The Georgia Air National Guard Brings Christmas to Troops in Vietnam

By Maj. William Carraway

Historian, Georgia Army National Guard

 

Left: U.S. Army personnel assigned to Military Assistance Command Vietnam unload a C-97 Stratofreighter of the Georgia Air National Guard's
165th Air Transport Group. Right: The first of six Georgia Air National Guard C-97 Stratofreighters is loaded with Christmas Gifts bound for
Vietnam as part of Operation Christmas Star. Georgia National Guard archives.

In November and December, 1965, air crews of the Georgia Air National Guard and Citizen-Airmen from other states volunteered for a special mission to Vietnam. Nearly 80 Air National Guard aircraft ultimately participated in Operation Christmas Star, a multi-state airlift operation designed to provide service members in Southeast Asia with Christmas gifts contributed by a grateful nation.

As the winter of 1965 approached, Department of Defense officials faced a unique, but fortunate problem. American citizens had donated so many gifts and baked goods for service members in Vietnam that U.S. Air Force transportation assets were overwhelmed. Operation Christmas Star would resolve the issue by asking for volunteer Air National Guard crews to augment Air Force transport missions. Guardsmen responded by the hundreds and coordinated efforts with local officials and citizen groups for the staging of gifts for transport.

Georgia Air National Guard Lt. Col. Charles Allen briefs pilots and air crews of the Marietta-based 116th Air Transport Group on the flight plan from
Georgia to Vietnam in December, 1965 as part of Operation Christmas Star.  Georgia National Guard Archives.

On November 20, 1965, a C-97 of the Tennessee Air National Guard departed Nashville with 4,500 pounds of cargo. Two days later, three aircraft assigned to the 116th Air Transport group departed Dobbins Air Force Base in Marietta, Ga. With Lt. Col. Charles H. Allen at the controls of the first aircraft, the Georgia Air National Guard C-97s began the long journey to Vietnam carrying thousands of pounds of gifts donated by family members of the Fort Benning-based 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile), which was then deployed in Vietnam. WRBL-TV Columbus arranged for transport of the goods to the municipal airport with the assistance of Georgia Army National Guard Soldiers of the Columbus-based 560th Engineer Battalion. From Columbus municipal airport, a C-97 transported the goods to Dobbins.

Lieutenant Col. Clyde Knipfer and crew of a 165th Air Transport Group, Georgia Air National Guard prepare to depart Savannah for an 11-day round trip flight
to Vietnam.  As part of Operation Christmas Star, Lt. Col. Knipfer's aircraft carried gifts and mail from American citizens to service members serving in Vietnam.
Georgia National Guard Archives.

The next day, three C-97s of the Savannah-based 165th Air Transport Group launched from Travis Field. At the controls of the first ship was Lt. Col. Charlie Miller. The four-engine C-97 Stratofreighters, with a maximum speed of 375 miles per hour, took 11 days to make the round trip to Vietnam.

A C-97 Stratofreighter of the Ga. Air National Guard's
165th Air Transport Group is unloaded in Vietnam. 

Air Guard crew met each other coming and going throughout the vast Pacific. From Hickam Air Force Base, Hawaii, crews generally flew to Kwajalein Atoll, a missile testing site. The next stop was Guam’s Andersen Air Base, then Manilla in the Philippines. There, the crews received a comprehensive briefing on procedures for entering the combat zone of Vietnam.

Greeting the Georgia Air National Guardsmen at Tan Son Nhut was a fellow Georgian and former Air Guard pilot Capt. Loy Shipp. Crews stayed close to their aircraft and never left the flight line to expedite the offloading of their Stratofreighters.

The Georgia aircrews completed their mission before December 15, 1965. Nearly 49,000 pounds of Christmas gifts and mail were delivered to South Vietnam by the Georgia Guardsmen in addition to 97,000 pounds of Air Force cargo.

Nearly 80 Air National Guard crews flew Christmas Star missions hauling more than 400 tons of gifts. In all, 731 tons of gifts were collected by various groups around the country. So great was the response that 270 tons had to be sent by ship.

The Christmas Star aircraft came from 26 Air National Guard squadrons across the country such as Maine’s 157th Air Transport Group and the 166th Airlift Group of the Delaware Air National Guard. Air National Guard units from Arizona, California, Minnesota, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Oklahoma and Pennsylvania also participated in making Operation Christmas Star another spectacular example of the value of the Citizen Airmen.

