By Major William Carraway
Historian,
Georgia Army National Guard
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| Citizen Soldiers of the Georgia National Guard celebrate Christmas overseas in 1918 and 2018. Right photo by 1st Lt. Leland White. |
For more than a century, Citizen Soldiers and Airmen of the
Georgia National Guard have mobilized in support of operations at home and
abroad. The separation of deployment for service members and their families can
be much more difficult during the holiday season, a time when families tend to
gather to celebrate. This year, nearly 650 of Georgia’s Citizen Soldiers and
Airmen are deployed around the world. In performing their duty, these service
members are weaving their own thread in the tapestry of service which links
them with past generations of Guardsmen.
Mexican Border Service, 1916
In Jun 1916, more than 3,600 Georgia National Guard Soldiers
were called to active duty following unrest on the Mexican Border. Deployed to
El Paso in October, these Soldiers would pass Christmas guarding the border
from outposts scattered from Yselta Texas to lonely stations in New Mexico.
Returning in March 1917, these Guardsmen remained in active service and were
immediately summoned to training camps for premobilization training for World
War I.[1]
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| Soldiers of Company F, 2nd Battalion, 2nd Georgia Infantry Regiment pose for this Christmas card in El Paso, Texas in 1916. Company F would serve in WWI as Company A, 151st Machine Gun Battalion and in World War II as Service Company, 121st Infantry Regiment. Photo from the 1st Lt. Vivian Roberts collection courtesy of Tonie Maxwell. |
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| This Christmas card from World War I depicts Santa Claus, Uncle Sam and an American dough boy. |
In the summer of 1917, the three Macon-based companies of the
Georgia National Guard’s 2nd Infantry Regiment formed the 151st
Machine Gun Company. Dispatched to France with the 42nd Infantry
Division in 1917, they would spend Christmas 1917 in France, and after
participating in the major campaigns of 1918 spent the following Christmas on
occupation duty in Kripp, Germany.[2]
The balance of the Georgia National Guard trained with the 31st
Division at Camp Wheeler near Macon until mobilizing for France in October
1918. Arriving too late to take part as organic units in combat operations,
Georgia’s Guard units nevertheless spent Christmas in France before rotating
home in 1919.
The Georgia Air National Guard in World War II
Formed in 1941, the Georgia National Guard’s 128th
Observation Squadron performed patrol duty from New Orleans as part of the 26th
Antisubmarine Wing over Christmas 1942.[3]
Christmas 1943 found the unit stationed at MacDill Field in Florida where the
Guardsmen formed a cadre of the 483rd Bombardment Group and 818th
Bombardment Squadron. The following year the 843rd was assigned to
the 15th Air Force in Europe where the 818th was
redesignated the 840th Bombardment Squadron. Flying B-17s, the 840th
served in the skies over Europe and was rotated home in September 1945.[4]
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| Georgia National Guardsmen of the 840th Bombardment Squadron observe Christmas in Italy in 1944. Georgia National Guard Archives. |
The Georgia Army National Guard in The Pacific Theater of World War II
When it arrived in Port Moresby, New Guinea in May 1942, the
101st Antiaircraft Artillery Automatic Weapons Battalion, formerly
the 1st Squadron, 108th Cavalry, Ga. National Guard, was
the only American combat unit on the Island.[5]
Through Christmas 1943, the 101st provided air defense over five
airdromes near Port Moresby and were a key element in the allied victories in
Papua and New Guinea. For its actions, the 101st received the
Presidential Unit Citation.[6]
Meanwhile, the 214th Field Artillery Group, which was formed from
the Georgia National Guard’s 264th Coast Artillery Battalion and 3rd
Battalion 122nd Infantry in 1940, provided air defense over
Henderson Field, Guadalcanal in 1942.[7]
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| The 214th Field Artillery Regiment and 101st Antiaircraft Artillery Automatic Weapons Battalion fought in the Pacific Theater of World War II. Photo by Capt. William Carraway |
The lineage of these Georgia National Guard units who fought in the Pacific Theater are preserved today in the 1st Battalion, 214th Field Artillery; 177th Brigade Engineer Battalion and 878th Engineer Battalion.
