The Adventures of Missouri Farm Boys During World Conflict in 1940s America
EXHIBIT PANELS
Knowledge for All
Follow the Houn' Dawg Trail.
Discover their Ozark song, Stop Kickin' My Dog Around
INTRODUCTION
The Pride of Missouri: 203rd Coast Artillery Battalion (Anti-Aircraft) exhibit is curated by Haley Heil in collaboration with the Museum of Missouri Military History in Jefferson City, Missouri. Heil created the exhibition through original research on the 203rd Coast Artillery Battalion (Anti-Aircraft), during its World War II service. Heil created this exhibit as part of her degree requirements for a Master of Arts in Public History with an emphasis in Military History at the University of New Orleans. Originally from central Missouri, Heil, is a University of Missouri-Columbia Alumna who previously interned at the Museum of Missouri Military History as an undergraduate.
MISSOURI, WHERE WE CALL HOME
The “Show Me State” motto indicates someone must prove the value of their words or deeds through actions. This shows through during the Guerilla warfare during the civil war, and also through the actions of the James Gang. And, lastly, when the rivers overflow or tornadoes rip through the state, the Missouri National Guard is “a phone call away.” Missouri pride and identity is something the 203rd CAB (AA) kept showing throughout their time of service. The men wore their Houn’ Dawg patch proudly to represent where they were from, and other units could tell a Missourian from the rest.
OZARK MOUNTAIN MEN: THE HOUN’ DAWGS
January 3, 1876, at Carthage, Missouri, the first Missouri Militia group formed after the end of the Civil War. The militia group was known as the “Carthage Light Guard.” Throughout the years leading up to World War II, the unit grew and went on to have more national duties than before. The unit became more than a state militia during the period of World War I and became a part of the Missouri National Guard, the unit swore allegiance to the state of Missouri, and the to the United States of America.[1] The 203rd CAB (AA) served during the conflict of World War II. The 203rd CAB (AA) is a Missouri National Guard Unit called to serve by President Roosevelt in September 1940. The unit served in Texas, Louisiana, California and the Aleutian Islands. The unit went to the Aleutian Islands after the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. The 203rd CAB (AA) are also part of the famous Battle of Los Angeles.
[1] Diggs
Images Courtesy of Museum of Missouri Military History
[1]Rowland C. Diggs, Sr. History and Lineage of the 203rd Engineer Battalion. (Cassville, MO: Litho Printers and Bindery, 2012).
THE HOUN' DAWGS WROTE HOME
Throughout the 203rd Coast Artillery Battalion (Anti-Aircraft)’s service during World War II some of the men wrote back home to local newspapers informing the home front on the unit’s whereabouts and the unit’s training. The newspapers in Southwest Missouri kept up with the 203rd CAB (AA) throughout their experiences in the Louisiana Maneuvers, and while stationed at Camp Hulen, Texas. The newspapers gave a glimpse into the everyday lives of the men of the 203rd CAB (AA) during World War II.
CAMP HULEN: YOU CAN TELL A MISSOURI HOUN' DAWG FROM THE OTHERS
16 September 1940, the Houn’ Dawg Battalion[1] was called upon for active federal service. The Houn’ Dawgs mobilized to Camp Hulen, Texas, where the men began training for the impending war.[2] The Houn’ Dawgs call the Ozark Mountains home, and these men sang the “Houn’ Dawg” song during World War I, in Alsace and Lorraine, and sang it at Camp Hulen, Texas. The Missouri men stood out because both officers and men wore the approved badge with the Houn’ Dawg standing on a gold ribbon scroll with the famous motto, “Don’t Kick Our Dog.”[3] The Houn’ Dawgs made headlines back home in Southwest Missouri during the training at Camp Hulen, “BATTERY D IS MAKING IMPRESSIVE SHOWING IN LOUISIANA WAR GAMES,” after the newspaper received word from Lt. Dean Henry about the battalion’s progress. The 203rd CAB (AA) protected Lake Charles airport from the “Blue Army” parachute troops. 1,400 Missouri National Guard members opened fire with antiaircraft 3-inch guns on the parachute troops. The 203rd CAB (AA) took many tanks and captured many prisoners.[4]
[1]The Houn’ Dawg Battalion is the 203rd Coast Artillery Battalion. Houn’ Dawgs was the nickname given to the men of the 203rd Coast Artillery Battalion.
[2]Press-Radio Release from 1962 Reunion, 203rd Coast Artillery (AA), Houn’ Dawg Reunion, Museum of Missouri Military History Archives.
