USS Paducah and 125^th Field Artillery in World War II

Two local military units that sent men to serve in World War II were typical of the mixed experiences in how National Guard or Reserve members served during wartime. Members of the 125^th Field Artillery Battalion of the Army National Guard mostly stayed together as a unit during the war while Navy Reservists aboard the USS Paducah were quickly scattered into various Navy commands.

As often happens with those already in a military unit when war breaks out, they were also among the first to serve. The 125^th members were federalized on Feb. 10, 1941, even before the United States entered the war with the attack on Pearl Harbor. Those who had trained aboard the Paducah on Great Lakes cruises during the 1930s joined the war even earlier. The gunboat and the YP-61 left Duluth for the East Coast on Dec. 7, 1940.

While some sailors rode the Paducah into active duty, others moved by train to their new Navy commands. While the ship was used on the East Coast to train gunners of the Armed Guard, its former crew members served on a variety of ship and shore commands.

Members of the 125^th went to Camp Claiborne, La., for about 10 months of training, followed by more training on the East Coast before being shipped to Northern Ireland for even more training. On Dec. 24, 1942, the artillery crews left for service in North Africa, seeing their first hostile action in February 1943.

As members of the 34^th Division, the 125^th soldiers fought in North Africa for several months and spent about 21 months in Italy as the allies pushed the Germans north. The unit was still there when the war in Europe ended and its members were among those in the division who set a record for most days in combat. Of the more than 50 members of the 125^th who were killed during the war, about half were from the Duluth area and the rest were replacement troops who were not from the Duluth area.

B Company Marines

In the Korean War, members of the Duluth-based B Company Marines were activated for service – and again were among the first to serve. The unit marched down Superior Street on Aug. 21, 1950, and went off to war two months after it began. Like those in the Paducah crew of World War II , the B Company Marines were quickly split up into various units.

Many of them were assigned to the First Marine Division and were caught up in the bitter fighting at the Chosin Reservoir when the Chinese Communists entered the war and overwhelmed the badly outnumbered allied forces. By the end of the war, 10 former B Company members had died.

109^th Light Equipment Maintenance Company and 477^th Medical Company

These two Army units were called to duty in America’s most recent major conflict, the Persian Gulf War.

The 109^th was created in 1968 as part of the Minnesota Army National Guard in Duluth. It was activated on Oct. 12, 1990, after Iraq had invaded neighboring Kuwait. The members of the unit went to Saudi Arabia in late 1990 and served there during the brief war until returning on April 12, 1991. The unit was moved from Duluth in 1995.

The 477^th Medical Company of the Army Reserve was activated on Nov. 21, 1990. Its members served in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Iraq. They treated and transported wounded soldiers and Iraqi prisoners of war. They returned to Duluth on May 23, 1991.

Other wartime service by local Army units

Residents of Northeastern Minnesota have served their country in wartime dating back to the Civil War. Though some of them only established ties to this region after that war, 12 people from St. Louis County were part of the famed First Minnesota Volunteer Infantry Regiment, which played a crucial role in the Battle of Gettysburg.

Lauson Dawley, the region’s only known casualty of the Civil War, was a member of the Fourth Minnesota Volunteers along with six others from Northeastern Minnesota.

One of the most visible local Army units, the 125^th Field Artillery (see above), had its roots in 1893, when Companies A, C and G were created in Duluth as part of the Minnesota Third Infantry Regiment. Many local residents served in the Spanish-American War as members of those units. Though they did not see combat action, members were returned home and sent to Leech Lake at the time of an Indian uprising.

Other residents of Northeastern Minnesota served in the 13^th Minnesota Volunteer Infantry Regiment, which saw combat duty in the Philippines during the Spanish-American war and had seven casualties.

During World War I, the Duluth-based Minnesota Third Infantry Regiment was renamed the 125^th Field Artillery and its approximately 700 members were called to active duty under the command of Col. Hubert V. Eva. The unit was shipped to France in the last months of the war but did not see combat.

The Duluth-based Minnesota Naval Militia was also activated in World War I , and its 500-plus members were sent to the Philadelphia Navy Yard where they were assigned to various ships and shore commands.

Though neither saw overseas duty, two other groups of residents from Northeastern Minnesota were created to provide military security on the home front during World War I. Home Guard battalions were founded in Duluth, Virginia and Biwabik. A more loosely defined patriotic and "public safety" role was given to members of the Citizens Training Corps in Duluth.

After its service in World War II (see above), members of the 125^th Field Artillery became part of the National Guard’s 47^th Division Some units of the 47^th were activated during the Korean War, but it was designated as a replacement division. Many of its members saw combat action as members of other units. In 1991 the 125^th again was made part of the 34^th Division. The 125^th Battalion is now a Guard unit in New Ulm, Minn.

