Georgia National Guard Responds to Water Crisis

By Maj. William Carraway
Historian, Georgia Army National Guard

In this 1956 photo, Georgia Army National Guard Soldiers of the Atlanta-based 201st Ordnance Company load up pipe in response to a water crisis in Loganville. Four years later, the unit would respond to a water crisis in Unadilla. Georgia Guard Archives.

 What would happen if a town in Georgia was suddenly without water? This was the situation that confronted the citizens of Unadilla Georgia in March 1960 and the Georgia National Guard Soldiers who sped to their rescue.

On the morning of March 24, 1960, the 1,200 residents of Unadilla Georgia, an agricultural community approximately 45 miles south of Macon, went about their normal routine showering for work and filling glasses of water for breakfast. Within hours, that routine was plunged into uncertainty with the collapse of the town’s water system. With the well yielding an undrinkable sandy mixture, city officials requested assistance. Receiving the call, the Georgia National Guard dispatched the 201^st Ordnance Company from Atlanta. The 201^st loaded trucks with pumps and pipe and prepared personnel for departure. Meanwhile, in Columbus, engineers of the 560^th Armored Engineer Battalion dispatched Soldiers and vehicles to transport tanks and filtration systems.

Georgia Army National Guard Soldiers of the Columbus-based 560th Engineer Battalion set up a pumping station and filtration system in Unadilla, Ga. March 24, 1960 after the city's water well failed. Georgia Guard Archives.

Citizen Soldiers from Columbus and Atlanta converged on the scene in Unadilla and were joined by officials from the Georgia Department of Health. Working through the morning of March 25, the Soldiers installed a pump and filtration system to provide the citizens of Unadilla with drinking water while the Ga. DPH and other Guardsmen worked with city officials to repair the well. The units had responded to a similar water crisis in Loganville four years earlier, and Columbus engineers set up the sediment retention tanks and filtration systems while the 201^st Ordnance Company installed more than half a mile of pipe.

By 3:00 the morning of March 25, the first pump became operational and by dawn, a second pump was providing drinking water for the city. The Guardsmen remained on duty in Unadilla until March 29, when the city was able to restore the production capability of an older city well.[i]

---

[i] "Unadilla Well Fails; Columbus, Atlanta NG Supplies Water." The Georgia Guardsman Magazine, April 1960, 16.

60 Years Ago, This Month: Crippling Snowstorm Prompts Georgia Guard Response

By Maj. William Carraway
Historian, Georgia Army National Guard

A column of vehicles stages at the Atlanta headquarters of the Georgia National Guard March 9, 1960 prepared to travel to Gainesville, Ga. following heavy snowfall across north Georgia. Georgia Guard Archives.

On March 9, 1960, a snowstorm dropped as much as eight inches of snow over north Georgia. By the time the snow began to fall March 9, many areas of North Georgia were still heavily covered by ice from frozen precipitation that fell the previous week. Temperatures had remained below freezing, thus the falling snow added to the weight of previously accumulated ice. This proved devastating to the poultry region of north Georgia. Approximately 400 chicken houses collapsed under the weight of the ice and snow. Highways became impassable and school buses were unable to bring children home from school.

Aerial reconnaissance conducted by Georgia Army National Guard helicopters revealed wide devastation across north Georgia following a March 9, 1960 snowstorm. In this image, five poultry houses have collapsed from the weight of accumulated snow and ice.  Georgia Guard Archives.

