Guard Wars: The 28th Infantry Division in World War II

5. The Pennsylvania National Guard and American Society

78 5 The Pennsylvania National Guard and American Society Soldiers in the Pennsylvania National Guard interacted with society in ways distinctive from the manner in which the Regular Army related to the country and its people. Guardsmen had an unsettled and insecure relationship with their employers, who were ambivalent about adjusting work schedules to allow for National Guard training. Since they were civilian-soldiers, the public respondedtothemwithgreaterwarmththantheydidtoregulars.Becausethey were civilians first, recruiters approached them with appeals to civilian and local values. Although the PNG leadership expressed a desire for a cross-section of the state’s young men as recruits, the social profile of the PNG volunteers did not match the profile of the state. Neither fully civilian nor fully military, the PNG leadership evinceda setofvalues thatinfluenced its relationship with the War Department. Relations with Employers NationalGuardsmenhadtonavigatebetweenthetimeneededfortrainingand the work schedules of their employers. With unemployment at 17 percent, the country was still in the grip of the Great Depression in 1939 and 1940. Workers were easy to come by and jobs were at a premium.1 National Guard soldiers needed to gain some scheduling leniency from their employers in order to attend their drills. When summer maneuvers approached, a guardsman had to persuade his employer to give him two weeks off in order to attend. Gaining cooperation from employers demanded constant attention from the Pennsylvania National Guard, especially from General Martin. This experience added anotherdimensiontotheterm“civil-militaryrelations,”whichnormallyrefers to relations between the military high command and civilian leaders, particu- The Pennsylvania National Guard and American Society | 79 larly between the Joint Chiefs of Staff on one side and the president and the Congress on the other. Martin used his dual position as adjutant general of Pennsylvania and commanding general of the 28th Division with his political talents to ease the development of the division from a local civic institution to a war-fighting organization. In the middle of 1939, the greatest NG-employer challenge was time off for summermaneuvers.Forsomeonewhowasaninvariablyyoungemployeewith no seniority to ask his boss for two weeks off in 1939, even for as noble a task as military training, was a somewhat risky proposition, considering the economic environment. Pennsylvania National Guard members learned during the1939maneuversthattheyneededplentyofleadtimetomakearrangements with their employers to be absent.2 When the War Department announced the special seven-day field training program for the Guard in the fall of 1939, unit commanders worried about the impact on their troops’ jobs. Companies were used to granting guardsman employees two weeks off in the summer, but this supplementary training cycle did not follow the pattern to which they were accustomed. The economy had enjoyed an upswing and, with it, a demand for workers and products. Businesses therefore could less afford to grant the men time away from their shifts. Many of the soldiers had little seniority and were reluctant to ask for leniency. Fortunately, commanders paid visits to employers to seek their cooperation and printed articles in newspapers explaining the need for time away from work. Commanders did not always have to beseech employers for understanding. The Kiwanis Club of Coraopolis, for example, asked the commander of the Service Company, 103rd Medical Regiment, to describe their operations at the Kiwanis’s first meeting of the fall, which gave the medics a chance to convey the importance of their duties. Kiwanis members were “the men who employ our boys, and the more they understand about our work the easier it is going to be to obtain their cooperation when we need it.”3 Governor Arthur H. James asked businesses for their understanding in November. Guardsmen also had to find time for another drill per week.4 The week away from work that fall was a sacrifice for the men. Their wages averaged about twenty dollars a week, but field training paid only seven dollars a week.5 Employers could have replaced them had they wished. Since NG service cost employers and employees time and money, patriotism played a role in their generosity and motives. Many employers, both corporate and small business, actually paid their soldier-workers their full wage while they were away on maneuvers that fall. Many of the remainder made up the difference between the PNG’s one dollar a day pay and the soldier’s normal wage. 80 | Guard Wars A few offered no financial assistance, but still allowed the employees to miss work.6 Furthermore,manybusinessownerspersonallyencouragedtheirworkers in the PNG to attend their camps...