Our Farm Story
Our Farm Story
A family farm is the story of a lot of different people who loved each other very much.
It's the story of generations and the times in which they found themselves. It’s a lot of work, the memories of how and what they grew, and the miracles that kept them together.
The story of our farm began in 1939 when a Texas farm boy joined the U.S. Marines. He wanted to marry and buy his own farm, but jobs were scarce and land was expensive. The Marine Corp offered a regular paycheck, so he hitched a ride to Austin to enlist. He had never seen a train before that trip to Austin, but before it was over, he would see the world...and a war.
After going through Marine bootcamp, he was boarding a ship with his division for duty on Wake Island. At the last possible minute and without explanation, he and one other man were called off that ship and placed on another. That ship went to Midway. At Midway, he was doing picket-duty early one morning when the island, along with Pearl Harbor, was attacked. For three months his island was cut off from communication and under frequent bombardment. Of his original division sent to Wake Island, every man was lost.
That was just his introduction to the war, for he would go on to serve as a gunner in the battles of Midway, Guam and Iwo Jima. He was told by commanders before some of the worst battles that there was no chance he would live to see the next day. And yet somehow, in the front lines and on foot, he did. At last, in 1946, he was on a ship bound for a ground attack on mainland Japan when word reached them that the war was--at last--over.
Homer Hoffman returned to Texas and his war bride. They worked as ranch hands and picked cotton until they were able to buy land in Arkansas at the high price of $15 an acre. Here they raised three daughters and spent the rest of their lives. Their great-grandchildren are the fourth generation (and counting) to live and love on this land.