Bosnia 2001: Looking back at the 48th Infantry Brigade's Historic Mobilization

By Maj. William Carraway

Historian, Georgia Army National Guard

Georgia National Guard Soldiers of the 48th Infantry Brigade conduct annual training at Fort Stewart, Ga. August-September 2000 in preparation for
mobilization to Bosnia in March 2001. 

Lieutenant Colonel Jeff Freeman recalls the day early in 2000 when, as a lieutenant, he called his Soldiers of the Support Platoon, 2^nd Battalion 121^st Infantry Regiment together in the Albany Armory.

“I told the platoon that, based on the rumblings I had been hearing, we would deploy sometime in the near future, observed Freeman. “At the time, my platoon laughed at the notion.”[1]

Months of rumblings and rumors gave way to confirmation in February 2000. Major General Tom Carden, then a major assigned as operations officer for the 2^nd Battalion 121^st Infantry Regiment, recalled receiving the official notice of the deployment.

“The 48th Brigade commanding general at the time was Brig. Gen. Robin Hughes, noted Carden. “He notified the formation that we would deploy two battalion task forces and the 148th Forward Support Battalion to Bosnia as part of Stabilization Force 9. We had a large meeting at the Georgia Public Safety Training Center in Forsyth to go over the details of the upcoming mission.”[2]

Freeman recalled his reaction to the official announcement.

“I remember turning around and smiling at (my Soldiers) upon receipt of the news,” recalled Freeman. “Deployment was not something the Georgia National Guard was used to hearing during those days. New times were definitely upon us.”[3]

The Bosnia deployment would encompass approximately 1,200 Soldiers from the 48^th Infantry Brigade. Brigade headquarters staff would work alongside staff of the 3^rd Infantry Division during the mobilization. The 2^nd Battalion 121^st Infantry Regiment would supply approximately 650 Soldiers to command a task force. This task force would be augmented by companies of the 1^st Battalion 121^st Infantry Regiment while logistics, medical and maintenance support would be provided by the 148^th FSB. Company C, 648^th Engineer Battalion was assigned to provide engineering support while firepower would be provided by the Cedartown-based Company B, 108^th Armor.[4]

Following the announcement, the 48^th Infantry Brigade received an influx of volunteers from across the state. Marc Massey was a private 1^st class in the Jackson-based 166^th Maintenance Company when he learned of the Bosnia deployment.

“I had heard that the 48th Brigade was being spun up to go to Bosnia,” recalled Massey. “At the time I felt that this was the closest to ‘war’ that my generation would get.”

Massey interviewed with Command Sgt. Major James Allen, senior enlisted advisor of the 148^th FSB and arranged a transfer to Company B.[5]  

Sergeant Susan Corbitt applies a bandage to a simulated
casualty during training at Fort Stewart, Ga. Sunday
Sept. 10, 2000. Corbitt is a medic with the Macon-based
Company C, 148th FSB Photo by Spc. J.M. Lowry,
124th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment.

The Georgia National Guard units that assembled in 2000 would not be the first mobilized to the Balkans. Georgia’s Citizen Soldiers of the 3^rd Infantry Division Detachment mobilized to Croatia in 1996[6] and in 1998, the 124^th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment returned from a nine-month rotation as part of Task Force Eagle in Bosnia.[7] Nevertheless, the size of the 48^th Infantry Brigade mobilization was a marked increase in National Guard involvement in Bosnia, a fact Maj. Gen. David Poythress, Adjutant General of Georgia, observed.

“The Department of Defense, the U.S. Army and the United States are demonstrating their confidence in the 48^th Brigade and the Georgia National Guard by selecting these units to lead the way for National Guard participation in support of this mission,” said Poythress in March 2000. “This is the first time that a National Guard combat unit of this size and capability will take over such a large portion of this mission.”[8]

For many Soldiers of the 48^th Infantry Brigade, the Bosnia deployment represented an opportunity to demonstrate the brigade’s capabilities following the experience of the 1991 Desert Storm mobilization in which the 48^th, as the round out brigade of the 24^th Division, was certified as combat ready following its rotation at the National Training Center in Fort Irwin, Calif. but not in time to deploy with the 24^th ID. For nearly a decade, the memory of the 1991 mobilization haunted the Soldiers, many of whom felt they had not been given a chance to prove themselves.

