The Georgia National Guard and the Korean War

By Maj. William Carraway

Historian, Georgia Army National Guard

Captain Barney Casteel (left) at the controls of the first F-84 assigned to the Ga. ANG (right) in June 1950. Georgia National Guard Archives.

Three Blissful Weeks in June

In June 1950, with summer approaching, Soldiers and Airmen of the Georgia National Guard were preparing for annual training. The 128^th Fighter Squadron of the Georgia Air National Guard’s 116^th Fighter Group received its first jet-powered aircraft, the F-84, replacing the World War II-era F-47 Thunderbolt. The 128^th was the second squadron of the Ga. ANG to field jet aircraft after the 158^th FS replaced its F-47s with the F-80C Shooting Star in 1948. The first of the 26 F-84s assigned to the 128^th was flown to Dobbins Air Force Base by Capt. Barney Casteel, a 27-year-old native of Atlanta. A 1948 graduate of Georgia Institute of Technology, Casteel flew 81 combat missions over Germany in World War II and was decorated with the Distinguished Flying Cross. [1]

Col. Roy LeCraw in 1950. Ga. Guard
Archives

As Casteel was winging his way to Dobbins, State Senator Roy LeCraw was ensconced in his Atlanta office. The former mayor of Atlanta and World War II veteran additionally served as commander of the 216^th Air Services Group and personnel officer for the Georgia Air National Guard. Colonel LeCraw was anticipating a busy annual training season, not knowing he would soon be called to active duty, along with Casteel, to serve as the executive officer of the 116^th Fighter Bomber Wing.

Halfway between Atlanta and Savannah, the Georgia Army National Guard’s Battery D, 101^st Antiaircraft Artillery Battalion spent their June drill at their armory in Waynesboro preparing for annual training which was to be held at Camp Stewart August 6 to 20[2]. The battalion would compete with its rival, the 250^th AAA Battalion, in crew drills and firing efficiency for bragging rights as the top guns in the Savannah-based 108^th Anti-Aircraft Artillery Brigade. First Lieutenant Paul Stone, a 25-year-old platoon leader and business owner, born and raised in Waynesboro, had already gained a reputation as an effective officer. A veteran of the Air Corps in World War II, Stone left the Air Corps Reserves March 13, 1949 to serve with his hometown Guard unit. As he finished up paperwork from the June drill, Stone prepared to return to his civilian job and looked forward to the hot humid annual training at Camp Stewart.

War

Just weeks later, on June 25, 1950, North Korean Army units, backed by Soviet and Chinese equipment and assistance, advanced in force into South Korea. In response, the United Nations Security Council authorized the formation of the United Nations Command. On July 5, elements of the 24^th U.S. Infantry Division moved to engage forces of the Korean People’s Army near Osan. Lacking anti-tank weaponry, the U.S. force was overwhelmed by Korean Armor[3]. The 24^th fell back steadily. Over the next seventeen days of constant combat, the American units suffered more than 30 percent casualties[4].

Protecting the Homeland

With the action unfolding on the Korean peninsula, Georgia National Guard leaders began to prepare their units for possible mobilization. Brig. Gen. Joseph Fraser, commander of the 108^th Antiaircraft Artillery Brigade, was faced with the prospect of serving in his third war. He served in France during World War I and had commanded the Ga. ARNG’s 101^st AAA Battalion in the Pacific during World War II. His present command encompassed the 101^st as well as the Augusta based 250^th AAA BN which had also served in the Pacific during World War II.[5]

Fraser’s executive officer was Col. George Hearn of Monroe, Ga. Like Fraser, Hearn had commanded an anti-aircraft unit in the Pacific during World War II. Returning home from the war, Hearn had been elected mayor of Monroe and was preparing to begin his term as the commander of the American Legion in Georgia in 1950[6].

Brig. Gen. Joe Fraser (second from left) and Col. George Hearn (second from right) brief Maj. Gen. Ernest Vandiver, Georgia's Adjutant General (center)
on the mobilization of the 108th AAA Brigade at Fort Bliss in January 1951. Georgia Guard Archives.

On August 14, 1950, the 108^th AAA was activated for federal service[7]. In addition to the 101^st and 250^th AAA Battalions, the 178^th Anti-Aircraft Artillery Operations Detachment and 420^th Signal Radar Maintenance Unit rounded out the brigade. With a combined strength of just over 1,000 men, the 108^th was dispatched to Fort Bliss Texas and assigned to the 8^th U.S. Army. In November 1951, the 108^th was dispatched to the Midwest with the 250^th arriving at Fort Custer, Michigan and the 101^st 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.

