06/08/2026
Whenever I think of Texans and D-Day I think of Vencil Mares, shown here in his usual spot at the Taylor Cafe in Taylor, Texas. Vencil was 88 years old when I took this photo of him in 2012. He served as a medic during WW II and was a veteran of D-Day, the Battle of the Bulge, and the Battle of Bastogne. Vencil earned the Bronze Star, an award for meritorious action, for serving in five battles. He did all of that and then came home to Taylor, where he opened the Taylor Cafe in 1948 and smoked brisket for the next 71 years. Vencil died at the age of 96 in 2019. I hope they had the pits fired up in heaven!
