The History of the 203rd CAB (AA)
The story of the 203rd CAB (AA) is not a story of great heroism that romanticizes World War II. The story told here is that of simple men from Missouri that joined the National Guard because of brotherhood and a sense of duty to family and home. These men went on a journey that took them thousands of miles from home, however, the mobilization of the 203rd CAB (AA) did not cause them to lose their connection to home.[1]
The story of the 203rd CAB (AA) began in the small town of Carthage, Missouri, on January 13, 1876. First called the Carthage Light Guard and formed by the Organized Missouri Militia, the men met every Friday night.[2] The Carthage Light Guard formed after the American Civil War, from the citizen-soldiers of Missouri. Citizen-soldiers, part of the colonial militia system, had been a part of the United States defense system since before the formation of the country. The colonial militia system allowed the colonies to defend and protect against invasions, both foreign and domestic, and the men served the colonies well because of the ability to cover vast terrains, where battles could rage for extended periods.[3] The citizen-soldier, when called upon, left his normal life behind and served in the regular army, and once the service time expired, the men returned to normal life.[4] The Carthage Light Guard believed the colonial militia system to be, “a key instrument of American national security, a check on federal power, and home of today’s ‘citizen soldiers’”.[5] In October 1883, the unit became part of the 5th Regiment Infantry, Missouri Voluntary Militia, named Company A.[6] After the unit was reorganized into the 5th Regiment Infantry, the Governor of Missouri, John S. Marmaduke, ordered troops to the center of the state to help contain the railroad strike in March, 1885. After the riots ended the 5th Infantry Regiment disbanded and the members from Carthage returned home.[7]
In July 1888, the Carthage Light Guard reunited, and became known as the Carthage Light Guard, Missouri National Guard. With reorganization, a limit of forty men had been issued. Once word of the Carthage Light Guard’s reformation reached the local newspapers, surrounding small towns began to reform guard units. In October 1890, the state reorganized the National Guard, and the Carthage Light Guard became part of the 2nd Infantry Regiment. As part of the 2nd Infantry Regiment, the Carthage Light Guard attended a summer camp at Kellogg Spring, north of Carthage, to train. The regiment first answered the call for national service in 1892, when the Missouri National Guard sent 600 men to the World’s Fair in Chicago, Illinois, to provide a provisional regiment.[8] The regular training of the guardsmen prepared them for the possibility of being called to action. The regular meetings usually took place during the weekends and that is how the Guard and Reserve troops earned the nickname ‘Weekend Warriors’. The need for regular training, recruiting, and instruction meant the Guard had to have full-time active duty members available to carry out those functions, and to organize the troops if called upon by the state or national government.[9] In 1898, the National Guard had been almost completely run by the state governments. The state funded and organized the National Guard, and due to this the units typically had different organization, equipment, and training depending on the state which made being part of the regular army difficult.[10]
In February 1898, word reached Missouri about the possibility of war with Spain. Colonel Caffee of the 2nd Infantry Regiment received a telegram from Adjutant General Bell that stated, “Col. Caffee -- grant no furloughs to men of your command. If called out, the government will provide full equipment, not chargeable to allotment.”[11] For the National Guard to be federalized, Congress had to authorize federalization or vote to expand the regular forces. The National Guard created the link between citizens and active duty military personnel, and also created essential support from the public for the United States to go to war.[12] The 2nd Infantry Regiment recruited sixty more men for war with Spain and that put their numbers to 100 men, but the closest they came to the war was Albany, Georgia.[13]