“There was real sense of determination from those who had been a part of the long rotation that we would leave no doubt the Georgia National Guard could and would be successful training for and conducting missions in Bosnia,” said Freeman.[9] 

Like Freeman, Command Sgt. Major Walter Kegley Sr., the brigade’s senior enlisted leader, felt an initial sense of trepidation about the deployment but was soon convinced “that this was an excellent opportunity for the brigade to show its value to our active Army counterparts.”[10]

The summer of 2000 brought significant changes to the 48^th Infantry Brigade mission. General Hughes was assigned as assistant commander of 1^st Army at Fort Gillem and promoted to major general. Succeeding Hughes as commander of the 48^th Infantry Brigade was Brig. Gen. Robley Rigdon who would additionally serve as assistant commander of the 3^rd Infantry Division in Bosnia. Colonel Tommy Stewart was appointed to serve as the brigade task force commander in Bosnia.[11]

Brigadier General Robley Rigdon, and Command Sgt. Major Walter Kegley Sr, command team of the 48th Infantry Brigade at Fort Stewart Aug 30, 2001.

Major William Alan Dent, then executive officer of the 148^th FSB, shared his reaction to the change of command.

“We thought (Hughes) was deploying with us,” recalled Dent. “However, he was soon re-assigned as a First Army Advisor and did not deploy; we wanted him to deploy, and it was disappointing that his leadership would be missed. But Brig. Gen. Rigdon stepped in as brigade commander and was an excellent choice to lead the brigade to Bosnia.[12]

Fort Stewart: The Training Begins

As the chaplain assistant for 2-121, Spc. Anthony Davis recalled the train up for Bosnia from a unique perspective. Davis had learned of the possible deployment during a regional chaplain conference in 1999 shortly before the Georgia National Guard mobilized in response to Hurricane Floyd. A sophomore at the University of North Georgia, Davis recalled reporting to Albany before executing a three-week field training exercise at Fort Stewart in August and September 2000.

Spc. Anthony Davis, a chaplain's assistant with the Georgia Army National Guard's Headquarters Company, 2nd Battalion, 121st Infantry Regiment.
Photo by Sgt. Roy Henry, 124th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment.

“In the field, the chaplain and I would either stay around the battalion maintenance point or with the medics. Part of our job during the train up was to visit the units in the field at Fort Stewart, the ranges and at Camp Oliver.” Davis recalled a particular instance in which a battalion staff meeting, held at Red Cloud Alpha Range was interrupted at regular intervals by M-1 Abrams live-fire.[13]

Carden, who had previously mobilized with the 48^th in 1991 and who would subsequently deploy to Iraq recalls the three-week training exercise at Fort Stewart, as among the most aggressive in his more than 35-year military career.

“We qualified on Bradley Fighting Vehicles and M1 tanks up through platoon live fire certification,” said Carden who also recalled the force-on-force Marne Focus exercise with the 3^rd Infantry Division.[14]

“We treated the pre-deployment training as if we were going into full scale combat operations,” said Carden. We felt that if we could do the most difficult missions, it would enable us to easily accomplish the actual mission of stability and support operations.”

Staff Sgt. Scott Boyd of Company B, 148th FSB probes
for mines at Fort Stewart. Photo by Spc. James Sherrill
124th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment.

In December, the Soldiers were put on federal orders and resumed training in earnest at Fort Stewart as recalled by Pfc. Massey:

“The train up was intense. I arrived at Fort Stewart just before New Year’s Day 2001. We were racked in the National Guard Barracks and began performing basic Soldier training on sight.”