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 101^st were able to rotate home for Christmas, cold weather prevented the Guardsmen of the 250^th AAA from rotating home from Fort Custer.[8]

Georgia Army National Guard Soldiers of the 101st AAA 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.

The guns of the 108^th AAA remained on station through the spring of 1952 before

Brig. Gen Paul Stone in 1963. Ga. Guard
Archives.

receiving the order to rotate home. The Waynesboro Battery remained in position through April 1952 with Stone rising to command the battery. After demobilizing at Camp McCoy, Wisconsin, the 101^st AAA Gun Battalion returned home. Over the next seven years, the Waynseboro battery earned six consecutive superior ratings and Stone received the Georgia Distinctive Service Medal and promotion to major.[9] After a brief tenure on the staff of the 108^th AAA, Stone transferred to the Ga. ANG. He retired in 1971 as a brigadier general having served eight years as commander of the Georgia Air National Guard[10].

Brigadier General Joe Fraser was appointed to command the Ga. ARNG’s 48^th Infantry Division in March 1952 but did not return from mobilization until May. He saw the 48^th through its transition to armor and served as the first commander of the 48^th Armor Division. Fraser retired as a lieutenant general in 1956.[11]

George Hearn was promoted to brigadier general and succeeded Fraser in command of the 108^th AAA. In 1954 he was appointed to serve as Georgia’s Adjutant General. He served two non-consecutive terms as adjutant general for a total of 15 years and retired in 1971 having served the longest of Georgia’s Adjutants General.

Ga. ANG Pilots in Early Action in Korea[12][13]

In October 1950, the Georgia Air National Guard’s 54^th Fighter Wing was activated along with Col. LeCraw, Capt. Casteel, and other Ga. ANG pilots of the newly redesignated 116^th Fighter Bomber Wing. As had happened to the Ga. ARNG units in the early months of World War II, many of the pilots of the Georgia Air National Guard were individually selected for other units. Among those was 1^st Lt. James Lawrence Collins of the 128^th Fighter Squadron. On May 8, 1951, Collins, a 26-year-old native of Atlanta was on a mission with the 49^th Bomber Wing over North Korea. While maneuvering his F-80 into position for a dive bomb run, Collins was hit by antiaircraft and crashed. He was declared missing, later killed in action.

Captain John Franklin Thompson of the 54^th Fighter Wing was another Georgia ANG pilot to see service over Korea with the U.S. Air Force. On June 11, 1951, while flying with the 18^th Fighter Bomber Wing on his 75^th mission, Thompson, having expended all his ammunition, was flying at low altitude attempting to locate targets. His P-51 Mustang was struck by enemy groundfire which caused it to hit the ground and explode, killing Thompson on impact.

Nine days later, a Georgia Air National Guard pilot scored his eighth kill. Lieutenant J. B. Harrison, formerly of the 128^th Fighter Squadron, shot down a Russian Yak 9 fighter over Korea June 20, 1951 adding to seven confirmed kills he had received in World War II.[14]

On June 21, 1951, 1^st Lt. Clyde White of the 8^th Bomber Group had taken to the skies over North Korea in his F-80. The 32-year-old native of Savannah had served in the 158^th Fighter Squadron before his transfer to the 8^th FB Group. Coming under heavy antiaircraft fire near Twijae, White maneuvered into a dive and struck a ridge. His aircraft exploded on impact.

The 116^th Deploys[15]

The remaining Georgia Air National Guardsmen, except those assigned to the 128^th Fighter Squadron, departed for Korean service in July 1951 aboard the aircraft carriers Sitkoh Bay and Windham Bay and reached Japan July 27 where Col. LeCraw served as commander of the 116^th Air Base Group. The Guardsmen provided air defense for Japan until December when the units were ferried to Korea to participate in missions in the skies over North Korea.

Pilots and groundcrews of the 158th Fighter Squadron scramble for an air defense mission at Misawa, Japan in 1951. Georgia National Guard Archives.

Captain David J. Mather, a former member of the 128^th Fighter Squadron and native of Atlanta was one of the pilots of the 116 to enter combat over Korea. While conducting an armed reconnaissance mission following a dive bombing of enemy supply lines near Sairwon North Korea, Mather’s F-84 was hit by ground fire. He was seen to crash and was listed as missing, later killed in action.