 

U.S. Marines unload a Georgia Air National Guard C-97 at Tan Son Nhut Airbase in Vietnam in December 1965. Georgia National Guard Archives.

 

Seventy Five Years in Swainsboro: The 810th Engineer Company

By Maj. William Carraway

Historian, Georgia Army National Guard

National Guard history is intrinsically linked with community history as the ties between a town and its local National Guard unit run deep. Such is the case with Swainsboro and its 810^th Engineer Company which celebrates the anniversary of its federal recognition December 18.

Lieutenant General Albert Watson II, commanding general of the 3rd U.S. Army reviews the 5th Medium Tank Battalion, 108th Armored Regiment, 48th
Armored Division August 24, 1963 with Lt. Col. William L. Britton Jr. of Augusta at Augusta. Georgia National Guard Archives.

Constituted July 5 1946 in the Georgia National Guard as Battery C, 101st Antiaircraft Automatic Weapons Battalion[1] the Swainsboro unit was federally recognized Dec. 18, 1947. On July 1, 1959, the unit was reorganized to form Battery C, 2^nd Gun Battalion, 214^th Field Artillery.[2] A reorganization of May 1, 1962 established Company B, 5th Medium Tank Battalion, 108th Armor in Swainsboro.[3] The following year, the unit was again reorganized as Company B, 3^rd Battalion 121^st Infantry Regiment.[4] When Georgia’s 48^th Armor Division was inactivated January 1, 1968, the Swainsboro unit was redesignated Company A, 878th Engineer Battalion.[5]

 In 1968 Company A, 878^th was awarded the Eisenhower Trophy which was presented annually to the best company in the Georgia Army National Guard. Captain. Alton Lawson, commanding Company A accepted the award from Maj. Gen. George Hearn, Georgia’s Adjutant General.[6]

Following civil unrest in Augusta in May 1970 the Swainsboro unit was among the Georgia National Guard units dispatched to maintain peace and order.[7] The following year, Swainsboro Guardsmen utilizing equipment of the Fort Stewart-based 575^th Engineer Battalion completed multiple projects at Fort Stewart and the Georgia Garrison Training Center.[8] Company A completed the work during unit training assemblies from February to April.

 

Guardsmen of the 878th Engineer Battalion help clear the streets of Swainsboro Feb. 10, 1973 following a record-breaking snowfall.
Georgia National Guard Archives.

Record snowfall in February 1973 prompted the activation of the Swainsboro engineers. Soldiers of Company A operating heavy equipment cleared local roads and assisted in clearing sections of Interstate 16.

Company A was reorganized and redesignated Oct. 1, 1976 as Company D, 878th Engineer Battalion. In 1982, the 878^th completed its largest project to date. Rotating units, the 878^th completed site preparation and grading at Dobbins Air Force Base for the hangar and office facilities of the 158^th and 159^th Military Intelligence Companies who flew the OV-1 Mohawk aircraft.[9] These properties are currently the home of the 201^st Regional Support Group, 265^th Chemical Battalion and 4^th Civil Support Team.

 Following more than a decade as Company D, the Swainsboro unit was reorganized and redesignated Dec. 1, 1988 as Company A, 878th Engineer Battalion.[10] Company D was pressed into service in 1994 when heavy rains caused massive flooding across southwest Georgia. The engineers cleared debris and repaired roads damaged by Tropical Storm Alberto.

 Company A was ordered into federal service March15 2003 with the 878^th Battalion and mobilized to Iraq. The unit conducted military construction missions for 15 months before returning to the United States. The unit was again activated Sept. 22, 2005 and mobilized to Iraq. The 81 Soldiers operated from bases near Tikrit and Kirkuk before returning to the United States in November 2006 returned to state control Jan. 28, 2007.

 On Sept. 1, 2007, Company A relocated to Augusta while a consolidation of Company A Detachment 1 and the Lyons and Sandersville detachments of the 878^th Engineer Battalion established the 810^th Engineer Company constituted the 810^th Engineer Company in Swainsboro. [11]

 

A few of the more than 100 members of Swainsboro’s 810th pose for a parting picture before departing for one year to Afghanistan Sept. 20, 2009.
Georgia National Guard Archives.