Joining the 48^th at Fort Stewart was Warrant Officer 1 Ralph Lovett who reported to the brigade directly from Field Artillery Warrant Officer Basic Course at Fort Sill, Okla. A 1991 graduate of Georgia Southern University, Lovett recalled that this portion of the train up: “…focused on basic soldier skills such as land navigation, and marksmanship with some time spent on specific concerns for Bosnia such as counter mine operations (poking around with a stick trying to find a mine) and entry control point (ECP) procedures.”[15]

Also reporting to Fort Stewart straight out of school was newly minted 2^nd Lieutenant Alexander McLemore who had completed officer candidate school with the Georgia Military Institute in August 2000 and graduated from Infantry Officer Basic Course at Fort Benning the following December. While assigned to the Tifton-based Headquarters detachment, McLemore never reported to his home-town armory.

“I never made it to Tifton, said McLemore. “We graduated on a Friday and left right away for Fort Stewart.” Arriving, McLemore went straight to the billets and immediately entered the training rotation with 2-121. Expecting to receive an assignment as a platoon leader, McLemore was instead assigned to work with Maj. Carden in operations where he would take on main shift battle captain duties working with Sgt. Michael Persley.[16]

Sergeant Michael Persley and 2nd Lt. Alexander McLemore of Headquarters Company, 2-121. Photo courtesy of Alexander McLemore.

Representatives of the 48^th Infantry Brigade visited Bosnia in January 2001 to meet with leaders from Security Force 8.[17] The following month, President George W. Bush and Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld visited Fort Stewart. Lovett recalled the Feb. 12, 2001 visit:

“There was a lottery to sit with POTUS, SECDEF and the 3ID Command Staff (MG Walter Sharp) during the President’s speech. I was shocked to win a ticket and sit right behind POTUS and SECDEF. It was quite motivating to say the least.”[18]

Fort Polk

Subsequent to the Presidential visit, the 48^th Infantry Brigade travelled to Fort Polk for a rotation at the Joint Readiness Training Center which Dent described as “extremely cold and wet the entire 3 ½ to 4 weeks during that rotation.”[19] Dent’s description was widely echoed by other Soldiers of the 48^th Infantry Brigade who were interviewed for this retrospective.

“It was cold, wet and miserable,” said Massey. “We lived in circus tents. The heaters could barely keep up with the damp cold air. When we weren’t standing on a gate or guard shack in the rain shivering, we were slugging through the mud trying to get equipment fixed.”[20]

Specialist Philip Basinger of the Winder-based Headquarters Company, 1st Battalion, 121st Infantry quizzes Soldiers on various aspects of the
up armored HMMWV at Fort Stewart, Ga. Sept. 2, 2000. photo by Spc. J.M. Lowry, 124th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment.

Despite the austere conditions, the 48^th Infantry Brigade made progress in training and task organization. Kegley recalled several meetings with counterparts in the 3^rd ID to determine the right mix of Guard and active personnel for the mission. He also noted that the 3^rd ID and Georgia National Guard “provided all the facilities and oversight that was needed in preparation of deploying (to include) SRP, medical, dental, family support, quarters, and administrative support.”[21]

Returning from Fort Polk, the Citizen Soldiers enjoyed time with family before assembling at local armories across the state for send-off ceremonies.

Soldiers of the Georgia Army National Guard's Company B, 1st Battalion, 108th Armor Regiment commanded by Capt. Frank E. Holder hear remarks
by Cherokee County commissioner Harry Johnson, during the unit’s departure ceremony at the Leland National Guard Armory in Canton March 8, 2001.

On March 12, 2001, more than 300 Georgia National Guard Soldiers departed Hunter Army Airfield Bound for Bosnia.[22]

Next Chapter: Task Force Eagle.

 

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[1] Jeff Freeman interview Sept. 22, 2021.

 

[2] Tom Carden interview Sept. 20, 2021.

 

[3] Jeff Freeman interview Sept. 22, 2021.