The European Theater of World War II
Having waded ashore Omaha and Utah Beaches in Normandy France
from June to August 1944, seven battalions of Georgia National Guard Soldiers
spent Christmas engaged in the Ardennes following a surprise German
counterattack remembered today as the Battle of the Bulge.
945th Field Artillery Battalion
When the Germans launched the Ardennes Offensive, the 945th
Field Artillery Battalion was engaged with the IIX Corps, 3rd Army
in the Lorraine Campaign near Nancy. In action throughout December, the
battalion had taken severe casualties with just 72 men remaining for duty in
Battery C.[8] On
December 19, Lt. Gen. George Patton ordered the XII Corps to move via
Luxembourg to the Ardennes. The 945th, still recovering from the
counterbattery fire of December 18, did not get started until the next day. Due
to the heavy snow and unbearable cold, the route of march was torturous and
delayed. A Soldier in the 945th recalled that the mud froze to their
boots and that men clustered to ride on the hoods of M5 tractors in order to
stay warm. [9]
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| On Christmas Eve, Lt. Gen. George S. Patton distributed these personalized messages to the Soldiers of the 3rd Army including members of the Georgia Army National Guard’s 945th Field Artillery Battalion. Georgia National Guard Archives |
On Christmas Day, the Soldiers of the 945th received turkey dinner. Patton circulated through the divisions of the 3rd Army congratulating the men for their efforts. He subsequently wrote that “No other Army in the world except the American could have done such a thing.”
179th Field Artillery Battalion[12]
Also moving out with the 3rd Army on December 20
was the 179th Field Artillery Battalion, a Georgia Guard unit which
had been based in Atlanta prior to the start of the War. Moving with the 4th
Armored Division, the 179th arrived in Nagen, Belgium where the
Georgia Guardsmen delivered their first salvos into German flank positions on
December 23, 1944. From their firing position, the 179th Field
Artillery Battalion supported the 26th Division and would continue
to do so through Christmas. In January, the 179th, moving with the 4th
Armored Division advanced to Bastogne to relieve the encircled 101st
Airborne Division.
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| A cartoon depiction of the rapid mobilization of the Georgia National Guard’s 179th Field Artillery Battalion and 4th Armor Division to the Ardennes in December 1944 as drawn by a Soldier of the 179th. |
The 121st Infantry Regiment spent November and
December in the bloody Hurtgen Forest, an experience one Gray Bonnet Soldier
recalled as “hell with icicles” During the fighting, Staff Sgt. John Minick led
an element of Soldiers through a minefield, silenced an enemy machine gun,
killed 20 Germans and captured 10 before he was killed by a mine explosion. For
his valorous actions, Minnick posthumously received the Medal of Honor.[13]
In late December, the objective of the 121st
Infantry Regiment was the town of Obermaubach, east of Hurtgen. Near
Obermaubach was a dam on the Roer River. If the Germans destroyed the dam the
resulting flood would hamper 1st Army efforts to cross.[14]
The 121st attack jumped off on Dec. 22, 1944.
Company B, under command of Capt. William McKenna achieved early success,
driving 300 yards through enemy mortar and machine gun fire. Company C gained a
foothold in the town and the 121st began clearing operations. An
enemy sniper felled Maj. Joseph Johnston, commander of 1st Battalion
but he refused medical evacuation until the engagement was decided.[15]
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| Capt. William McKenna |
Christmas Eve and Christmas came with the infantry still heavily engaged. Company F cleared four bunkers while Soldiers of Company K knocked out two enemy strong points and cleared an approach for armor forces to move forward in support.