The 810th deployed to Afghanistan Sept 20, 2009. Throughout its deployment, the 810^th Engineer Company conducted over 390 route clearance missions and cleared over 30,000 miles of road, enabling commanders there to move supplies and troops safely and freely throughout the battlefield. On June 26, 2010, Sgt. David Holmes of the 810^th Engineer Company was killed when his vehicle was struck by an IED. Sergeant 1^st Class Edgar Roberts was mortally wounded in the same attack and died of his wounds August 17, 2010. The 810^th returned to Georgia Sept 16, 2010.

 

Swainsboro’s own 810th Engineer Company’s main body returned from Afghanistan to Volk Field
 Wisconsin. deomobilized at Fort McCoy and returned to Fort Stewart Sept. 16, 2010.  Photo by Capt. Will Cox

Soldiers of the 810^th spent annual training in Germany in July 2011.[12] Two years later, the 810^th received CBRNE search and rescue familiarization at the Guardian Center in Perry Georgia in support of the Region 4 Homeland Response Force mission to maintain readiness for future CBRNE incidents.[13] In 2015 the 810^th put their CBRNE training to work during Exercise Vigilant Guard in South Carolina.[14] Part of Joint Task Force 781, the 810 was responsible for locating and extracting victims from a collapsed structure.

 

Combat engineers with the 810th Engineer Company, Joint Task Force 781, Georgia National Guard assess and clear debris from a simulated
collapsed building site in Georgetown, S.C., March 8, 2015, during Vigilant Guard South Carolina. Vigilant Guard is a series of federally funded disaster-response
 drills conducted by National Guard units working with federal, state and local emergency management agencies and first responders. Photo by Capt. William Carraway

In May 2015, the 810^th along with the 848^th Engineer Company became the first Guard engineers to field the M-7 Spider System – a man-portable, remotely controlled force protection munition dispensing set.[15] In October of that year, following Hurricane Joachin, nearly 70 Soldiers of the 810^th rushed to Hephzibah, Georgia to fill sandbags to help stave off flooding in South Carolina.[16] In October 2016, the 810^th mobilized to Glynn County, Ga. in the wake of Hurricane Matthew.[17]

 

Soldiers of the Georgia Army National Guard’s 810th Engineer Company conduct a controlled detonation at the remote Vaziani Training Area.
The 810th trained with Georgian Armed Forces in support of Exercise Noble Partner 2017. Photo by Capt. William Carraway 

In the past five years, the 810^th Engineer Company has completed unprecedented training and real-world missions at home and overseas. 2017 found 65 Soldiers of the 810^th a half a world away supporting exercise Noble Partner in the Country of Georgia.[18] Soldiers of the 810^th were among thousands of activated to support the state’s coordinated response to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. In January 2021, Swainsboro’s Citizen Soldiers were called to duty in the nation’s capital to provide security for the presidential inauguration.

Specialist Robert English, a combat engineer with the 810th Engineer Company, provides security near the U.S. Capitol, Feb. 21, 2021.
Photo by Sgt. 1st Class R.J. Lannom Jr.

---

[1] AGAO-I 325, 23 January 1951.

 

[2] OA 73-59, 10 July 1959.

 

[3] OA 47-62, 16 April 1962.

 

[4] OA 57-63, 21 March 1963.

 

[5] OA 71-67, 14 December 1967.

 

[6] “Mees, Scruggs, Gaines Awarded Distinctive Service Medal.” The Georgia Guardsman. May August 1968, 7.

 

[7] “Governor Sends 2,000 Ga. Guardsmen to Augusta, Athens to Restore Calm in Wake of May Civil Disturbances.” The Georgia Guardsman. April – June 1970 3-4.

 

[8] “NG Unit Aids Fort Stewart.” The Georgia Guardsman Magazine. January-June 1971, 8.

 

[9] “Guard Engineers Complete Largest Project.” The Georgia Guardsman. March 1982, 15.

 

[10] OA 34-89, 23 February 1989.

 

[11] OA 112-08, 21 May 2008.

 

[12] Alexander Gantt. “Guard Engineers Conduct Annual Training in Southeast Germany. The Georgia Guardsman. August 2011, 3-4.

 

[13] Steven Bennett. “810^th Engineers: Three Days of Disaster.” The Georgia Guardsman, August 2013, 16.

