US Army Training Center - Yearbook (Fort Sill, OK)

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- 1 I JAMES B. ANDERSON LIEUTENANT COLONEL, FIELD ARTILLERY Commanding EXTRACT OF SERVICE RECORD: Anderson, James B, B-UI'aI1 I6 Jul II. B Ariz S'ra'Ie 33 BS U of Ariz 38. Ariz NG pvf. I58 FA 2 Aug 29 'Id I Ocf 29. Pv+ Corp Sgi' I58 Inf. I5 Jul 32 'ro 7 Feb 36. NYNG pv+ 258 FA I Sep 39 'Io I7 Nov 39. Ariz NG 2 L+ I58 Inf 8 Feb 36 Is+ L5 22 Jul 37 +o I9 June 39. 2d Lf 258 FA I8 Nov 39 Isi' LI' 20 May 40 Capf I7 Nov 40 Mai 3I Jan 4I. LI' Col 460 Prchi' FA Bn. I3 Apr 43. 628 FABn I8 Sep 44 fo 20 Aug 45. C8655 Apr-June 4I PrcI1+ S Nov 42 NDOC Feb 43 Mining engr Amer Mei' Co Lid NY 39 'ro Feb 40. 1 55

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HEADQUARTERS szari-1 ROCKET FIELD ARTILLERY BATTALION FORT SILL, OKLAHOMA if 20 Augusf 45 To: The Officers and Men of fhe 6Q8fh Roclcef FA Bn. I. This is your record. If porfrays in some small measure fhe esprif de corps, fechnical skill, and devofion fo dufy of many men working fogefher as members of a feam in fhe realizafion of a common obiecfive. V 2. You have done well. You have welded fogefher an organi- zafion fhaf is proud of ifs repufafion and confidenf of ifs abilify fo do a fough job well regardless of olosfacles. 3. No man ever commanded a finer baffalion of field arfillery: no man was ever more proud of fhe achievemenfs of his com- mand. You have richly endowed fhis baffalion wifh a fine fra- difion which will inspire fhose who follow wifh fhe same desire and deferminafion fo excel. l frusf fhaf you will ever uphold nofhing buf The highesf fradifions of our arm. Sincerely yours, 6 JAMES B. ANDERSON Lf. Col., 628+h Roclcef FA Bn. Commanding 54 X S

