Lt. C. L. "Leo" Johnson And Officers Of Battery A (162 Infantry). At Mess. Border At Calexico, Cal


This is a real photo postcard sent from Calexico, Cal to Mr. R. A. Schrauman of Oak Grove, Oregon in August 1916. The Oregon Army National Guard artillery unit was, from what I have been told, located in Oregon City, Oregon and did much of their inactive duty training at nearby Camp Withycombe, Clackamas, Oregon. "Leo" is the gentleman third from the left, according to a friend, Edmund Fisher, who identified him as his great uncle. Border Service is how the 1st Battalion 162nd Infantry (currently deactivated as of January 2006) added a cactus plant to it's unit crest. Border Service, (conducted along the border of Mexico to quell the incursions of Pancho Villa) was commanded by General "Blackjack" Pershing who ended up as the AEF (Army Expeditionary Forces) commander in WWI. Border Service was timely as it helped the units who participated in it during it's four month duration, such as the 162 Infantry, be better prepared for duty in The Great War, mainly fighting in France. Though the 162 Infantry earned the title, "First to Assemble," for being counted as the first state malitia to be ready for service for WWI, unfortunately they were parceled out to other brigades and divisions before they left US East Coast Army forts, such as Fort Devens, Mass. for Europe in 1918 to fill vacancies.

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