[4] Jim Driscoll and Ken Baldowski. “Elements of Georgia’s 48^th Brigade to Deploy to the Balkans.” News Release, Ga. DoD, March 28, 2000.

 

[5] Marc Massey interview September 30, 2021.

 

[6] The Georgia Department of Defense. Mission, Vision, Values the Georgia Department of Defense in 1997. (Atlanta: 1997) 2.

 

[7] The Georgia Department of Defense. Building for the New Century the Georgia Department of Defense in 1998. (Atlanta: 1997) 5.

[8] David Poythress. “Command Focus” The Georgia Guardsman Magazine, Spring, 2000, 2.

 

[9] Jeff Freeman Interview Sept. 20, 2021.

 

[10] Walter Kegley Sr. interview September 30, 2021.

 

[11] David Poythress. “Command Focus.” The Georgia Guardsman Magazine, Summer, 2000, 3.

[12] William Alan Dent interview September 23, 2021.

 

[13] Anthony Davis interview September 22, 2001.

 

[14] Tom Carden interview September 20, 2021.

[15] Ralph Lovett interview September 23, 2021.

 

[16] Alexander McLemore interview September 23, 2021.

 

[17] “Credit Where Credit is Due.” The Georgia Guardsman Magazine, Fall, 2000, 2.

[18] Ralph Lovett interview September 23, 2021.

 

[19] William Alan Dent interview September 23, 2021.

 

[20] Marc Massey interview September 30, 2021.

 

[21] Walter Kegley Sr. interview September 29, 2021.

 

[22] Jingle Davis. “Georgia Troops Heading to Bosnia. Atlanta Journal Constitution, March 12, 2001, 1.

The 121st Infantry Regiment Turns 104

 By Maj. William Carraway

Historian, Georgia Army National Guard

 

The 121st Infantry at Camp Wheeler, near Macon Ga. February 1, 1918. LOC

Early History

The companies that would eventually form the 121st Infantry have a long and varied history. The first company to form was the Baldwin Blues, originally organized May 11, 1810 in Milledgeville, Ga.[i] The Blues, along with other predecessor units of the 121^st – the Albany Guards and Barnesville Blues, were mustered into Confederate service as elements of the 4^th Georgia Volunteer Infantry which would see extensive service in the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War.[ii]

On December 20, 1860, other early elements of the 121st Infantry Regiment were organized as the Independent Volunteer Battalion of Macon to include the Macon Volunteers, which had fought in the Seminole Wars, and the Floyd Rifles.[iii] Mustered into Confederate service in April 1861 as part of the 2nd Battalion, Georgia Infantry,[iv] the 2^nd Battalion served in the brigade of Brig. Gen. Ambrose Wright and was the skirmish element on the second day of the Battle of Gettysburg in which the brigade crested Cemetery Hill.[v] The battalion surrendered at Appomattox Court House with the Army of Northern Virginia April 9, 1865.

The Codori Farm and Emmitsburg Road at Gettysburg viewed from Federal lines. The 2nd Battalion, Georgia Infantry assaulted across this field July 2, 1863.
Photo by Maj. William Carraway

1874 to 1917

The 2nd Battalion was reorganized June 15, 1874 in the Georgia Volunteers, precursor to the Georgia National Guard. The battalion was expanded and reorganized January 23, 1891 as the 2nd Regiment of Infantry. Elements of the 2nd Infantry were mustered into federal service in May 1898 for the Spanish American War and returned to state control in November 1898.[vi]

On July 2, 1916, the 2nd Regiment of Infantry was mustered into federal service and dispatched to the Mexican Border. For the next eight months, the Infantrymen patrolled the border from El Paso, Texas to Noria, N.M. in support of Brig. Gen. John J. Pershing’s punitive expedition.[vii] The regiment returned to Macon in March 1917 but remained in federal service. In August 1917, Companies B, C and F of the 2nd Georgia were reorganized as the 151st Machine Gun Battalion. The 151^st would serve with the 42nd Infantry Division during World War I. The remaining companies of the 2nd Georgia Infantry were redesignated the 121st Infantry Regiment on October 1, 1917.

