Courtesy Photo | Members of the 110th Medical Regiment, Nebraska National Guard, in Normandy, France...... read more read more
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Shortly after the start of the Spanish-American War, the First Nebraska Infantry Regiment found themselves activated for federal duty and bound for the Philippines on the Senator – a bulk freighter. On June 21, 1898, they suffered their first casualty – only it wasn’t from combat. Sgt. George L. Geddes of Company C, from Beatrice, died on the ship from spinal meningitis. Out of the 4,016 men that Nebraska provided, 119 died from diseases alone. Nebraska knew that something needed to change and so on Feb. 10, 1903, the Nebraska National Guard organized Hospital Corps, the first unit believed to be an independent medical National Guard unit west of the Mississippi River.
The unit would go through numerous changes in name, personnel, and mission over its more than 100-year history, with Soldiers of the unit ultimately serving in the Mexican Border War, World War I, World War II, Operation Nobel Eagle/Enduring Freedom, and Operation Iraqi Freedom. In its final iteration, known as the 110th Multifunctional Medical Battalion, it was the most awarded battalion in the Nebraska history. The unit most-recently cased its colors, signifying deactivation, during a ceremony Dec. 14, 2019. During the ceremony, then Col. Gary Ropers, 92nd Troop Command commander, said, “It has come and gone several times since the early 1900s, so don’t be surprised if in the next 15 to 20 years, we are coming together again and standing the 110th up again.”
In fact, shortly after World War II, the unit was deactivated. The medics in the unit, though, were still in the National Guard and therefore needed to drill with a new unit. Each unit within the state in the 1950s stood up a medical section within their service companies or headquarters companies, so the medics still served the individual Soldiers – just at the unit level rather than as a battalion of its own. After all, the Spanish-American War taught the Army and the National Guard a powerful lesson in the need for clean and sanitary conditions as well as a strong Medical Corps. How many men would have been saved of the 119 who died of diseases if the Nebraska National Guard Hospital Corps had existed alongside the Nebraska Infantry Regiments? That question is why individual medical sections were created and why the Nebraska National Guard still has medics today.
The National Guard has a long history of service in the wars of the United States, dating back to the American Revolution, but today’s National Guard Soldiers and Airmen are also known for helping the citizens of the United States during domestic emergencies. From natural disasters, riots, strikes, and global pandemics, many of today’s service men and women of the National Guard join not only as a sense of duty to their country, but as a sense of duty to their fellow citizens and communities. This was evident during the most recent COVID-19 pandemic response when the Nebraska National Guard was called to support health and human services providers across the state. They helped medical professionals administer tests, distributed supplies, and assisted local authorities with other varied tasks. They even had a special delegation that went to the Czech Republic to help with the COVID-19 response there and when vaccines became available, they helped with administering it to the public until local medical facilities were able to do it themselves. Many of these volunteer Soldiers and Airmen were medics, some of which even served in the 110th MMB prior to its deactivation.
Although these were local augmentees and not any individual unit, it goes to show how far the Nebraska National Guard has come in terms of medical readiness. They understand better today the importance of being medically ready as well as physically and mentally ready for whatever mission arises. And that desire for medical readiness extends beyond individual Soldiers or units, to helping ensure citizens and communities are healthy and safe, as well. It helps to make our Nebraska National Guard always ready and therefore, always there.
(Nebraska National Guard story by U.S. Army National Guard Staff Sgt. Sherri Maberry, 105th Military History Team)
| Date Taken: | 07.27.2022 |
| Date Posted: | 07.27.2022 12:52 |
| Story ID: | 425914 |
| Location: | NEBRASKA, US |
| Web Views: | 109 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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