Oscar Benjamin Raesner, 92, was born June 28, 1925, to Oscar John and Selma Marie Hausler Raesner in his grandparents' farmhouse in rural Richmond near Fairchilds. He passed away at his home in Rosenberg on Tuesday, January 9.

Funeral services for Mr. Raesner, will be at 11 a.m. Saturday, January 13, at the First United Methodist Church in Rosenberg. Visitation will be at 9:30 a.m. until time of service. Burial with full military honors will follow at Rosenberg City Cemetery.

Pallbearers will be his comrades in Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 3903. Honorary pallbearers will be members of VFW Post 3903 and Auxiliary.

Raesner was a young man of 19 in June of 1944 when he answered the call to serve his country. After 17 weeks of infantry and commando training, he was prepared to be sent to the Pacific, but then heavy action in Europe changed his direction. Military personnel began sending everyone and everything they could to cover that territory.

Leaving New York aboard the Queen Mary, they landed in channel waters between Ireland and Scotland and went by train to the English Channel. When they arrived in France, he recalled laying his blanket on a bed of snow, pitching his tent and sleeping.

The troops - the men in Co. K, 320th Regiment, 35th Infantry Division - later traveled by train to Belgium to become infantry replacements for dead or wounded soldiers. Raesner was one of the small number going to the infantry company that took back the land the Germans had taken near Bastogne, Belgium, that ended the Battle of the Bulge on Jan. 28, 1945. He was also in a three-man squad that spent two weeks in a fox hole in the Black Forest with temperatures of minus 20 degrees and 24 inches of fresh snow on the ground. With frostbitten feet, he threw away his combat boots and put on snow galoshes. He was unable to be evacuated because he could still walk. Later he was told by medical personnel that his walking was probably the only thing that saved his feet.

He spent 105 consecutive days on the front line. Raesner and his fellow soldiers marched west into France and were told they were going home on furlough and would then be sent to the Pacific to invade the Japanese homeland. That was when President Harry Truman signed for the drop of the atomic bomb that ended World War II. Raesner had always been thankful for that move.

His infantry medals are numerous, including the Bronze Star.

He received his honorable discharge on June 30, 1946. He returned to Fort Bend County to marry his sweetheart, Margaret Louise Arlitt, on Oct. 6, 1946, at First Methodist Church in Rosenberg, with the Rev. T. I. Beck officiating. He worked as a farmer near Rosenberg for most of his life.

He was a longtime member of the First United Methodist Church in Rosenberg, a Life Member of VFW Post 3903, a Life Member of Disabled American Veterans Chapter 233, and a member of the National Rifle Association.

He was preceded in death by his parents; one sister, Alta Mae Brady; brothers-in-law Clarence Brady and Carl Collins; and a nephew, Ray Collins.

He is survived by his wife of 71 years, Margaret Raesner; seven daughters: Kathleen Thomas and husband Jim, Gwen Ryland and fiance Robert Mason, Lori Bell and husband Monte, Cheryl Foster and husband Charlie, Donna Hall and husband William, Sandi Skopik, and Nancy Weiss and husband Randy; one sister, Mary Ann Collins; 20 grandchildren, 14 great-grandchildren, and numerous nieces, nephews, and friends.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be given in his memory to First United Methodist Church, 1106 4th Street, Rosenberg, TX 77471, or to St. Jude's Children Hospital, 262 Danny Thomas Place, Memphis, TN 38106.

Condolence messages may be written for the family at www.garmanycarden.com.

Services are under the direction of Garmany & Carden Funeral Directors, 1201 Fourth Street, Rosenberg, Texas 77471 (281)342-4671.