Already pressed by calls for assistance from the previous-week’s ice event, the communications office of the Civil Defense Division of the Georgia Department of Defense was flooded with requests from farmers, ranchers and citizens across north Georgia. With need concentrated in Hall County and its abundant poultry farms, Maj. Gen. George Hearn, Georgia’s Adjutant General, dispatched a convoy of nearly two dozen 2 ½ ton trucks to Gainesville. Departing the Atlanta headquarters of the Georgia National Guard on the afternoon of March 9, the vehicles, under command of Lt. Col. Emmett Plunkett, state maintenance officer, arrived in Hall County that evening. Plunkett established a response headquarters in the Hall County Jail. The Guardsmen, members of the Atlanta-based 201^st Ordnance Company, 1^st Rocket Howitzer Battalion and 248^th Signal Battalion were joined by Soldiers of Gainesville’s Company C, 878^th Engineer Battalion who had spent the previous week responding to emergencies prompted by the March 2 ice storm. Elberton’s Headquarters Battery, 4^th Gun Battalion provided additional Soldiers and five-ton heavy trucks.

Georgia Army National Guard Soldiers receive a mission brief before conducting emergency response operations n Gainesville, Ga. March 10, 1960. Georgia Guard Archives

The Guardsmen fanned out into Hall County and neighboring Lumpkin, Dawson, White and Habersham Counties rescuing trapped motorists and delivering them to warming shelters. Guard vehicles also assisted in conveying doctors and patients to local hospitals. The Guard’s winch-equipped heavy trucks pulled countless vehicles out of snow drifts in an effort to clear roads. Nevertheless, with commercial trucks bogged down by the wintry conditions, by the night of March 9, Guardsmen began delivering feed from local mills to farms isolated by the snowfall. Through the darkness, the Guardsmen traveled over treacherous mountain roads in freezing temperatures to reach sparsely populated agricultural communities.[i]

Within the first 24 hours, the Guardsmen had conducted more than 200 missions. They continued 24-hour operations through March 11 when they were relieved by a convoy of vehicles and Guardsmen from the Newnan and Jackson armories of the 1^st Reconnaissance Squadron. That evening, additional snow fell adding to the urgency of the response operations. Doctors accompanied Guard patrols in rural areas to treat patients who were unable to travel to hospitals and clinics. Food, heating oil and gasoline were transported continuously by Guard vehicles while the Gainesville armory provided hot meals and cots delivered from Atlanta.

In Toccoa and Canton, Guardsmen from local armories made emergencies calls to residents, delivering groceries, feed, hay, medicine and other essentials to remote county residences. Georgia Guard trucks delivered chickens to processing plants, transported live eggs to hatcheries and delivered feed to sustain livestock and poultry populations.

Through relentless effort and coordination with the Georgia State Patrol and first responders, Georgia Guardsmen mitigated human suffering and reduced overall economic impact to the poultry industry. At the height of the operation, Guardsmen operated more than 80 trucks traveling more than 45,000 miles over treacherous roads. More than 900 missions were executed in the Gainesville area alone. Incredibly, despite thousands of hours on the roads, no accidents or injuries were sustained by responding Guardsmen.

---

[i] "Frigid March Weather Brings Ice & Snow Storms – Crippling Power, Transportation." The Georgia Guardsman Magazine, April 1960, 8.

Georgia Military Institute Officer Candidates Experience Lessons of the Past During Civil War Staff Ride

By Major William Carraway
Historian, Georgia Army National Guard

Major William Carraway, historian of the Georgia Army National Guard, leads officer candidates of the Georgia Military Institute's Officer Candidate School Class 59 in recreating the charge of Col. Dan McCook's Federal brigade during a staff ride at the Kennesaw Mountain Battlefield March 6, 2020. Photo by Capt. Shannell Chappell.

Officer candidates of the Georgia Army National Guard’s Georgia Military Institute’s Officer Candidate School Class 59 conducted a staff ride at the Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield in Kennesaw, Ga. March 6, 2020. The staff ride, which covered the actions of the Atlanta Campaign during the American Civil War was facilitated by Maj. William Carraway, historian of the Georgia Army National Guard.

Officer candidates of the Georgia Military Institute's OCS

Class 59 receive a block of instruction on Civil War rifle 

muskets from Maj. William Carraway, historian of the 

Georgia Army National Guard. Photo by Sgt. Elisel Jimenez.