On Jan 21, 1952, while assigned to the 136^th Bomber Wing, Capt. Barney Casteel was conducting an armed reconnaissance mission north of Pyongyang. While strafing vehicles, Casteel’s F-84 aircraft was hit by ground fire. Casteel was unable to free himself from the aircraft seat and was killed on impact. He was the last Georgia Air National Guard Pilot killed in Korea.

Ga. ANG pilots killed in action in Korea. Left to right: Capt. Barney Casteel, Lt. James Collins, Capt. David Mather, Capt. John Thompson, Lt. William White.
Georgia Guard Archives.

The following month, the Ga. ANG units returned to Japan and began demobilizing to the United States. By July, all the units of the 54^th had returned to Georgia. The 128^th Fighter Squadron was briefly mobilized to France in 1952 but did not see service in the skies over Korea. Nevertheless, many of its pilots, such as Capt. Glenn Herd, were brought into service with the U.S. Air Force in Korea. Herd ultimately flew more than 100 missions before returning home to serve as operations officer of the 128^th Fighter Squadron under Major, and future Adjutant General Joel Paris.[16]

Major Joel Paris, commander of the 128th Fighter Squadron confers with Capt. Glenn Herd, operations officer of the 128th. Georgia Guard Archives.

Colonel Roy LeCraw returned home to a hero’s welcome. On July 19, 1952, LeCraw learned that he had been awarded the Bronze Star for “exceptionally meritorious service for distinguishing himself by performing outstanding administrative functions connected with the activation, reorganization and command of Air Force Units[17].” Major General Ernest Vandiver, Adjutant General of Georgia, presented the Bronze Star to LeCraw during a ceremony honoring Korean War Veterans in January 1953.[18]

 

Colonel Roy LeCraw receives the Bronze Star Medal from Maj. Gen. Ernest Vandiver, Georgia's Adjutant General during a ceremony honoring Georgia's
Korean War Veterans. Georgia National Guard Archives.

[1]The Georgia Guardsman Magazine, June 1950, 4.

[2] “Training Dates Set for 48^th Div, 108^th BRIG”. Georgia Guardsman Magazine, February 1950, 2

[3] Fehrenbach, T. R. This Kind of War: The Classic Korean War History. Dulles, VA: Potomac Books, 2008.

[4] Fehrenbach, 101.

[5] “Brilliant Military Career of Lt. General Joseph B. Fraser Ends after 38 Years.” Georgia Guardsman Magazine, July 56, 12.

[6] “Did You Know?” Georgia Guardsman Magazine, May 49, 7.

[7] Hylton, Renee. Where Are We Going: The National Guard and the Korean War 1950-1953, 51.

[8] “Our Cover” Georgia Guardsman, February 1952, 1.

[9] Brig. Gen. Paul S. Stone Becomes Asst. Adj. Gen. for Air.” Georgia Guardsman, January 1963, 5.

[10] “Retirements”. Georgia Guardsman, May 1974, 20.

[11] “Brilliant Military Career of Lt. General Joseph B. Fraser ends after 38 Years’ Service”. Georgia Guardsman, July 1956, 12.

[12] Ridley, W. E. Georgia Air National Guard History, 1941-2000. Charlotte, NC Fine Books Pub, 2000.

[13] “Last Accounts of Air Guard Pilots Reveal Their Courage and Daring”. Georgia Guardsman Feb 1953, 10.

[14] “Former Guard Pilot Downs Russian Plane.” Georgia Guardsman, November 1951, 13.

[15] “Last Accounts of Air Guard Pilots Reveal Their Courage and Daring”. Georgia Guardsman February 1953, 10.

[16] “Major Paris, Capt. Herd Pilot 128^th FTR-INTCP SQ” September 1952, 2.

[17] “Col. LeCraw Awarded Bronze Star”. Georgia Guardsman, September 1952, 1

[18]“Georgia National Guard Goes All Out with Thunderbird Premiere.” Georgia Guardsman, January 1953, 7.

June 7, 1973: The Era of the F-100 Super Sabre Begins for the 116th TFW

 By Maj. William Carraway

Historian, Georgia Army National Guard

 

F-100D Super Sabres of the Georgia Air National Guard's Tactical Fighter Wing at Dobbins Air Force Base in 1975. Georgia National Guard Archives.

The Georgia Air National Guard’s 128th Tactical Fighter Squadron, 116^th Tactical Fighter Wing received its first three F-100D Super Sabre fighter bombers on June 7, 1973. The aircraft were flown from Arizona to Dobbins Air Force Base by pilots of the Arizona Air National Guard.