CAMP WHEELER, Macon, Ga., February 5, 1918 – 121st and 122nd Infantry Regiments, on a road march at Camp Wheeler, Macon, Ga. Feb 5, 1918.
Photo 4670, NARA.

Colonel Thomas and the Gray Bonnet Regiment

The commander of the 121st Infantry Regiment in the years leading up to World War I was Col. James Adrian Thomas Jr. of Macon, Ga. On November 18, 1912, Col. Thomas assumed command of the 2nd Infantry. Shortly after assuming command, Thomas designated the 121st Infantry Regiment the Old Gray Bonnet after the popular song "Put on your Old Gray Bonnet" by Stanley Murphy and Percy Wenrich which was first released in 1909.[viii]

The 121st departed for France October 5, 1918 aboard the transport USS Orizaba. Arriving in the port of Brest, France the 121st was compelled to remain onboard until the ship could be unloaded. It was in the harbor that Col. Thomas, beloved regimental commander, died of pneumonia October 16 having never set foot in France. He was 48.[ix]

Reeling from the loss of their commander, the Soldiers of the 121^st were dealt a second blow. Having reached Le Mans October 22, the Soldiers were informed they would be parceled into replacement units rather than enter combat as a regiment. Having trained so long for combat, many of the Soldiers of the 121^st would reach the front lines just as the war was coming to a close.[x]

Following World War I, the Georgia National Guard was reorganized. The 121st Infantry Regiment was federally recognized May 31, 1921 as the 1^st Georgia Infantry Regiment. It would not regain its 121^st designation until 1924 by which time the regiment was part of the 30th Division. [xi] By 1939, on the eve of war, the 121st Infantry was comprised of three battalions based in Macon, Brunswick and Dublin, Ga.

Colonel Lewis Pope, The Gray Bonnet Insignia and Federalization

In September 1940, the 121st was accepted into federal service under the command of Col. Lewis C. Pope. Pope was born June 23, 1884 in Laurence County, Ga. and enlisted in Company A, 2nd Infantry, Georgia Sate Troops November 24, 1899. He served through the ranks from private to sergeant before commissioning as a second lieutenant in Company K November 7, 1906. Pope was appointed captain of the Dublin Guards August 28, 1919, was promoted to major January 25, 1921 and lieutenant colonel July 22, 1922. Upon the unexpected death of Georgia’s Adjutant General, Brig. Gen. J. Van Holt Nash, Pope was promoted to brigadier general and appointed as Nash’s successor by Governor Thomas Hardwick. Pope served as the adjutant general until January 13, 1923 when he was appointed colonel, commanding the 121st Infantry Regiment.

During a ceremony in Macon, Ga. October 14, 1928, ten years after the regiment sailed for France, the 121st regimental colors were presented amidst much fanfare. The ceremony also marked the first appearance of the unit’s distinctive insignia as described by Capt. Charles F. Stuart, regimental adjutant:

“All of the men were equipped and wearing the Old Gray Bonnet insignia, and it looked mighty good in its first appearance.”[xii]

Twelve years after the first appearance of the Gray Bonnet, Pope was still in command of the 121st Infantry Regiment when it was dispatched to Fort Jackson, S.C. for sixteen weeks of initial training.[xiii] In June, the 121st participated in the Tennessee Maneuvers followed by the Carolina Maneuvers. In September, Col. Pope was succeeded by Col. Aaron J. Becker.[xiv] Shortly after Becker assumed command the reorganization of Army divisions resulted in assignment of the 121^st to the 8th Infantry Division.[xv]

Reinforcements for the 121st Infantry move up a snow covered road in Hurtgen, Germany Jan 6, 1945. Photo 270807, NARA.