Stories of individual heroism were replete during the
Christmas Day attack of the 121st against Obermaubach. Technical
Sgt. Raymond Kommer moved out ahead of his squad which had been pinned down by
machine gun fire. Incredibly, Kommer managed to crawl within arms-reach of the
enemy machine gun position. When the enemy gunner paused to reload, Kommer
reached into the machine gun nest and unceremoniously pulled the gun right out
of the gunner’s hands.[16]
While leading Company B, Capt. McKenna low crawled through
enemy minefields within sight of enemy positions and called in artillery fire.
He remained in an exposed position calling in targets before machine gun fire
compelled him to return to his men. Still, he moved from foxhole to foxhole encouraging
his Soldiers through personal example. During the attack that followed, McKenna
was killed by small arms fire.[17]
118th Field Artillery Battalion
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| The Georgia Army National Guard’s 118th Field Artillery Battalion went into position near Malmedy, Belgium just before Christmas 1944. |
Artillery Battalion, part of the 30th Infantry Division, were in Langweiler, Germany when they received the order to be prepared to mobilize following the German counteroffensive in the Ardennes. Hastily loading personnel, equipment, and Christmas souvenirs onto trucks, the battalion moved out of Langweiler at 8:00 p.m. into darkness and swirling snow.[18] The vehicle column endured a night attack by the Luftwaffe the next morning and by December 18, the 118th was passing through Malmedy. Going into position near the town of Spa, Belgium, the Soldiers would soon find themselves firing at their old nemeses from Mortain, the 1st SS Panzer Division.[19] The resolve of the Soldiers was strengthened after learning of the American Soldiers who had been ambushed and murdered along the road in Malmedy through which they had passed just two days previous.
On December 19, the 118th batteries received fire missions and began firing at the rate of one round per minute against the advancing German vanguard. Presently, the batteries were ordered to increase their rate of fire to two rounds per minute. This rate of fire was sustained until the guns became red hot and the falling snows sizzled on tubes. Soldiers of Service Battery were hard pressed to keep up with the ammunition requirements of the line batteries and were compelled to race about on steep, icy roads bringing ammunition forward.
Over the next several days, the 118th fought the
Germans and the elements with freezing cold temperatures and low clouds
preventing American aircraft from flying over the lines. Finally, on Christmas
Eve, the clouds lifted, and allied aircraft were soon bombing German positions
and strafing supply lines.
The fighting continued in earnest on Christmas and the
Soldiers had to rotate from their positions to enjoy their turkey dinner. From
December 19 to 25, the battalion fired approximately 20,000 rounds.[20]
They would continue to fire with deadly effect into the New Year and halfway
through January before the Allies began to push the Germans back.
230th Field Artillery Battalion
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| Happy Soldiers of the Georgia National Guard’s 230th Field Artillery Battalion receive Christmas packages from home Dec. 24, 1944 near Spa, Belgium |
Like its sister battalion, the 118th, the Georgia Guard’s 230th Field Artillery Battalion received an urgent alert to move while stationed at Langendorf, Germany.[21] Shortly before midnight December 17, the battalion abandoned their comfortable houses with decorated fir trees and began the movement to the Ardennes. Along the route, the 230th experienced the same Luftwaffe attacks as related by the Soldiers of the 118th. Moving south from Aachen, the 230th established firing positions near Malmedy. Although in proximity to the 118th the 230th did not receive the same quantity of fire due to the terrain of the valley in which they were emplaced. Nevertheless, the guns of the 230th supported the 120th Infantry Regiment was positioned to their front.
