126th Regimental Association April 2021 Newsletter

126th Regimental Association April 2021 Newsletter

Fall Meeting and Dinner

Save the date! As of this time, we are planning on holding our annual meeting and dinner at Tommy Brann’s Saturday evening, October 2, 2021. Arrangements are in process and details will be provided in the August newsletter. Please mark your calendar as we look forward to getting together once again.

126th Infantry Regiment Update

Thirty-six members of 3rd Battalion 126th Infantry successfully completed the inaugural 126th Infantry Regiment Kapa Kapa Commemorative March, honoring the courage and sacrifice of the 126th Infantry Regiment during the New Guinea Campaign of WWII. Participants in this commemorative event had to advance 132 miles in under 42 days. Members of the 3-126 IN deployed to both Jordan and Bahrain competed. Finishers of the march earned a Kapa Kapa belt buckle which is authorized for wear with the uniform while assigned to the 126th Infantry Regiment.

Captain Amie Kemppainen Battalion OIC and CDR, B/3-126 IN

126th Historical Archive Update

Last September, we completed the coordination with the Camp Grayling commander and engineers to install the Colonel Merle Howe memorial plaque at the Memorial Park along Howe Road this spring. Final work on the mounting platform is underway and we’re tentatively looking at a dedication ceremony around June 24. We’ll post any final details for those who would like to attend on our Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/126thRegiment/.

Two participants stood out among the thirty-six finishers: SGT Donald Gilson and SGT Anthony Cipriano both from Company A out of Detroit. Both finished the event with the best times. SGT Gilson completed the 132-mile trek in under nine days while SGT Cipriano completed it in 18 days. Both were awarded impact Army Achievement Medals for their outstanding performance. The 2021 Kapa Kapa Commemorative March will be held in October and November.

The 126th soldiers are returning home as this newsletter goes to print. We will provide another update for the August newsletter which will include photos from the welcome home events as well as a short summary of the highlights from the 3126 IN deployment.

We have been working from home on what we will need to do to refurbish our 126th Infantry State of Michigan Historical Marker in front of the Grand Valley Armory. The process will involve taking the marker down, shipping it to a vendor for complete refurbishment, and re-installing it on new poles. In the meantime, we expect to organize a small crew to upgrade the landscaping around the marker’s site.

The marker has been in place since 1994 and has taken a beating from the weather and neglect over the past 27 years.

It needs to stand strong once again to ensure everyone who passes by takes pride in our rich history and traditio Our archival work at the Grand Valley Armory has been on hold due to COVID-19. Our normal Wednesday morning work sessions were suspended back in March and it’s not clear when

we will be able to resume working again. We are hoping to get back to work in the fall, if not sooner.

Please, please do your part and consider a donation to our Legacy Fund. An envelope has been provided for your convenience. If you have questions, contact Bill Sobotka (address, phone and email is in this newsletter). Thank you in advance!

2019-21 Association Officers

President 1st Vice President 2nd Vice President Secretary Treasurer Historian Asst. Historian Asst. Historian Sgt-At-Arms Chaplain Immed. Past Pres.

LTC (Ret) David Britten SSG (Ret) Cal Wierda 1SG (Ret) John Johnson 1SG (Ret) James Norton LTC (Ret) Bill Sobotka CW4 (Ret) Darle VanderSchuur SSG Kyle Herring SFC (Ret) Earl Jenkins SFC (Ret) Ray Hintz SFC (Ret) Bill Witte MSG Robert Scaia

The 126th Regimental Association newsletter is published twice yearly and mailed or emailed to all active association members. Inquiries regarding the association and this newsletter should be made to: LTC (Ret) Bill Sobotka 99 Skyline Circle NW Grand Rapids, MI 49504 (616) 531-3295 BillSobotka@prodigy.net

Secretary’s & Treasurer’s Report

Active members: 369 Missing members: 290

New members since the last mailing: NONE Reported deceased since the last mailing: Donald R James Michael O Carpenter Kenneth S Bruce Thomas C Cope Donald W Ritter John L Clark Missing members since last mailing: John M Taylor Austin Walters Gordon L Kelley Like us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/126thRegiment/

Bank statement as of 28 February 2021: Checking Savings CD CD Total

$ 6,315.06 2,952.67 2,398.47 2,247.27 $13,913.47

COH

$

20.00

Legacy Fund $ 8,826.82 General Fund $ 5,106.65

Legacy Fund Donors

Thank you to the 51 donors who contributed $5,975.00 to the Legacy Fund last year. Special thanks to the twelve donors who contributed multiple times.