The purpose of the Kennesaw Mountain Staff Ride was to draw parallels between combat in the American Civil War and implications to the modern battlefield. The future officers began the learning process for the staff ride months ago with reading assignments and research objectives designed to make them subject matter experts in a particular aspect of Civil War combat, such as artillery, small-arms, logistics, transportation, intelligence and terrain analysis. The officer candidates learned the strategic and operational objectives of the 1864 campaigns and applied principles of war in the analysis of courses of actions available to the Federal and Confederate commanders. Additionally, candidates considered how weather and logistical concerns factored into the decision-making process that resulted in the Battle of Kennesaw Mountain.

Following a sand table brief in which the candidates role-played Generals William Sherman, Joseph Johnston and their staffs, the candidates travelled to Kennesaw Mountain to observe the terrain considerations that confronted the contending armies. The candidates ascended to the top of Kennesaw Mountain and observed the direction of approach of the Federal Armies from the summit. From the top of the mountain, the candidates could survey the ground before them and understand how Confederate commanders had a clear picture of the Federal commander’s intent and maneuvers.

Returning to the base of the mountain, the candidates visited the ground that was held by Georgia troops and stood on the picket line that was held by the 63^rd Georgia Infantry Regiment. The candidates experienced the nine steps required to fire an original civil war musket and practiced the loading process in an attempt to achieve a firing rate of three rounds per minute. To demonstrate the effective engagement distances of American Civil War battlefields, Carraway marched off the distance a Soldier could travel in the time it took a Soldier to load and fire a musket. He then told the candidates to reload, fixed a bayonet to the musket and charged their position to demonstrate the psychological impact of a massed charge.

Georgia Army National Guard Officer Candidates of the Georgia Military Institute's OCS Class 59 practice the nine steps required to fire a Civil War-era musket during a staff ride at the Kennesaw Mountain Battlefield March 6, 2020. Photo by Capt. Shannell Chappell.

The staff ride culminated with the candidates recreating the charge of Col. Dan McCook’s Federal brigade on Cheatham Hill. The candidates were put through crash-course of Civil War-era drill and practiced moving from a column of march to a line of battle. They then advanced from the Federal assembly position, through the woods, crossed two creeks and emerged at the base of Cheatham Hill where they beheld the objective before them. The candidates moved from a column to a line of battle and began the slow ascent of Cheatham Hill while Carraway called out musket volleys and artillery barrages that would have reaped gaps in their lines. Reaching what they thought was the crest of the hill, the candidates collapsed exhausted only to learn that the actual Confederate line was nearly 50 meters further.

As a result of their hands-on experience with Civil War weapons systems on the original battlefield, the officer candidates received invaluable exposure to historic combat conditions and the lessons that resonate for the modern battlefield. A key takeaway of the learning experience was that whether planning an extended campaign in 1864 or a 72-hour platoon operation in Afghanistan, there are similarities, and a study of military history is vital to the success of today’s military leader. 

Georgia Army National Guard Officer Candidates of the Georgia Military Institute's Officer Candidate School Class 59 stand at the Illinois Monument on Cheatham Hill after recreating the charge of Col. Dan McCook's Federal Brigade during a staff ride at the Kennesaw Mountain Battlefield March 6, 2020. Photo by Sgt. Elisel Jimenez.

60 Years Ago, This Month: The Georgia Guard Responds Following Devastating Winter Storm

By Maj. William Carraway
Historian, Georgia Army National Guard

Ice-choked roads and downed trees greeted Georgia Guardsmen of Calhoun's Headquarters Company, 2nd Battalion, 108th Armor Regiment in Rock City, Ga. March 3, 1960 following a severe ice storm that impacted Georgia. Georgia Guard Archives

Hurricane and winter emergencies in the past decade have brought the domestic response role of the National Guard to the forefront of national attention. But this mission is not of recent invention. In March 1960, hundreds of Georgia National Guards Soldiers and Airmen responded in the wake of severe ice and snow accumulation in North Georgia, part of a crippling winter event that gripped the southeastern United States.


