User:Forteanajones/Banister

Ellis Lawson Banister (1919 - 1988) was an elementary school teacher and a career officer in the United States Army.

Ellis Banister enrolled in Mangum (Oklahoma) Junior College as a freshman in 1939, and joined the Oklahoma National Guard as a means of paying some of his college expenses. However, in September 1940, he and most of the rest of the men in the Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Colorado and Arizona National Guard units were called up for active duty in the Army. This newly created 45th Infantry Division was named the Thunderbird Division, after the huge, eagle-like bird capable of producing thunder, lightning, and rain in Native American mythology.

Sergeant Ellis Banister was assigned to the Third Battalion of the 179th Infantry Regiment. The Division returned to New York in early June, 1945, and was inactivated on December 7, 1945, its members being reassigned to other Army units.