Missouri National Guard

The Missouri National Guard was the military organization through which Harry S. Truman entered the First World War. His return in 1917 led him from organizing a new artillery battery to an elected officer’s commission, and placed him on the path to service with the 129th Field Artillery.

Truman's Return to Service

When the United States entered the war in April 1917, Truman had been out of the National Guard for nearly six years. At thirty-three, he was older than the limit established by the new Selective Service Act; his eyesight fell well below normal military standards, and he was the sole supporter of his mother and sister. His work as a farmer was also considered a patriotic reason to remain at home. He nevertheless chose to serve, leaving responsibility for the farm and family care to his sister, Mary Jane Truman.

Truman rejoined the National Guard and set about organizing Battery F, a new artillery battery. He expected to become a sergeant, but the men elected him a first lieutenant. Guard officers were still chosen by election, a practice the account compares with that of the Civil War. The commission was his first elected position and marked a turning point in his life.

From Battery F to the 129th Field Artillery

Drilling began in May on the streets of Kansas City, across from Union Station, and inside Convention Hall. The unit, initially known as the 2nd Missouri Field Artillery, became the 129th Field Artillery of the 60th Brigade, attached to the 35th Division. This reorganization connected Truman's local Guard service to the larger wartime formation being prepared for deployment.

Joining the Guard did not remove the physical barriers that had made military service seem unlikely. When the unit's transition brought him before a regular Army medical examination, Truman passed the vision test by memorizing its chart, according to his brother Vivian. The recorded measurements showed uncorrected vision of 20/50 in his right eye and 20/400 in his left. The same examination recorded his height as five feet eight inches and his weight as 151 pounds; his other listed measurements and conditions were classified as normal.

Significance

The National Guard gave Truman a route into military service that he could have declined without reproach. His decision required his family to absorb the work and responsibilities he left behind, while his election as a first lieutenant gave him both an official command role and his first experience of electoral success. The Guard's battery, drilling in Kansas City before becoming part of a larger field-artillery formation, was the institutional setting in which that personal choice became wartime service.