Born to Robert Lee and Hassie (Hubbard) Frazier on Dry Creek in Liberty almost 91 years ago, Twin brothers Edsel B. and Henry Edward Frazier have seen both the best and the worst the world has to offer in their time on earth.

They claim they don’t know which brother is the oldest.

"We don’t know," Edsel declared. "How many times you think we’ve been asked that? And we don’t know," added Edward.

"We were actually born at the old white house where Rat Cripps used to have a store," Edward continued. "It’s across from where you turn from Highway 70 to go to Dry Creek." They loved to fish, explore caves, and help their Dad on the farm.

The two had one sister, Ruby, one brother, James, both now deceased. Edward married his wife Louise Fuston, and the couple celebrated their 65th wedding anniversary last year. He had a son, Edward Jr., Deceased, and a daughter, Susan Hinton. He has a grandson, and two great granddaughters.

Edsel first married Martha Ann Young, then married His second wife, Louise, after her passing. He had two children, Margaret Ann Pack and Eddie B., both deceased. He has three grandchildren, Bryan Malone, Melanie Crews, and Jason Pack, and a great grandson, Jack Crews.

The brothers are still active, and are big Tiger basketball fans, attending not only home games, but most road games as well.

We’ll be 91 on March 13," Edsel shared. "It’s amazing how things have changed. I delivered the mail to everyone in town when I started. I would walk the whole town, from one end to the other. You hardly ever saw a car, just a horse tied up every once in a while. The road to McMinnville was still gravel. We didn’t have any electricity.

"The only road in the county with pavement on it was Highway 26 to Nashville," Edward added. "It wasn’t much more than a trail. You had to pull over in certain places to let people by.

"I’ve seen people go from riding horses to walking on the moon," Edsel interjected.. "I remember seeing the first television."

"The first color television we ever saw was in Greenup Kentucky, right on the Ohio River," Edward said. "They had it out of its cabinet, and there were mirrors all around it, and you couldn’t make heads or tails of the picture. I never thought it would be worth a dime."

"Now you can tap on a little trick (GPS) and it will take you right to the door of the place you’re trying to find," Edsel continued. "It’s amazing. This younger generation will never know what people used to have to go through."

I hope not," Edward intoned. "If time lasts we could go back to that."

It’s all pretty fragile," Edsel agreed. "It can be torn down the same way it was built up if we’re not careful.

When World War II broke out, the brothers enlisted at 18 to fight for freedom. The two remained together for several months, until the ridiculously cold conditions got the better of Edsel.

"We fought with the 99th Division, and we stayed together all the way through until my feet froze," Edsel said.

"We were inducted at Camp Forrest in Tullahoma," Edward continued. "We got our clothing at Fort McPherson, Georgia, and got our basic training down at Camp Blanding in Florida. Then we went directly to the front lines. When I came in they wanted to give me a machine gun, and I only weighed 134 pounds. I told them I wasn’t carrying no machine gun. They gave me a 60mm mortar. We didn’t have anything to fight with. We landed in Germany and the snow was almost waist deep. It was bad enough trying to fight in that, but we didn’t have any equipment to fight with. I was supposed to have a .45, and all I ever had to carry was a carbine rifle, and it was worn out. We were short of weapons.

"I had a carbine, too," Edsel remembered. "It was enough firepower to get by. I was first scout. I used it several times. I’d ease up on them and get them. I try to forget all that," he said.

"We would pick up plow points and scrap metal out of the fields and sell it for scrap," Edward said. "We didn’t know it was being sold to the Japanese, who were throwing it right back at us as shells."

Edsel said life as a first scout was interesting.

"I got cut off from my platoon once," Edsel recalled. "I was a few hundred yards ahead clearing the way, when the Germans got between us. I found an old farmhouse, and there was a woman in bed inside."

"Oh lord, I don’t like where this is going," Edward interjected.

"The Germans were coming down the road," Edsel continued. "I eased up there, and she was praying out loud. She couldn’t understand a thing I was saying, but I told her that I wasn’t going to hurt her, and she said "Cellar." Now I knew what that meant, because it means the same thing in English. There was another scout with me, and we hid out in that cellar for a while, then crawled back through enemy lines to get back to our people.

Six months in Edsel ran into some trouble.

"The snow was way up past our knees," Edsel said. It was the coldest winter on record. I had waded rivers and walked through that snow. I ended up in a field hospital with my legs frozen. I was there for 2-3 weeks before I could even walk. I tried to go to the mess hall to eat, and I could barely get up the stairs. They didn’t really do anything to fix them. I’ve had trouble with them my whole life. They were going to send me home, but I told them I wanted to stay here so I could be close to my brother. I didn’t really know I was hurt as bad as I was."

"We just kept fighting. We were on foot, but we had advanced so far that I was miles from him." Edward recollected.

"We crossed the Danube in amphibious jeeps on my 19th birthday, and they blew us out of the water," Edward continued. "I was not in the water yet when it started, that’s what saved me, but they didn’t have anywhere to hide, and the Germans just cut them down. When we got to the other side there was a hen laying an egg. I told my buddies that the first man that laid a hand on that egg I was gonna blow it off. I boiled that egg for my birthday."

