Front and Center The Monthly E-Newsletter of the California State Military Museums
Part of the United States Army Museum System Issue 30, May 2012 |
Welcome to our latest issue of Front and Center.
Can you believe it's May already. So it will be time for family bar-b-ques, vacations and long weekends. So how about coming to the museum and check out all of the changes. Old Sacramento has great museums, a wide range of eateries and other places for the whole family to enjoy.
We are pleased to announce that the Northern California Chapter of the 187th Airborne Regimental Combat Team Association (The Rakkasans) has selected the California State Military Museum as the final resting place for their records, memorabilia, photo albums, etc. The Rakkasans are best known for their two combat jumps in Korea as well as later service with the 101st Airborne Division.
The museum will need some resources to construct this memorial, if you would like to donate to the Rakkasans Memorial, CLICK HERE
Tony Palumbo Dan Sebby
Lieutenant Colonel (Ret) Sergeant Major (Ret) Director Curator |
| Support Your Museum... Buy a Burger! |  Coming down to the museum for a visit? Are you a regular visitor to Old Sacramento? Looking for a way to support the museum, but the check book just can't handle it? OR ARE YOU JUST PLAIN HUNGRY?
Well, stop by the museum and pick up your World Famous Fanny Ann's Saloon coupon located at the museum's front counter.
For each coupon redeemed, Fanny Ann's will donate $1.00 to the museum's Conservation, Preservation and Restoration Program.
The museum also has a limited number of discount coupons for Old Sacramento's newest fine dining restaurant, Ten22. The are also available at the museum's front counter.
Please support our Old Sacramento corporate members when you visit and tell them you heard about them from us!
- The Firehouse, 1112 Second Street (across the street from the museum)
- Ten22, 1022 Second Street.
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New Member of the Foundation Board of Directors |  The Board of Directors of the California State Military Museum is proud to announce the appointment of Maj Gen Mary Kight to the Foundation's Board of Director. General Kight is the immediate past Adjutant General of the State of California.
General Kight is also helping out the museum by working in the museum's Walter P. Story Memorial Library..
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California Military History: Military Operations in Response to the 1992 Los Angeles Riots | By Maj Gen James Delk, USA (Ret) 
| California National Guardsmen prepare to conduct Civil Disturbance actions. |
Parts of Los Angeles can be extremely dangerous. The county had over 100,000 gang members and there were 771 gang-related homicides reported in 1991. It is not surprising that many police officers admit they "lost the streets" some years ago, with many neighborhoods in the city dominated by rival gangs. Drug deals are often conducted openly, without even a pretense of cover-up. Gunshots and fires routinely occur on a normal night in some of those neighborhoods, which are carefully avoided by most law-abiding citizens.
That was the environment when the Rodney King verdict was announced on April 29, 1992. Riots erupted, and shortly after 9:00 p.m., the first 2,000 California Army National Guard (CA ARNG) soldiers were requested by the governor. The call was not expected because the CA ARNG had repeatedly been assured they would not be needed for any disturbances resulting from the Rodney King verdict. As a consequence of those assurances, considerable riot control equipment had been loaned to other agencies. In spite of the no-waming start, there were 2,000 Guardsmen marshaled in Southern California armories within six hours.
