DUANE
Duane's take
The way the marker in Lampasas County tells it, here's what went down in the spring of 1952. Now, World War II was over, but don't let anybody tell you the tension left with it. The Cold War had settled in like a bad neighbor — fear of communism, fear of nuclear assault — and the U.S.
Army and Air Force decided they needed to know something important: could American forces survive a full-scale invasion on American soil, including recovering from an atomic attack? There was only one way to find out. They called it Operation Long Horn, and they brought it right here to Texas.
It started with paperwork, as most dramatic things do. Ranchers spread out between Waco and San Angelo signed easements to their land. Quietly.
Legally. And then, in late March of 1952, more than 115,000 troops came rolling in. One hundred fifteen thousand.
To put that in perspective, the town of Lometa had a population of 900 people. Nine hundred souls going about their business — and then, practically overnight, that number jumped to 22,000. The hardware store couldn't have known what hit it.
Several ranches in the Lometa area became the stages for battles and campgrounds. Local residents didn't run from it — they leaned in. They rationed, they traded with troops, they offered up facilities for a mock U.S.O.
They attended programs and presentations put on by soldiers. Because when 115,000 people show up at your door, you either bolt it or you open it wide. Now here's where the telling gets something close to extraordinary.
Among the programs staged during Operation Long Horn was an airdrop — 2,500 troops dropped from the sky, along with weapons, equipment, and rations. The 31st Infantry, the 47th Infantry, and the 1st Armored Division squared off against the 82nd Airborne Division, which had made the trip all the way from Fort Bragg, North Carolina. Imagine standing on a ranch outside Lometa, Texas, watching the sky go dark with parachutes.
And then there was Lampasas — seventeen miles southeast — which found itself, for the purposes of this mock war, captured. Aggressor forces moved in, occupied the city, established mock control of the media, and set curfews. This wasn't a footnote.
It was a nationally publicized event. The whole country was watching to see how an American city handled occupation, even a simulated one. Lampasas held on, and on April 9, 1952, it was liberated near the end of the simulation.
When the dust finally settled on Operation Long Horn, the price tag came in at three million, three hundred thousand dollars. And the land told the story — damaged ranch land, outbuildings, fences and gates knocked around, livestock that had seen things no cow was meant to see. But the people of that stretch of Texas between Waco and San Angelo had also experienced something no classroom could have given them: what it felt like, in their own community, for war to come home.
They signed the easements. They opened the doors. And for a few weeks in the spring of 1952, Texas was a battlefield — on purpose.
What the marker says
The close of World War II brought new tensions to America that led to the Cold War. Under fear of communism and nuclear assault, the U.S. Army and Air Force simulated a war in one of the largest maneuvers ever to be staged on American soil. Called Operation Long Horn, the simulation included thwarting an invasion and recovering from an atomic attack. To carry out the mock war, which began in late March 1952, ranchers between Waco and San Angelo signed easements to their land. Several Lometa-area ranches became sites of battles and campgrounds as more than 115,000 troops came to Texas for maneuvers. The town's population grew from 900 to 22,000, and the troops and supporting civilian staff members faced life in a small town. Local residents cooperated and participated by rationing and trading with troops, offering facilities for a mock U.S.O. (United Service Organizations) facility and attending programs and presentations given by soldiers. Such programs included an airdrop of 2,500 troops, as well as weapons, equipment and rations, in a training maneuver that pitted the 31st Infantry, 47th Infantry, and 1st armored division against the 82nd Airborne Division out of Fort Bragg, North Carolina. In a nationally publicized event, aggressor forces captured and occupied Lampasas (17 mi. SE), establishing mock control of media and setting curfews. The city was liberated near the end of the simulation on April 9, 1952. The $3,300,000 exercise left local residents with damaged ranch land, outbuildings, fences and gates, as well as spooked livestock, but also gave them an opportunity to experience war in their own community. (2004)