By 1903, previous Acts concerning the militia are reformed. The Militia Act of 1903, or the Dick Act, replaced the Militia Act of 1792 and caused the state militias to be divided. The division of the militia formed two groups the Reserve Militia and the Organized Militia. The Organized Militia received federal support and this support included the funding of training exercises, equipment, and training with regular Army. The federal support did not come without a price, for the increase in federal funds the President had the power to federalize the National Guard for nine months of service. By 1908, the Act had been amended, now known as the Dick-Roots Act of 1908, and the nine month service requirement had been dropped, and the President had the right to pick the length of service.[14]
The federal government required the State Troops to pledge allegiance to the United States for federal service if the need arose. The guardsmen would be both: soldiers of the state and the nation. In April 1914, President Wilson ordered the Navy and Marines to Vera Cruz, and this action made war with Mexico appear certain. The 2nd Infantry Regiment, Missouri National Guard drilled twice per week, and recruited to war strength. The 2nd Infantry Regiment attended the annual training at Camp Clark in Nevada, Missouri. Hope turned to disappointment when the training failed to include maneuvers with the regular army. In July 1914, World War I in Europe commenced.[15] The National Defense Act of 1916, added to the reform of the Dick-Roots Act of 1903 and 1908,[16] and gave President Wilson the power to control the National Guard as needed. President Wilson employed this Act when the United States entered World War I.[17] The National Defense Act of 1916, made the National Guard a division of the United States Army, gave the federal government more power, and allowed the federalization of the National Guard in exchange for higher funding from the federal government for drill and field pay.[18] The new legislation made it possible to boost the regular Army’s numbers in the event of the national emergency at the Mexican border.[19] In June 1916, the 2nd Infantry Regiment, National Guard Missouri got called to serve as part of the Mexican Border Service. In December 1916, the 2nd Infantry Regiment, relieved from federal service at the Mexican Border, returned home to Missouri. In August 1917, the 2nd Infantry Regiment got drafted into federal service, and the total strength of the regiment included fifty-six officers and 2,002 enlisted men. In May of 1919, the Missouri National Guard demobilized from federal service.[20]
In July 1920, the Carthage Guard organized into a Machine Gun Company, and that became the ‘nucleus’ of the 203rd Coast Artillery Battalion. In June, 1921, the Carthage Guard became “reorganized and federally recognized as the 2nd Artillery (AA), Coast Artillery Corps, with headquarters at Aurora, Missouri,” and by October, 1921, the “designation changed to that of 203rd Artillery (Anti-Aircraft), Coast Artillery Corps.”[21] The National Defense Act of 1916, amended in 1933, included the National Guard as a permanent part of the United States Army, and put the War Department in charge of the distribution of the National Guard that included the funds, officers, and divisions.[22]
By 1933, the Southwest Missouri National Guard changed to the 203rd Coast Artillery Battalion (Anti-Aircraft). Webb City, Missouri, became the headquarters for the 203rd CAB (AA) and this change occurred due to new assignments. “The new companies are Pierce City, Company A; Joplin, Company B; Neosho, Company C; Carthage, Company D; Anderson, Company E; Springfield, Company F; Webb City, Company G; Nevada, Company H; Lamar, HQ 1st Battalion and Combat Trains; Aurora, Service Battery and Band; Sarcoxie, Medical Detachment.”[23] The War Department and Congress helped make the 1933 amendment of the National Defense Act of 1916 benefit the Federal Government of the United States. In the 1930s, Douglas MacArthur became the Army Chief of Staff. He changed the priorities of the War Department to bring modernity and new training tactics to the United States Army. MacArthur insisted the War Department focus on war plans for possible conflicts facing the United States and give the President the power to mobilize troops without Congress getting in the way.[24] By 1934, the President had the power to expand the United States Army, so the National Guard became part of the Wartime Army of the United States.
