They started out with only a photograph from the 1950s, one that ID’d all the guys by last names. That’s what most of them called each other by, last names. No addresses, no first names in many cases, no database to help track the men down. That didn’t stop Carl “Buck” Hildreth and Bobby Gale of Columbus from trying to locate former Mississippi Army National Guardsmen of the 31st Division, the “Dixie Division.” After half a century, it was time for a reunion.
“It started because one of the men approached me one night after a 12 Man Supper Club meeting and said, ‘When are we gonna have a reunion?'” explained Hildreth. The 89-year-old’s response was, ‘I’ll get on it tomorrow.'” And he did. Hildreth enlisted Gale, 76, to help play detective. For weeks afterward, they followed leads, getting together at each other’s homes.
With the photograph as their primary source, they tried to find members who served in the Mississippi/Alabama unit from 1955 until it was deactivated in the mid-1960s.
“A lot of them were dead. A lot of them were scattered,” said Gale. “We’d try and think of somebody they were kin to, and ask around to see if we could find out where they were now. It took a while.”
“My dining table was covered with stuff,” said Neola Hildreth, Carl’s wife of almost 63 years. “They did a lot of telephoning to find some of them, and it kind of mushroomed to a few more.”
“We kept the telephone hot,” chuckled her husband.
“A few more” ended up bringing more than 40 men to the group’s first reunion, held in June at Ruben’s Fish and Steakhouse in Columbus. Some of the fellows hadn’t seen each other for five decades. Quite a few still lived in the area. Others came from other parts of the region; some traveled from as far as Oklahoma.
The bonds they had formed while serving brought them back together.
Brief look back
The 31st Dixie Division was originally formed during World War I and survived under that name until the post-Korean War era. The World War II period saw its most active role, as it served first to train personnel and was then engaged in the Pacific Theater of Operations, according to a history of the division. Throughout its lifespan, and its several reincarnations, its makeup was primarily men from the Deep South.
The Guard’s mission, as always, is dual in nature. The state mission is to provide protection of life and property, and uphold peace, order and public safety for the citizens of Mississippi, under the leadership and control of the governor.
The federal mission is to serve for the common defense, under presidential authority, in times of national emergency or war.
Floods, pigs and chlorine
For those who gathered this summer in Columbus to reminisce, their bonds were formed at training camps, on firing ranges, during flood rescues and honor guard duty.
River flooding was an almost annual occurrence in the state’s pre-lock era. Gale, a student at S.D. Lee High when he signed up, remembered getting out of school for about a week every time the waters rose.
“We’d haul people, we’d haul livestock,” he recalled. “I remember one time this Guard truck came in with a pig in the cab! The family wasn’t gonna leave that pig.”
The unit was sent to Natchez in 1962, when a barge loaded with chlorine sunk and the city feared its chemical tanks would rupture. Guardsmen were on standby, watching over locations that included schools, in case evacuation became necessary. Gale remembered “little bitty first-graders running around” holding gas masks. Fortunately, the tanks held while the barge was raised.
The year 1962 included another memorable event: The division was federalized during the unrest when James Meredith became the first black student to enroll at the University of Mississippi.
“We were basically in the Army for 11 days,” said Gale.
Lee Gallop remembered the unit assembled in downtown Columbus, expecting the order any minute to pull out for Oxford.
“We were lined up on the street, seeing people go through in groups, thinking we’re next, sittin’ there ready,” Gallop said. “But they never did call us.”
Images
A few days ago, Gale sat looking through scrapbook pages of black and white snapshots. His index finger traced over faces of division officers and buddies at Guard camp, engaged in a dozen different tasks. Names surfaced as he looked back — Shields Sims, C.A. Dodson, Billy Brewer, Chubby Ellis, Joe Sams, Dr. John Holliman, Willis Richards, Lacey Freeman, Olen Kelley, and more.
“This was the chaplain,” he said, his finger pausing on a face. “He was from over in Starkville. He was a good man.”
A lot of those good men were glad to see each other again in June, at their first reunion.
Gallop said, “It was wonderful; some of those faces I hadn’t seen in years and years. And we’re gonna have another get-together in a few months.”
The effort instigated by Hildreth and Gale, and all the help from others they talked to, was worth it said Gale, who still has Guard uniforms hanging in his closet.
“When it was over, I tell you, at first we were wore out, but we recovered,” Gale smiled. “We had a really good time.”
The search continues. Hildreth stressed that they are still trying to find those they haven’t been able to contact.
“We’re still looking,” he said.
Editor’s note: If you served in the 31st Division from 1955 until it was deactivated, please contact Hildreth at 662-328-2352.
Jan Swoope is the Lifestyles Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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