70 Years Ago: Operation Minuteman Demonstrates Effectiveness of National Guard

By Maj. William Carraway

Historian, Georgia Army National Guard

 

Left: Notice in the Macon Telegraph April 10, 1955. Right: 1st Lt. Arthur Manning of the Georgia Air National Guard’s 158th Fighter Bomber Squadron
 in Savannah prepares to take off on the night of Operation Minuteman. Georgia National Guard Archives.

In April 1955, the National Guard’s 400,000-strong force responded to an unprecedented activation exercise. Operation Minuteman, conceived by Maj. Gen. Edgar Erickson, Chief of the National Guard Bureau, successfully mobilized nearly 320,000 National Guardsmen in an age long before e-mail, social media and smart phones.

 

This 1955 Cartoon by Bill Canfield illustrates the reach
of Operation Minuteman. Georgia Guard Archives.

“Considering this was the first time that a nationwide alert has been held by a reserve
component of the armed forces, the National Guard made a great showing,” said Maj. Gen. George Hearn, Adjutant General of the Georgia National Guard following the conclusion of Operation Minuteman. “The people of the state and nation became instantly aware of the potent force we mobilized in such a short period of time.”[1]

 

The purpose of Operation Minuteman was to test the speed and efficiency with which the National Guard could mobilize en masse in the event of a national emergency. Additionally, the operation was intended to demonstrate to the public the efficiency and readiness of the National Guard while stimulating local interest and boosting recruiting. Widespread coverage of Operation Minuteman in media outlets across the United States also provided a key deterrence message to nations of soon to be Warsaw Pact which was signed just 24 days after Operation Minuteman.

 

“We welcome this test alert,” said Col. Roy Hogan of Macon Volunteers, Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 121^st Infantry Regiment.” Because it will give us a splendid opportunity to test the speed and efficiency with which our units can be mobilized in the event of an emergency.”[2]

 

At 3:30 on the afternoon of April 20, 1955, the alert notification was dispatched from Washington D.C. to the adjutants general of the 48 states and Alaska Territory.[3] In towns across the country, local armories were flooded with National Guardsmen responding to the exercise alert. One Georgia National Guard Soldier left his gas station job while in the process of pumping gas, handing the customer the hose with the words “Take care of the station for me ‘til I get back home!”[4] Another Georgia National Guard Soldier of the 48^th Military Police Company rushed from the hospital delivery room directly to the unit’s armory in Springfield.[5] A Massachusetts Guardsmen, brought his one-year-old son to the armory rather than wait for his wife to return home.[6]

 

Georgia Army National Guard Soldiers rush to the Atlanta Armory during Operation Minuteman. The Soldiers are from the 122nd Infantry Regiment,
179th Field Artillery Regiment, 48th Signal Company and 878th Engineer Aviation Battalion. Georgia National Guard Archives.

A company commander in the California National Guard reported 70 percent of his personnel had reported within one hour of the alert, ninety percent had reported by the second hour, and all were present within three hours of the alert notice.[7] Numbers were similar in Georgia. Sixty Soldiers of the Valdosta-based Company E, 121^st Infantry Regiment were on duty within one hour of the alert.[8]

 

After assembling, the Guardsmen were dispatched on simulated missions. Units of the Atlanta-based 122nd Infantry Regiment established protective cordons around vital infrastructure including power stations, water works and radio stations. Curious citizens witnessed Soldiers of the local 560^th Engineer Battalion establishing security points bristling with machine guns in front of businesses and government buildings in Columbus, Ga.[9] The 215th Medical Battalion of the Tennessee National Guard set up four hospital tents near their Memphis armory and ambulances were dispatched to receive simulated patients.[10]

 

A 57 mm recoilless rifle squad from the Rome-based Company E, 122nd Infantry Regiment secures an intersection during exercises as part of Operation
Minuteman April 20, 1955. Georgia National Guard Archives.