As war loomed on the horizon in June 1940, President Franklin D. Roosevelt called on the National Guard to boost the size of the United States Army. The National Guardsmen started training on active duty in September 1940. The mobilization of the National Guard added about 300,000 men to the United States Army by the summer of 1941. However, the added manpower to the United States Army only boosted numbers, due to lack of equipment to arm the men.[25] The National Guard assembled and dispatched to different parts of the country for war games conducted by the United States Army. The 203rd CAB (AA) was sworn into federal service on September 16, 1940. “They passed from National Guard status to that of the U.S. Army at 8 o’clock this morning as ordered by President Roosevelt.”[26] The 203rd Coast Artillery Battalion (AA) dispatched to Camp Hulen, Texas, and participated in the Louisiana Maneuvers. After the 203rd CAB (AA) had been federalized they had between forty and sixty men to a battery. With the numbers low the officers in command started enlisting new recruits and had draftees join the ranks. The new numbers are as follows, “Webb City 114 men; Joplin 105 men; Carthage 105 men; Nevada 114 men; Lamar 48 men; Springfield 156 men…Aurora 50 men; Pierce City 114; Monett 66 men; Sarcoxie 30 men; Neosho 105 men; Anderson 130 men.”[27]
The Louisiana Maneuvers, important war game exercises, helped to develop military tactics, strategy, and preparedness. General George C. Marshall initiated the Louisiana Maneuvers because military preparedness was imperative even during peacetime. A World War I veteran, General Marshall, observed an unprepared United States military in the fields of France during World War I. General Marshall did not want to be a part of another unprepared wartime military, so he sought to properly prepare the United States Army for war, even during peacetime.[28]
In February 1941, after five months into the training at Camp Hulen, Texas, the 203rd CAB (AA), Batteries B, C, and D, the 3-inch gun battalions of the regiment, fired the guns for the first time. The three gun batteries practiced for fifteen days on Magnolia Beach, forty miles South of Camp Hulen. The large antiaircraft guns fired at airplanes that towed sleeve targets. The searchlight battery from Pierce City went to Austin, Texas, 500 miles north of Camp Hulen, to train for several days. Also, in February, “a more intensified plan for providing news to the local newspapers back in Missouri has launched.” Each battery had a man in charge of sending news home to keep the connection between service members and hometowns. The need to keep the connection with hometowns ran strong with the 203rd CAB (AA). In April 1941, the Easter Sunday Mass services for the 203rd CAB (AA) in Camp Hulen broadcasted over the radio to the station WMBH in Joplin, allowing the families back in Missouri to hear the voices of the men.[29]
In June 1941, the 203rd CAB (AA) went to Camp Claiborne, Louisiana, and the men lived out in the ‘rough’ using the pup tents. The men pulled a lot of jokes and pranks on each other while in the rough in between drilling, cleaning of equipment and trying to find time to take ‘canary baths.’ For the first objective in the battle, the men scouted and gathered reconnaissance near a bridge on the Red River near Colfax, Louisiana. While living in the rough, a member of the 203rd CAB (AA), Lloyd “Breezy” Johnson, wrote a song to send home,
“In Louisiana where the tall brush grows.
Just where we are no one knows.
The varmints are thick.
We’re darn near sick.
But through it all the ‘Houn Dawg’ will stick.
Slum for breakfast, beans for dinner;
We couldn’t stand to get much thinner.
The beans are tough.
The going is rough.
But we’ll never say we’ve had enough.
Each night we sleep upon the ground.
Where only mosquitoes hang around.
Our voices are wheezy.
It’s not so easy.
