The Graybeards - KWVA - Korean War Veterans Association

BOOKS from page 6
1stLt (later BG)
George Brooks of
231st TT Bn. in
Korea
In the
Maryland Army
National Guard,
the reorganization
of the 29th
Infantry Division
following its
deactivation on
17 January 1946
proved a difficult
task. Most pre-war Maryland Guardsmen
had returned fully to civilian life, transferred
to the active army, suffered disabling
wounds, or died during the war.
Nevertheless, the 29th was reactivated in
July 1946 with Major General William
Sands of Virginia as its commander.
From 1946 to 1948 dozens of
Maryland National Guard units were
reorganized and promptly regained federal
recognition. Maryland’s contribution
to the new 29th Division remained
generally the same as during the war
years: two infantry regiments (175th and
115th); two artillery battalions (1l0th and
224th); and a medical battalion (104th).
Additionally, the Maryland Army
National Guard contributed several new
support units to the 29th, including the
121 st Engineer Battalion, with headquarters
in Ellicott City. (The divisional
engineer unit during World War Two had
been a District of Columbia National
Guard unit.) Most Maryland Army
National Guard units retained their local
affiliations from the pre-war period.
Company A of the 115th Infantry, for
instance, continued its traditional association
with the city of Frederick.
However, several post-war Maryland
units underwent changes in their mission
and designation. For example,
Annapolis’s Company M, 115th Infantry,
an historic unit traditionally known as
the “Governor’s Guard,” was reorganized
as the 29th Quartermaster Company.
Meanwhile a new Company M was
raised in Pocomoke City on the Eastern
Shore.
Less than five years after the end of
World War Two, the United States was
again at war. Unfortunately, President
Truman’s decision to provide American
military support to South Korea following
the North’s invasion on 25 June 1950
caught the U.S. Army unprepared. When
the under strength American occupation
forces in Japan proved insufficient to
hold the North Korean offensive in
check, reinforcements from the continental
United States were hastily committed
to the battle. Still, by August 1950
the military situation in Korea had deteriorated
to such a degree that Truman
ordered federalization of selected
National Guard units - the first partial
Guard mobilization in American history.
Within the next three years, about onethird
of the Army National Guard was
called up.
The only Maryland National Guard
unit to be called to active duty during the
Korean War was Baltimore’s 231st
Transportation Truck Battalion, which
had formerly been known as the 1st
Separate Company (Monumental City
Guards). This unit, along with Guard
truck outfits from several other states,
helped to rectify a severe shortage of
experienced truck drivers and reliable
vehicles in the U.S. Eighth Army in
Korea. Of the 231st’s four companies,
only two (Headquarters and
Headquarters Company and the 726th
Transportation Truck Company)
deployed to Korea.
Another company was ordered to
Europe, and the last remained in the
United States. HHC and the 726th landed
in Pusan, Korea on 4 January 1951
and immediately began hauling supplies
in support of the 3rd and 25th Infantry
Divisions, Eighth United States Army. At
that time the military situation was highly
fluid, and the drivers were frequently
required to bring their trucks right up to
the front lines to keep the infantry in full
supply. The Marylanders remained on
active duty in Korea until February
1955—one and one half years after the
end of the Korean War. As the direct
descendant of the 231st Transport Truck
Battalion and its component companies,
the 229th Supply and Transport
Battalion of today’s Maryland National
Guard is permitted to carry eight Korean
War Campaign streamers and two
Meritorious Unit Commendations
streamers on its battalion colors.
Despite the fact that the Air National
Guard was mobilized to a far greater
degree than the Army Guard during the
Korean War, Maryland’s 104th Fighter
Squadron was not called to active duty.
Nevertheless, the 104th maintained a
high level of readiness. In the summer
of 1951 the 104th replaced its F-47’s
with F-51H Mustangs. Later the jet age
came to the Maryland National Guard
when the 104th received F-86E Sabre
Jets in June 1955. Because the runways
at Dundalk’s Harbor Field were not long
enough to handle the new aircraft, the
104th’s F-86’s operated from Andrews
Air Force Base until July 1957, when the
squadron’s new home at Martin Airport
was opened in Middle River. This facility,
now known as the Glenn L. Martin
State Airport, is still the home of the
Maryland National Guard.
A new Maryland Air National Guard
unit, the 135th Air Resupply Group, was
activated in September 1955. The 135th
moved from Harbor Field to Martin
Airport in April 1960. Shortly thereafter,
the unit was rechristened the 135th
Troop Carrier Group (known later as the
135th Air Commando Group and still
later as the 135th Special Operations
Group). The 135th Tactical Airlift
Group of today’s Maryland National
guard traces its origins to this unit.
The Korean War clearly demonstrated
that effective ground forces were still a
necessary part of a well-balanced military
machine, even in the atomic age.
Even so, the Guard’s primary mission as
the nation’s major military reserve came
under scrutiny in the mid-1950’s from
Congress and the Defense Department.
One Defense Department official even
went so far as to declare that the National
Guard should abandon its traditional role
and adopt civil defense duties instead.
(This book was selected to show that our
National Guard and Reserve Units also
served bravely in the Korean War. Check
your local units and Library of Congress
for books for your state. Ed.)
January/February, 2001 Page 47