Air National Guard

The U.S. Air Force, not long after it was made a military branch of its own, established an Air National Guard in Duluth on Sept. 17, 1948 when the 179^th Fighter Squadron was created at the Duluth airport. The unit members flew the F-51 Mustang until 1954. In March 1951, the squadron was activated during the Korean War for 21 months. The unit staffed the newly opened Duluth Air Force Base during that time. Though the unit was not sent to Korea, many of its individual members served there.

The jet age arrived in Duluth in July 1954 when the F-94A and F-94B Starfire craft were assigned. In 1957 the F-94C was assigned to the unit. The F-89J arrived in 1959, one year before the Air Guard unit was reorganized as the 148^th Fighter Group. In 1967 the F-102 came to the unit and, four years later, the F-101 arrived. The 148^th switched to a tactical reconnaissance mission in 1976, flying the RF-4C. The unit returned to an air defense mission in 1983.

In addition to its 1951-52 activation, the unit has performed important peacetime duties, and about 30 members of the 148^th were either activated or volunteered for active duty during the Persian Gulf War. Several members have also been killed in air crashes over the years. Though based in Duluth, the unit’s members have been from around the region.

Navy Reserve

The Naval Reserve Center in Duluth was established on Oct. 26, 1949, and performs various support and training functions. The center is staffed by about 10 full-time Navy personnel and about 155 reservists. The center had five units in 2000: a mobile surveillance unit, a construction battalion (seabees) unit, a fleet hospital detachment, a fleet logistical support detachment and a volunteer training unit.

American Indian warriors

Though there have been no American Indian military units created to serve in America’s wars, the warrior culture of many tribes has led Indians to serve in great numbers – and with great distinction – in those wars. No group of Americans has volunteered to serve in as large a percentage as American Indians.

With three Indian reservations in the four counties of Northeastern Minnesota, Indian warriors from the region have been active in all wars.

Among them were August (Gus) LeMieux, who served in the Navy in World War I. He served on the battleships Rhode Island and Massachusetts and other ships. He was among the last surviving veterans of that war when he died in 2000.

Two Fond du Lac Band members fought in World War II, Korea and the Vietnam War.

Amos Pellerin won the Silver Star, Bronze Star and Purple Heart with the First Marine Division in World War II. He also received a Purple Heart in the Korean War after joining the First Airborne Rangers. He was with the Fifth Special Forces inVietnam and was awarded his third Purple Heart. Clifton J. Rabideaux also fought in the three wars.

Dewey Dupuis served in the Army Infantry during the Korean War, where he won the Silver Star for heroism after being killed in action on Feb. 14, 1951. The citation for the medal said: "Corporal Dupuis demonstrated raw courage and an inspiring example of heroism throughout this savage engagement."

Active duty military units in Northeastern Minnesota

Duluth Air Force Base

The largest active-duty military installation in Northeastern Minnesota was created in 1951 when the Duluth Air Force Base opened. The base had an air-defense mission and had more than 2,000 military and civilian employees at its busiest point. The base even had a major off-base housing complex (now Aspenwood) and a school was opened to serve the children of those stationed there.

The 179^th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron was activated to staff the air base initially. The 11^th Fighter Interceptor Squadron replaced it in 1952. The base was home to the huge SAGE (semi-automated ground environment) complex (now the Natural Resources Research Institute).

Staffing at the base was reduced in 1971, when the F-106 fighter-interceptors were shifted to Sawyer Air Force Base in Michigan. The base had about 1,200 military and 350 civilian employees in 1979 when plans to close it were announced. The SAGE operation shut down in late 1981 and the base closed in 1982.

Two related Air Force installations later opened up the North Shore. The Bomarc missile base at French River had about 320 military and civilian employees. It opened in 1961 and closed in 1972 and featured ground-to-air missiles. The Finland radar station opened in the early 1950s and closed in 1980. It had about 125 military and civilian employees involved in its radar mission.

U.S. Coast Guard

Land for the Duluth Life Saving Station was donated to Duluth by the federal government in 1886, but the station itself was not built until 1894. Though it later became part of the U.S. Coast Guard, those stationed in Duluth have been assisting commercial and recreational boaters ever since from its site on Park Point.

The most visible sign of the Coast Guard operation since 1980 has been the cutter Sundew, a 180-foot ship that normally carries a crew of 52. It puts out channel-marking buoys at the start of the shipping season and removes them when it ends. The cutter also does ice-breaking operations, assists in rescue operations, cooperates in scientific surveys.

While the Coast Guard is not part of the Defense Department in peacetime, it is a uniformed service and takes on military duties in wartime.

Army Corps of Engineers

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has been present in the Duluth area since at least 1861, before Duluth became a city, when it did survey work of the port. It was involved in construction of the Superior entry to the harbor in 1867 and the Duluth entry in 1873.

The Duluth office is responsible for a large part of the Lake Superior shoreline in three states. The Corps maintains five deep draft commercial harbors and 12 small craft harbors. The Corps ensures that the ship channels are at needed depths through dredging.