One of the first three F-100D Super Sabres received by the 128th Tactical Fighter Squadron June 7, 1973 at Dobbins Air Force Base. Georgia National Guard Archives.

The arrival of the F-100 represented a return to the fighter interceptor roots for 116^th TFW which included the 128^th. From 1946 to 1961, the 116^th had flown a variety of fighter and interceptor aircraft ranging from the World War II era P-47 Thunderbolt and P-51H Mustang to fighter jets such as the F-84 and F-86. In June 1961, the 116^th received its first transports, the C-97 Stratofreighter, and assumed a military air transport mission with the designation 116^th Military Airlift Wing. In 1967, the Georgia Air National Guard replaced its Stratofreighters with the C-124 Douglas Globemaster.[1]

Among the aircraft flown by the 116th through the years are the P-47 Thunderbolt, F-84 Thunderjet, P-51 Mustang, F-86L Sabre, C-97 Stratofreighter
and C-124 Globemaster. Georgia National Guard Archives. 

While the 165^th Military Airlift Wing retained its C-124s for another year before converting to the C-130,[2] pilots of the 116^th began training in T-33s in December 1972.[3] Within a year, the first four pilots of the 128^th TFS had completed the Air Force Undergraduate Pilot Training and Combat Crew Training Courses and qualified in the F-100D.

May 18, 1974 -  Ray Young, photographer for Atlanta's Channel 11, sits in the backseat of an F-100 Super Sabre of the 116th Tactical Fighter Wing at Dobbins AFB.
Ray went aloft to shoot footage for the WXIA-TV Armed Forces Day feature which was shown on three of the station's newscasts.

The 116th Tactical Fighter Wing converted to full combat readiness a year ahead of schedule. In recognition of this achievement, the wing received the first of three consecutive Air Force Outstanding Unit awards in May 1975. Two years later the wing received the highest Management Effectiveness Inspection rating ever awarded by a Tactical Air Force inspection team. Major General Billy Jones, who commanded the 116^th TFW prior to his appointment as Georgia’s Adjutant General, lauded the wing for the unprecedented rating.

“The same criteria apply to all USAF active units,” observed Jones following the announcement of the inspection results. “Which makes this achievement even more significant for the 116^th which is a part-time unit.” [4]

Major General Billy Jones, Georgia’s Adjutant General, presents the 116th Tactical Fighter Wing with its second Air Force Outstanding Unit Award at
Dobbins Air Force Base May 21, 1977.

In October 1978, the 116^th replaced the F-100D with the F-105G Thunderchief and assumed the Wild Weasel mission which used sophisticated aerial electronics to negate surface-to-air missile capability[5]. When the last F-100D left the runway of Dobbins Air Force Base May 3, 1979, it closed a six-year chapter of Georgia Air National Guard history. During that time, the 116^th flew the F-100D without a single accident or mishap. Major Marvin Horner, assistant aircraft maintenance manager for the 116^th TFW credited the 116^th Consolidated Aircraft Maintenance Squadron for the wing’s stellar safety record.

The 116th Consolidated Aircraft Maintenance Squadron maintained
the Georgia Air National Guard’s F-100Ds for six accident-free years.

“I think we were the only unit to fly the F-100 for as many years as we did accident free, said Horner in a 1979 interview." [6]

 

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[1] “F-100 Super Sabres Slated for Ga. Air Guard.” The Georgia Guardsman, Oct-Dec 1972, 1.

[2] “Savannah’s 165^th MAG Has New Mission Now That C-130s Are In.” The Georgia Guardsman, Jul-Aug 1974, 10-11.

[3] “F-100 Super Sabres Slated for Ga. Air Guard.” The Georgia Guardsman, Oct-Dec 1972, 1.

[4] “116^th TFWing is First AF, AFRes or ANG Unit to Get Excellent.” The Georgia Guardsman, January-March 1977, inside Cover.

[5] “Here Come the Thuds.” The Georgia Guardsman, July-Sept 1978, 8.

[6] Beryl Diamond. “Super Sabre Bids Farewell to Dobbins.” The Georgia Guardsman, April 30, 1979, 1.

