DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Camp Bowie, World War I — Tarrant County, Texas. Pull over a minute, friend, because this one starts in a vacant field and ends with a shattered German Army.
It's quite a road between those two points. The United States entered World War I in April 1917, and the Army needed somewhere to turn two National Guard units — Texas and Oklahoma — into a fighting force. They picked an undeveloped suburb, and they called it Camp Bowie, named for James Bowie, 1795 to 1836, one of the commanders who died at the Alamo in the Texas War for Independence.
Troops occupied the camp in July 1917. The first soldiers to arrive didn't sleep in barracks. They slept in deep Johnson grass, because that's all there was — an open field, untamed, just waiting.
Now picture this: by November of that same year, that Johnson grass field was home to twenty-five thousand men, all organized under the 36th Division, United States Army. Headquarters right there in Tarrant County. They trained, they waited, they prepared.
Then on July 8th, 1918, those twenty-five thousand men were shipped to France, where they were to serve as reserve for the French Armies of the Center. Reserve. But after nightfall on October 6th, the 36th Division occupied a segment of the actual fighting front.
Two days later, October 8th, joined by elements of the U.S. 2nd Division, they captured St. Etienne-A-Arnes. And then, from October 10th through October 28th, the 36th fought in the Meuse-Argonne operation — the campaign the marker says, plain and direct, shattered the German Army and assured victory to the Allies, bringing the Armistice on November 11th, 1918.
The boys who once bedded down in Johnson grass had helped end the war. The 36th Division embarked for home the following May, and by June 11th, 1919, every last one of their men was back on U.S. soil. The division was soon demobilized, and Camp Bowie — their home — reverted to civilian uses between July 1919 and August 1920.
The field moved on. But the name held. When the Texas National Guard entered World War II, the new camp they built down in Brownwood — they called it Bowie too.
Some names carry weight enough to go around.
What the marker says
Headquarters, 36th Division, United States Army, 1917-1919. Established to train Texas National Guard and Oklahoma National Guard, after the U.S. entered World War I April 1917. Named for James Bowie (1795-1836), one of the commanders who died at the Alamo in Texas War for Independence, Camp Bowie was occupied in July 1917. First troops to arrive slept in deep Johnson grass that covered the site, an undeveloped suburb. By Nov. 1917, the 36th Division had 25,000 men here, and on July 8, 1918, they were shipped to France, to form reserve for French Armies of the Center. After nightfall, Oct. 6, the 36th occupied a segment of the fighting front; on Oct. 8 joined by elements of the U.S. 2nd Division, it captured St. Etienne-A-Arnes. It fought Oct. 10-28 in the Meuse-Argonne operation that shattered the German Army and assured victory to the Allies, bringing Armistice on Nov. 11, 1918. The 36th Division, embarking for home the next May, had all its men on U.S. soil by June 11, 1919. Soon demobilized, it saw its "Home" at Camp Bowie revert to civilian uses between July 1919 and Aug. 1920. When the Texas National Guard entered World War II its new camp at Brownwood was also named Bowie. (1973)