Following a chronological approach. This session examines the roles three Texans played in key events of the Second World War. Beginning with Kelly Francis-Love and “Harlon Block: A South Texan Immortalized” looks at how Block, a former high school football player from Weslaco, participated in the Battle of Iwo Jima and secured his role in history through one of the most well-known images of the war. Next, Paige Gulley looks at Fort Worth native Jane Weir Phillips Scott’s role in the liberation of German concentration and labor camps in the spring of 1945 as a member of the American Red Cross Clubmobile Service in “”The Worst Atrocity Stories You May Have Read Are True”: A Texas Woman in Germany, 1945.” Lastly, Lynn DeHart recounts his father’s experiences as a tail gunner during the only two detonations of atomic weapons in warfare in “The Best Worst Seat in History: Albert “Pappy” DeHart and the Bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.” The experiences of these Texans at defining moments of the war came at a high price physically and emotionally and these three outstanding presenters will also demonstrate.
9:00 AM
Thursday, March 5, 2026Step into the lives of three Texans whose wartime experiences left an indelible mark on history. From Harlon Block’s iconic role at Iwo Jima, to Jane Weir Phillips Scott’s firsthand witness to Nazi atrocities as a Red Cross Clubmobile worker, to Albert “Pappy” DeHart’s harrowing missions over Hiroshima and Nagasaki, this session offers a powerful, human perspective on pivotal moments of the Second World War.
Texas Historical Commission
Texas Historical Commission
Independent Scholar
Texas Christian University
Session sponsored by:
⭐ Chancellor Kent R. HancePresenters
Steve Cure
Stephen S. Cure is an eighth generation Texan and United States Army veteran who holds a bachelor’s from the University of Texas at Austin and a master’s from the University of North Texas. He is an educator at heart who spent nearly a decade in the public-school classroom teaching seventh grade Texas History as well as American History and World Geography at the high school level. In 2004, he joined the staff of the Texas State Historical Association serving as its director of educational services, assistant to the executive director, chief operating officer, and interim executive director at different points prior to his departure in 2018. Currently, he coordinates the Military and Oral History Programs of the Texas Historical Commission.
Kelly Francis-Love
Kelly Francis-Love is originally from Columbus, Ohio. She has a Bachelor’s in zoology from Miami University and a Master of Library and Information Science from Kent State University. She moved to Texas in 2017 to accept a position as the archivist at the Museum of South Texas History. She has also worked as the curator at the McAllen Heritage Center and as a temporary archivist at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley. She has been the Collections Manager at the Iwo Jima Monument and Museum with the Texas Historical Commission since 2024.
Lynn DeHart
Lynn DeHart is a proud lifelong Texan who holds a bachelor’s, two master’s and a doctorate. He spent fifteen years of his adult life as a Christian minister in Texas and Michigan. He moved from ministry to public education where he spent the next thirty years as a teacher, assistant principal, principal and Superintendent in two Texas public school districts while also serving as an adjunct professor at three Texas universities. Lyn Spent eight years as an educational consultant in the field of leadership and organizational heath and spent the last two years researching and writing on his father’s unique perspective as an eyewitness to both atomic detonations over Japan.
Paige Gulley
Paige Gulley is a PhD student at TCU in Fort Worth, TX. She earned her master’s in War and Society from Chapman University in Orange, CA and currently serves as the manuscript editor for the Journal of Military History. Her research focuses on American Red Cross recreation and morale workers during WWII.
