Richard Pickett

Project staff recently reviewed documents from Richard Pickett, a veteran of Company B, 130th Machine Gun Battalion, 35th Division. Shared with the project by a descendant, the documents chronicle Pickett’s long service with the Missouri National Guard.

Richard Pickett joined Company K, 2nd Missouri Infantry in Springfield on June 2, 1917. A National Guard Company commanded by Captain Paul Frey, the unit had recently returned from service on the Mexican Border. New recruits like Pickett brought the company up to full strength and the men left for Camp Clark in Nevada on August 16, 1917. They joined other Missouri and Kansas National Guard units at Camp Doniphan, Oklahoma and on October 1, they officially became Company B, 130th Machine Gun Battalion. On April 12, 1918, they began the long journey to Europe. Pickett kept a diary as he sailed from Hoboken, New Jersey aboard the R.M.S. Carpathia on May 3, 1918. This steamship had gained fame for rescuing survivors from the sinking R.M.S. Titanic in 1912. Unfortunately, Pickett and his comrades were among the last soldiers the liner transported. Sailing for Boston in a convoy, the Carpathia was sunk by German torpedoes on July 17, 1918. Five crew members were killed.

The 35th Division got its first experience with trench warfare in June 1918 in the Vosges Mountains. Company B was attached to the 140th Infantry and participated in the Meuse-Argonne offensive in September. They returned to Springfield for a parade on May 5, 1919 and were demobilized at Camp Funston, Kansas on May 8. 

The experience of World War I dampened enthusiasm for the National Guard. Wartime veterans had little interest in peacetime military service. Still, a few officers were determined to bring the National Guard back to southwest Missouri. In 1920, the War Department reorganized the National Guard and Missouri was authorized to form a coast artillery regiment. Colonel William A. Raupp, the longtime commander of the old 2nd Missouri, traveled throughout the Ozarks recruiting for the new regiment. On December 22, 1920, Richard Pickett was one of many World War I veterans who joined what became the 203rd Coast Artillery (Anti-Aircraft).

Including his service during World War II, Richard Pickett spent about 35 years on active duty. He was a member of the Goad-Ballinger American Legion Post, the Last Man’s Club of World War I, the 35th Division Association, and the Veterans of Foreign Wars. Pickett died of a heart attack on February 14, 1969 while vacationing in Tampa, Florida. 

 

Sources:

History of the Missouri National Guard.  Jefferson City:  Military Council, Missouri National Guard,      1934.