In addition to the myriad of Army unit movements, the Air National Guard also responded in force. Georgia Air National Guardsmen of the 116th Fighter Bomber Wing launched 24 aircraft within the first hour of the alert. While he declined to give official numbers due to operational security concerns, Brig. Gen. Winston P. Wilson, Chief of the Air National Guard, noted that hundreds of aircraft participated in the exercise.[11]

 

Operation Minuteman represented the first time in the history of the National Guard that a national level alert was executed. While the National Guard had previously conducted large-scale domestic mobilization efforts, such as those for Mexican Border service in 1916, those mobilizations were incremental.

 

Trucks of the 179th Field Artillery Regiment, 48th Armored Division, Georgia Army National Guard move out from the Atlanta Armory during Operation Minuteman
April 20, 1955. Georgia National Guard Archives.

Erickson, formerly the Adjutant General of Massachusetts, chose April 20 as the date for Operation Minuteman as it was the date that the Minuteman Companies of the Hampshire County Militia Regiment began marching to Boston following the battles of Lexington and Concord.

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[1] George J. Hearn, “The Adjutant General’s Message,” Georgia Guardsman, Mar Apr May 1955, 1. 

[2] “Georgia Guardsmen Ready For “Operation Minuteman,” Macon Telegraph, April 10, 1955, 4.

[3] United Press, “Operation Minuteman: Estimated 400,000 Join in Alert,” Madera Tribune, April 21, 1955, 1.

[4] “Operation Minuteman Proved Zeal of Troops to Answer Duty’s Call,” Georgia Guardsman, Mar, June, July 1955, 1. 

[5] Operation Minuteman Proved Zeal of Troops to Answer Duty’s Call,” Georgia Guardsman, Mar, June, July 1955, 1. 

[6] “Took Baby Along,” Atlantic Journal, April 21, 1955, 19. 

[7]  “National Guard Alert Successful,” Healdsburg Tribune, Enterprise and Scimitar, April 28, 1955, 4. 

[8]  “Valdosta National Guards Move Out Quickly To Take Vital Posts in Minuteman Alert,” Valdosta Daily Times, April 21, 1955, 3.

[9]  Dick Berger, “Guardsmen Rush to Posts 400 Mobilize in Columbus,” Columbus Ledger Enquirer, April 21, 1955, 1. 

[10] Buck Patton, “MP and Medical Units Respond, Memphis Press-Scimitar, April 21, 1955, 4.

 [11] “88% Army, 80% Air Personnel of Ga.NG Responded to Alert, Georgia Guardsman, Mar, Apr, May 1955, 8.

Training, Dramatic Rescue Saves Ga. ANG Pilots Who Ejected Over the Atlantic

 By Maj. William Carraway

Historian, Georgia Army National Guard

 

Pilots of the 128th Fighter Interceptor Squadron in June 1958. Second Lieutenant Oliver Trotter is in the top row, second from the right.
Squadron commander, Maj. Fletcher E. Meadors is in the first row on the left. Captain Eugene Parrott kneels fourth from the left and
Capt. George Lindsey kneels far right. Photo courtesy of Gary Parrott.

September 21, 1958, began uneventfully for Georgia Air National Guard Capt. Eugene Parrott and 2^nd Lt. Oliver E. Trotter Jr., both of Chattanooga, Tenn. The pilots were on a routine tow-target mission 50-miles off the coast of Savannah. Parrott, a veteran of more than 100 combat missions in the skies over Korea, was at the controls of the T-33 jet trainer. Oliver, in the seat behind him, had graduated flight school in March.[1]

In the era before computer scored target hits, aerial target practice was facilitated by aircraft towing targets, often a large sheet of canvas. Pilots of the Georgia Air National Guard, flying B-26 bombers and T-33 jets, had towed targets for nearly 10 years supporting aerial gunnery training as well as towing targets for ground-based antiaircraft artillery units.[2] Whereas AAA training was conducted at Fort Stewart, aerial gunnery took place over the Atlantic Ocean where jet pilots fired individually colored bullets to mark their hits on the target.[3] 

T-33 pilots of the 128th Fighter Interceptor Squadron prepare to take off on an aerial gunnery training mission in 1958. Georgia National Guard Archives.

Towing targets provided excellent combat training but was not without its risks. Pilots on gun runs might pepper the tow aircraft as well as the target. It was also possible for a pilot to lose sight of the lead aircraft or overcorrect resulting in a mid-air collision. 