[3] The Houston Chronicle. Houston, Texas, Sunday, February 2, 1941. 203rd Coast Artillery History Collection, Museum of Missouri Military History Archives.
[4]Carthage Evening Press. June 30, 1941. 203rd Coast Artillery History Collection, Museum of Missouri Military History Archives.
EXTRA! EXTRA!
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“Camp Hulen Scribblings” was a column written by 1st Lt. Dean Henry, the Public Information Officer, Battery D, 203rd CAB (AA), and published in the Carthage Evening Press, a local newspaper in Carthage, Missouri. Lt. Dean Henry wrote down the day to day life of the soldiers during training at Camp Hulen, Texas. “From all reports the men are doing quite well in the maneuvers of the Third Army. As you all know the maneuver now existing is between the Second and Third armies and is the biggest peacetime maneuver ever to be staged in this country.” Lt. Henry wrote this to the Carthage Evening Press and said that Battery D would have a lot to remember about the war games, such as living in the rough and capturing the “Blue Army” parachute troops for the win while protecting a bridge on the Red River, near Colfax, Louisiana.[1]
[1] 1st Lt. Dean Henry. “Camp Hulen Scribblings,” Carthage Evening Press. Carthage, Missouri, Wednesday, September 10, 1941. 203rd Coast Artillery History Collection, Museum of Missouri Military History Archives.
PEARL HARBOR ATTACKED!
The Houn’ Dawgs were still stationed at Camp Hulen, Texas, when the Japanese attacked the United States Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on December 7, 1941. After the attack on Pearl Harbor, the Houn’ Dawgs shipped out to Santa Monica, California and arrived on December 24, 1941. The battalion in California set up anti-aircraft defenses around the Douglas Aircraft Plant, due to the great strategic importance to the United States in proximity to the Japanese Empire.[1] The “Camp Hulen Scribblings,” offered insight to those back home on what the 203rd CAB (AA) were doing, “We’re in a world involved in war, and it must be noted the 203rd is going there to ‘Help Win.’ Many hours of final preparation have been endured by all, but no one complained about the overtime.”[2]
[1] Press-Radio Release from 1962 Reunion, 203rd Coast Artillery (AA), Houn’ Dawg Reunion, Museum of Missouri Military History Archives.
[2] 1st Lt. Dean Henry. “Camp Hulen Scribblings,” Carthage Evening Press. Carthage, Missouri, Thursday, December 11, 1941. 203rd Coast Artillery History Collection, Museum of Missouri Military History Archives.
THE PHANTOM BATTLE OF LOS ANGELES
On 23 February 1942, a Japanese submarine I-17 was spotted a few hundred yards off the shoreline of the Barnsdall Oil Company. The submarine fired at the fuel storage tanks that were north of Santa Barbara, and then disappeared into the night. This attack caused a frenzy in the coastal defense units, which caused them to go on high alert. By 2 a.m. on 25 February 1942, air raid sirens could be heard throughout Los Angeles. The radars detected an unidentified aircraft off the coast and the city went from Yellow alert to Blue alert within minutes. After the 37th Coast Artillery Brigade took action and fired 1,440 rounds of 3 inch and 37 mm ammunition into the air, the unidentified aircrafts were identified later as weather balloons sent up by the 203rd Coast Artillery Battalion (AA). “To allow for proper tracking at night, a candle is placed inside a simple highball glass, suspended under each balloon, and can be tracked at 25,000 feet.”[1] This incident is now known as the famous Battle of Los Angeles.
[1] Diggs
THE HOUN’ DAWGS EMBARK ON A JOURNEY TO ALASKA
On 12 June 1942, the 203rd Coast Artillery Battalion (AA) mobilized from Los Angeles, California to Fort Randall, Alaska. The Battalion left the San Francisco Port without delay. Pete Lindquist, a member of the 203rd CAB (AA), wrote that National Guard men received less favorable treatment compared to regular Army men in those days, and the physical examinations were quick and done in company formation. The battalion left on a Hawaii-California liner named USAT Maui. The Battalion experienced an alarm for an unidentified object (possibly a Japanese sub) and the men had to take up positions on deck.[1]
[1] L. Pete Lindquist. Bird’s Eye View of Military Experience. Mr. Lindquist wrote his military experience with the Missouri National Guard 203rd Coast Artillery (AA). Pete Lindquist Collection, Museum of Missouri Military History Archives.