Anthony S. Palazzolo COL (Ret) Chuck Holwerda LTC (Ret) David Britten Ray & Char Hintz James Luce CSM (Ret) Dale DeMarr Clayton Jackson Charles R Nagtzaam Wellington (Bill) & Laurel Miller (2) Nancy J. Brown Walt Draeger (2) William Streelman (2) Julie & Randy Linhart Kyle Herring Ben J. Landheer (2) Michael Haan COL (Ret) Gary Krueger (2) Mark Jastrzembski Ruperto Rodriguez Leona Smestad COL (Ret) Howard Becker (2) MAJ (Ret) Gerald & Delores Sadowski SFC (Ret) Nate Chang Vernia McCullough (2) Tom Wallace Luella Holmes MAJ (Ret) Will Nieboer LTC (Ret) John Stengel Ruth Wierenga MAJ James Crump Gordon Kelley Darle VanderSchuur (2) COL (Ret) David Ratajik (2) Harry Cleveland Paul Essenburg (2) Glenn Dubbink John J Johnson Robert M Denslow

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Paul Fosburg COL (Ret) Bruce Whitman COL Ray & CW5 Rhea Pruett LTC (Ret) William Sobotka 1SG James L Kingsbury COL (Ret) Gary Wainwright Mike Van Haitsma COL (Ret) Bill Ewald Michael Haan CSM (Ret) John Shipley Nathaniel C McCarty David Irwin COL Kenneth & Theresa McCreary Donations in memory of: COL Merle H. Howe 126th Infantry SGT Gerald R. Nagtzaam Russell V Brown Jr Fred Steed CPT Gerald A. Streelman Rudolph Gand Frank Gerke Harold E. Krueger Stanley J. Jastrzembski John McCain Carl Smestad COL Harry Sobotka Robert F Strong Merle W Holmes COL Mel Wierenga 1LT Timothy McDonald Leo Kelley Jim Deridder Chester Scofield SSG Rick Fosburg Joseph Scholten Lana Krueger Rogena Kingsbury Thomas J Jones, WWII MAJ Henry D MacNaughton

a young soldier to turn in the alarm while he worked to save the records and papers. Six engine houses responded and most of the damage was restricted to the two floors below the battalion as well as some damage to the roof.

By December 1909, the Grand Rapids battalion’s officers were calling for a new armory large enough for the companies and other gatherings. If the City of Grand Rapids were to provide the land and turn the deed over to the state, Michigan would provide funding for construction.

The first plan called for using the city museum site or even a portion of it, but city leaders and the school board which had jurisdiction over the museum were cool to that idea. By early 1910, it was decided the city would purchase the Kusterer property on the northeast corner of Michigan Street and Ionia Avenue. This would provide 200 feet along Ionia Avenue and 150 feet on Michigan, large enough to erect an armory with a drill hall of 22,500 square feet, large enough to allow the four companies with adequate drill facilities, and ample space for holding banquets and occasional conventions. Major Earl Stewart, battalion commander, estimated the hall and surrounding gallery would hold more than 8,500 persons. Besides the four companies, the battalion included a band and a hospital corp.

Grand Rapids Armory, 1916-62

In March 1909, the State of Michigan funded its first armory at Ionia using state appropriations as well as donations of land or otherwise from local governments. At the time, the four Grand Rapids companies – dubbed the Grand Rapids Battalion – were squeezed into the upper floors of the Clark Building on Ionia Avenue, across from Union Station. A fire in the Clark building the previous November, which caused $20,000 in damages to the building and $7,000 in losses to the battalion, nearly reached 100,000 rounds of ammunition stored there. Deemed “one of the most disastrous fires of the year by The Evening Press, it was fortunate the flames were spotted early by Captain Charles Howard, small arms inspector for the battalion, and he sent Like us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/126thRegiment/

