World War II: (1941-1945)

National Guard Heritage Series - At a Roadblock on the Road to Bataan, the 38th Tank Company from Harrodsburg, redesignated Company D, 192nd Light Tank Battalion, was the first Kentucky unit ordered to active duty, November 25, 1940.

The 38th Tank Company from Harrodsburg, which was redesignated as Company D, 192nd Light Tank Battalion, was the first Kentucky unit ordered to active duty, November 25, 1940. Moving under secret orders, Company D arrived in the Philippines by Thanksgiving Day, 1941. War came to these Kentuckians on December 8, 1941, when the Japanese attacked Clark Field. Private Robert H. Brooks of Sadieville, Scott County, Kentucky, who was serving as a member of Company D, became the first U.S. Armored Force casualty of the war. The main parade ground at Fort Knox, Kentucky is named in his honor. The Harrodsburg Tankers fought the Japanese until April 9, 1942, when they were forced to surrender. They had delayed the Japanese Army's timetable from 50 days to four months, giving the Allies vital time to protect Australia. Members of the unit either escaped to Corregidor or were in the infamous Bataan Death March. Only half their number survived Japanese captivity.

On January 17, 1941, the Kentucky National Guard was mustered into Federal service. It was ordered to Camp Shelby, Mississippi, near Hattiesburg. Camp Shelby, which was named for Governor Shelby of Kentucky, had been the base camp of the Kentucky Guard in World War I. When the troops arrived, facilities were quite dilapidated, so the men lived in a tent city. Within a short period of time the Kentucky Guard totally renovated the camp and made it spotless and quite livable.

The Kentucky Guard was to join Guard units of the states of Indiana and West Virginia. The conglomerate was named the Thirty-eighth (Cyclone) Division. At Camp Shelby the 38th Division was trained in the methods of modern-day warfare. The 38th Division was to be sent to the Pacific Theatre and the 103rd and 106th Cavalry was to be sent to the European Theatre to support the First Infantry. The Second Battalion of the 138th Field Artillery was the first unit to receive its orders. It was to proceed to San Francisco where it was to board the SS President Johnson to be transported to "Plum," the code name for the Philippine Islands. The Second Battalion was half way to the Hawaiian Islands when the ship's radio officer received a message Pearl Harbor had been attacked by the Japanese. Everyone believed the transmission to be a mistake. It was believed that the transmitter had meant that the Philippine Islands had been attacked. The message was confirmed and the ship was ordered to return to San Francisco. Portholes were blackened with paint and the ship was readied for a possible attack. When the men returned to San Francisco they were boarded on a faster ship with a destroyer escort. The unit also strapped their artillery pieces on the ship's deck in readiness for attack.

Meanwhile, the balance of the 38th Division was held at Camp Shelby until the summer of 1942, when some of the men were sent to Florida to receive ranger and amphibious training. Upon completion of the training the troops were to be shipped to the European Theatre; but because German submarine wolfpacks were quite successful in their harassment of Allied shipping, they were sent to Louisiana for deployment in the Pacific Theatre.

On New Year's Eve of 1943 the 38th Division was shipped to the Hawaiian Islands for later deployment to the Philippine Islands. The 38th Division was to aid in the invasion of Luzon, which had been lost to the Japanese in the early part of the war. Many U.S. troops were being held at Camp O'Donnell, Luzon. These prisoners had been taken in the surrender at Bataan and were forced to march 90 miles to the camp. Because of the animal-like treatment the U.S. prisoners received, the infamous journey was labeled the "Death March." Company D, 192d Tank Battalion of Harrodsburg, Kentucky, was one of the units that were commanded to surrender. Of 67 men captured, 37 survived. With this gruesome truth emblazoned on the hearts of the fresh Kentucky troops, the 38th Division invaded Luzon in an attempt to retake the Island and check retreating Japanese troops from getting to Bataan where the terrain would provide them with a natural, impenetrable defense. At Zigzag Pass the retreating Japanese holed themselves into the side of two mountains and awaited the arrival of U.S. troops. The pass was impassable to vehicles. The terrain selected by the enemy was an ideal place of defense. The mountains were steep and very craggy. To provide the Kentucky troops with more discomfort, the Japanese set up interlacing fire. For 19 days the battle raged. Finally it was decided that the only way the enemy could be driven from his position was to bring the infantry up behind the enemy in a pincer-type action. The crack 149th Infantry of the Kentucky National Guard was chosen to perform the task. Negritos, natives of the Island, stealthily led the unit within 1000 yards of the enemy. With the aid of fire support from the 138th Artillery of the Kentucky Guard and simultaneous strafing runs made by the Air Force, the 149th readied itself for the final assault. In the final charge, many of the enemy were driven from their positions. The action lasted 19 grueling days. This action earned the 38th Division the nickname, "Avengers of Bataan."

After the Battle of Zigzag Pass, the 38th Division was given the responsibility of mopping up any Japanese still holed up in the mountains. To drive these small bands of Japanese from their caves was a deadly duty, as Japanese soldiers would not allow themselves to be taken alive. They would fight to the bitter end so as not to disgrace their families back in the fatherland. Often what resembled an innocent surrendering Japanese would have a live grenade on his person in an attempt to take as many Americans with him in his death as possible. Kentucky's 198th Field Artillery took part in the battle of Okinawa.

During this period brothers of the Bluegrass were also serving in the European Theatre. Kentucky's 123rd Cavalry Regiment was converted into two separate battalions, the 103rd and 106th Coast Artillery (Anti-Aircraft) Battalions. These units both made the North African landings and continued through the allied invasion of Sicily. At that point, the 103rd returned to England to prepare for the Normandy invasion. They fought all the way across northern France and into the heart of Germany alongside the First Infantry Division. Meanwhile, the 106th Anti-Aircraft Battalion became attached to the 45th Infantry Division for the combat landing at Salerno, and again at Anzio in Italy. They continued through most of the Italian campaign before pulling back to accompany the landing of the "Thunderbird Division" in southern France. Rolling northward, they finally ended the war deep inside Germany. Kentucky units fought in such battles as the Invasion of Sicily, the bloody Battle of the Bulge and the Marne Breakthrough. Units of the Kentucky National Guard also occupied Czechoslovakia at the end of World War II. In the fall of 1945 the Kentucky National Guard returned home to its loved ones and its civilian aspirations. The Commonwealth had furnished 306,362 servicemen and women for duty, and suffered 7,932 casualties.