Georgia Guardsman On D-Day, Part II

By Maj. William Carraway

Historian, Georgia Army National Guard

Recap

In September 1940, nearly 5,200 Georgia Guardsmen entered federal service on the eve of U.S. involvement in World War II.[i] While the majority entered combat with Georgia Guard units such as the 121st Infantry Regiment, 118th Field Artillery Regiment, and 101st Antiaircraft Weapons Battalion, many Guardsmen would serve in active duty units in the Atlantic and Pacific theaters. They volunteered for the Army Air Corps, the Airborne, and for other duty assignments. On June 6, 1944, many of these Georgia Guardsmen would enter combat from the sky and from the sea as part of the D-Day invasion force. The first article in this series examined the Airborne landings and the Georgia Guardsmen who entered France with the 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions. This second article will focus on the beach landings and profile the experiences of Georgia Guardsmen who went ashore at Utah and Omaha Beach.

Planned Airborne and beach landings for Operation Overlord. Harrison, Map III

  

The Beach Landings

Huddled in a landing craft with Soldiers of Company C, 116th Infantry Regiment, 1st Lt. Thomas Royce Dallas could discern the sounds of the first assault wave striking the beach to the south of his position off Omaha Beach just after 6:30 a.m. June 6, 1944. Dallas, a native of Griffin, Ga. had been a stand-out football player for Griffin High School before the war. He joined the Georgia National Guard after graduating in 1938. Enlisting in the Griffin-based Spalding Grays, Headquarters Company, 30th Infantry Division, Dallas was accepted into officer candidate school in 1942. Commissioned a second lieutenant of infantry, he was assigned to the 116th Infantry Regiment as a platoon leader in Company C.[ii] Two years later, Dallas was poised to participate in the largest amphibious assault of World War II.

Planned landing sites for the Omaha Beach Assault. Harrison, Map XII

Omaha Beach

Two American infantry divisions, the 1st and 29th, supported by the 2nd and 5th Ranger Battalions made up the assault force for Omaha Beach, one of the two American landing objectives of the beach landings. The initial assault wave was composed of nine companies. Four companies of the 29th ID’s 116th Infantry struck the western half of Omaha Beach supported by Company C, 2nd Ranger Battalion while four companies of the 16th Infantry Regiment, 1st ID struck the eastern section. Of the nine companies, only Company A, 116th Infantry arrived at its designated landing zone on the right flank of the assault. But while Company A’s landing had been fortuitous, its landing conditions were not. One of its landing craft sank before reaching the beach while another sustained multiple hits from mortar rounds. Amidst a hail of small arms fire, the remaining Soldiers of Company A and the adjacent Company C, 2nd Ranger Battalion staggered ashore under a bewildering weight of gear made heavier by the soaking of seawater. Fewer than half of the Rangers and one third of Company A’s Soldiers survived the murderous distance from the beach to the sea wall.[iii]

View from Point du Hoc looking east towards Omaha Beach.
Photo by Capt. Bryant Wine

While the nine companies of the initial assault were intended to arrive ashore evenly dispersed along the beach, the combination of smoke, cross currents and intense ground fire created a 1,000-yard gap between the two companies of the right flank and the remainder of the 116th Infantry. Further east, the 16th Infantry Regiment experienced similarly scattered landings and intense machine gun fire from fortified German positions. As a result of the dispersed landings and heavy casualties sustained by the initial force, none of the initial objectives were met. Beach defenses had not been effectively reduced and the engineers had not made significant progress in clearing beach obstacles.[iv] Another alarming development was the loss of much of the 29th ID’s artillery assets in the landings. The 111th Field Artillery Battalion lost all but one of its 105 mm howitzers when the ships carrying them foundered. In another setback, only five of the 32 tanks destined to support the 16th Infantry made it ashore.[v]

1st Lt. Thomas Dallas in 1941.
Georgia National Guard Archives

Thirty minutes after the arrival of the initial assault wave, the second much larger wave was committed. Lieutenant Dallas’ Company C and the remaining companies of 1st Battalion 116th Infantry followed Company A’s landing on the Dog Green section of Omaha. The 116th’s objective was the Point du Hoc coastal battery, a position comprised of six artillery pieces protected from naval bombardment by casemates.[vi] Many of these units would face the same horrific conditions encountered by the Rangers and Company A. Headquarters Company of the 1st Battalion was effectively immobilized by fire. Company B was also devastated by withering fire and Company D, the heavy weapons company, was able to assemble only three mortars and three machine guns.[vii]

The landing craft carrying Dallas was spared the conflagration that had gripped the other units of the 1-116th. Arriving nearly 1,000 yards east of their intended landing zones, the Soldiers of Company C waded ashore on a narrow front taking advantage of the impromptu smoke screen provided by burning brush along the seawall. Unlike its sister units, Company C suffered few casualties. One of those who fell before reaching the relative safety of the sea wall was Dallas. The 24-year-old officer jumped from the landing craft and had made it to the edge of the sand where he was felled by a bullet.[viii]

Utah Beach

To the west of Omaha Beach, the 4th ID landed along a one-mile section of beach east of Ste. Mere Eglise. While experiencing similar landing errors as those encountered at Omaha Beach, the 4th ID encountered relatively light resistance. Not only had the smoke and ocean currents shifted the landings to less heavily defended areas, the Utah Beach Sector benefited from the successful airborne operations to the west. Nevertheless, German small-arms and machine gun fire combined with the surf to create a miasma of error and confusion for the assaulting troops.

