|
|
|
R E S O L U T I O N
|
|
|
WHEREAS, The 75th anniversary of the commissioning of Camp |
|
Bowie, the World War II training facility in Brownwood, is being |
|
celebrated with a symposium and other events on the campus of Howard |
|
Payne University from September 16 to 18, 2015; and |
|
WHEREAS, The original Camp Bowie, a World War I training |
|
camp, was situated near Fort Worth, but on September 19, 1940, the |
|
U.S. War Department authorized the construction of a new training |
|
ground near Brownwood, and on September 27, 1940, work began on the |
|
site, the first major defense project in Texas during the World War |
|
II era; at one time, more than 15,000 laborers were working on the |
|
project; and |
|
WHEREAS, In late 1940, the 36th Infantry Division of the |
|
Texas Army National Guard, also known as the Texas Division, was |
|
mobilized, and during 1941 and 1942, its members trained at the new |
|
camp in Brownwood before transferring to Florida and Massachusetts, |
|
where they shipped out to join the war in Europe; they took part in |
|
the landing at Salerno, Italy, in 1943, joining the first Allied |
|
troops to invade Hitler's Europe, and over the course of the war, |
|
the division suffered nearly 20,000 casualties, including 3,717 men |
|
killed in action, 12,685 wounded, and 3,064 missing in action; and |
|
WHEREAS, By October 1942, Camp Bowie in Brownwood had grown |
|
to 123,000 acres in Brown and Mills Counties, with a 5,000-acre |
|
campsite and another 118,000 acres used for training exercises; |
|
eight divisions trained at the camp, and many other battalions, |
|
regiments, and companies passed through to use the training |
|
grounds; there were never fewer than 30,000 men in the camp at any |
|
one time, and at one point, its population was 60,000; more than a |
|
quarter of a million soldiers passed through Camp Bowie between |
|
1941 and the end of the war; and |
|
WHEREAS, In August 1943, the camp began to house German |
|
prisoners of war, many of them veterans of Field Marshal Erwin |
|
Rommel's famed Afrika Corps; these men performed tasks at the camp |
|
and also worked as day laborers for local ranchers and farmers; and |
|
WHEREAS, Camp Bowie was decommissioned in August 1946, and in |
|
the years since, much of the land has been developed as Camp Bowie |
|
Industrial Park; the camp's chapels were moved to Eastland and |
|
Stephenville, and many of its other buildings were transferred to |
|
Brownwood; a small portion of the original camp is still used to |
|
train members of the Texas State Guard and other Texas military |
|
forces each year; and |
|
WHEREAS, Sponsored by Tarleton State University, Howard |
|
Payne University, and the Brown County Museum of History, the |
|
anniversary symposium will feature presentations by academics, |
|
military scholars, and researchers, as well as the debut of a new |
|
exhibit that explores the history of the camp, the men who trained |
|
there, and the region's contributions to the war effort; and |
|
WHEREAS, During a time of worldwide conflict, Camp Bowie in |
|
Brownwood became an important training center for thousands of |
|
American military personnel, playing a vital role in the defense of |
|
our nation's security and the preservation of freedom; now, |
|
therefore, be it |
|
RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 84th Texas |
|
Legislature hereby commemorate the 75th anniversary of the |
|
establishment of Camp Bowie in Brownwood. |
|
|
Sheffield |
|
|
|
______________________________ |
|
Speaker of the House |
|
|
I certify that H.R. No. 2354 was adopted by the House on May |
|
21, 2015, by a non-record vote. |
|
|
|
______________________________ |
|
Chief Clerk of the House |
|