So, till next time so-long, Breezy.”[30]
The song “Breezy” Johnson wrote home informed the people that training went well. In August 1941, the 203rd CAB (AA) made headlines in the Carthage Press, “203rd Scores in War Maneuvers in Louisiana Today,” at Lake Charles, Louisiana. The 203rd CAB (AA) protected Lake Charles airport from the “Blue Army” parachute troops. 1,400 Missouri National Guard members opened fire with antiaircraft guns on the parachute troops. The 203rd CAB (AA) took many tanks and captured many prisoners. September 1941, marked one year of training for the 203rd CAB (AA), and one month engaged in the Louisiana Maneuvers, “the largest scale peacetime maneuvers of the United States Army.”[31]
The Louisiana Maneuvers consisted of a series of war games conducted in western Louisiana, by the Army of the United States. In September 1941, a little over 300,000 men participated in the Louisiana war games, one of the largest in the United States. Before the United States entered World War II, these specific war games tested the abilities and resourcefulness of the men. The Army did not stage the war games conducted in Louisiana because the Army wanted the test of the troops to mimic real war conditions as closely as possible.[32]
On December 5, 1941, rumors circulated that the 203rd CAB (AA) would be dispatched to a tropical foreign country, as the unit’s training at Camp Hulen ended, which in turn readied the men for service anywhere. The rumors made it back to Missouri and caused confusion and anxiety in many homes because the families expected the men home for Christmas leave.[33] December 7, 1941, after the Louisiana war games, Imperial Japan attacked the United States Naval base at Pearl Harbor and thrust the United States into the midst of World War II. The Japanese became the biggest threat to American soil, and the National Guard and United States Army mobilized. On December 11, 1941, the 203rd Coast Artillery Battalion (AA) left Camp Hulen, Texas, for duty on the West Coast. Lieutenant Dean Henry wrote home, “[the men] went singing through a chilly mist and through the mud to their trains. We realize that our nation is at stake, we will all have to fight, sacrifice, work, women and all, I’m sure the home folks will fight to the end with us, to insure our liberty, peace and well-being.” Henry went on in his correspondence and asked that everyone back home send plenty of letters, and the men would write in return. Henry wanted the connection to stay strong between the men and the people back in Missouri, as the 203rd CAB (AA) headed to the West Coast.[34]
In January 1942, the 203rd CAB (AA) made it to Santa Monica, California, for duty. After the men wrote home and informed everyone in Missouri of the new location, the people back home, in Carthage, made a gift box for Battery D. The gift box contained items such as cookies, cigarettes, candles, and any other items the people thought would be useful for the troops. The 203rd CAB (AA) went to Santa Monica, California, to help protect the Douglas Aircraft plant as a part of the 4th Anti-Aircraft Command.[35]
In February 1942, the Phantom Battle of Los Angeles occurred.[36] On February 23, 1942, a Japanese submarine I-17 fired at the Richfield aviation fuel storage tanks located ten miles north of Santa Barbara, California. The farthest shot inland landed and exploded thirty yards from the fuel tanks. The submarine did not succeed in the mission to draw out the coastal defense because the coastal defense units sat 100 miles to the southwest, in Santa Monica. The submarine made it safely away into the night undetected.[37]
The word of the attack spread quickly through the coastal defense units, and the units went on high alert. “At 2:25 a.m. on February 25, air raid sirens blared throughout parts of the ‘City of Angels.’” The air raid sirens indicated a yellow-alert which meant unidentified aircraft had been detected. Blue-alert, meant enemy aircrafts close to the coast. A red-alert equaled blaring sirens, blackouts, radio silence, manned antiaircraft guns and brightly shining searchlights.[38]
The defense radars detected something at 2 a.m., about 100 miles south of Los Angeles, and the yellow-alert signaled. However, the yellow-alert quickly turned to a blue-alert. At 3:05 a.m., San Diego went on red-alert, and radio silence began between the two cities. Antiaircraft and searchlight crews stood ready for action. The guns fired into the night sky at the unidentified aircraft at 3:16 a.m. using 1,440 rounds of 3-inch and 37 mm ammunition.
A lot of confusion followed after the air raid happened. Between civilian and military reports, reports disagreed about how many planes flew over the Douglas Aircraft plant. The official statement made by Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson confirmed fifteen planes, and that the planes came from an aircraft carrier. A search of the waters ensued for the aircraft carrier, and Navy Secretary, Frank Knox, said the entire raid created a false alarm and no planes actually flew over Los Angeles.[39]
After the air raid ended, an investigation followed, and the investigators discovered meteorological balloons had been mistaken for Japanese aircraft. The meteorological balloons reported up-to-date wind conditions for the gunners, so the 3-inch guns could have adjustments made if necessary before firing the guns.[40] The meteorological balloons behind the raid consisted of two four foot balloons the 203rd CAB (AA) sent up from the Douglas Aircraft plant. In order for the balloons to be properly tracked at night, the men had to put candles under each balloon, and the candlelight allowed the silver balloons to be visible at 25,000 feet.
