Photo by Logan Barron……………….……Photo by Jen Reel
A World War II veteran views a B-17 bomber near Austin-Bergstrom
airport; a youngster climbs an old artillery cannon at Camp Mabry.
The Texas Military: Then and Now
By Elisabeth Long
AUSTIN – On a sunny morning this past March, Jeff Hunt sat in an old wooden chair outside a tent telling war stories. He recounted a battle in World War II when a young soldier in the Texas National Guard’s 36th Infantry Division broke through the heavily fortified Siegfried line between France and Germany to raise a Texas flag on German soil. The soldier’s division hadn’t been provided with armored siege guns and wasn’t expected to do much more than assess German defenses. But the soldiers staged an assault that was instrumental in weakening German opposition to the Allied advancement into Germany. The division became a legend.
Hunt, director of the Texas Military History Museum, told that story to more than 150 history enthusiasts at an annual military celebration at Austin’s Camp Mabry, Texas’ third-oldest military installation and headquarters of the Texas Air National Guard. The reenactment of the Siegfried battle (so precise that it included exact wristwatches worn by soldiers in the war) served to celebrate service members and remind Texans of their military heritage. But from the thousands of civilians who showed up to the celebration, it didn’t look like Texans need much reminding.
This kind of military observance is not unusual in Texas, a state born of war in battles like the Alamo and San Jacinto, says Hunt. Courageous battles have become symbols of qualities that Texans pride themselves on, such as bravery, honor, and patriotism. Texans “believe in military service,” he says. “They believe in the value of military service. They believe in the honor of military service. And that is something that permeates the Texan culture.”
In World War II, Texas contributed more to the allied forces than some entire nations, says Hunt. By the end of the war, 175 military installations called Texas home, becoming instrumental in modernizing and urbanizing Texas after the Great Depression.
Texas’ contribution to the coalition forces in Iraq is equally significant—some estimates show the state has contributed over $25 billion in tax revenue since the United States entered Iraq.
Texas’ connection to the military stems in part from its unique history and compelling cast of military personalities. “Nobody’s got a better story to tell than Texas,” says Hunt. “What other state gets to have the Alamo and San Jacinto and the Goliad massacre as part of its state history? And Travis and Sam Houston and Bowie and Davy Crockett. How many states can say that?”
The Texas Revolution began Texas’ illustrious military career. Its annexation by the United States in 1845 sparked the Mexican American War, which began with the siege of Fort Texas, an early fort built on the banks of the Rio Grande. After America’s victory in 1848, Fort Texas became Fort Brown, and the troops stationed there served with distinction in the Civil War and both World Wars. Fort Brown was decommissioned in 1945, but the military ramped up construction of military facilities in other parts of the state during the Second World War.
“Texas has always provided ample room, often clear skies and not many obstructions like high mountains or oceans, which is why many of the… installations have been located in Texas,” says William McWhorter, military historian at the Texas Historical Commission.
In the 1940s, the entire Texas population totaled less than New York City’s, the populations of Dallas and Houston together not even one million people, and agriculture was still the dominant industry. The state’s natural advantages for military training had not been compromised by industrialization, and land was cheap.
“These installations, they didn’t exist in a vacuum…they would provide jobs and they would provide money. You have to build roads, you have to build electricity and power lines all out to that, and that helped expand the city limits of many communities, and they benefited greatly during and after the war,” explains McWhorter.
The bases built during World War II also created a number of new support industries in Texas, which are still a significant part of the economy today. These new manufacturing-intensive industries resulted in large migrations to urban centers like Dallas and Houston.
Military support industries have thrived since World War II. In 2005, the Department of Defense awarded $20.7 billion to Texas contractors, including $11.1 billion to Lockheed Martin for missile and aviation development. Another $10.9 billion was pumped into the economy in salaries for the 109,489 active duty military, 75,411 Reserve and National Guard forces and 41,090 civilian employees stationed in Texas.
But the era of unbridled growth that Texas saw as a result of its involvement in World War II is unlikely to be repeated. Bases are being relocated and closed despite increasing defense contracts across the state. That could mean Texas forces will be involved in the conflicts in the Middle East for years to come. Communities that traditionally depended on the military for economic vitality are being threatened. In 2005, the federal Base Realignment and Closure program recommended closure of 15 bases across the state, including Brooks City Air Force Base outside of San Antonio. The pressures of globalization are forcing support industries to look overseas for labor and manufacturing capabilities. Even Halliburton, the multinational energy service contractor based in Houston, opened a second headquarters in Dubai.
Some of the bigger installations, like Fort Bliss in El Paso and Fort Sam in San Antonio, contribute billions of dollars to local economies, but those bases have also been threatened in recent years by realignment and closure initiatives. In 2005, the legislature created the Texas Military Preparedness Commission, which is charged with preserving and expanding military installations and communities affected by the initiatives and helping communities respond to base closures.
“Unless they have a good [base realignment and closure] plan…you’re going to have massive problems like Waco does,” says retired staff sergeant and history enthusiast Dave DeMorrow. “If you don’t have a strong congressional leader in your area your land value goes down, you’ve got a lot of hard feelings and people get desperate to keep their posts open for the wrong reasons.”
Now the physical and psychological costs of sending so many men and women to Afghanistan and Iraq are becoming more apparent as increasing numbers of wounded veterans return to Texas and need treatment. According to TexVets, an organization that supports Texas veterans and their families, approximately 62,000 veterans from the conflicts in the Middle East returned to Texas in 2005 and 2006. Thirty percent of those returning veterans experienced behavioral health issues such as depression, anxiety and post traumatic stress disorder.
Mandy Moran, a consultant for the Joint Family Assistance Program, says her program offers everything from counseling for military spouses and children to informational literature on getting out of debt or getting a job in the real world. “What we try to do is reach out to our National Guard families across the state of Texas and let them know what resources are available to them, especially during deployment.” The services provided by the program are available to all military service members.
The state also has support systems in place to supplement federal activities. Jenee Gonzales is the director of the Senate Committee of Veteran Affairs and Military Installations, which addresses any problems veterans face with state resources or programs. Gonzales says that since the beginning of the conflict in Iraq, “There has been a sense of urgency regarding the problems that veterans are facing and that there have to be some state solutions to those problems.” There is also a recognition, she says, that “the federal government can’t do it all, and we’re in charge of our guard. That’s not a federal mandate, it’s a state mandate, so there are some things that only we can fix.”
The Texas Military Preparedness Commission cites budgetary pressures, base realignment and closures, and the changing nature of military operations as both opportunities and risks for Texas’ defense industries and communities. But there are also a host of more personal risks and opportunities for Texas’ military communities and families, including long separations, changing family dynamics, and mental health issues, that the state is trying to learn how to deal with.