SENATE RESOLUTION NO. 800
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 United States 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 Senate of the State of Texas, 84th
Legislature, hereby commemorate the 75th anniversary of the
establishment of Camp Bowie in Brownwood.
Fraser
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President of the Senate
I hereby certify that the
above Resolution was adopted by
the Senate on May 13, 2015.
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Secretary of the Senate
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Member, Texas Senate