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nlsronv or THE szarn Rocker FIELD ARTILLERY BATTALIUN The 628Th has drawn iTs lasT breafh, The end was signfled- appropriafely, by a flurrY of Paper W0Flf. NOW ihali The Old baTTalion is no more, leT us review some of The highlighfs of our acTiviTy ThaT gave us nighfmares, sore feeT, aching Paflfs- wef days on The road, cold nighTs in The field, loTs of shooTing, fancy barracks aT Sil-I, and plenTy of headaches in Chicago. Above ull ThaT, we found plenTy of laughs, and many friendships To rzherish. T April To SepTember: On a damp morning in Camp Chaffee, April 20, I944, The baTTalion was born. An enlisTed cadre of sevenTy-nine men from The 78Th Division and sixTy-five men from The ASTP were greefed by TwenTy-nine officers from uniTs ThroughouT The counTry. These were To be The hearT and brain of The Team led by Maior James T. Avery. This small group played hard and Trained hard To be ready, when The resf of The men arrived, To build a Top-noTch ouTfiT. On AugusT 7 The men came from ForT Sill, ForT Bragg. and Camp Roberfs To puT The baTTalion near Top sTrengTh. The following Two days we Took our individual Training TesTs and came Through wiTh a fine raTing which en+i+led us To move on To The nexf Training period, field work and plenTy of iT, Sepfember Through January: i ThaT happy inTerlude which brings memories of a log fire, early American plumbing, soff, creamy mud, and chaTTering Tanks. During This period we learned To work as a baTTalion in The field. The big operafion was The maneuver wiTh The l6Th Armored Division, Remember? Three weeks insfead of four in The field. Lucky To geT ouT of ThaT exTra week were we noT? Sure. JusT Take iT in December: iT's colder Then anyway. AT The beginning of This period we losT a fine man. Our baTTalion commander, LieuTenanT Colonel Avery, was Transferred To a division ready To go overseas. IT was Tough To see him go, buf we were happy ThaT he goT his promofion while sTill wiTh us so ThaT we could share ThaT Thrill wiTh him. Our new commander, LieuTenanT Colonel James B. -Anderson, Took over The worry and ioy of leading a high-spirifed ouTfiT ThaT knew iT was going places To do Things, PracTice BaTTery and BaTTalion TesTs. was The cry Tar The monfh of January. New men came and The baTTeries had To readiusf and refrain Their men. Many old friends were gone and were missed, buT as The new men Took Their places we moved on amid rumors of changes of sTaTion To almosf everywhere. February To May: The firsT of February we received The definife word: We will move To Camp Gruber, Oklahoma abouT The fifTeenTh of This monTh. ThaT was iT. The Talk was ThaT we would be overseas in Three monfhs. Buf we could depend on The 628Th To be differenT and Thus we came To ForT Sill, Oklahoma, on The TwelfTh in a pouring rain. The Whife Palace never looked so good as iT did ThaT Tirsf midnighf when we moved in afTer an eighfeen-hour swim from Chaffee in icy wafer. Following a brief period of orienfafion aT The ArTilleryman's Valhalla we iumped info The Treacherous whirlpool of school re- quiremenTs. Shoofing was our long suiT and we had plenTy of iT here. This was desfined To be ThaT infangible somefhin we had Q been working Toward, alfhough we did noT know iT when we arrived. By aTTenTion To duTy and The conscienfious efforfs of all The men and officers, we developed uiTe a re T T' T Training, efficiency, and playing, g pu a ion or appearance, 56 ln April The old man, i Jim To you now, Took a bride. Whaf a wedding and whaT a bride! A real arTillery wedding. Re- member Jim and Doris on The caisson as They rode around The posf? You know, he never was quiTe The same man affer ThaT. Always wanfed To go home in The evening insfead of having school or nighT problems. May To AugusT. Parade Troops, Tourisfs, Arfillerymen. This was The period of recognifion for The work of The pasf. ln May we were chosen To parTicipaTe in The parade in Okla- homa CiTy for LieuTenanT General McLain, WiTh Trucks and equipmenf freshly painfed we IeT+ for The ciTy-in The rain. We had a nighT sTop aT Will Rogers Field To clean up, see The ciTy, and prepare for The big evenT. Nexf day, men and maferial glisfening in The hoT Oklahoma sun, we drove Through cheering Throngs, pasf The reviewing sfand and back To ForT Sill wiTh a commendafion. Upon our reTurn we iumped info preparaTion for our Annual General lnspecTion To Take place on June 7 and 8. Affer mad days of scrubbing,' painTing, and checking we were ready. Our raTing was excellenf, and boTh Major General Pennell and Brigadier General Paine made special noTe of The fine reporf. Our supply sysfem was parficularly ouTsTanding. Soon Thereaffer, we were chosen To fire The demonsTraTion for a group of disTinguished officers from TwenTy-Two naTions. The resulTs were excellenf and once again we were commended, ThaT same day, we were alerTed for our big excursion. AfTer a TwenTy-four-hour waiT we goT under way, by coach Train, for Chicago and The sfrikei. And again iT rained. We arrived laTe aT nighT and moved To our bivouac area in Washingfon Park, ThirTy minuTes from The loop and five minuTes from Sixfy-Third and CoTTage Grove Everyone will remember ThaT bi Two weeks in ' Q The ciTy and The fun we had: whaT is noT remembered we will leave unsaid. l-loT on The heels of our Trip To The big ciTy, for which, iT is rumored, some people were noT ready, we were husfled To Camp Hood lyou guessed iT-in The rainl for The big hush-hush ex- perimenf ThaT was To be The Nips' undoing. Here was an ar- Tilleryman's paradise, beaufiful hills for observaTion and plenTy of shooTing. Remember Those cool nighfs under The sTars and The blisTering days in The Texas sun? We could noT reTurn Too soon To dear old ForT Sill, buT iT was a glorious end To our arTillery days. On The firsT of AugusT we puT our howifzers away for good and became a rockeT baTTalion. Shorf lived To be sure, for The Japs quif and The rumor came ThaT our days were numbered. By AugusT 20, nine of The officers had received Their orders, among Them LieuTenanT Colonel Anderson. We haTed To see Them go. Swell guys To remember, This was The beginning of The end. for VSVY Sl OVTly over Two hundred of our men and virfually all our officers leff., WiTh Maior Shealor, who had been our S-3 since acfivafion, in command, we received our orders To inacTivaTe The baTTalion on SepTember II, I945, ThaT day is gone. WiTh due respecf, a handful of us who were There ThaT April day in forTy-four have puT To bed The 628Th FA BaTTalion. WiTh pride in our achievemenfs and wifh memories of True comradeship befween The officers and men, we Close The book on The spiriT of a fine baTTalion. May iT never have To rise again. T 1 ii'T iii, l ilallls' i i i l ! l l i i l l -JJTCOOK, Ji. S l iilieulenani w faiiuice0lfiC2f V laHer1A l l DAM S Maki?