MISSOURI COUNTRY BOYS IN THE FROZEN TUNDRA
After the Battle of Midway and the United States West Coast seemed to be free of any immediate danger, the 203rd Coast Artillery Battalion (AA) saw service in the Aleutian Islands of Alaska, beginning June 26, 1942.[1] The Houn’ Dawgs spent fifteen months at Fort Randall Cold Bay, Alaska, “A land of tundra, cold muggy soil, plains, and mountains.”[2] The Ozark Mountain Men remembered defending Alaska, in the ‘treeless Aleutian tundra’, “All of us – we were just a bunch of country boys. Green hillbillies,” recalled Lloyd Johnson.[3] The men worried more about the weather, which consisted of dense fog, high winds, temperatures as low as -61 degrees Fahrenheit, rain, and high waves, than the Japanese threat during the fifteen months in the frozen tundra of the Aleutian Islands.[4]
[1]Press-Radio Release
[2] Lindquist. Bird’s Eye View of Military Experience.
[3] Joplin Globe, newspaper clipping found in the Pete Lindquist collection in the Museum of Missouri Military History Archives.
[4] Lindquist. Bird’s Eye View of Military Experience.
HEALTH AND WELLNESS
The troops did not have proper food, and this caused severe malnutrition in the bad weather conditions of the Aleutians. The men of the 203rd CAB (AA) trout fished to ensure they had enough to eat while in Alaska. The Missouri farm boys enjoyed fishing because it reminded the men of home.[1] The men wrote home about the conditions, and the small towns aided by sending cookies and other supplies to the men in Alaska. The men lived the life of “hurry up and wait” while the war raged on in the western most islands. The winter ended badly for the troops, and as a whole, 143 men had frostbite after the winter practice maneuvers between December 1942 and January 1943.[2] Some of the men made jokes about the weather being similar to that of a Missouri winter, with the bitter cold and the overcast skies. The men lived in pup tents and slept on sleeping bags in the mud and this earned them the nickname pack rats.[3]
[1]Houn’ Dawg News. February 1997. Pete Lindquist Collection, Museum of Missouri Military History Archives.
[2] Garfield, 650-652
[3] Houn’ Dawg News. February 1997. Pete Lindquist Collection, Museum of Missouri Military History Archives.
A THIN LINE BETWEEN MADNESS AND BOREDOM
On April 17, 1943, the 203rd CAB (AA) arrived on Amchitka Island as reinforcements for the troops already on the island. In 1943, with no real danger and no fights to fight, boredom continued for the 203rd CAB (AA) and thousands of other men while on Amchitka. The 203rd CAB (AA) still had not fired a shot in combat.[1] To keep busy, the men took up new hobbies such as collecting ancient Aleut archaeological items from the islands and photography. Pete Lindquist, a member of the 203rd CAB (AA), took dozens of photographs while the men stayed in Alaska. The men remained stationed in the Aleutians until July 8, 1944, and then returned home to Missouri to await new orders. The officers and enlisted men transferred to other organizations where the men served in the European and Asiatic Theatres until the end of the war.[2] The Army divided the 203rd Coast Artillery Battalion (AA)’s men into new battalions, including the 86th Anti-Aircraft Battalion, 592nd Anti-Aircraft Artillery Automatic Weapons Battalion, and the 299th Anti-Aircraft Searchlight Battalion.[3]
[1] Diggs, 258
[2]Press-Radio Release
[3] Department of the Army Lineage and History, 203rd Engineer Battalion.
THE WAR IS OVER! ALLIES ARE VICTORIOUS!
Harry S. Truman, the sole President from Missouri, inherited the duty of ending World War II. Truman had been sworn into office on January 20, 1945, after President Roosevelt passed away. Truman, another Missourian, in the midst of this World War II story, also had a strong connection to home. Truman spent more time in Missouri than he did in Washington, D.C. Truman is a former Missouri National Guardsmen and World War I veteran.[1]
In Truman’s first six months in office, he announced the surrender of Nazi Germany on Victory in Europe Day, May 8, 1945, and he gave the order for the atomic bombs to be dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The war ended on August 15, 1945, when the Japanese surrendered aboard the USS Missouri.[2] Once World War II ended, the men of the 203rd CAB (AA), reunited back home in Carthage, Missouri. The 203rd CAB (AA) defederalized on February 4, 1946 and resumed regular National Guard duties.[3]
[1] Robert Dallek. Harry S. Truman. New York: Times Books, 2008.
[2] Robert Dallek. Harry S. Truman. New York: Times Books, 2008.
[3] Carthage Evening Press. February 9, 1946. 203rd Coast Artillery History Collection, Museum of Missouri Military History Archives.