Honoring the Veterans of the 222

           Preface:  Last spring I was contacted by an editor of the Utah media group and was asked to do a piece on the history of the 222.  This story appeared in VALOR, this past Sunday,  November 8,2015.  It is an amazing tribute to the soldiers of the Korean War.  Unfortunately, my story did not appear in its entirety so in honor of Veterans Day, tomorrow I am sharing it her on my blog.  I am so grateful I had the chance to be part of VALOR.  Thanks to all of the 222nd and to Veterans everywhere.   America is the land of the FREE because of the BRAVE.




 A fervor of patriotism ripples across Southern Utah.  The root of this patriotism is embodied in the 222^nd Field Artillery Unit of the Utah National Guard- Commonly known as “Southern Utah Pride,” “The Triple Deuce,” and “The Golden Boys”.  For generations, men have left their wives, children, and their livelihoods to answer the call of freedom.

            The absence of these soldiers not only left holes in the hearts of their loved ones, but in the communities as a whole.  These men were educators, medical personnel, policemen, farmers, businessmen, and civic personnel. They were young- in the beginning stages of their lives.  However, they answered the call to serve and their communities rallied behind them.

History of the 222nd

            This portrait of freedom spans generations. The 222 traces its heritage to 1841- the Nauvoo Legion and then the Mormon Battalion.  These soldiers served  their God, their country, their wives, and their children.

            Batteries from the 222^nd including Battery E (Richfield), Battery F (Cedar City), and the Headquarter Battery in Beaver received service credit for the Civil War. Units from the 222nd FA also served as the 145^th in World War I.  World War II brought restructuring within the guard units.  Re-designated and restructured as the 204^th, the 222   took part in various campaigns in WWII including Normandy, Northern France, Rhineland, Ardennes-Alsace, and Central Europe.           

            The Post World War II Period again brought restructuring to the 222^nd FA.  In March 1947, the Triple Deuce known as the 204^th FA was reorganized and re-designated as the 213^th and attached to the 145^th.  The men of this Battalion were comprised of the following batteries: A Battery-Cedar City, B Battery- St. George, C Battery-Fillmore, and Service Battery- Beaver.

Korean Conflict

            On August 3, 1950, the “now 213^th was inducted into Federal service. The Korean Conflict was a physical manifestation of the Cold War.  To the men who served, it was a war- not a conflict.  The Golden boys began their trek of miracles.  Of the nineteen field artillery units summoned to battle in the Korean Conflict, the 213^th was the only one not to lose a soldier.  They became known as the “Mormon Battalion,”  “the Six Hundred Stripling Warriors.”

            The call to duty came far too soon after World War II.  Communities and families were still bandaging deep wounds.  Somehow they mustered their courage…

            These men were simple boys who rushed to the altar to marry their sweethearts before deployment.  In the ten days before deployment, there was a wedding almost every night in Beaver.  One soldier even lied about his age in order to join the 213^th because his two older brothers enlisted. The boys of the 213th had grown up together- they now prayed they would not die together.

            These soldiers prayed- they knew they needed God with them.  These prayers were consistent and earnest much like those of their Colonel’s who every morning closed his tent flap and hung a white hanky to signify “prayer time.”

            Lt. Col. Frank Dalley of Summit Utah led the 213th.  These soldiers were new to the rigors of war.  They were all from surrounding communities.  They were brothers, cousins, friends, uncles, nephews.  The weight to bring them all home hung heavily upon Dalley’s shoulders. The 213^th remained in tactical position at the “Old Iron Triangle” extending from Kumwha to Kumsong from December 1951 to March 1952.

Lt. Colonel Frank Dalley- photo credit Dalley family

            The Miracle of Kapyong took place in the early morning hours on April 23, 1951.  Located in a lush valley, 4,000 Chinese Soldiers attacked the 213^th hoping to break through to the valley.  The soldiers fought through the night- it was ferocious- the artillery men held their ground enabling firing missions to continue. At dawn, Battery A organized a combat patrol and used a SELF-PROPELLED Howitzer as a tank.   When the roar of gunfire ceased, three hundred fifty enemy men lost their lives… eight hundred thirty surrendered; not one guardsman lost his life. One Chinese soldier stated, “we shoot them, but they don’t fall.”