On September 21, 1958, Parrott and Trotter were flying at 400 knots at an altitude of 12,000 feet when they experienced a slight jarring sensation. Parrott, a combat veteran and experienced pilot, instinctively began a visual inspection and noticed fuel pouring from the right aileron. Trotter observed the damage as Parrott reported his situation  as smoke began to emerge from the wing. Realizing the craft was on fire, Parrott immediately advanced the throttle in an effort to put the fire out; however, the heat from the fire had already melted half of the aileron which subsequently fell off. The loss of the aileron caused a vibration which threatened to shake the wing to pieces. Assessing the situation, Parrott calmly advised Trotter, “Let’s get out of here.” The pilots ejected from the aircraft and were momentarily unconscious from the force of the ejection rockets. Nevertheless, the parachutes deployed automatically and when the pilots recovered from the initial blackout, they discovered that they were quietly floating within shouting distance of one another towards the ocean below.

Parrott called to Trotter and instructed him to inflate his rescue raft then attempted to inflate his. While Trotter successfully inflated his raft, Parrott's emergency inflation cylinder only partially inflated his. Fortunately, as he drifted ever closer to the waves below Parrott was able to completely inflate the raft and upon landing claimed that he didn’t even get his head under water. 

Observing the drama, Capt. George Lindsey circled his F-84 above the pilots maintaining a vigil over the descending parachutes and calling their location to Savannah Ground Control Intercept Station Glena, which scrambled a Marine Corps rescue helicopter from Beaufort, S.C. A Ga. ANG C-47 was also dispatched and dropped additional rafts; however, the waters were too choppy for the pilots to reach them.[4]

With a rescue helicopter inbound, Lindsey maintained his vigil over the downed pilots despite his rapidly depleting fuel supply. He departed the scene only when relieved by Capt. Roland Rieck of the Savannah-based 158^th Fighter Interceptor Squadron. Rieck helped vector the rescue helicopter to the scene until the Marine rescue crew could observe the sea marker dye the pilots had released from their life vests. Arriving less than one hour after incident, the helicopter plucked Trotter from the ocean using a sling hoist then retrieved Parrott. The rescue was completed 62 minutes after the pilots bailed out.

The pilots were transported to Hunter Air Force Base in Savannah where they were treated for minor injuries and released.

 

Second Lieutenant Oliver E. Trotter Jr. and Capt. Eugene Parrott are congratulated on their rescue by Maj. Fletcher E. Meadors, commander of the
128th Fighter Interceptor Squadron. Georgia National Guard Archives.

Epilogue

Trotter left the Georgia Air National Guard to concentrate on his studies at the Georgia Institute of Technology. Lindsey remained in the Ga. ANG until 1965 rising to the rank of major. Rieck, who relieved Lindsey of his vigil over the downed pilots remained in the Ga. ANG until 1968 and left the service as a lieutenant colonel.

Parrott remained in the Ga. ANG and was promoted to lieutenant colonel in 1965. He left the service in 1966 to become a test pilot for Boeing. He died in 2020 at the age of 91 and rests in Chattanooga National Cemetery.

 

Eugene Parrott. Images courtesy of Gary Parrott.

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[1] “Two Ga. Pilots Rescued at Sea.” The Georgia Guardsman Magazine. Sept-Oct 1958, 10.

[2] “116^th Ftr.Bmr.Wg., Attached ANG Units Set Aerial Records at Travis.” The Georgia Guardsman Magazine. Sept, Oct 1954, 2.

 [3]“Photo review of 116^th Ftr Intcp Wing Encampment“ The Georgia Guardsman Magazine, Aug, Sept 1955, 4.

[4] “2 Guard Pilots Parachute from burning Plane.” Brunswick News. Sept. 22. 1958, 1.

The Ga. ANG in the C-124 Globemaster Era: 1966-1974

By Maj. William Carraway

Historian, Georgia Army National Guard

 

The C-124 Globemaster was assigned to the Ga. ANG in December 1966 replacing the C-97 Stratofreighter. Stratofreighters are visible
to the left in this image from Dobbins AFB. Georgia National Guard Archives.