The 230th had perhaps the most fortunate position on Christmas of any Georgia Guard unit in Europe. The battalion’s headquarters was near the Belgian town of Spa. The Soldiers were able to rotate from Malmedy to Spa where they enjoyed Turkey dinner along with the hot bubbling mineral springs. Without ornaments, the Soldiers decorated small fir trees with bright paper and bubble gum wrappers. Not content to enjoy the blessings of Christmas by themselves, the Soldiers collected truckloads of candy and food to provide for the children of nearby Malmedy. Having enjoyed a relatively peaceful Christmas interlude with the moonlight reflecting of the quiet snowy valley, the Soldiers would soon advance to provide artillery support as the Infantry Regiments of the 30th Division pressed east.[22]
Korea[23]
On August 14, 1950, the Georgia Army National Guard’s 108th
AAA was activated for federal service. In addition to the 101st and 250th AAA
Battalions, the 178th Anti-Aircraft Artillery Operations Detachment and 420th
Signal Radar Maintenance Unit rounded out the brigade. With a combined strength
of just over 1,000 men, the 108th was dispatched to Fort Bliss Texas and
assigned to the 8th U.S. Army. In November 1951, the 108th was dispatched to
the Midwest with the 250th arriving at Fort Custer, Michigan and the 101st
garrisoned at Camp McCoy, Wisconsin. From these bases of operation, the Georgia
Guard batteries were independently assigned to cities and industrial areas from
Wisconsin to Pennsylvania to provide anti-aircraft capability against the
threat of Soviet missile and aircraft attacks. First Lieutenant Stone’s battery
of 90 mm guns was assigned to protect the skies over Chicago.
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| Georgia National Guard Soldiers of the 101st Anti-Aircraft Artillery Battalion stand in the frigid cold of a Chicago winter while waiting for their C-47 transport plane to refuel and bring them home for Christmas in 1951. Georgia National Guard Archives. |
In December, Maj. Gen. Ernest Vandiver, Adjutant General of
Georgia, dispatched the state’s C-47 cargo aircraft to bring Georgia Guardsmen
home for Christmas from Camp McCoy and Fort Custer. While the Georgia Guardsmen
of the 101st were able to rotate home for Christmas, freezing weather prevented
the Guardsmen of the 250th AAA from rotating home from Fort Custer.
The Georgia Air National Guard’s 54th Fighter Wing
was activated in October 1950. Mobilized to Japan, Guard aviators flew combat
missions in the skies over North Korea before returning to the United States in
1952.
Vietnam
In November and December, 1965, air
crews of the Georgia Air National Guard and Citizen-Airmen from other states
volunteered for a special mission to Vietnam. Nearly 80 Air National Guard
aircraft ultimately participated in Operation Christmas Star, a multi-state
airlift operation designed to provide service members in Southeast Asia with
Christmas gifts contributed by a grateful nation. The Georgia aircrews delivered
nearly 49,000 pounds of Christmas gifts and mail in addition to 97,000 pounds
of Air Force cargo.[24]
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| The first of six Georgia Air National Guard C-97 Stratofreighters is loaded with Christmas Gifts bound for Vietnam as part of Operation Christmas Star. Georgia National Guard archives. |
Desert Shield / Desert Storm
Eleven units of the Georgia Army National Guard were
mobilized for Desert Shield with six units ultimately deploying to the Middle
East. The aggregate of these units encompassed nearly 5,300 Soldiers,
approximately half of the Ga. ARNG’s authorized strength.[25]
The Georgia Air National Guard mobilized ten units. Personnel
of the 165th Tactical Airlift Group, 224th Joint
Communications Support Squadron and 283rd Combat Communications
Squadron were the first Georgia Guardsmen deployed to Saudi Arabia and Europe in
support of Operation Desert Shield.[26]
Iraq and Afghanistan
Since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001 more than
22,000 of Georgia’s Citizen Soldiers and Airmen have been called to support
combat operations overseas. Despite the U.S. military withdrawal from
Afghanistan in August 2021, Georgia National Guard units continue to support
contingency missions in the Central Command area of operations. Guardsmen have
also been separated from families by domestic missions ranging from cyber missions
to supporting border security in the southwest United States.