            Prayers had been answered- Prayers from kneeling mothers, begging wives faithful children, their own fervent earnest prayers, and the prayers of their valiant leaders. Before rejoining their infantry, these soldiers buried their enemy- a true act of valor.

            Korea and Beyond

            Freedom was “cold” and quiet in Southern Utah and throughout the world in the years that followed the Korean Conflict.   In 1972, the 222^nd was organized to its present state.  From January to March 2002, the 222^nd provided security during the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City. 

            It wasn’t until September 11, 2001 that the 222^nd knew terror was on the rise when the United States was attacked on its own land.   Men and women who grew in the shadows of the men of Kapyong awakened and communities once again rallied.

             In March 2002, the 222^nd was activated for war in Iraq during Operation Enduring Freedom.  Shortly thereafter, the mission changed. The Triple Deuce was deployed to Ft. Lewis Washington to provide logistical support to the ROTC.

Future missions for the 222^nd included   January 2005- June 2006 Camp Ramadi, Iraq and June 2011- December 2011 Baghdad. 

            The 2005 deployment of the 222^nd stripped Southern Utah once again of its youth. Over five hundred soldiers from Utah were sent to Iraq leaving children  without a parent, spouses separated, hospitals, schools, businesses, civic duties left shorthanded.  For the soldiers, times in Iraq were far from pleasant.  Warfare had changed since the days of Korea.  The Triple Deuce was assigned difficult missions under bad conditions.  The area was difficult.  Their mission- not to conquer, but liberate.

            These soldiers were neither faceless nor nameless.  Young Corporal Justin Chappel left behind his bride of 5 months.  While serving in Ramadi, Chappel had 3 assignments.  These included: 1. C Battery fire direction specialist which involved   base defense- 12 hours on the tower.  2.  Patrols- 24 hour shifts with battalion to observation post. 3. Artillery- Habbaniyah Howittzer- self propelled cannon- could hit target 5 football fields away.  Chappel’s favorite assignment was artillery.  He loved the intensity.  Chappel returned home and after fulfilling his 8 year commitment to the Guard, his service continues but now as a local police officer.

Corporal Justin Chappell

            Travis Fullmer joined the 222 in 1991 while still in high school.  During his 2005 deployment Staff Sergeant Fullmer left behind his wife and two young daughters.  While deployed, he served with his three cousins, Kaden, Kam, and Luke Mitchell.  For these four young soldiers, serving their country was a family tradition. Fullmer’s three uncles had also served with the 222.  While away at war, Grandma Mitchell always said “Grandpa Elmo” (deceased grandfather) was watching over their 4 grandsons. Today, Fullmer continues to serve his country.  He presently serves as a Major with the Medical Command Unit (MEDCOM).

SSG Travis Fullmer with Iraqi soldiers

            Following the example of his father, Daniel Ekker joined the guard when he was 17 years old. In 2005, he left behind his 5^th grade classroom and his wife and two young sons. It was hard to say good-bye to daddy- hard for daddy too. But to the boys, he was in “Icrack.”  Daddy told them somebody had to “stand on the wall.”  Ekker began his service as Private First Class but retired from the 222 in December 2014 as a Second Lieutenant.  Ekker now serves as a principal in a local Elementary School.

 

            Perhaps Lt. Colonel Richard Miller was read “The story of Kapyong” at bedtime as a child from which he learned Colonel Frank Dalley’s military maneuvers.  Whatever the case, the 222 followed the examples of their predecessors.  Members of the Triple Deuce gathered around their Humvees and prayed before each mission.  All 500 soldiers from Utah came home.

Austin and Richard Miller

            In 2011, on their last deployment the “Golden Boys” of the “Triple Deuce” were given gold coins as a good luck token.  But the tokens represented far more than that.  They represented the legacy of faith of soldiers since the days of Nauvoo, they embodied the prayers said daily in their behalf around kitchen tables and at bedsides, and they symbolized 600 stripling soldiers hanging onto a white hankie.  The ripple of Patriotism continues today in Southern Utah because of the 222.