 

[14] Christopher Stephens. “Operation Vigilant Guard.” The Georgia Guardsman. March 2015, 3-4.

 

[15] William Carraway. “Georgia Guard Engineers First to Field M-7 System. The Georgia Guardsman. May 2015. 10-11.

 

[16] William Carraway. “Guard Responds to Hurricane Joachin.” The Georgia Guardsman. October 2015, 5-6.

 

[17] Desiree Bamba. “Hurricane Matthew: The Georgia Guard Responds.” The Georgia Guardsman. Fall 2016 11-14.

 

[18] William Carraway. “Operation Noble Partner. The Georgia Guardsman. Q3 2017, 19-20.

Georgia Air National Guard Flies Training Mission in Support of Ground Observer Corps

 By Maj. William Carraway

Historian, Georgia Army National Guard

 

Georgia Air National Guard pilots and plotters supported Air Defense Command during an exercise Dec. 14, 1952.[1] The purpose of the mission was to test the effectiveness of the Ground Observer Corps, a volunteer program of the Office of Civil Defense which organized and trained citizens to spot and report enemy aircraft activity.

 

Capt. Glenn Herd, operations officer of the 128th Fighter Bomber Squadron in an F-51 with his crew chief TSgt. Moore. Herd flew more than 100
combat missions over Korea and was credited with shooting down a MiG 15. Georgia National Guard Archives

Pilots of the 128^th Fighter Bomber Squadron were tasked with flying specific courses over north and central Georgia. The pilots were briefed on their specific flight patterns by Capt. Glenn Herd, operations officer of the 128^th FBS. Lieutenant William Tennent was assigned to fly the northwest mission corridor in a T-6 while Captains Doug Embry and Merrill Nuss flew a second T-6 on a course over southwest Georgia. Lieutenant Robert W. Carmichael, piloting an F-51 H Mustang flew over northeast Georgia.

With the exact flight paths known, Guardsmen of the 129^th Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron, commanded by Capt. W. H. Thomason, plotted the positions of the aircraft as they were reported through the Atlanta Filter Center by Observer Corps volunteers across the state. Capt. W. W. Lee, a controller with the 129^th supervised ten Guardsmen who tracked the aircraft and plotted their positions. In remarks following the exercise, Lee concluded that the Guardsmen demonstrated capability and skill in performing their assigned mission and was confident that they would be able to carry out their duties in the event of a real emergency.

 

Maj. Walter H. Thomason, with plaque, original commander of the 129th Air Control and Warning Squadron with original members of the unit at Thomason’s
retirement ceremony in December 1959. Left to right, kneeling: Capt. Thomas Burns, Maj. George J. Patsois, Maj. Walter H. Thomason Jr., Capt. Robert L. Robinson Jr.,
Capt. Curtis Walker and MSgt. Roy Largin. Back Row: WO Lynn S. Elliott, Capt. Iverson Copeland, Lt. Ben J. Nash, Lt. Warren Montgomery, MSgt. Lackland
and Capt. Pete Cross. A Georgia National Guard Soldier before World War II, Thomason flew B-17s in Europe and earned the
Distinguished Flying Cross. Thomason commanded the 129th from its organization Oct. 13, 1952 to his retirement in December 1959. 

Organized in World War II to facilitate early detection of enemy aircraft, the Ground Observer Corps was reorganized in Georgia in January 1951 with a call for 15,000 volunteers.[2] The Atlanta Air Defense Filter Center was located at 2939 Peachtree Road Northeast. Staffed by U.S. Air Force personnel and Ground Observer Corps volunteers, the Filter Center was capable of conducting 24-hour operations to supplement radar networks in receiving and transmitting information for interception of hostile aircraft.[3]

 

---

[1] “Air Guard flies Defense Mission.” The Georgia Guardsman. January 1953, 11.

 

[2] Katherine Barnwell. “700 Plane Observation Posts Due for Georgia.” Atlanta Constitution. Dec. 26, 1951, 15.

 

[3] “Filter Center Open House Set May 17.” Atlanta Constitution, May 6, 1953, 13.

Georgia Air National Guard Goes Global with Globemaster

 By Maj. William Carraway

Historian, Georgia Army National Guard

On Dec. 7, 1966, Maj. Gen. George Hearn, Georgia’s Adjutant General announces Georgia’s 116th MAG is the first Guard unit
to field the C-124 Globemaster. Georgia National Guard Archives.