On September 19, 1974, the last two C-124 Globemaster aircraft in service departed Savannah Municipal Airport bound for Tucson Arizona and the vast mothball fields of Davis-Monthan Air Force Base. The aircraft, assigned to the Georgia Air National Guard’s 165^th Military Airlift Group, had logged a combined 10 million miles and more than 25,000 flying hours each while assigned to the Georgia Air National Guard. The delivery of the last C-124s to storage marked the end of a nearly eight-year chapter in the history of the Ga. Air National Guard

Prelude: The Air Transport Mission Begins

By 1960, the Georgia Air National Guard encompassed fighter interceptor aircraft stationed at Dobbins Air Force Base and Travis Field in Savannah under the 116^th Air Defense Wing and the subordinate 116^th and 165^th Fighter Groups. [1] On April 1, 1961, the Ga. Air National Guard’s 116th Air Defense Wing was reorganized as the 116th Air Transport Wing (Heavy).[2] Pilots of the 116th began delivering their F-86L fighter jets to the California Air National Guard in February and March and started the training to transition from single-engine jet aircraft to the double-deck multi-engine C-97 Stratofreighter. Flight crews and maintenance personnel completed training in May 1961 at Randolph, AFB, Texas and the 128th Fighter Interceptor Squadron, redesignated the 128th Air Transport Squadron, received the first four C-97s in June.

Through the remainder of 1961, 31 pilots and 29 flight engineers completed home-station training on the C-97. Subsequently, the Ga. Air National Guard announced that the Savannah-based 165th Fighter Group would also convert to the heavy transport mission. The 165th received its first C-97 in 1961 and was redesignated the 165th Air Transport Group on April 1, 1962.[3] The Georgia Air National Guard flew the C-97 Stratofreighter for more than five years.

Transition to the Globemaster

The Georgia Air National Guard’s 116^th Military Airlift Group became the first Air National Guard unit in the nation to receive the C-124 Globemaster Dec. 7, 1966.[4] The Globemaster was praised by Ga. ANG pilots for its cargo capacity its range and for the comfort and proximity of crew rest positions to the flight deck.

On January 23, 1967, just six weeks after receiving its first Globemaster, the Ga. ANG began its first over-water mission flying 26,000 pounds of equipment to Antigua. By March 10, four additional flights had been completed to Antigua all by the 128^th Military Airlift Squadron.[5] The enormous range of the C-124 soon allowed the Ga. ANG to support a Joint Chiefs of Staff mission to Spain March 21, 1967. On April 1, 1967, a C-124 crew completed the first of many flights bearing cargo to Vietnam.[6] The 14-day round trip flight from Dobbins AFB carried more than 20,000 pounds of cargo from Travis AFB, Calif. to Da Nang in South Vietnam and returned with 17,000 pounds of cargo.

On April 1, 1967, a Ga. ANG C-124 made the first of many flights to Vietnam. Georgia Air National Guard crews had previously flown air
transport missions to Vietnam with the C-97 Stratofreighter. Georgia National Guard Archives.

In July 1968, the 165^th MAG executed an airlift of 402 Soldiers of the 170th and 176th MP Battalions from Fort Stewart to Dobbins AFB. Seven C-124 Globemaster aircraft transported the Soldiers along with 35 military vehicles.[7]

Over the years, the Ga. Air National Guard would continue to rack up historic firsts in the C-124. In December 1969, a Georgia C-124 crew became the first in Air National Guard history to fly completely around the South American continent. The feat was accomplished while supporting a special assignment airlift mission in support of Operation Deep Freeze 1969.[8] The Guardsmen flew more than 50 military and civilian scientists along with three tons of scientific instruments to Punta Arenas, Chile where a Coast Guard icebreaker was waiting to transport them to Antarctica.

Georgia Air National Guard C-124 Globemasters deliver more than 400 Ga. ARNG Military Police and 35 vehicles during an airlift exercise from
Fort Stewart to Dobbins AFB July 9, 1968. Georgia National Guard Archives.

