H.R. No. 2354
R E S O L U T I O N
WHEREAS, The 75th anniversary of the commissioning of Camp
Bowie, the World War II training facility in Brownwood, is being
celebrated with a symposium and other events on the campus of Howard
Payne University from September 16 to 18, 2015; and
WHEREAS, The original Camp Bowie, a World War I training
camp, was situated near Fort Worth, but on September 19, 1940, the
U.S. War Department authorized the construction of a new training
ground near Brownwood, and on September 27, 1940, work began on the
site, the first major defense project in Texas during the World War
II era; at one time, more than 15,000 laborers were working on the
project; and
WHEREAS, In late 1940, the 36th Infantry Division of the
Texas Army National Guard, also known as the Texas Division, was
mobilized, and during 1941 and 1942, its members trained at the new
camp in Brownwood before transferring to Florida and Massachusetts,
where they shipped out to join the war in Europe; they took part in
the landing at Salerno, Italy, in 1943, joining the first Allied
troops to invade Hitler's Europe, and over the course of the war,
the division suffered nearly 20,000 casualties, including 3,717 men
killed in action, 12,685 wounded, and 3,064 missing in action; and
WHEREAS, By October 1942, Camp Bowie in Brownwood had grown
to 123,000 acres in Brown and Mills Counties, with a 5,000-acre
campsite and another 118,000 acres used for training exercises;
eight divisions trained at the camp, and many other battalions,
regiments, and companies passed through to use the training
grounds; there were never fewer than 30,000 men in the camp at any
one time, and at one point, its population was 60,000; more than a
quarter of a million soldiers passed through Camp Bowie between
1941 and the end of the war; and
WHEREAS, In August 1943, the camp began to house German
prisoners of war, many of them veterans of Field Marshal Erwin
Rommel's famed Afrika Corps; these men performed tasks at the camp
and also worked as day laborers for local ranchers and farmers; and
WHEREAS, Camp Bowie was decommissioned in August 1946, and in
the years since, much of the land has been developed as Camp Bowie
Industrial Park; the camp's chapels were moved to Eastland and
Stephenville, and many of its other buildings were transferred to
Brownwood; a small portion of the original camp is still used to
train members of the Texas State Guard and other Texas military
forces each year; and
WHEREAS, Sponsored by Tarleton State University, Howard
Payne University, and the Brown County Museum of History, the
anniversary symposium will feature presentations by academics,
military scholars, and researchers, as well as the debut of a new
exhibit that explores the history of the camp, the men who trained
there, and the region's contributions to the war effort; and
WHEREAS, During a time of worldwide conflict, Camp Bowie in
Brownwood became an important training center for thousands of
American military personnel, playing a vital role in the defense of
our nation's security and the preservation of freedom; now,
therefore, be it
RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 84th Texas
Legislature hereby commemorate the 75th anniversary of the
establishment of Camp Bowie in Brownwood.
Sheffield
______________________________
Speaker of the House
I certify that H.R. No. 2354 was adopted by the House on May
21, 2015, by a non-record vote.
______________________________
Chief Clerk of the House