“Goodbye Dear, I’ll Be Back in a Year”
Taking a detour today, I wanted to share this painting of the C Battery, 189th Field Artillery Battalion, leaving in the fall of 1940. This painting is set in Kay, Oklahoma, the home of Charlie Battery. While I couldn’t tell you which of the uniformed gentlemen is my great-grandfather, I can tell you that if you look to the left-hand side of the painting, you will see a small redheaded girl pulling away while holding her mother’s hand. Being a redhead in Kay was not at all common, so it is near certainty that the little girl is my Grandmother, and she is holding my Great-Grandmother’s hand. As we now know, the unit was not back in a year; Charlie Battery did not return to the States until 1945, although my Great-Grandfather returned in July 1944.
“As the urgent need for preparedness swept over the nation in the fall of 1940, the members of Battery C, 2nd Battalion 189th Field Artillery were preparing to leave their armory for Fort Sill, Oklahoma. Several days earlier, on September 16, 1940, the president had ordered the initial callup of the National Guard for one year of Training. The greatest peacetime mobilization in the nation's history was getting under way with National Guardsmen in hundreds of units in 27 different states answering the first call to the colors. By mid-1941, months before Pearl Harbor, the entire National Guard would be on active duty--nearly all would serve for five years or more. The mobilization of the 18 National Guard Divisions, 82 separate regiments and 29 observations squadrons doubled the size of the U.S. Army. The National Guard played a vital role in World War II combat operations. The Oklahoma National Guardsmen of the 45th Infantry Division had little idea that morning that their departure for Fort Sill marked the shortest leg of a long journey that would take them to battlefields far from home. The 45th became one of the most famous divisions of the war taking part in eight major campaigns. The 1st Battalion, 189th Field Artillery and the other units of the 45th continue the proud "Thunderbird" heritage.”
Mort Kunstler, “‘Goodbye Dear, I’ll Be Back in a Year,’” National Guard, accessed July 9, 2024, https://www.nationalguard.mil/Resources/Image-Gallery/Historical-Paintings/Heritage-Series/Goodbye-Dear/.