The Globemaster continued to serve as the workhorse of the Ga. ANG into the 1970s beginning in May when civil unrest in Augusta, Ga. prompted the governor to activate the Georgia National Guard. Three Ga. ANG C-124s delivered the 2nd Battalion 214th Field Artillery under the command of Col. John McGowan to Augusta May 12, 1970.[9]

On August 26, 1970, C-124 Globemaster 52-1049 of the Georgia Air National Guard’s 165th Military Airlift Group crashed into the side of Mount Pavlof while en route from McChord Air Force Base, Wash. to Cold Bay, Alaska with a cargo of satellite equipment. The crashed killed all seven crewmembers.[10]

From Globemaster to Hercules

Military maneuvers of the 30^th Division in Tennessee in 1972 saw the C-124s called to transport Ga. ARNG personnel and equipment to training sites. By that time, the age of the Globemaster frame and scarcity of available parts weighed heavily in the decision to seek a new airframe for Georgia. Governor Jimmy Carter and Maj. Gen. Joel Paris, Georgia’s Adjutant General, along with senior leaders of the Ga. ANG met with National Guard Bureau and U.S. Air Force officials regarding possible aircraft or mission changes. The preferred course of action was to retain the MAT mission with C-130s phasing in. But the C-130 was in short supply and the Air Force Reserve’s 918^th Military Airlift Wing based at Dobbins AFB had already been allocated C-130s the previous year.[11] National Guard Bureau preferred to convert the Ga. ANG to fly the F-100 Super Sabre effective April 1973. [12] Enlisting the aid of Georgia’s congressional delegation Carter and Paris successfully negotiated to maintain the airlift mission for the 165^th.[13]

A C-124 Globemaster delivers vehicles and personnel to Tennessee for maneuvers of the 30th Division in 1972. Georgia National Guard Archives.

Final Flight

Two years would pass before the arrival of the C-130 Hercules. The first C-130 arrived in Savannah Aug. 8, 1974.[14] The following month, two veteran C-124 crews led by Lt. Col. Arthur Eddy, safety officer of the 165^th and Lt. Col. Edgar D. Benson, 165^th MAG Air Force advisor, delivered the last two C-124 Globemasters to Davis-Monthan they went into mothball storage. It would be Benson’s last flight as he was set to retire the following spring. Among the veteran crew members was flight engineer SMSgt. Thomas L. Davis who was the last survivor of the Bataan Death March of World War II still in uniform.

Georgia Air National Guard SMSgt Thomas L. Davis (Center) was the last survivor of the Bataan Death March still in uniform. He retired
following the final flight of the C-124 Globemaster. Georgia National Guard Archives.

By December 10, 1974, the 165^th had completed the conversion to the C-130 with eight aircraft assigned.[15] The 165th Tactical Air Group upgraded to the C-130H model in 1981 and received the first of its new C-130Js in January 2024.

 

The 165 Airlift Wing received the first of its eight C-130J-30 Super Hercules tactical airlift aircraft during a ceremony January 22, 2024, at Lockheed Martin’s
facility in Marietta, Ga. Photo by Master Sgt. Caila Arahood.

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[1] “Russell Praised in Wing Reorganization.” The Georgia Guardsman Magazine, Jan Feb 1960, 4.

[2] “First C-97 Stratofreighters Arrive for ANG.” The Georgia Guardsman Magazine, June 1961, 4.

[3] “Kuhn’s Fighter Gp in Historic Switch to Transport Role.” The Georgia Guardsman Magazine, January 1962, 1.

[4] “Ga ANG First to Get C-124s; 116th MAG Conversion Began 7 Dec.” The Georgia Guardsman Magazine, January 1967, 3.

[5] “Global Missions Begin for C124” The Georgia Guardsman Magazine,” Feb-Apr 1967, 6.

[6] “Lt. Col. C. J. Perkins, Ga. ANG Crew Take First C124 Mission to Vietnam.” The Georgia Guardsman Magazine, Feb-Apr 1967, 3.

[7] “Ga. Emergency Operations Headquarters Conducts Successful Airlift of MP’s.” The Georgia Guardsman Magazine. May-Aug 1968, 4.

[8] “Col Perkins’ ANG Crew Flies to Southernmost City in World; Mission Supports Polar Expedition.” The Georgia Guardsman Magazine, Sept Dec 1969, 6.