The morning of March 2, 1960 dawned with the temperature near freezing across Georgia and neighboring states. A cold front moving south from Canada brought heavy precipitation which clung to trees and powerlines. As temperatures plunged, ice accumulated swiftly, as much as four inches thick in places.[i] The rapid accumulation of heavy ice snapped power poles and trees blocking roads and coating road surfaces with treacherous ice. With telephone lines down across north Georgia radio calls from amateur radio operators poured into the Georgia State Patrol and State Department of Defense Headquarters. The Georgia DoD and its Civil Defense Division, precursor of the Georgia Emergency Management Agency, went to 24-hour manning, receiving messages and updates and relaying desperate pleas for help to state and federal agencies. Georgia’s Governor, and former Adjutant General, Ernest Vandiver authorized the Ga. National Guard to immediately provide all possible support to alleviate human suffering.[ii]

In the early hours of the response, the Civil Defense Division staffed nearly 40 rescue teams and prepared to respond. Facing massive power outages and with emergency power generators running out of fuel at hospitals, radio stations, fire and police stations, Maj. Gen. George Hearn, Georgia’s Adjutant General ordered, teams to deliver generators and fuel to hospitals and shelters from Carrollton and Villa Rica in the west, to Jackson in the south, and to Rome, Cave Spring in the north. Air National Guard generators from Dobbins Air Force Base were transported by military vehicles over treacherous ice-slicked roads and were in place by the early morning hours of March 3. By then, the temperature had plunged to zero degrees in Chattanooga and throughout North Georgia.[iii] The Georgia Army National Guard armory in Rome opened its doors to citizens and provided hot meals cooked on field stoves. Meanwhile, Rome Guardsmen, led by Capt. Lewis Varnedoe, commander of Company A, 2^nd Battalion 108^th Armor, fanned out to survey damage and rescue ice-bound citizens.[iv]

Georgia National Guard Soldiers of the Rome-based Company A, 2nd Battalion, 108th Armor Regiment under the command of Capt. Lewis Varnedoe, inspect a generator installed at a school in Cave Spring, Ga. March 3, 1960 following a severe ice storm that impacted Georgia.  Georgia Guard Archives.

Georgia Army National Guard helicopters mobilized to deliver supplies to stricken North Georgia counties. Major General Hearn accompanied one of the first flights and observed damage from the air. These aerial surveys over Calhoun and Rome helped direct relief efforts. Guardsmen of Calhoun’s Headquarters, 2-108^th Armor were dispatched north to Rock City, one of the hardest hit areas where hundreds of homes were without power. The Guardsmen patrolled the streets with radio-equipped jeeps. One of these patrols located a remote home which had been completely isolated by shattered trees and ice. Finding the home without power or heat, the Guardsmen evacuated the family and transported a child to a hospital in Chattanooga for treatment of pneumonia. 

Georgia Army National Guard helicopters on the ground in Rock City, Ga. March 3, 1960 following a severe ice storm that impacted Georgia. Georgia Guard Archives.

Impact was not isolated to North Georgia. In Atlanta, the power failed at the Georgia National Guard headquarters and an emergency power generator was required to maintain the vital communications center which continued to receive calls for assistance. Guardsmen transported more than 400 cots to a shelter facility in Covington.

Subfreezing temperatures continued for a week, complicating efforts to clear roads and reach desperate citizens. On March 9, the situation became even more desperate as a snowstorm dropped from four to eight inches of snow over north Georgia on March 9. This snowstorm, following closely on the heels of the devastating effects of ice would prompt second response which will be chronicled in a follow up article.

---

[i] Lee, Laurence G. A Review of the Record-Breaking Snow and Persistent Cold of February and March 1960. §. Accessed March 2, 2020. https://www.weather.gov/media/gsp/localdat/cases/2010/Review_Feb-Mar_1960.pdf.

[ii] "Frigid March Weather Brings Ice & Snow Storms – Crippling Power, Transportation." The Georgia Guardsman Magazine, April 1960, 6.

