User:Aleutian06/Foreword for 206th Field Artillery Book

Dedication
This compilation of Wikipedia Articles is dedicated to the Fallen Heroes of the 206th Field Atillery from World War II and Operation Iraqi Freedom who made the ultimate sacrifice in service to their unit, state and nation. Never Give Up!

A Note on Organization
The history of the 206th Field Artillery Regiment cannot be told without including the history of several units that have been closely associated with the Regiment throughout it's history, namely the 39th Infantry Division, 39th Infantry Brigade and the other units which have been assigned to these headquarters. In the chapters that follow the Arkansas units histories, I have assembled articles that provide information on campaigns, battles, locations, and associated units for each of the major conflicts in which the 206th has played a part. For a detailed history of the 206th Coast Artillery during World War II, the two key works remain:

NEVER GIVE UP! A HISTORY OF THE 206TH COAST ARTILLERY (ANTI-AIRCRAFT) REGIMENT OF THE ARKANSAS NATIONAL GUARD IN THE SECOND WORLD WAR by William E. Maxwell, Jr. March 1992.

and

WILLIWAW WAR: The Arkansas National Guard in the Aleutians in World War II by Donald Goldstein and Katherine V. Dillon, University of Arkansas Press, March 1992.

A Note on the History of a Military Unit
Every military unit in the United States Army has a history, which reads like a family tree for that particular unit. The unit's "Birth Certificate" is it's Lineage and Honors certificate which details the history of the various organizations from which the current unit is said to descend. These histories can often read like the marriage history of an extremely dysfunctional family, with various units constantly being organized, reorganize, redesignated, consolidated, constituted and reconstituted. These histories can become even more confusing for National Guard units because according to Army Regulation 870–5, the history of a National Guard unit is tied to the parent or preceding unit and to the unit's geographic station, or hometown. Thus the local National Guard unit may currently be an Artillery Battalion, but its Lineage and Honor's Certificate may refer to the unit being reorganized from an Infantry unit in the past, because that was the type of unit assigned to that hometown at some point in the past.

These Lineage and Honors certificates also track the military campaigns, engagements, and honors, or awards which the unit has won in various wars. The United States Army Center of Military History currently tracks over 179 separate campaigns and engagements for which a unit may be entitle to credit. These campaigns and engagements stretch all the way back to the earliest days of the American Revolution up through the current Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom.

It is from these Lineage and Honors certificates that military units draw their histories and traditions. It can be said that these histories are even more important to National Guard units because of their close ties to the local community. It is not uncommon to visit the local National Guard Armory and find it hosting a reunion of veterans from the local Guard Unit, or one of its parent organizations, from World War II, Korea, Operation Desert Storm or some other operation or time period. The current military organizations draw on the good will and support of these former members for assistance in current operations, whether its assistance with sponsoring a welcome home ceremony for the newest veterans returning form the most recent deployment, or lobbying for improved equipment and training for the units.

So the next time you are in the local Anytown National Guard Armory and you see a rather decrepit looking certificate detailing the exploits for the local Guard unit in some training exercise or competition from fifty years ago, and you wonder why a modern organization would be interested in preserving such an outdated document, know that there is probably some veteran of that unit, or one of it's parent organizations, who regularly visits the local armory, may be not as often as he used to, but as often as time and health will allow, to ensure that the history of his organization is being preserved.

It is for this reason that it is so important that new members of current military units thoroughly indoctrinated on the history and traditions of their organization, its campaigns, and its stations. Some day that visiting veteran may be you or me.

A Note on the History of the Arkansas National Guard prior to WWI
While the history of the Arkansas National Guard can be said to date to the creation of a territorial militia when the Territory was created in 1804, there are no units currently serving in the Arkansas National Guard who can trace their Lineage and Honors to this time period. This is in stark contrast to the history of militia units in the New England states who can trace their lineage as far back as 1637, when the first Colonial Militia Companies were formed.

While the militia was provided for in the State's founding documents, it was most often not provided for by the state legislature. The State's militia was authorized three regiments of infantry in the 1836 state constitution, but these organizations were never formally organized, trained, or equipped. Muster Rolls were not maintained and Officers were not appointed. Militia units did exist at the County and sometimes the City level, but there was no clear connection to the state military department or the "Regiments" authorized by the constitution. Throughout the nineteenth century, when a war or some other emergency required the calling forth of the Arkansas State Guard, what answered the call were these local militia companies which were formed into the organizations needed for the current crisis.

In 1846 when the governor called out the State Guard for the War with Mexico, 28 companies responded to the call. From these companies, 10 were selected and formed in to the regimens that would participate in the war.

In 1861, Governor Rector called all the State Guard and the responding militia companies were formed into regiments which were offered for service in the Confederate States Army. Several of these units went on to win acclaim, particularly the First Arkansas Infantry which served in the Confederate Army of the Tennessee and the Third Arkansas Infantry which served in the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia under General Robert E. Lee. However these war time regiments had no connection to the peace time militia organizations in the state of Arkansas before or after the Civil War, so when the veterans of the Third Arkansas laid down their rifles at Appomattox Court House in April 1865, their history and traditions past out of existence with them. Again this is in contrast to other southern states whose current National Guard units are awarded the Campaign Participate Credits for their units participation in the various campaigns and engagements while in Confederate service.

This was the case again in 1898 when Arkansas was asked to supply two Infantry Regiments for the Spanish American War. This time these state called forth the State Guard including 4 paper regiments and two batteries of artillery, but only two companies were determined fit to be mustered in to service intact. Officially the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th Arkansas Infantry units were consolidated and two new organizations, the 1st and 2nd Arkansas Volunteer Infantry units were formed from the available manpower and were offered for service in the war. While neither of these units saw combat during the Spanish American War, it is from this 1898 consolidation that the earliest histories of the modern units of the Arkansas National Guard are traced.

Following the Spanish American War, the Arkansas State Guard finally began to solidify as a stable, organized force. Organized enough so that in 1917 when President Wilson called out the State Guard for service on the Mexican Border, the state was able to respond in quick fashion with three regiments of Infantry, the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Arkansas.. All current units of the Arkansas National Guard share a connection to these three regiments of infantry.

The 1st Arkansas Infantry would eventually become the 153rd Infantry Regiment. 2nd Arkansas would be reorganized as the 142nd Field Artillery. The 3rd Arkansas Infantry would be split, with a portion forming the 154th Observation Squadron, the oldest unit of the Arkansas Air National Guard, and the 2nd Battalion, 3rd Arkansas becoming the 141st Machine Gun Battalion, the parent organization of the 206th Field Artillery.