[9] “Governor Sends 2,000 Ga. Guardsmen to Augusta and Athens to Restore Calm in Wake of May Civil Disturbances.” The Georgia Guardsman Magazine. Apr.-Jun. 1970, 8-9.

[10] William Carraway. “Remembering the Ga. ANG Airmen of C-124 Globemaster 52-1049” History of the Georgia National Guard. Sept. 5, 2020. http://www.georgiaguardhistory.com/2020/09/remembering-ga-ang-airmen-of-c-124.html

[11] “Dobbins Units to Get C130s” The Atlanta Constitution. April 7, 1917, 8.

[12] “Georgia Air Guard Getting Supersonic Fighters.” The Atlanta Journal and Constitution. Sept. 4, 1972, 14.

[13] “Switch to Fighters Stirs Guard Debate.” The Atlanta Constitution, October 24, 1972.

[14]“Savannah’s 165^th MAG Has New Mission Now That the C-130s are in.” Georgia Guardsman Magazine, Jul Aug 74, 10

[15] State of Georgia Department of Defense. Annual Report 1975. 

The Georgia National Guard Response to Hurricane Dora, September 1964

By Maj. William Carraway

Historian, Georgia Army National Guard

 

Collage: Left: Storm total rainfall map of Hurricane Dora during September 1964. David Roth, Weather Prediction Center, Camp Springs, Maryland Right:
Base Operations at Travis Field, Savannah, Ga. Nearly 70 families sought shelter from Hurricane Dora at the 165th Air Transport Group Headquarters.
Georgia National Guard Archives.

Introduction:

On September 10, 1964, Hurricane Dora made landfall just north of St. Augustine Florida drenching South Georgia with rain. The Georgia National Guard response to Hurricane Dora in 1964 provides insight into how the Georgia Department of Defense approaches hurricane response operations in the 21^st Century. While the Ga. DoD of 2024 has the advantages of satellite coverage, internet and cellular phone communications, a review of the actions in 1964 demonstrate that many of the key response tasks of the Georgia National Guard have not materially changed since 1964. During recent hurricane responses such as  Matthew, Michael, and Debby, Georgia National Guard Soldiers and Airmen have deployed on debris clearance missions, staffed points of distribution, retrograded aviation assets and provided power generation capabilities to civil authorities as they did in the wake of Hurricane Dora in 1964. The Georgia National Guard has managed these domestic response missions with Soldiers and Airmen mobilized across the globe in support of geographic combatant commands. While technology may have changed, the fundamental role of leadership and mission command in domestic response operations has not.

Dora’s Approach

On September 1, 1964, reconnaissance aircraft investigating a tropical depression in the Caribbean discovered a growing tropical storm. The next day, the storm reached hurricane strength and was designated Hurricane Dora.[1]

The Civil Defense Division Situation Board at the Ga. DoD Headquarters, Atlanta. Georgia Guard Archives.

The Civil Defense Division, Forerunner of GEMA

Meanwhile, at the Georgia National Guard Headquarters in Atlanta, Maj. Gen George Hearn, Georgia’s Adjutant General, monitored the storm’s approach and discussed courses of action with his civil defense directors. In 1964, the Ga. DoD was comprised of two divisions – the military division with the Georgia Army and Air National Guard, and a civil defense division. The Georgia Civil Defense Division was established through the Civil Defense Act of 1951 with the primary responsibility of preparing for the possibility of nuclear attack. Gradually, the role of the state civil defense divisions broadened to include other domestic emergencies, notably, hurricane response. In November 1978, the Federal Emergency Management Agency was established through the merger of several federal agencies that had a roll in emergency response. Accordingly, On July 1, 1981, Georgia’s Defense Division was redesignated the Georgia Emergency Management Agency.[2]

C-97 Stratofreighters of the Georgia Air National Guard's 165th ATG on the runway at Travis Field. Georgia National Guard Archives.

The Georgia DoD Response

As the days ticked away through the first week of September and impact to Savannah appeared increasingly likely, Hearn ordered the 165^th Air Transport Group to begin assisting civil authorities with evacuation of hospital patients and long term care facilities in the Chatham County area. On September 8, the 165^th ATG began transporting patients with Air National Guard jeeps and buses. That same day, the 165^th ATG dispatched its inventory of C-97 Stratofreighters to Nashville to wait out the approaching hurricane.