Continued... For more information, the museum recommends:  Fires & Furies: The L. A. Riots- What Really Happened
by James D. Delk by ETC Publications 
Buy Now |
California Military History: Fleet City and World War II: Camp Parks, Camp Shoemaker and Naval Hospital Shoemaker | By Steve Minniear The onset of World War II in 1941 found the United States woefully unprepared to fight wars in Europe, Africa and Asia. This led to decisions to induct, train and deploy over a million men and women. As part of the massive build up to take the war to the Japanese Empire, Germany and Italy, the United States government surveyed sites around the country for naval and military bases. The Twelfth Naval District, which included the San Francisco Bay area, had one of the largest concentrations of naval and military facilities on the West Coast. Less well known were the naval facilities that were built slightly southeast of the bay (in what is now Dublin, California) but were decommissioned and dismantled after the end of the war. In what was then sparsely inhabited farmland near Pleasanton and Livermore, California, the U.S. Navy decided to build three major and other smaller facilities to house, train, deploy and recuperate personnel who would construct, maintain and man ships, bases, depots, camps and facilities in the Pacific theatre of war. The main facilities were Camp Parks, Camp Shoemaker and the Shoemaker Naval Hospital. The personnel who worked or moved through the facilities included the Naval Construction Battalions, more popularly known as the Seabees, and naval personnel of all ranks and specialties. At one point during the war the three major facilities were called "Fleet City." Camp Parks and Shoemaker Naval Hospital were designed to support the Seabees. Camp Shoemaker, located between the two, was a naval personnel training and distribution center designed to handle naval personnel on their way to, or returning from, the Pacific. On April 13, 1944 the Naval Construction and Replacement Depot (Camp Parks), Shoemaker Naval Hospital, the Naval Receiving Barracks and the Naval Disciplinary Barracks were administratively combined into the U.S. Naval Training and Distribution Center (TADCEN), Shoemaker, California.
Continued...
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California Military History: 79th Infantry Brigade Combat Team | by Lt. Col. Danny Johnson, USA (Ret) 
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The 79th Infantry Brigade Combat Team (IBCT) is one of the newest brigade size units within the California Army National Guard. The 79th, whose history encompasses two wars on two different continents, inherits a colorful history dating back to 12 October 1881 in the city of San Diego. An application to form a military company by the citizens and residents of San Diego was approved by the Adjutant General, Brigadier General James D. Boyer, commander of the California National Guard's First Brigade. He issued the orders necessary and appointed a resident of the county to organize the company according to the provisions of the militia code. On 12 October the company was designated as the San Diego City Guard. It was mustered in as an unattached company of the First Brigade. The unit consisted of eighty-seven members who unanimously elected Douglas Gunn as captain and Marvin Lacy as first lieutenant.
The company was reorganized and redesignated on 22 July 1885 as Company B, 7th Infantry Battalion. Three years later, in May 1888, it was reorganized and redesignated as Company B, 7th Infantry Regiment. On 8 February 1890, it was redesignated once again, this time as Company B, 9th Infantry Regiment. The San Diego Rifles, which was organized on 7 September 1889, was concurrently reorganized and redesignated and brought into the regiment as Company A, 9th Infantry. Companies A and B, 9th Infantry, were consolidated, reorganized, and redesignated on 7 December 1895 as Company B, 7th Infantry.
Continued... |
California Military History: Drum Barracks: California's Civil War Museum | By Justin Ruhge
Between April 1861 and April 1865 the United States was torn apart by that terrible conflict known variably as The Civil War, The War Between the States and The War of the Rebellion.
As North-South tensions flared into open hostilities in early 1861, the Federal Government decided to consolidate and strengthen the Union presence in Southern California by moving men and equipment from several widely dispersed military posts to the Los Angeles area, among them Fort Tejon and Fort Mojave.
The purpose of this consolidation was twofold. First, to create a major staging area for California military personnel assigned to duties in the Southwest and to send troops to the major theaters of war in the east. Many career officers but only a few California volunteers were sent to the east coast. These were primarily enlistees in the California Hundred and the California Battalion, a total of about 500 men. Troops headed east would go by ship to Panama, across the Isthmus and again board a ship for east coast ports.
Secondly, it was clear that a sufficient force should be available locally to act on short notice to insure that California and the New Mexico and Arizona Territories remained a part of the Union. Demonstrations in Los Angeles and other Southern California and Northern California towns had shown that much of the local population, perhaps a majority, were Southern sympathizers and a "secession company" was even holding public drills, deliberately displaying the Bear Flag instead of the Stars and Stripes. The military units ordered to the Los Angeles post were encamped first close to town at a site called Camp Fitzgerald after a recently deceased Fort Tejon officer, then moved to the new Camp Latham, located eight miles southwest where Culver City is today.
Continued... |
|  Learn more about what your California National Guard is doing to make history. Click the image to the left to find out more.