Utah Beach. On July 4, 1944, the Georgia National Guard’s 121st Infantry Regiment landed here
 with the 8th Infantry Division. Photo by Maj. William Carraway

Where the Omaha Beach landings had wanted for artillery support, the 42nd Field Artillery of the 4th Division succeeded in bringing its 105 mm howitzers ashore. Jumping into shoulder deep water, the artillerymen struggled to the beach taking what cover was available before the landing craft bearing their trucks and howitzers arrived onshore.[ix]

Staff Sgt. Raymond Mayer in 1939 with the
118th Field Artillery Regiment. Georgia
Guard Archives

Amidst a hail of gunfire and artillery explosions 1st Lt. Raymond Mayer organized his guns into action against German defensive positions. A native of Savannah, Ga., Mayer had entered federal service in September 1940 as a staff sergeant with the Georgia National Guard’s 118th Field Artillery Regiment. After arriving at his initial duty assignment, Mayer was accepted into officer training and was commissioned as a second lieutenant. Taking advantage of his enlisted experience in the Georgia National Guard, the Army assigned Mayer to the field artillery branch and a battery of the 42nd Field Artillery Battalion.[x] As June 6 wore on, Mayer and his artillerymen would provide devastating fire in support of the 4th ID landings and would be relied upon heavily in the coming days as American infantrymen expanded the D-Day lodgement.

Aftermath

As the sun set on June 6, 1944, the American beach landings had achieved mixed results. The 4th ID had cleared Utah Beach and enabled the landing of follow-on forces from the VII Corps. Elements of the 4th ID would soon reinforce the positions of the 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions whose efforts had contributed mightily to successful landings.

While the 4th ID had suffered fewer than 200 casualties,[xi] the divisions on Omaha Beach had suffered ten times that number and were clinging tenuously to defensive positions on the base of the cliffs overlooking the beach. American Soldiers held a sliver of beach running west from the 16th Infantry Regiment at Colleville to Point du Hoc where Rangers of the 2nd Ranger Battalion had scaled the cliffs. In order to exploit the beachhead and advance further, the Soldiers of Omaha Beach needed artillery support. Without the guns of the 111th Field Artillery Battalion the 29th ID issued a call for reinforcements from the 30th ID which was still in England. In response, the 30th ID dispatched the 230th Field Artillery Battalion, a Georgia National Guard, unit that had been raised in Savannah from elements of the 118th Field Artillery Regiment. On June 10, 1944, the first Georgia National Guard unit arrived on Omaha Beach.[xii] The experience of the 230th FA in Normandy will be explored in a subsequent chapter of the Georgia National Guard History blog.

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[i] General Orders Number 13, Military Department, State of Georgia, October 7, 1941, Sion B. Hawkins, The Adjutant General.

[ii] Carraway, William. "Biographical Sketches of Georgia National Guard Fallen Soldiers from WWI to Afghanistan." Unpublished.

[iii] Harrison, Gordon A. Cross-Channel Attack. Washington, D.C.: Office of the Chief of Military History, Dept. of the Army, 1951, 313.

[iv] Ibid, 315.

[v] Ibid.

[vi] Ibid, 308.

[vii] Ibid, 318.

[viii] Hobie. "1LT Thomas Royce Dallas Jr." 1LT Thomas Royce Dallas Jr. January 01, 1970. Accessed June 08, 2019. http://116thregimentrollofhonor.blogspot.com/2016/06/1lt-thomas-royce-dallas-jr.html.

[ix] "GIs Remember D-Day, 75 Years Later." www.army.mil. Accessed June 9, 2019. https://www.army.mil/article/222834/gis_remember_d_day_75_years_later.

[x] Carraway.

[xi] Harrison, 329.

[xii] Jacobs, John W. On the Way: A Historical Narrative of the Two-Thirtieth Field Artillery Battalion Thirtieth Infantry Division. Poessneck, Germany: F. Gerold Verlag, 10.