Edward said there were a few close calls in Germany.

"We spent one night in Aachen, Germany with shells falling all around us," he remembered. "When the shelling was over, I picked up a big piece of shrapnel that had gone through my pack and pulled a blanket out with it."

Edward said his life was saved by a cow one cold German night.

"The houses and the barns were built together," he shared. "You walked right out of a cow barn and into the kitchen. Not very sanitary. It was way below zero, and I had gotten separated from my platoon after crossing a river. I slipped into a barn and found an old cow lying in there. I laid down with that cow to keep from freezing to death. You’d be surprised at how much heat a cow puts off. I woke up and found my outfit and said ‘Y’all ain’t gonna believe it, but I slept with a cow last night.’

Edsel said the innocent victims of the war left a mark on him.

"What hurt me more than anything was the little children who didn’t have anything to eat." He said. "You could see their ribs. We were practically starving to death ourselves, but I would take what they gave me and find a place and lay it down on a rock or something. They would come and get it like a pack of dogs. It was sad."

"We went out on patrol once and found a house where the people had run away and left a table full of food," Edward said. "That was then best meal you’ve ever seen. I sat down and ate all I could. I can still see that meal like it was yesterday."

A bit of confusion when they came back from the states brought the twins into the national spotlight.

"We got discharged out of Denver, Colorado, and Edsel was in line a few people in front of me," Edward disclosed. "He got his mustering out pay, and when I came up they didn’t want to pay me. They said they had already paid me once. I had to holler across the room to Edsel, and he came back. I said ‘You paid my twin brother.’ Once it was straightened out they called the press, and we hit every newspaper in the United States.

"We were the "Model T Twins" who had confused the Army," Edward continued. "They wanted to know what we were gonna do when we got out of the army, and I was about half shot, because there had been some liquor going around, and I wasn’t much of a drinker. I thought it was water, I reckon. I was funny, though. I told them that our father named us Edsel and Henry for the Model T that he loved so much, and that we were going to catch the Chattanooga Choo-Choo to Pop’s old farm in Tennessee, and darned if either one of us old boys were ever gonna leave again."

The brothers met another set of twins in Denver.

"We met two twin girls in Denver," Edward divulged. "They were wearing white fur coats, and they looked so much alike that when they went to the bathroom we never knew if we had the same one or not."

"I guess we didn’t care," Edsel said. "You couldn’t tell them apart."

"We caused a big stir walking down the street with those girls," Edward remembered. "Edsel always was bad about women. He made two dates one night, and asked me if I would help him out. I said ‘Tell me a few things about her, and I’ll do my best.’ I don’t think she ever knew the difference. We weighed the same, same uniforms, and we looked just alike."

The attention prompted a fruitless trip to Detroit.

"When we got home we got a nice letter from Ford motor company saying they were interested in how we came to be called Henry and Edsel," Edward said. "I said we ought to go up there and make them give us a Lincoln Continental. We figured we deserved it after all the publicity we’d gotten for Ford Motor Company. We went up to Detroit, and they were having some kind of wedding and you couldn’t get close to the place. It made us mad, and we turned around and came back home."

After the war Edsel went to work as a mail carrier, and Edward briefly tried his hand at building cars.

"I went to work for the post office in 1947, and carried the mail in Smithville for about 30 years," Edsel related.

"I went to Detroit and got a job at Hudson Motor Company," Edward reported. "I learned a lot assembling engines for those Hudsons. I put the crankshaft, rods and pistons in and torqued them, then the car went on down the line. I got tired of Detroit pretty quick, and came back home and went into the nursery business. I’m the oldest nurseryman in the United States. In 72 years the doors have never been closed. This is the last year. When spring comes I’m quitting."

Edward eventually got into local politics.

"I went 22 years without ever losing an election before I had sense enough to quit," he shared. "I was an alderman when I first got into it. Othel Smith was mayor. I started the record system in Smithville. I was there throughout the entire Model City Project. I was there when then Jamboree started. I got a lot of things done. I bought the airport. I bought the golf course. I helped get the craft center. I don’t think they’ve done anything since I left except build on to city hall. I got $100 a month for 22 years, but I’m proud of the things I got done for Smithville, and I didn’t raise taxes to do it."

"I stayed out of it. I never had much use for politics," Edsel said.

Edward said that Edsel’s lack of interest in politics did not prevent him from acquiring some heavy-duty friends.

"Edsel always had connections," his brother said. "My son got in some trouble in Nashville once, and I went to get him. I started to leave, and walked by a courtroom. The judge stopped court and called me to come over to the bench. I did, and he said ‘If you’re not Edsel Frazier you have to be his twin brother, can I help you?’ I told him it was already taken care of. The man stopped court to talk to me because I was Edsel’s brother."

Both men said that if they could leave a piece of advice for future generations it would be to be honest and above board at all times

"You can be poor but honest," Edward shared. "I don’t think anything beats honesty. You can work a lifetime and tear it down with one lie."

If you’re honest, and treat everybody like you’d like to be treated, things will work out," Edsel added. "Honesty is as good a thing as I know."