’s memory. Colonel Roy L. Inman, USA (Ret.) of Griffin, Georgia, who served with him in World War II, described him as “a highly regarded, respected mentor and teacher and the first of only three immediate supervisors who had the greatest influence on me.”</p>
<p>Another wartime associate, Corwin C. Spencer, an attorney living in Oakley, Kansas, recalled Renfro as “a soft-spoken but nevertheless direct man who meant every word that he spoke. I know that he was highly respected by the officers and men of our regiment, and I certainly believe the people who served with him during the later months of World War II continued that respect until long after the war had ended.”</p>
<p>Colonel Joseph M. Gardner, USA (Ret.) of Colorado Springs, Colorado paid tribute to Colonel Renfro’s “compassion for all members of his command” and also to his dedication. “No sacrifice was too great for him to accept with vigor, and he made the greatest effort to perform his duty with the highest degree of professional competence.”</p>
<p>And Dr. Moffet A. Gardner, of Glendale, Arizona, who served under Renfro in the R.O.T.C. Department of the University of Maine, stated that Renfro required high standards of performance of his junior officers but that he always personally exceeded them.</p>
<p>In 1929, while serving in Hawaii, Renfro was married to Marjorie Bidwell of Salt Lake City, Utah. The couple had three daughters who survive him: Jo Ann Renfro of Massachusetts, Jane Smith of Kailua, Hawaii and Mary June Cline of Bronxville, New York. He has five grandchildren. Marjorie Bidwell Renfro died in 1956.</p>
<p>In 1961 Colonel Renfro married Janet M. Plaisance, who survives him.</p>
<p>Colonel Renfro was visiting his daughter Jane in Hawaii when he died on 4 February 1990 from complications of pneumonia. Inurnment took place at Golden Gate National Cemetery at San Bruno, California.</p>
<p>West Point had been his life, and he endeavored to carry out the Academy’s motto, “Duty, Honor, Country.”</p>
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