1912 Sanborn Fire Map showing the Kusterer property that was approved for the new armory site. The home and tenement buildings on the right and behind the armory would remain in place for the time being

It took several more years and considerably more funding to erect the armory. The state guaranteed $90,000 but the

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cost of the armory was put at $150,000 so a local bond issue was put up for election in the spring of 1915. This called for the ability of the city to utilize the armory for conventions and other programs. When completed, it would boast the largest drill floor in Michigan (150 feet square) with a gallery on three sides, tripling the seating capacity of the local convention hall being used at the time. The cornerstone for the new armory was laid in April 1916 with an impressive parade led by Colonel Louis C. Covell and ceremony led by Masonic Grand Master George L. Lusk. The local third battalion of the 32nd Infantry regiment (the designation of the local units at that time) followed as well as the regimental band, the new machine gun company and Field Hospital No. 1. A wide variety of historical documents and photos were placed in the cornerstone.

interesting part of the building.” On the west end were two bowling alleys that opened to a club office containing a tobacco stand. A separate entrance was provided for access without disturbing events on the main floor. On the east side of the basement was the rifle range, 100 feet in length.

It included a ventilating system for gun smoke and a dirt floor to allow for digging of trenches. In the front of the basement was “the best lighted and probably the best swimming pool in Grand Rapids.” It was 20 x 60 feet and had showers and a locker room adjacent. On the east side of the building on the first floor, space provided for a billiard and pool room that opened into card and reading rooms. A room for “veterans” or retired members of the battalion was provided as well as a kitchen.

The Grand Rapids Press, October 31, 1916

Completed that fall, the new armory was considered to be “architecturally superb in perspective and detail” providing facilities for club, recreation and instruction purposes. A number of parlors flanking the sides of the drill floor included spiral staircases that led to the company rooms along the second-floor gallery. Each parlor was assigned to a company, one for each of the four infantry companies, one for machine gun company, and one for the regimental band. Special offices and parlors on the first floor were included for officers.

1925 view of Division Avenue ending at Michigan Street, with the southwest corner of the armory on the left.

1953 Sanborn Fire Map with front of the armory at the bottom along Michigan Street, Ionia Avenue on the left, and the northern extension of Division Avenue, completed sometime after 1935, on the right. The vehicle storage building in the rear was not constructed until 1949.

At its dedication, The Grand Rapids Press noted the basement of the armory as being “perhaps the most Like us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/126thRegiment/

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Aside from three minor contracts, the local population took pride in the fact the new armory was “made in Grand Rapids.” When it was dedicated in December 1916, the Guard was on the Mexican Border. Colonel Covell returned to Grand Rapids to participate and accept the building but a formal “house-warming” would not take place until the units returned. They weren’t there for very long when mobilization for the World War came along and by the time the units did return and were re-organized in 1919-21, they were part of the 126th Infantry Regiment, 32nd “Red Arrow” Division. This new post-war organization led to overcrowding in the armory and talk of a new armory or significant expansion began almost immediately.

Armory Drill Floor and Stage

By 1927, an appropriation was introduced in the Michigan House of Representatives for $40,500 to allow for excavations under the drill hall. This would allow for a basement directly under the drill floor to provide space for locker and other rooms. Colonel Edgar H. Campbell, commanding the 126th, noted that the armory had been built to accommodate four military units but double that number were using it. However, besides the vehicle storage building on the north end, no expansion occurred and the units made due until eventually moving out due to the construction of the I-196 freeway that led to the demolition of the armory in 1962. One of the last acts was the removal of the sealed box from behind the cornerstone by Major General Cecil L. Simmons for placement in the new Grand Valley Armory cornerstone.

Armory Swimming Pool

Finishing up the 1962 demolition

Armory Bowling Alley

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The Guard units had moved out by 1962 to a temporary armory in the old Berkey and Gay furniture factory on Monroe NW. This was necessary because a lot of negotiating back and for a new Grand Rapids site caused a delay in construction of the Grand Valley Armory in Wyoming. By 1965, the city of Grand Rapids was without a national guard unit and armory for the first time in 110 years.

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