[iii] Shearer, John. “Big Ice Storm was 50 Years Ago This Month.” The Chattanoogan, March 6, 2010. Accessed March 1, 2020. https://www.chattanoogan.com/2010/3/6/170459/Big-Ice-Storm-Was-50-Years-Ago-This.aspx

[iv] Guardsman, 7.

February 1942: Georgia Guard Soldiers Sail for the Pacific

By Maj. William Carraway
Historian, Ga. Army National Guard

The Savannah-based Battery A, 101st Separate Battalion Coast Artillery (Antiaircraft), formerly Troop A, 108th Cavalry at Camp Stewart June 10, 1941. Georgia Guard Archives.

At 12:30 on the afternoon of Feb. 18, 1942, The Queen Mary weighed anchor and sailed out of Boston Harbor accompanied by a constellation of destroyers and a fighter plane escort. The sky was clear and the seas calm as the former luxury passenger liner turned troop transport passed the anti-submarine nets that protected the harbor. Where once her decks were adorned with passengers enjoying the sea air, now they bristled with anti-aircraft guns. Manning the guns on that voyage of the Queen Mary were the Soldiers of the Georgia Army National Guard’s 101^st Antiaircraft Artillery Automatic Weapons Battalion. Eighteen months earlier, these Soldiers were members of the historic 108^th Cavalry Regiment. But this day, they were bound for action in the South Pacific to defend Allied forces from air attack.[1]

From Cavalry to Coast Artillery

The unit insignia of the 108th Cavalry and 101st AAA. Georgia Archives.

In September 1940, the Hinesville-based 108^th Cavalry Regiment returned to Georgia with the 30^th Division following the 3^rd Army Maneuvers in Louisiana. The cavalrymen, proud heirs to the heritage of the Georgia Hussars of Savannah, Hinesville’s Liberty Independent Troop and the Governor’s Horse Guards of Atlanta had grown accustomed to the hard duty required of life in the saddle. Whether enduring 12 to 18-hour missions in the saddle before breakfast or freezing in a pre-dawn screening operation, the Soldiers of the 108^th were fiercely proud of their history and yearned to add another page to the book of past glories written by their forefathers.

On the eve of war, the 108^th Cavalry was commanded by Col. Joseph Fraser of Hinesville, Ga. The headquarters staff of the 108^th was split between Georgia and Louisiana with the regimental headquarters located in Hinesville. The headquarters of the 108^th was formed July 16, 1916 as Headquarters, 2^nd Squadron of Cavalry. The unit was mobilized to the Mexican Border in 1916 and remained in federal service until redesignated as the 106^th Train and Headquarters and Military Police Company of the 31^st Division October 23, 1917. Following World War I, the unit was reorganized as Headquarters, 1^st Squadron, 108^th Cavalry.[2]

The Machine Gun Troop of the 108^th Cavalry, the Governor’s Horse Guards, was organized March 31, 1883. It’s first captain was John Milledge who had served in the Civil War. [3]

Troop A of the 108^th Cavalry descended from the Georgia Hussars, which was organized February 13, 1736 by General James Oglethorpe, Governor of Georgia.[4] The Hussars served as Company A, 5^th Georgia Cavalry during the American Civil War and surrendered with Gen. Joseph Johnston at Greensboro, N.C. April 26, 1865.[5]

The Liberty Independent Troop which constituted Company B, 108^th Cavalry, was organized September 12, 1786. During the American Civil War, the troop served as Troop G, 5^th Regiment, Georgia Cavalry.[6]

On Oct. 15, 1940, the Soldiers of the 108^th learned that they would not mobilize for war as cavalrymen but would instead guard the skies from enemy aircraft. The 108^th was converted to form the 101^st Separate Coast Artillery Battalion, Antiaircraft. The unit entered active federal service Feb. 10, 1941 and reported to Camp Stewart for initial training. In addition to the Hussars, Independent Troop and Horse Guards that constituted Batteries A, B and C, the battalion organized Battery D in Bainbridge, Ga.