Colonel Bill Kelly, Base Detachment Commander, Travis Air Field (second from left) with C-97 Stratofreighter. Georgia National Guard Archives.

By September 9, Hearn had directed Col. Bill Kelly, base detachment commander at Travis Field, to be prepared to set up field kitchens to provide food services following hurricane impact. Kelly also dispatched Ga. ANG generators to vital infrastructure locations including police, fire, and medical facilities. Nearly 70 families of service members living at Travis Field were housed at the headquarters of the 165^th ATG. Among those seeking shelter were three expecting mothers.

Families take shelter at the headquarters of the Georgia Air National Guard's 165th ATG. Georgia National Guard Archives.

The next day, Dora reached Category 2 strength while its track had leveled westward thus sparing Travis Field a direct impact.[3] Just after midnight on September 10, the eye of Hurricane Dora made landfall north of St. Augustine Florida, approximately 120 miles south of Brunswick, Ga. That day, nearly 80 Soldiers of the Brunswick-based 3rd Battalion 118th Field Artillery were activated by Georgia’s governor to assist city and county police in navigating debris-strewn roads. Brunswick’s streets were flooded to a depth of three feet while trees and powerlines were down throughout the region.[4] Guardsmen throughout the impact area were also stationed at businesses to prevent looting. Meanwhile, the Georgia Air National Guard’s 224th Radio Relay Squadron on St. Simons Island dispatched emergency power generators to Brunswick and St. Marys, Ga.  

Airmen of the St. Simon's Island-based 224th Radio Relay Squadron prepare to set up an antenna during a unit training assembly in April 1957.
They are, left to right: Airmen Peyton M. Harrison, Harris T. Mincher, William H. Reynolds, Hershel C. Buchan and Johhny M. Mullins. The 224th was
redesignated the 224th Mobile Communications Squadron March 16, 1961 and provided emergency backup power generators during the response to
Hurricane Dora in 1964. Georgia National Guard Archives.

After moving westward and downgrading to a tropical storm, Dora tracked north at the Georgia/Alabama border and began a northeasterly transit of Georgia passing between Savannah and Augusta and dropping from five to ten inches of rain across southeast Georgia.[5] Dora dissipated over the Atlantic but not before causing upwards of 250 million dollars in damage in Florida and Georgia.[6]

1964 Tracking map of Hurricane Dora. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Aftermath

Governor Carl Sanders, speaking to the National Guard Association of Georgia annual convention in Augusta September 12, 1964, praised the work of the Georgia National Guard and its adjutant general.

"It is fitting that I take this opportune moment to extend the gratitude of all Georgians to our most capable Adjutant General, George J. Hearn, who sprang immediately into action at the first sign of this recent crisis to provide the guidance and to exercise unified control over the civil defense activities within our State. This essential coordination and clear-thinking once again turned a time of crisis into a time of victory.”[7]

 

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[1] “Hurricane Dora Calmed by Georgia Guardsmen.” Georgia Guardsman Magazine. September 1964, 12.

[2] “Civil Defense Changes Name to GEMA.” Georgia Guardsman Magazine, March/April 1981, 16.

[3] “Hurricane Dora - September 7-15, 1964.” National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. https://www.wpc.ncep.noaa.gov/tropical/rain/dora1964.html.

[4] Horace S. Carter. Preliminary Report on Hurricane Dora. United States Weather Bureau (Report). Athens, Georgia. Sept. 11, 1964, 1.

[5] David Roth. Dora 194 Rainfall. Weather Prediction Center, Camp Springs, Maryland - WPC tropical cyclone rainfall data, Public Domain.

[6] Dunn, Gordon E; Staff (March 1, 1965). "The hurricane season of 1964" (PDF). Monthly Weather Review. 93 (3): 177. Bibcode:1965MWRv...93..175D. doi:10.1175/1520-0493-93.3.175

[7] “NG Association Installs Rhodes, Names McKenna President Elect. Georgia Guardsman Magazine, September/October 1964, 6.