Lieutenant Melvin Timm, in charge of Battery D’s meteorological balloons, received a call from Sergeant George Holmes during the raid, who said he could no longer track his balloon because someone had fired at it. Timm tried to track the balloon himself and could not as shells exploded near it. Timm sought out Colonel Ray Watson, the regimental commander, and told Watson that the balloons had taken fire. Watson ordered the men not to fire the guns, and he notified the Control Center of the situation, only to receive orders to shoot the balloons down. Colonel Watson, relieved of his command, returned home after the incident in March 1942, during the investigation of the air raid.[41]
June 3-4, 1942, the Japanese attacked Dutch Harbor in the Aleutian Islands. The defense of Dutch Harbor proved difficult because the weather consisted of heavy rainfall and dense fog, and that made it difficult for the coastal defense to carry out orders.[42] The Aleutian Islands off of Alaska created the best steppingstone to Imperial Japan. Both the United States and Japan looked at the island chain as a possible place for invasion. In June 1942, the United States had a large force, about 60,000 men, stationed in Alaska and the island chain at Fort Randall, Dutch Harbor, and Unalaska Island. American military spotted Imperial Japanese forces three times on the outskirts of the island chain. The United States decided the sightings of the enemy meant an invasion of the Alaskan mainland remained inevitable, and believed war with Imperial Japan had reached the American home front.[43] Of the thousands of men the United States sent to the Alaskan frontier to stop the Japanese threat, most did not see combat. The 203rd CAB (AA), stationed in the Aleutian Islands, saw no combat for two years.[44]
June 12, 1942, the 203rd CAB (AA) left Santa Monica, for Fort Lewis, Washington State. June 15, 1942, the 203rd CAB (AA) set sail for Fort Randall, Cold Bay, Alaska, at the edge of the Alaskan peninsula where the Aleutian Island chain begins. The Aleutian Island chain starts at Cold Bay, Alaska, and stretches 997 miles to Attu, the island farthest to the west. The 203rd CAB (AA) arrived at Fort Randall on June 26, 1942.[45]
When the 203rd CAB (AA) arrived in Cold Bay, Alaska, at Fort Randall, on June 26,1942, the Japanese already occupied the islands of Attu and Kiska. Due to the paranoia of the War Department, the Alaskan destination remained secret until well after the 203rd CAB (AA) set sail because the Japanese already occupied Aleutian soil. The War Department sent a rush of supplies, men (including the 203rd CAB (AA)), and equipment to Cold Bay after discovering the vulnerability of Dutch Harbor. By July 1942, the antiaircraft and coastal defense batteries stayed alert around the clock, although the biggest enemy in the Aleutians proved to be the weather, water, and terrain rather than the Japanese.[46]
The dense fog and high waves in the bitter cold made it difficult for both the Japanese and the Americans to fight. The weather had more control over the fighting than the generals and admirals, and both sides spent most of the time trying to find each other in the dense fog and high waves.[47] Although the weather had been the biggest obstacle, the Japanese gained the attention of the War Department when their presence remained in the island chain, “the presence of this formidable force in Alaskan waters is a matter of grave concern and indicates definitely that the whole chain of the Aleutians is in danger of Japanese occupation.”[48] With the threat still present, the War Department encouraged American presence on all the major islands.
As the war raged on, the American troops made way to the western islands. American troops occupied Adak Island August 30, 1942, and occupied Atka Island by September 20, 1942. The news about the war in and about the Aleutians had been blacked out by the War Department. When word finally got out about the Battle of Dutch Harbor, several senators became infuriated about the news blackout in the area. The angered senators paid a visit to Dutch Harbor, and during the visit, the sun shone the whole time. After that, any time the weather cleared, the soldiers called it “senatorial weather,” because the senators returned to Washington and proclaimed dense fog and bad weather did not exist. Other complaints the senators had included difficulty telling the officers from the enlisted men, or the army from the navy, because no one sported insignias. Everyone wore only the Army issued uniforms, the only warm clothes around. The troops did not have proper food, and this caused severe malnutrition in the bad weather conditions of the Aleutians.[49] The men of the 203rd CAB (AA) trout fished to ensure they had enough to eat while in Alaska. The men wrote home about the conditions, and the small towns aided by sending cookies and other supplies to the men in Alaska.[50] Care packages from home, both connection and necessity, helped with the shortage of proper food and morale.