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Major Artifact Acquisitions to the Museum |
The museum has received the following artifacts since the last issue of Front and Center:
- Two M109A2 155mm Self Propelled Howitzers from the Region Training Site-Maintenance. One each for Camp Roberts and JFTB Los Alamitos
- Portrait of General of the Armies John J. Pershing from the estate of Ronal B. DraGoo of Los Alamitos
- Guidon from Task Force Sierra from the California National Guard Counter-Drug Program
- From the Headquarters Company of the 49th Military Police Brigade, Fairfield:
- An AKMS Assault Riffle
- An RPG-7 Rocket Launcher
- An Iraqi "Rashid" Carbine
- An M1919A4 Ligh Machinegun
- M1941 Officers Mess Outfit from the US Army Military Police School, Fort Leonard Wood, MO
- A Japanese Type 30 Arisaka Rifle from Ms Carol O'Brian of Sacramento
- A collection of California Naval Militia uniforms awards, and documents from Captain George Albert of Eureka
- A Vietnam War-era mine deteckor and public address system from Maryln McBain of North Highlands.
- World War I uniforms of Corporal Mark Melendy, Battery A, 144th Field Artillery Regiment, from Mrs Mary Cunningham of Eureka
- Guidon of Company A, 579th Engineer Battalion from the Headquarters, 579th Engineer Battalion
- Uniforms from Maj Gen William Wade II.
If you are considering making an artifact donation to the museum, please contact the museum curator prior to bringing items in. As the World War II and Korean War generations are passing on, the museum is being flooded with common uniform items such as "Ike Jackets", service caps, etc. The museum does not mean to diminish any veteran's service, but the museum has a limited amount of storage and display space. So please contact us first before making the trip to the museum. The curator's telephone number is (916) 854-1904 or email daniel...@us.army.mil |
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This photograph depicts two Japanese Type 95 Ha-Go light tanks burning on a road on Leyte Island in the Philippines. Both tracks had just been knocked out by the 184th Infantry Regiment's anti-tank company. Shortly after the engagement, the 184th swept the road for mines to ensure the safe passage of an American amored counter-attack waiting to jump off a short distance away. Here, PFC Walter Kuhn has been tasked to be part of this mine sweeping detail. The photo was taken on December 22, 1944.
Major acquisitions or discoveries:
- 40th Infantry Division Public Affairs Collection
- Battery A, 144th Field Artillery Regiment in World War I from Mrs Mary Cunningham of Eureka
- 5th Division, California Naval Militia from Captain George Albert of Eureka
To find out what is in our collection, go to our image library finding aid, CALIFORNIA NATIONAL GUARDSMEN! Is your spouse telling you it's time to clean out that footlocker in your closet? Don't know what to do with all your photo albums of your time at the garden spots of Camp Roberts and Fort Irwin? Have tons of digital images on your computer from your last deployment to Iraq? Well, then send them to the museum's image library. We are cataloging and preserving the California National Guard's history through images. This also includes the State Guard and Militia of World War II, State Military Reserve, and Naval Militia. Please provide us with as much information about your images as possible. This could be a photo log or simply writing with a soft pencil on the reverse of the "hard copy" photograph. Digital copies can be sent on a CD, DVD, memory stick, or memory card. Whatever the media, please send your images to: California State Military Museum Image Library Sacramento, CA 95814-3203 |
| - Wednesday, May 16: Museum closes early for private event.
- Saturday, May 19:
- Armed Forces Day: FREE ADMISSION
- Meet the Author Event: See below
- Sunday, May 20: Museum Curator on the Radio, 8:00-9:00am, Sacramento radio station KTKZ, AM 1380.
- May 22-25: Sacramento Music Festival. Old Sacramento
- Monday, May 25: Memorial Day: FREE ADMISSION
- Wednesday, July 4: Independence Day: FREE ADMISSION
- July 16-22: Sacramento Navy Week: Details to come
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| Saturday, May 19, 2012, 1:00pm. FREE EVENT!  Disaster and Triumph: Sacramento Women, Gold Rush through the Civil War
by Cheryl Anne Stapp by CreateSpace
Buy Now
Prices are for online sales only. Prices may be different at the event.