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| Soldiers of 2nd Battalion 121st Infantry Regiment observe Christmas in Kunduz, Afghanistan Dec. 25, 2009. |
[1]
William Carraway “Cactus, Sage Brush, Fleas and Ants.” Georgiaguardhistory.com.
April 5, 2017, http://www.georgiaguardhistory.com/2017/04/cactus-and-sage-brush-fleas-and-ants.html
[2]
William Carraway “November to December 1918: ‘We will probably have to go into
Germany’”. Georgiaguardhistory.com. Dec. 12, 2018, http://www.georgiaguardhistory.com/2018/12/november-to-december-1918-we-will.html
[3]
William E. Ridley. Georgia Air National Guard History 1941-2000.
(Clarkesville: Fine Books 2000) 11.
[4]
William E. Ridley. Georgia Air National Guard History 1941-2000. 12.
[5]
Richard W. Titus. A Chronicle of Georgia’s 101st Separate Coast Artillery
Battalion, Antiaircraft, Automatic Weapons Limited to the Period February 16,
1942 to January 1, 1944. First American Ground Troops in New Guinea.
(Crabapple, Ga.: Richard Titus June 1986) 2-31.
[6]
George C. Marshall. “General Order. No. 21”. (Washington: War Department May 6,
1943).
[7]
The Center for Military History. “Lineage and Honors of the 214th
Field Artillery Regiment.”
[8]
William M. Cosgrove. Time on Target: the 945th Field Artillery Battalion in
World War II. (Place of publication not identified: W.M. Cosgrove, III,
1997) 111.
[9]
William M. Cosgrove. Time on Target: the 945th Field Artillery Battalion in
World War II. 125.
[10]
William M. Cosgrove. Time on Target: the 945th Field Artillery Battalion in
World War II. 126
[11]
William M. Cosgrove. Time on Target: the 945th Field Artillery Battalion in
World War II. 127
[12]
History and Battle Record of 179 F.A. Bn., 1857-1945. (Regensburg,
Germany: Frederich Pustet, 1945) 16.
[13]
The Gray Bonnet: Combat History of the 121st Infantry.
(Baton Rouge, LA: Army & Navy Publishing Company, 1946) 33.
[14]
The Gray Bonnet: Combat History of the 121st Infantry, 41.
[15]
The Gray Bonnet: Combat History of the 121st Infantry, 42.
[16]
The Gray Bonnet: Combat History of the 121st Infantry, 43.
[17]
The Gray Bonnet: Combat History of the 121st Infantry, 43.
[18]Gordon
Burns Smith. History in Action: 118th Field Artillery, 30th Infantry
Division 1942-1945, 2nd Edition. (Washington, D.C.: Florida “Gator”
Chapter, 1988) 83.
[19]
Gordon Burns Smith. History in Action: 118th Field Artillery, 30th Infantry
Division 1942-1945, 2nd Edition, 85.
[20]
Gordon Burns Smith. History in Action: 118th Field Artillery, 30th Infantry
Division 1942-1945, 2nd Edition, 88.
[21]
John Jacobs et al. On the Way: A Historical Narrative of the Two-Thirtieth
Field Artillery Battalion Thirtieth Infantry Division. (Poessneck, Germany:
F. Gerold Verlag, 1945) 48.
[22]
John Jacobs et al. On the Way: A Historical Narrative of the Two-Thirtieth
Field Artillery Battalion Thirtieth Infantry Division, 54.
[23]
William Carraway. “The Georgia National Guard and the Korean War.” June 25,
2001, http://www.georgiaguardhistory.com/2021/06/the-georgia-national-guard-and-korean.html.
[24]
William Carraway “The Georgia Air National Guard Brings Christmas to Troops in
Vietnam.” Georgiaguardhistory.com
[25]
Kenneth Davis. “After the Storm.” The Georgia Guardsman.” Fall, 1991, 1.
[26]
Beryl Diamond “Georgia National Guard Responds to Gulf Crisis.” The Georgia
Guardsman.” Spring, 1990, 1.
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