By Maj. William Carraway
Historian, Georgia Army National Guard
Lt. Col. Wyont Bean with Battery F, 179th FA in 1952. Georgia National Guard Archives |
Brigadier General Wyont Bean began his career in the Ga. Army National Guard February 22, 1924 upon enlisting in Company C, 200th Infantry Regiment at the age of 18. His captain was Thomas Lamar Alexander who would command the regiment after it was redesignated the 122nd Infantry.
Bean rose through the enlisted
ranks to serve as company first sergeant before accepting an appointment as a 2nd lieutenant in the same company, then designated Company C, 122nd
Infantry Regiment. A graduate of Tech High School in Atlanta, Bean qualified as
an expert rifleman in the 1933 rifle matches at Camp Perry, Ohio. On Sept. 21,
1936 Bean transferred to Company G, 122nd Infantry Regiment and
accepted promotion to 1st lieutenant. That year he again scored as
an expert rifleman at Camp Perry.
The Ga. National Guard rifle team at Camp Perry, Ohio in 1937. Georgia National Guard Archives |
On July 1,
1939, the 122nd Infantry Regiment was redesignated the 179th
Field Artillery beginning Bean’s long association with the field artillery of
the Ga. National Guard. Shortly before entering federal service, Bean was
promoted to captain. Bean entered active federal service February 14, 1941 and
remained on active duty for five years during which he participated in the Rhineland
and Central Europe campaigns. Bean commanded the 694th FA Battalion
and served as the intelligence officer of the 472nd Field Artillery
Group, 9th Army.
Upon leaving federal
service, Lt. Col. Bean served in the Officers’ Reserve Corps until May 2, 1947
when he assumed command of the newly reactivated 945th Field Artillery
Battalion of the Ga. ARNG’s 48th Infantry Division Artillery. The
following year, the unit was redesignated the 179th FA BN and
received the Croix de Guerre with Palme from the French Government during a
ceremony at the State Capitol.
Lieutenant Colonel Wyont Bean leads the 179th Field Artillery Battalion during the Army Day Parade in Atlanta April 6, 1949. Georgia National Guard Archives. |
Bean
commanded the 179th for ten years. In 1953, Bean’s son, Wyont Bean
Jr., enlisted in the Ga. ARNG and Lt. Col. Bean administered his oath of
office. Four years later, Bean swore his son into the Ga. ARNG as a second
lieutenant. Lieutenant Bean transferred to the Iowa National Guard in 1959 to
attend Palmer College of Chiropractic but rejoined the Ga. ARNG after his 1963
graduation.
Bean retired
from the Ga. ARNG November 1, 1962 and was promoted to the rank of brigadier
general. As a civilian, Bean served as a planning engineer with the City of
Atlanta until his retirement in 1966. That year, his son, Capt. W. Bean, commanded Battery D, 179th Field Artillery Battalion.
Brigadier
General Bean died July 26, 1970 at the age of 64.
.