By June, the 101^st had completed the 13-week mobilization program which consisted of maneuvers, inspections and classroom instructions. At Fernandina, Fla., the Soldiers trained on AA-mounted .30 machine guns. Gas filled balloons, released over the ocean, provided targets for the men to practice gunnery. The men also honed their skills on the 37 mm antiaircraft gun and learned how to place it in direct-fire mode to serve as an anti-mechanized gun.[7]

Before the sun rose on September 20, the 101^st was on the road from Camp Stewart bound for the Carolina Maneuvers. Reaching Augusta, Ga. by 4:00 that afternoon, the men set up a camp at the fairgrounds. The Guardsmen received passes to go to the town for a welcome break from the military training. Those who stayed out late likely didn’t get less sleep than those who remained in the camp where temperatures plunged. The grumbling that accompanied the 4:00 a.m. reveille was soon slaked by gallons of hot, black coffee that took the edge of the night’s chill. The convoy moved out after chow and, late in the afternoon of September 21, the Soldiers reached their permanent camp near Chester, S.C. In contrast to the previous night spent shivering in hastily erected tents, the Soldiers passed a comfortable night on straw filled mattresses. It would be the last good night’s sleep for most as the field problems began in earnest and continued for the next seven weeks. The highlight of the maneuvers for the 101^st occurred in late October, when as part of the advance element of Brig. Gen. George Patton’s 1^st Armored Division, the men of the 101^st captured a convoy of the enemy red troops that included a regimental commander and staff and more than 100 infantrymen.

As the Carolina Maneuvers continued, the 101^st gained experience in communication and coordination that would serve them well in the years to come. They had maneuvered their 37 mm antiaircraft guns, or in many cases, wood substitutes which they nicknamed “woodimeters” and listened eagerly to intelligence reports about the progress of the war in Europe and the Pacific.

Georgia Guardsmen man a 37 mm anti-tank gun in 1941. Georgia Guard Archives.

The maneuvers wrapped up the last day of November, and by Dec. 2, 1941, the men of the 101^st had returned to Camp Stewart. For the next several days, the Ga. Guard Soldiers cleaned and inventoried equipment with lightning speed in anticipation of weekend passes. Liberty was granted at noon Dec. 6, 1941. The attack on Pearl Harbor brough a premature end to the weekend passes. Men streamed back to Camp Stewart which was on high alert. The days passed at a rapid pace. On February 1, the Soldiers of the 101^st loaded their equipment onto trains bound for an unknown destination.[8]

Departing Camp Stewart, the train stopped briefly in Savannah where the men of the 101^st had one last view of the city that had been the home of the Georgia Hussars. Many wondered when or if they would see it again.

The next day, the train stopped, and the men detrained into the frigid air of Camp Dix, N.J. That night, the men huddled in freezing tents as the temperature plunged below zero and the meager camp stoves shed little heat. The misery of that cold night gave way to early morning calisthenics, the men breathing geysers of steam into the frozen air as frost clung to their uniforms. Every morning would begin with exercises and be followed variously by bayonet and rifle drill. [9]

Within two weeks of arriving at Fort Dix, the men had received their new M-1 Garand Rifles that replaced their 1903 Springfields. Against a cold rainy backdrop, the men received their mobilization orders February 16. The Soldiers were hustled into coaches and driven out into the dark night; their destination unknown. The dawn light of February 17 was greeted by a thick fog that obscured the landscape as the 101^st approached the port of Boston. The men spent the rest of the 17^th loading equipment and personnel for a February 18 departure. As the Queen Mary steamed out of Boston Harbor, few of the men knew their ultimate destination, and none could have foretold the events that would add luster to the history of the famed 108^th Cavalry.[10]

 

The 101st AAA sailed from Boston on the Queen Mary Feb. 18, 1942. In this 1945 image,
the Queen Mary delivers U.S. Troops to New York Harbor. US Navy Photo 80-GK-5645