World War II

On June 30, 1944, the 121st began loading transports in Belfast Harbor. Four days later the 121st Infantry Regiment splashed ashore on Utah Beach and entered the Normandy Campaign. Within a week of landing, the regiment would suffer its first casualties and in less than 10 months, the casualty list of the 121st would grow to 70 pages as the regiment fought its way from La Haye du Puits France to Schwerin Germany and the liberation of concentration camps near Wobbelin.[xvi]

Reactivation and the 48^th Division

The 121^st Infantry Regiment was inactivated for less than a year following World War II when it was assigned to the Georgia National Guard as part of the initial allotment of National Guard ground force units for the state of Georgia on July 11, 1946. The 121^st Infantry Regiment formed one of three infantry regiments assigned to the 48^th Infantry Division in addition to the 122^nd Infantry Regiment of Georgia and the 124^th Infantry Regiment of Florida.

Reorganization of the 48^th ID as an armor division in 1955 scattered the 121^st Regiment into battalion and company-size elements. Company D, 121^st became headquarters company of the 48^th AD. Four companies of the 121^st constituted the 121^st Armored Infantry Battalion while two more formed the core of the 171^st Armored Infantry Battalion. Company K and M formed the nucleus of the 190^th Tank Battalion while the 162^nd Tank Battalion was comprised entirely of former 121^st Infantry units.[xvii]

In 1959, the 121^st and 171^st AIB were combined to reform the 121^st Infantry Regiment, consisting of 1^st and 2nd Armored Rifle Battalions.[xviii] The 121^st was expanded to four battalions under the ROAD reorganization of 1963.[xix]  With the reorganization of the 48^th AD as 3^rd Brigade, 30^th Division in 1968, the 121^st Infantry Regiment was again reduced to two battalions.[xx]

Infantrymen of the 121st Infantry Regiment, 48th Armored Division pass in review before Governor Carl Sanders during Governor's Day
activities at Fort Stewart Ga. The 48th Armored Division was at Fort Stewart for Annual Training August 7 to 21, 1966. Georgia National Guard Archives.

The 48^th Brigade and Overseas Mobilizations

In 1973, at the request of the governor of Georgia, the National Guard Bureau assigned an infantry brigade to the state. Designated the 48^th Infantry Brigade in honor of the 48^th Division, the 48^th Brigade welcomed the 121^st Infantry Regiment into its force structure where it remains to this day.

The 48^th Brigade and 121^st Infantry Regiment were activated for service during Desert Storm but fighting ended before the units mobilized overseas. Elements of the 121^st Infantry mobilized to Bosnia in March 2001.[xxi] These units were in Bosnia when terrorists struck on September 11, 2001.

Elements of the 48^th Infantry Brigade, later the 48^th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, have mobilized four times since September 11, 2001, and infantrymen of the 121^st have been part of all overseas combat deployments. From the 2005 deployment to Iraq to the 2018 mobilization to Afghanistan, the 121^st Infantry Regiment has provided security, mentoring and combat power to kinetic operations. During its last deployment, the 121^st Infantry mobilized overseas with three battalions for the first time since 1944. The 3^rd Battalion, 121^st Infantry Regiment, which had been inactivated in 1968 with the loss of the 48^th AD was activated in 2016 with its headquarters in Cumming, Ga.[xxii]

Company D, 2nd Battalion, 121st Infantry Regiment, 4in Kunduz, Afghanistan in January 2010, Georgia National Guard Archives.

Continuing Operations

Soldiers of the 121^st Infantry Regiment have supported response operations for COVID-19 and civil disturbances throughout 2020 lending medical support to hospitals in Hall County, staffing COVID-19 testing sites and foodbanks and assisting law enforcement during civil disturbances in Atlanta and Athens. Simultaneously, the 121^st has continued to support overseas training deployments by contributing personnel to Operation Saber Junction in Germany in 2020 and African Lion in Morocco the following year.

 

Georgia Army National Guard Soldiers of the 3rd Battalion 121st Infantry Regiment assist law enforcement officials during civil unrest in Atlanta May 30, 2020.
Photo by Maj. William Carraway.

