DUANE
Duane's take
Here's my telling of what the official marker at Aransas Pass has to say — and brother, it's a story worth slowing down for. Now, most folks rolling past this stretch of the Texas coast today see fishing boats and beach traffic. But stand here a moment and let the gulf wind hit you, because this ground once held loaded guns pointed at the open water — and there was a reason for that.
The United States had been building up a coastal defense system since the late 1700s, protecting ports and strategic points wherever the nation had something worth defending. Texas came into the union in 1845, and its gulf coast sites would prove their importance in military engagements clear into the twentieth century. So the tradition runs deep here.
Then comes 1941, and the world starts turning fast. In March of that year — months before the U.S. had officially entered World War II — the War Department stood up something called the Southern Defense Command. Led by Lieutenant General Walter Krueger, the SDC stretched across the entire southern coastline from North Carolina all the way down to Brownsville.
That is a lot of shoreline to watch. And then December 7th, 1941 happened. Pearl Harbor.
After that, the defense efforts along the Texas coast intensified fast — military bases, wartime industries, and eyes on the water. About a month after Pearl Harbor, word came in that a German U-Boat had been spotted just miles off the entrance to the Aransas Pass. Now, the marker is careful to note that may have been a false alarm — but you don't take chances with a submarine when you've just had your fleet hit in Hawaii.
The Southern Defense Command dispatched a temporary field artillery battery of the 2nd Infantry Division out to Mustang Island. They set up 105 millimeter Howitzers and waited. And watched.
Relief arrived in April 1942, when Battery E of the 50th Coast Artillery Regiment came in. Those troops stayed through October of that year, and they weren't idle. They began emplacing two French-designed 155 millimeter GPF Guns on Panama mounts.
They built timber magazines, a commander station, searchlights, and a camp sized for 360 men. That's a full fighting position carved out of the Texas coast. Two more companies followed to finish the work.
Battery G of the 20th Coast Artillery Regiment held the post from October 1942 through March 1944. Then Battery E of the 20th Coast Artillery Regiment carried it from March through July of 1944. Alongside all of them, the U.S.
Navy was running a harbor entrance control post in conjunction with the coast artillery. The whole complex was officially designated the Temporary Harbor Defense at Aransas Pass, sitting just south of the south jetty. And then, in July 1944, it closed.
The enemy naval threat in the gulf was no longer a concern. All that urgency — the howitzers in the sand, the French-designed guns on their mounts, the 360-man camp, the searchlights sweeping the dark water — and then, quiet. The gulf just rolling in like it always had.
Sometimes the most important thing a defense ever does is the thing that never happens.
What the marker says
In the late 1700s, the U.S. began a coastal defense system to protect ports and strategic points. Texas, which became a state in 1845, featured several gulf coast sites that would prove important in U.S. Military engagements in the 19th century and later. In March 1941, before the U.S. entered World War II, the War Department created the Southern Defense Command (SDC) as part of its national defense system. Led by Lt. Gen. Walter Krueger, the SDC included the southern U.S. coastline from North Carolina to Brownsville. After the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor (Dec. 7, 1941), the U.S. increased defense efforts along the Texas coast, which included several military bases as well as key wartime industries. A month later, in what may have been a false alarm, a German U-Boat, or submarine, was reported just miles off the entrance to the Aransas Pass. The SDC dispatched a temporary field artillery battery of the 2nd Infanty Division to Mustang Island, where they set up 105 mm Howitzers. In April 1942, relief came to these troops when Battery E, 50th Coast Artillery Regiment arrived. The new troops remained until October 1942 and began emplacing two French-designed 155 mm GPF Guns on Panama mounts and building timber magazines, a commander station, searchlights and a camp for 360 men. Two companies later stationed there finished the work: Battery G, 20th Coast Artillery Regiment (Oct. 1942-Mar. 1944) and Battery E, 20th Coast Artillery Regiment (Mar.-Jul. 1944). In conjunction with the coast artillery, the U.S. Navy operated a harbor entrance control post. Officially designated as Temporary Harbor Defense at Aransas Pass, this coastal defense complex just south of the south jetty closed in July 1944, after enemy naval threats in the gulf were no longer a concern. (2005)