On Dec. 7, 1966, the Georgia National Guard’s 116^th Military Airlift Group became the first Air Guard unit in the nation to receive the C-124 Globemaster from the United States Air Force. In announcing the receipt of the new aircraft, Maj. Gen. Georgie Hearn, Georgia’s Adjutant General. observed that Georgia is one of three states in the nation to replace the C-97 Stratofreighter airframe with the larger C-124.[1]

The reallotment of Air Force military airlift assets came on the heels of Lockheed-Georgia’s production of the C-141 Starlifters. To make room for the new four-jet transport aircraft, the U.S. Air Force looked to transfer its inventory of C-124s to the Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve.

This C-141 Starlifter on the concrete apron at Lockeed Company in Marietta, Ga. in August 1963 dwarfs a C-47 Skytrain and C-130 Hercules.
This aircraft made its first flight Dec. 17,1963. Georgia National Guard Archives.

The arrival of the C-124 Globemaster came at a time when the Georgia Air National Guard was conducting three global airlift missions per month to Vietnam. With a capacity one and a half times that of the C-97, the Globemaster provided additional capacity and range for the ever-expanding global mission of the Georgia Air 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.

The first of the behemoth four engine aircraft arrived at Dobbins Air Force Base at 10:30 a.m. and was immediately mobbed by a curious crowd of media, pilots and mechanics of the 128^th Airlift Squadron curious to see first-hand the aircraft that would replace the C-97 which had served the Ga. ANG since 1961.[2] With a wingspan of 174 feet, a length of 130 feet and a capacity of 25 tons, the C-124 had a slower cruising speed than the C-97 but had 50 percent greater range.

The Georgia Air National Guard took used the massive cargo capacity of the C-124 Globemaster to further its military air transport mission around the globe
into the 1970s. Georgia National Guard Archives.

---

[1] “State Guard First to Get Globemaster.” The Atlanta Constitution. Dec. 9, 1966, 13.

 

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

Pearl Harbor and the Impact on the Georgia National Guard

 By Maj. William Carraway

Historian, Georgia Army National Guard

 

December 7, 1941 edition of the Sunday Times of Jacksonville, Fla. announcing the attack on Pearl Harbor with unit insignia of the Ga. National Guard
that had been called to active service as well as the Georgia State Guard.  

The morning of December 7, 1941 promised to be a routine off-duty day for the 5,200 Georgia National Guard Soldiers in federal service across the country. The vast majority of these service members had entered federal service Sept 16, 1940[1] and, following a week’s preparation at home station, mobilized to camps of instruction. Units of the 30th Division had arrived at Fort Jackson in several waves beginning with the Springfield-based 30th MP Company and Atlanta’s Company H, 105th Medical Regiment on September 20. The 121st Infantry Regiment would follow on September 23 and the 118th Field Artillery would join them September 25. At the time, no one knew how long the Soldiers would be gone. Orders were for one year, but with the situation growing grimmer in Europe one year seemed optimistic. In the end, the majority would spend the next five years in active service.

 “The government mobilized the National Guards before Pearl Harbor. We knew that the war was coming, and we knew…everybody knew that the United States would be involved in it before it was over.” - Sgt. Corbett Ward Clark, Battery E, 179th Field Artillery, Georgia National Guard.

By December 1941, Georgia’s Citizen Soldiers and Airmen had progressed beyond initial instruction and had completed field maneuvers in Tennessee and South Carolina. Georgia National Guard Soldiers of the 101^st Antiaircraft Artillery Automatic Weapons Battalion, formerly the 108^th Cavalry Regiment, returned from the Carolina Maneuvers December 2 and worked diligently recovering equipment and conducting final inventories in hopes of receiving a weekend pass – their first of several months. On the afternoon of December 6, their commander, Col. Joseph Fraser addressed the men, thanking them for their efforts in Carolina and then released the formation on what was supposed to be a long weekend home with family. Only a charge of quarters and kitchen detail remained in each battery area of Camp Stewart. One member of CQ, less than 48 miles from home, begrudgingly mused, “It’d be funny as hell if we really went to war tomorrow and those birds lost a few hours leave, wouldn’t it?” [2]

 

Battery A, 101st Antiaircraft Artillery Automatic Weapons Battalion at Camp Stewart six months before the attack on Pearl Harbor. Prior to October 1940
this unit had served as Troop A, 108th Cavalry - The Georgia Hussars. Georgia National Guard Archives.