 

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[i] The 121^st Infantry Regiment. The Gray Bonnet: Combat History of the 121^st Infantry Regiment, 1810-1945. Army Navy Publishing Company, 1946, 18.

[ii] Lyle, Thomas E., Larry O. Blair, Debra S. Lyle, and J. Harmon. Smith. Organizational Summary of Military Organizations from Georgia in the Confederate States of America. Marietta, Ga. 1999, 61.

[iii] Lyle et al,40-41.

[iv] Center for Military History. “Lineage and Honors Certificate, 121^st Infantry Regiment”

[v] Official Records of the War of the Rebellion, Series I, Vol XXVII/2. -- SERIES I--VOLUME XXVII/2: JUNE 3-AUGUST 1, 1863--The Gettysburg Campaign. Washington DC: War Department, 1897.

[vi] CMH

[vii] Carraway, William. “We Are Having a Big Time Now: January-March 1917.” April 17, 2017. http://www.georgiaguardhistory.com/2017/04/we-are-having-big-time-now-january.html

[viii] The first official authority for this designation appears March 24, 1924 in GO No. 1 in which the 121st Infantry was officially designated the Old Gray Bonnet Regiment. This much was affirmed in an October 28, 1926 outline of the history of the 121st Infantry certified by Charles H. Cox, Georgia's Adjutant General.

[ix] The Georgia State Memorial Book Adopted as the Official Record by the Military Department of the State of Georgia. Atlanta: 1921, 31.

[x] Gray Bonnet, 18.

[xi] Pictorial Review of the National Guard of the State of Georgia, 1939, 44.

[xii] Gray Bonnet, 17.

[xiii] Pictorial Review, 45.

[xiv] Gray Bonnet, 20.

[xv] Ibid.

[xvi] The Gray Bonnet, 85.

[xvii] NGAROTO 325.4 Oct 17, 1955

[xviii] RA 73-59, June 10, 1959.

[xix] RA 57-63 March 21, 1963.

[xx] RA Dec 14, 1967.

[xxi] “Bosnia Bound: The Countdown Begins.” Georgia Guardsman, Spring 2000, Vol. 1, No. 3, 10.

[xxii] OA 545-15 January 8, 2016.

1948 Bomber Crash Claims the Lives of Three Ga. Guardsmen

 By Maj. William Carraway

Historian, Georgia Army National Guard

 

A Georgia Air National Guard A-26 at the 54th Fighter Wing Headquarters in Marietta in 1946. Georgia National Guard Archives.

On Wednesday, Sept. 29, 1948 a Georgia Air National Guard A-26 crashed en route from Marietta Army Base to New York City.[1] Eyewitness statements made to the Virginia State Patrol indicated the aircraft exploded in flight and crashed near Simplicity, Va. Three Georgia Air National Guard personnel were killed in the accident. All three were veterans of World War II.[2] Army search personnel from Fort Pickett located the wreckage of the aircraft which had gouged a 30-foot trench after striking the ground.[3]

Captain Jerome Arnold Klausman, commander of the Marietta-based Detachment A, 216^th Air Service Group was at the controls of the aircraft when it went down. Klausman was born June 23, 1918 in Macon to Marcus and Mamie Klausman. Marcus Klausman was a physician who immigrated from Russia. Klausman entered federal service with the Georgia National Guard’s 128^th Observation Squadron in 1941 and transferred to the Air Corps in 1942. Assigned to the European Theater he was twice awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross. He joined the Georgia Air National Guard in 1946 and in his civilian capacity worked as a jeweler. Klausman is buried in Westlawn Memorial Park in Atlanta.[4]

Doctor Marcus Klausman presents the first annual Klausman Trophy
to Maj. William Kelly at Governor’s Day during Annual Training
 in 1950. Georgia National Guard Archives.