A thin line between madness and boredom made up life in the Aleutians, so the men wrote home as often as they could in order to get letters from home to occupy the time. The men lived the life of “hurry up and wait” while the war raged on in the western most islands. The American forces on Adak bombed Kiska on September 14, 1942. Meanwhile, the men of the 203rd CAB (AA) stood guard in Cold Bay, and still had not seen combat at that point. November 7, 1942, the American forces discovered the Japanese had control of Attu. 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.[51] 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.
By December 1942, the War Department had reinforced the Fourth Air Force with sixty-one new planes. These planes lacked capable bodies to fly them. Therefore, the numbers did not match the actual capability of the men. For instance, the antiaircraft and coastal defense had 140,000 men at maximum strength, but the men lacked combat experience and exposure. Due to the lack of experience the men could not perform as well as the War Department expected.[52]
However, on January 12, 1943, American forces took over the island of Amchitka, a mere seventy-five miles from Kiska, an island occupied by Japanese forces. On February 21, 1943, American forces launched an attack from Amchitka to bomb Kiska.[53] Admiral Theobald made the decision that the Japanese occupied areas needed to be bombed as frequently as possible to gain control over the area. The bombings started with Kiska and continued throughout March and into April 1943.[54]
On April 17, 1943, the 203rd CAB (AA) arrived on Amchitka Island as reinforcements for the troops already on the island. Amchitka, at the end of the line, and the farthest west that American troops occupied, had very few supplies. Men slept in sleeping bags on the muddy ground under the tents. The men ate the c-rations standing up, and with supplies being few, the men ate spam three times a day.[55] The Missouri farm boys ended up fishing for meals on Amchitka, the same as in Cold Bay. The men enjoyed doing because it reminded the men of home.[56] A supply shortage existed because the Aleutians went from having 5,000 people to 40,000 people by 1943. The mail slowed and caused the home connection to be interrupted. Packages sent in December 1942, that said ‘do not open until Christmas,’ did not arrive until April 1943.[57]
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.[58] To keep busy, the men took up new hobbies such as collecting ancient Aleut archaeological items from the islands and photography.[59]
On May 11, 1943, American forces arrived in Attu, thus defeating the Japanese on the island by May 29, 1943. By August 1943, after American forces took Kiska, the last island in the thousand-mile stretch, the Japanese no longer occupied any islands in the Aleutians. The fight for Kiska consisted of a bombardment that lasted for an hour. The bombardment consisted of 631 of 8-inch rounds, 3,534 of 6-inch rounds, and 2,620 of 5-inch rounds.[60] On August 14, 1943, American forces gained control of Kiska.[61]
The 203rd CAB (AA) stayed in the Aleutians and continued to maintain American presence in the north Pacific. May 19, 1944, was Missouri Day in the Aleutians, organized by Captain Robert S. Dale of Carthage, Missouri. The Missouri men stood out to the other forces according to a report by now Major Dean Henry.[62]
“They [Missourians] possess simplicity of expression, a spirit of brotherly kindness and accord, and try at all times to diffuse the gospel of cordial goodwill to all men…Regardless what zone one considers, so far as the war is concerned, sons of the ‘Blue Bird’ state are to be found working shoulder to shoulder with buddies from other states of the union…realizing that every man is entitled to his belief and that all must be semper fidelis and true to the principles of democracy…a band was present and played favorite songs such as ‘the Houn Dawg’ and the ‘Missouri Waltz’ and the menu had a picture of a Missouri squirrel hunter and hound dog with the Ozark Hills in the background on them.”[63]