---

[1] Henderson, Lindsey P. Come What Will: A Military History of the 101st AAA Automatic Weapons Battalion, 15 October 1940 to VJ Day 1945. Berlin: U.S. Army, 1966,13

[2] General Order No. 4 June 6, 1924

[3] Pictorial Review of the National Guard of the State of Georgia, 1939,199

[4] Ibid, 203

[5] Ibid

[6] Ibid, 207

[7] Henderson, 6

[8] Henderson, 11

[9] Henderson, 12

[10] Henderson, 13

50 Years Ago This Month: Two Missing Canton, Ga. Girls Saved by Local Guard Soldiers

On Feb. 17, 1970, Georgia Army National Guard Specialist 4 Jerry Wood, 1st Sgt. Leland Bell and Gene Padgett located two girls who had been missing for three days in Canton, Ga. The Soldiers were from the Canton-based Company A, 1st Battalion, 121st Infantry Regiment. Georgia Guard Archives.

By Maj. William Carraway
Historian, Ga. Army National Guard

On February 15, 1970 two girls aged 2 and 3 wandered away from their homes in Canton, Ga. and became lost in nearby woods. After more than 40 hours missing, the girls were located by two Georgia Army National Guard Soldiers of the home-town Guard unit.[1]

Upon receiving the report of the missing children, the Georgia Department of Defense’s Civil Defense Division, forerunner of today’s Georgia Emergency Management Division, partnered with Cherokee County authorities to coordinate the efforts of hundreds of volunteer searchers who methodically combed the designated search area.[2] While no Georgia National Guard personnel were called to active duty for search operations, members of Canton’s Company A, 1^st Battalion, 121^st Infantry Regiment volunteered to assist the search effort. Additional support came from the Atlanta-based Organizational Maintenance Shop which delivered eight radio-equipped jeeps and additional personnel.

Members of the Ga. Army National Guard's Company A, 121st Infantry Regiment who assisted in the search for two missing girls in their hometown of Canton, Ga. Feb 15 to 17, 1970. Canton resident Gene Padgett (second from right) along with Guardsmen Specialist 4 Jerry Wood and 1st Sgt. Leland Jones found the missing girls. Georgia Guard Archives

The Guard search effort was led by 1^st Lt. Carroll Edge and 1^st Sgt. Leland Bell. On February 17, Bell, Specialist 4 Jerry Wood and local resident Gene Padgett were searching a dense area of woods outside the designated search area. The men had left their jeep and were moving through the dense understory on foot. It was the third day the children had been missing and the nights had been rainy with temperatures dipping into the low 40s. Bell and his team had been assigned to search beyond a stream that bordered the search area. Initially, the authorities believed the stream would act as a barrier and that the children would not be able to cross. The men were justifiably surprised when they spotted the girls who had indeed crossed the stream. The mud-spattered girls were tired, hungry and cold, but otherwise in remarkably good health.

The Georgia Guard effort did not stop with the end of the search. The Canton Armory became the staging ground of a community effort to help the families. North Georgia residents donated food, clothing and furniture. Soon the Canton Armory was full of bedding, clothing and other gifts intended for North Georgia families in need.

On February 25, Georgia’s Governor and First Lady visited the girls and contributed $200 to funds solicited by Edge through his membership in the Canton Jaycee. Governor Maddox publicly commended Bell, Wood and Padgett and praised the efforts of searchers and rescue organizations that came together for in a search effort that captivated North Georgia.[3]

Today, Canton is home to Troop B, 1^st Squadron, 108^th Cavalry. Soldiers of the Canton unit recently returned from Afghanistan, part of their fourth overseas combat deployment since September 11, 2001.

---

[1] "2 Little Girls Saved by Canton Guardsman.” The Georgia Guardsman Magazine, March, 1970, 8.

[2] Georgia Department of Defense Annual Report 1981, 3.

[3] "Gov. Maddox Visits Lost Girls’ Families.” The Georgia Guardsman Magazine, March, 1970, 9.

