DUANE
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Duane's take
Here's my telling of what the official marker out near Moulton has to say, and friends, this one's worth pulling over for. Now, before radar was a word most folks knew how to spell, somebody had to watch the sky. And watch it by eye.
That was the idea behind the Ground Observer Corps, organized in May 1941 by the U.S. Army Air Corps. They called it the GOC, and later the Aircraft Warning Service, the AWS.
The mission was simple and enormous at the same time: place elevated towers along the coastline, man them with civilian volunteers, and give America an early warning against any axis aircraft that might come calling. Fourteen thousand towers. One and a half million volunteers.
That is not a small undertaking. That is a nation that decided it wasn't going to be caught sleeping. Now here is where Moulton, Texas enters the story, and here is where it gets interesting.
Located on elevated ground roughly one mile east of town, just north of FM 532, the Moulton observation tower carried the military designation King 136. And according to the marker, it was the only tower of its kind this far inland, approximately one hundred miles from the coast. One hundred miles.
Every other tower hugged the shoreline, and then there was King 136, sitting out on the Texas prairie, keeping watch over the sky above Lavaca County. The Moulton Lions Club sponsored the whole thing, and in August of 1942, community volunteer organizations built that tower out of surplus lumber and windows. They raised it to about twenty feet, with a ramp-style staircase climbing up to what they called the blockhouse.
That blockhouse was an enclosed observation room, twelve feet square, windows on all four sides, and a wraparound porch giving a full panoramic view of the surrounding countryside and sky. Every civilian volunteer who wanted to stand up in that room first had to make the trip to Randolph Field in San Antonio, where they were trained in aircraft identification. Upon graduation, each one received a certificate and a lapel pin.
Starting in September of 1942, the tower was manned during daylight hours. Inside, the volunteers had aircraft silhouette charts, binoculars, and a telephone connected directly to Randolph Field. When someone spotted an aircraft, the call went in.
They identified the tower, stated the number of aircraft seen or heard, and reported the direction flown. No guessing, no drama. Just clear-eyed reporting from regular people who showed up because somebody had to.
Then came May 1944. The danger of an axis invasion or air attack had dissipated, and the GOC and the AWS were deactivated. Within a few weeks of that, the tower was torn down and sold for scrap.
Just like that, King 136 was gone. No ceremony recorded, no slow farewell. The lumber that went up out of community hands came back down just as quietly.
But the marker makes sure we don't let that be the last word. The patriotism and sacrifices of the volunteers who manned that tower, a hundred miles inland when no one else was that far from the water, those stand as proud examples of America's home front spirit during the war. One tower.
Community hands. Clear skies watched. That's Moulton's piece of World War II.
What the marker says
Prior to the widespread use of radar, elevated observation towers placed along the coastline provided early warning against axis air attack during World War II. Organized in May 1941 by the U.S. Army Air Corps as the Ground Observer Corps (GOC), later the aircraft warning service (AWS), the 14,000-tower system was manned by 1.5 million civilian volunteers. Located on elevated ground roughly one mile east of Moulton, just north of FM 532, the Moulton observation tower (Military I.D. Number “King 136”) was the only tower this far (approx. 100 miles) inland. The Moulton Lions Club sponsored construction and in August 1942 community volunteer organizations built the tower from surplus lumber and windows. The tower was elevated to a height of about 20 feet with a ramp style staircase to the central “blockhouse,” an enclosed observation room, 12-feet square with windows on all four sides and a wraparound porch, offering a panoramic view of the surrounding countryside and sky. All civilian volunteers traveled to Randolph Field (San Antonio) where they were trained in aircraft identification. Upon graduation each received a certificate and lapel pin. Manned during daylight hours starting in September 1942, the tower had aircraft silhouette charts, binoculars, and a telephone directly connected to Randolph Field. When observers sighted aircraft they called in, identified the tower, stated the number seen or heard, and direction flown. By May 1944 the danger of an axis invasion or air attack had dissipated and the GOC and AWS were deactivated. Within a few weeks the tower was torn down and sold for scrap. Moulton’s observation tower, and the patriotism and sacrifices of the Volunteers who manned it, serve as proud examples of America’s national home front spirit during the war.