To honor the memory of Capt, Klausman the 216^th ASG established the Klausman Trophy. [5] The first Klausman Trophy was presented by Dr. Marcus Klausman to Maj. William Kelly, commander of Detachment C, 216^th ASG in the summer of 1950.[6]

First Lieutenant William Frederick Scarborough, 24, enlisted in the Air Corps in 1943 and served with the 3035 AAF Base Unit. Upon mustering out in 1946 Scarborough joined the Georgia Air National Guard. His brother, Homer Scarborough, served with the 121^st Infantry Regiment during World War II.[7] William is buried in Northview Cemetery in Dublin.

Second Lieutenant William Oscar Colley was a 25-year-old pilot from Elberton who ran his own flight business. A graduate of North Georgia College, he served in World War II as a flight officer and entered service with the Ga. ANG upon discharge from active duty. He is buried in Elmhurst Cemetery in Elberton.

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[1] “Air Crash Kills 3 Georgia Guardsmen.” The Atlanta Constitution, Sept. 30, 1948, 1.

[2] “Guard identifies Atlanta Captain in Air Crash.” The Atlanta Constitution, Oct 1, 1948, 1.

[3] “Three Guard Officers Die in Plane Crash.” The Tampa Tribune, Oct. 1, 1948, 1.

[4] “Capt. Klausman Rites Tomorrow; Crash Victim.” The Atlanta Constitution, Oct. 5, 1948, 13.

[5] “Unit News.” The Georgia Guardsman Magazine. July-Aug 1950, 1.

[6] “Awards and Decorations Honor Guardsmen at Camp.” The Georgia Guardsman Magazine, Sept-Oct 1950, 10.

[7] GA-13-MD-GA 1941, 79.

Nescit Cedere: “He Knows No Surrender”

 By Maj. William Carraway

Historian, Ga. Army National Guard

 

The unit crests of the 118th and 230th FA flank images of Battery A, Georgia Artillery in 1916 and Battery A 1-118th FA in 2014. Georgia National Guard Archives

The earliest elements of the Georgia Army National Guard's 1st Battalion, 118th Field Artillery Regiment were organized April 18, 1751 in Savannah, Ga.[1] The regiment fought during the American Revolution and the War of 1812 and began its Civil War service at Fort Pulaski in 1861.

Fort Pulaski. Photo by Maj. William Carraway

Elements of the 118th served in multiple units during the Civil War including the 1st Georgia Volunteer Regiment, Wheaton’s Battery, the 13th and 18th Battalion Georgia Infantry. The venerable Chatham Artillery detached from the regiment in September 1861 and served as an independent battery, ultimately surrendering in North Carolina in April 1865.

Pvt. John  Hancock, 1st Ga.
Vol. Inf. 1898.
Georgia National Guard Archives

In 1872, the 118th Field Artillery was reorganized as the 1st Georgia Infantry Regiment. Elements of this unit entered federal service in May 1898 during the Spanish American War.

In July 1916, the 1st Georgia Infantry Regiment was dispatched to Camp Cotton in El Paso Texas following border tensions with Mexico. Returning in 1917, the unit began training for overseas service and on September 23, 1917, received its present designation as the 118th Field Artillery Regiment. The 118th served in France with the 31st Infantry Division and was demobilized in 1919. In 1941, the 118th Field Artillery was ordered into federal service as part of the 30th Infantry Division. The 118th Regiment would serve as the 118th and 230th Field Artillery Battalion with the 30th ID in the European theater where it would earn four Meritorious Unit Commendations and fight with distinction at Saint Lo, Malmedy and Mortain.

Since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, the 1-118th FA has mobilized for overseas contingency operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. In 2020, Soldiers of the 1-118th participated in Operation Noble Partner in the country of Georgia and supported the state's response to the COVID-19 outbreak. 

Soldiers of the Savannah-based Battery C, 1-118th FAR and the Glennville-based Company A, 177th Brigade Engineer Battalion, stand in formation
during the opening ceremony for Noble Partner 2020 at the Vaziani Training Area, country of Georgia Sept. 7, 2020. photo by Spc. Isaiah Matthews.

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[1] Lineage and Honors of the 118th Field Artillery. Department of the Army