Bill Text: TX HR2354 | 2015-2016 | 84th Legislature | Enrolled
Bill Title: Commemorating the 75th anniversary of Camp Bowie in Brownwood.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Passed) 2015-05-24 - Reported enrolled [HR2354 Detail]
Download: Texas-2015-HR2354-Enrolled.html
H.R. No. 2354 |
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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 | ||