Part one of a two part series on Baldwin County in World War II.

In December 1941, the United States became immersed in a war that forever changed the world in which we live. America entered into WWII cautiously, yet emerged as the world’s leading power and has remained so ever since. The war ended the Great Depression and revealed to us the greatest generation of patriots yet produced by this country.

World War II fashioned, in the United States, a country intimately involved in its future and that of the world. That in itself is remarkable, considering ten years earlier America was an isolationist nation focused on solving its own dire economic problems. It was not until the twilight before the war with a weakened Great Britain, the only buffer between the U.S. and the aggressive German state, that the wheels of the American government began to turn toward readying the nation for the conflict that was to come.

One means by which the nation prepared to defend itself was through the creation of the Home Guard units that were designed to take the place of the state’s National Guard units as they were called into service.

In Alabama, Home Guard units were established throughout the state with companies headquartered in Florence, Athens, Decatur, Huntsville, Guntersville, Tuscaloosa, Selma, Anniston, Opelika, Phenix City, Troy, Dothan, Andalusia, Talladega, Ozark and Foley.

In Baldwin County, men and their respective National Guard units began to be called into service for extended training in early 1941. Prior to that, in 1940, the Burke-Wadsworth Act created the first peacetime draft in American history, requiring that all men ages 21 to 35 register with the Selective Service. A year later, when the U.S. entered WWII, all men ages 18 to 45 were made eligible to serve while men up to the age of 65 had to register for the draft.

The purpose of the Home Guard was to fill the role vacated by the National Guard as they were brought into active service. The National Guard, along with the regular army, was being prepared for the coming conflict, even though the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor was still months away.

The actions of the military were in response to the government, led by Franklin D. Roosevelt, in preparation for defense of the nation. Members of the Home Guard units were required to attend regular drills, without pay unless called to active duty in an emergency.

As hundreds of local National Guard soldiers were shipped off to Camp Blanding in Florida for advanced training, the men of the Home Guard prepared themselves for service to their state and country. Those that were unable to qualify for the regular army or had already rendered their service but wanted yet another opportunity to aid their country came to serve in the Alabama Home Guard. It was not long before their number was needed right here in Alabama.