by Duke Doering
The South Dakota National Guard was already deeply involved in the United States Army war preparations when Japan attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. The South Dakota National Guard, all 2,263 of them, had already been activated for over a year. In November 1940, a Presidential Call to Federal Active Duty had been issued to the entire South Dakota Guard.
The 147th Field Artillery, in November 1940, moved to Ft. Ord, California. There they trained of the newest artillery equipment and prepared for overseas movement . On November 20, 1941 the unit was ordered to the Philippines to provide Field Artillery support to General Douglas MacArthur’s force there. So when Japan attacked Pearl Harbor, the 147th Field Artillery, which re-supplied in Hawaii on November 27-30, 1941, was in the Pacific. The unit was steaming toward the Philippines on the troop ship Holbrook when Japan attacked. After the attack they diverted to Australia and fought in the South Pacific for the remainder of the war.
The other elements of the South Dakota National Guard were the 109th Engineer Regiment, the 109th Quartermaster Regiment and the 34th Signal Company.
These units had been ordered to their Federal Active Duty mobilization station at Camp Claiborne, Louisiana on February 10, 1941. While there the South Dakota units participated in the famous Louisiana Maneuvers. Later they were part of the invasion forces in both North Africa and Italy. These units fought in Europe until Germany surrendered on V-E Day.
Of the 2,263 South Dakota National Guard members activated prior to World War II, 76 of them died; 31 were captured and taken Prisoner of War (POW), all of whom survived.
In 1941, South Dakota had an estimated population of 613,000 people. Some 64,000, or 11 percent, served in the military during World War II.
On average 6,600 American service members died per month during WWII (about 220 a day).
The battleship, U.S.S. South Dakota was south of Pearl Harbor on maneuvers on December 7 and escaped damage in the attack on Pearl Harbor.