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Call for Articles and Book Reviews | The California State Military Museum is soliciting articles for its website. If you are a professional historian or a talented amateur history buff, we want to hear from you. Articles should be no longer than 3,000 words and should be limited to the military history or military biographies as they relate to California. That is a pretty wide net. All articles should be footnoted or at least list references.
We also ask that those of you who practically live at Barnes and Noble or who get Christmas thank you cards from Amazon.com to consider writing book reviews for Front and Center. Please limit yourself to Military History or National Security topics. Reviews should be no longer than 1,000 words.
In both cases, please include a two or three paragraph biography of yourself. |
Veterans Serice Organizations (VSO) Night at the Museum | Attention American Legion, VFW, DAV, AMVETS and other VSO's! Looking for a way to spice up your monthly meetings? Why not hold one of your meetings at the museum? We can seat up to 70 in our multipurpose room. You can hold you normal business meetings and follow up with a guided tour of the museum. Call the museum curator at (916) 854-1904 for more information or book your own "Night at the Museum". |
Library and Archives Update | The library is actively looking for new books to fill its shelves. Current hardcover, non-fiction military history and national security volumes are, of course, the most desired titles. The museum has received major contributions from: · Major General William Wade, USA Ret.of Folsom (4 cases) · Janice Taylor of Thousand Oaks (61 cases!) Books can be sent to: The MG Walter P. Story Memorial Library 1119 2nd Street Sacramento, CA 95814-3202 Any duplicates received will be given free to other libraries and or museums or sold in our used book store to raise funds for the library. This is a great time to clean out some of your old military history, intelligence and national security studies books. The Museum is also accepting gift cards from major book sellers such as Amazon and Barnes & Noble so that we can choose those books that fill holes in our catalog. If you're interested in adding to your personal library, please come down and shop in our new and used military history book shop! |
Attention Gun Collectors and Law Enforcement Agencies | The museum is looking to expand its weapons collection for future planned exhibits in Sacramento and other locations including a new 40th Infantry Division museum at the Joint Forces Training Base, Los Alamitos. We are seeking specific weapons listed at the following website: www.militarymuseum.org/artifact.html California law enforcement agencies can transfer weapons to the museum under the provisions of Section 12030, California Penal Code and Section 179, California Military and Veterans Code. Weapons governed under the National Firearms Act (NFA) may also be transferred to the museum. The donating agency or individual is required to initiate the BATFE Form 5. NFA weapons may be accessed to the collection of the United States Army and may become property of the United States of America. Weapons must be military issue, not civilian copies or reproductions. Weapons should not be demilitarized per Army Regulation 870-20. However demilitarized weapons may be accepted for "hands on" educational programs. |
Need a Place for an Event? | 
Do you need a location to hold an off-site meeting for your staff? Are you looking for a place for your organization to meet regularly that has the equipment already on site? Need to bring your customers in for a presentation of new products or services? Then consider holding your next event at the Museum's Sergeant Major Doris J. Drennan Educational and Conference Facility
This facility provides a unique venue that allows you to conduct your event with little or no "running around" to gather equipment. On-site catering is available from local eateries that range from simple sandwiches to gourmet entrees from one of Sacramento's best restaurants.
This facility is continually being upgraded. These improvements will be announced through this newsletter as they occur.
For more information concerning the facility, including rates, CLICK HERE. |
Meet the Staff: Candace Harrington, Office Manager |  The museum would like to introduce you to our new office manager, Ms. Candace Harrington. Ms Harrington brings years of business and office technology skills to the museum's business office. If you visit the museum and see her, please stop and say hello.
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Thank you for taking the time to read this month's issue of Front and Center. Please pass it on to your friends
Dan Sebby, Sgt Maj (Ret), Curator and Editor
California State Military Museum
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| Museum Memberships | Help the museum and its programs by joining us. | |
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