July 8, 1944, the 203rd CAB (AA), ordered back to the lower forty-eight states, ended their time in the Aleutian Islands.[64] The only non-combat deaths found during research for the 203rd CAB (AA) are eleven men to the Aleutians Campaign: unknown, Etcyl D. Dillard, Jr. of Battery F, Willaim Kraiger of Headquarters 2nd, Joe M. Burros of Headquarters 2nd (died 11/21/42, buried at Cold Bay), Edward L. Warner of Battery F, Bing H. Jones of Battery F, Lee Jones of Battery F, Simeon Harp of Battery F, Gerald Land of Battery A, Tommy Horner of Headquarters 1st, and C.W.O. Edmund V. Noss of Battery B.[65]
The project focused on the 203rd Coast Artillery Battalion’s journey in World War II and the connection they maintained to home and their Missouri identity. The research looked at a broad scope of information for what had happened across the United States during World War II. However, the main research and information used for the exhibition portions of the project came from primary sources that followed the 203rd Coast Artillery Battalion (anti-Aircraft) more closely than the secondary sources. The secondary sources painted a picture for the National Guard and United States Army as whole, and the primary sources helped tell the story of the 203rd Coast Artillery Battalion (Anit-Aircraft) during World War II. The main sources utilized were National Guard yearbooks, unit records, Department of the Army History and Lineage, newspaper articles, radio press-release, oral histories, personal written accounts, and artifacts from those who served.
[1]The story of the 203rd Coast Artillery Battalion (AA) has been selected by the researcher because the story of the 203rd CAB (AA) who served in World War II is not well known. [2] Diggs, 2 [3] E. Cohen, 27-28 [4] Michael D. Doubler, 1-2. [5] R. Cohen [6] Diggs, 9 [7] Diggs, 12 [8] Diggs, 14-18 [9] Doubler, 4-5 [10] Donnelly [11] Diggs, 19 [12] R. Cohen, 4-5 [13] Diggs, 19-23 [14] Donnelly [15] Diggs, 37-38 [16] Williams [17] Sligh [18] R. Cohen, 15-16 [19] Williams [20] Diggs, 45-47 [21] Diggs, 48 [22] The National Defense Act of June 3, 1916 [23] Diggs, 81. See also the Carthage Evening Press. March 18, 1933. [24] Millett, 355-363 [25] Millett, 355-363 [26] Diggs, 114. See also the Carthage Evening Press. September 16, 1940. [27] Carthage Evening Press. September 2, 1940. [28] Barbier, 389-410 [29] Diggs, 246-251. See also the Carthage Evening Press. January 5, 1941; February 13, 1941; February 19, 1941; June 21, 1941. [30] Diggs, 248-249. See also the Carthage Evening Press. June 30, 1941. [31] Diggs, 250-251. See also the Carthage Evening Press. August 20, 1941; September 10, 1941; September 18, 1941. [32] Murray, 117-138 [33] Diggs, 252. See also the Carthage Evening Press. December 5, 1941. [34] Diggs, 254. See also the Carthage Evening Press. December 15, 1941. [35] Diggs, 254 [36] Diggs, 256 [37] Young [38] Young [39] Young [40] Young [41] Diggs, 255-257 [42] The Aleutians Campaign [43] MacGarrigle, 6-11 [44] Garfield, 676-677 [45] Diggs, 258 [46] Garfield, 398-402 [47] Garfield, 398-402 [48] The Aleutians Campaign [49] Garfield, 450-454 [50] Diggs, 265 [51] Garfield, 650-652 [52] Conn [53] Diggs, 258 [54] The Aleutians Campaign [55] Garfield, 670-677 [56] Diggs, 258 [57] Garfield, 670-677 [58] Diggs, 258 [59] Garfield, 670-677. Also, Pete Lindquist, a member of the 203rd CAB (AA), took dozens of photographs while the men stayed in Alaska and many of those photographs are displayed in the exhibitions, along with the cameras he used. [60] The Aleutians Campaign [61] Garfield, 670-677 [62] Diggs, 263-264 [63] Diggs, 263-264 [64] Diggs, 263-264 [65] Houn’ Dawg News. February 1997. Pete Lindquist Collection, Museum of Missouri Military History Archives.
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