Less than 24 hours later, wire reports of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor prompted the recall of all personnel on leave and installations across the country were placed on high alert. Over the next four years, Georgia’s Citizen Soldiers would serve through Europe and the Pacific. The 101^st AAA AWB would be the first Georgia National Guard mobilized overseas and was the first American combat unit to arrive at Port Moresby, New Guinea in May 1942.[3] Through the remainder of the year, the 101st defended the skies over five airdromes ensuring Allied victory in New Guinea. For its gallant conduct, the 101^st was awarded the Presidential Unit Citation.[4]

 

Summary of unit actions for the 214th Coast Artillery Regiment Jan. 16, 1943.  Georgia National Guard Archives.

Also serving in the Pacific Theater, the 214^th Coast Artillery was assigned to protect Henderson Field on Guadalcanal.[5] Seven Georgia National Guard battalions would wade ashore on Normandy’s Beaches in 1944 and fight east helping to secure victory against Germany. Meanwhile, the 128^th Observation Squadron was organized in Atlanta in 1941 and mobilized to provide anti-submarine defense over the Atlantic Ocean.

 

While many of Georgia’s Guardsmen would continue to serve in federalized units of the National Guard, others would volunteer for Airborne service and give their lives in Sicily, France and the Netherlands. Still others joined the Air Corps flying combat missions in in all theaters of the war. Of the 5,200 of Georgia’s Citizen Soldiers who were mobilized Dec. 7, 1941, nearly 200 never came home.

More than seventy Georgia National Guard company-sized units served in World War II. Three of these units are profiled below:

Georgia National Guard Soldiers of Battery F, 179th FAR at Camp Blanding in 1941. Georgia National Guard Archives.

On Dec. 7, 1941, Georgia National Guard Soldiers of the Atlanta-based Battery F, 179th Field Artillery Regiment were training at Camp Blanding, Fla. when Pearl Harbor was attacked. In 1942, the 179th FAR was reorganized as the 179th and 945th FA Battalions with Battery F becoming Battery C, 945th FA. Both battalions served in the European Theater. Five Soldiers of Battery F, 179th FAR were killed in action in the course of the war. Battery F, 179^th FAR continues in service today as the 116^th Army Band, a unit of the 78^th Troop Command.

 

April 1941 - Soldiers of Company A, 121st Infantry Regiment at Fort Jackson, S.C. Georgia National Guard Archives. 

Company A, 121st Infantry Regiment landed on Utah Beach July 4, 1944. Battling across Northern France into Germany, ten Georgia National Guard Soldiers of Company A were killed in action in the course of the war. The 121st Infantry Regiment continues to serve as part of the Macon-based 48th Infantry Brigade Combat Team. 

Members of the 128th Observation Squadron Sept. 8, 1941.

Activated in May 1941 in Atlanta, the 128th Observation Squadron trained at Lawson Field before Pearl Harbor. The following year, the 128th mobilized to the Atlantic Coast and began antisubmarine operations. It ended the war flying B-17 bombers as the 840th Bombardment Squadron in Europe. Nine Citizen Soldiers of the 128th OS were killed during the war. The unit continues to serve in the 116th Air Control Wing, Georgia Air National Guard.

---

[1] Sion B. Hawkins “General Order 13-MD-GA 41” Military Department, State of Georgia Oct. 7, 1941.

 

[2] Lindsey P Henderson. Come What Will: A Military History of the 101st AAA Automatic Weapons Battalion, 15 October 1940 to VJ Day 1945, 6.

 

[3] Richard W. Titus. A Chronicle of Georgia’s 101^st Separate Coast Artillery Battalion, Antiaircraft, Automatic Weapons Limited to the Period February 16, 1942 to January 1, 1944. First American Ground Troops in New Guinea. (Crabapple, Ga.: Richard Titus June 1986) 2-31.

[4] George C. Marshall. “General Order. No. 21”. (Washington: War Department May 6, 1943).

 

[5] Center for Military History “Lineage and Honors Certificate, 214^th Field Artillery Regiment.”