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