Georgia National Guard Soldier Wins at Daytona

By Maj. William Carraway

Historian, Georgia Army National Guard

 

Captain Harold Kite poses with his 1949 Lincoln and victory trophy from the 1950 Daytona stock car race. Georgia National Guard archives.

The Daytona 500, held annually in Daytona Beach, Fla., heralds the start of the NASCAR Cup Series. In 1950, nearly a decade before the construction of the Daytona International Speedway, the Daytona race course consisted of a 4.2 mile loop of road and beach. The combination of road and sandy terrain was challenging to even the most experienced drivers. Nevertheless, Capt. Harold Kite of the Georgia Army National Guard not only won the race in 1950, he set a speed record in the process.

Kite was born in East Point, Ga. Nov. 21, 1921. After graduating from Atlanta’s Commercial High School in 1939 he went to work as a clerk for the U.S. Army at Fort McPherson. Kite enlisted in the U.S. Army June 10, 1942 and was commissioned a 2^nd lieutenant January 23 the following year. Assigned to the 1^st Armored Division, he was wounded in action during the beach landings near Anzio, Italy in January 1944. Returning to duty, he continued to serve in the Italian campaign. He was promoted to 1^st lieutenant Oct. 7, 1944.[1] Discharged as a captain in 1946, Kite joined the Ga. National Guard in May 1947 as a 1^st lieutenant and executive officer of the newly formed 201^st Ordnance Medium Maintenance Company. He took command of the 201^st and was promoted to captain in November 1948.[2]

Kite began racing on Atlanta tracks near the armory of the 201^st. In 1948 and 1949 he competed in the modified division raced held on the beach in Daytona.[3]

Kite entered the 1950 Daytona stock car race with a 1949 Lincoln. The field included more than 40 cars from 14 different states driven by racing legends such as the Flock Brothers, Ed “Fireball” Roberts and Bob “Red” Byron who won the Daytona race the previous year.[4] Nearly 10,000 spectators lined the roads and sand dunes to watch the race unfold over 48 laps and 200 miles. Kite took an early lead roaring to the head of the pack with Byron close behind. Hitting a patch of soft sand 14 laps into the race, Kite’s Lincoln skidded briefly but it was enough for Byron to take advantage and capture the lead. Byron led the race for ten laps before pitting due to transmission trouble.[5]

Byron’s engine misfortune allowed Kite to retake and hold the lead for the rest of the race. He took the checkered flag in a record time of 2 hours 26 minutes and 30 seconds for an average speed of 81.75 miles per hour. Kite finished nearly one minute ahead of Byron who captured second place. Incredibly, Byron’s brakes failed early in the running and he finished 175 miles of the race using only the emergency brakes to slow his car in the turns.

Zack Mosley, creator of the cartoon strip Smilin’ Jack, presented Kite with the victory trophy. For his efforts, Kite also received $1,500 in prize money.

Kite remained in the Georgia National Guard for a decade after his win at Daytona. In 1965, after a nine-year hiatus from Cup racing, Kite entered the National 500 at Charlotte Motor Speedway Oct. 17, 1965. On the second lap, Kite was seriously injured in a multi-car wreck. Medical personnel rushed to his aid, but he died of his injuries. He was 43 years old.

In 2011, Kite was inducted into the Georgia Racing Hall of Fame.

---

[1] Secretary of the U.S. Army. Official National Guard Register, Army. January 1, 1953. National Guard Bureau, Washington D.C, 602

[2] The Georgia Guardsman Magazine. Capt. Harold Kite Sets Speed Record. Feb. 1950, 6.

[3] Georgia Racing Hall of Fame “Harold Kite” Retrieved January 31, 2020 from http://www.georgiaracinghof.com/inductees/individuals/harold-kite.html

[4] Daytona Beach Morning Journal. Former Tank Driver Wins 200 Mile Race at 81.75 mph. Feb. 6, 1950.

[5] Ibid.