HISTORY OF THE
819^TH TANK DESTROYER BATTALION

	On 1 June 1942, the 819th Tank Destroyer was activated at Camp Chaffee, Arkansas, by 
authority of General Order #44, from the Second Army which was then commanded by Lieutenant 
Colonel Kenneth F. Pughe, formed the nucleus of the new battalion. The enlisted cadre was 
was furnished by the 705th Tank Destroyer Battalion, Camp Cooke; California. 
Lieutenant Colonel Pughe and Major Joseph F. Palmer came to Camp Chaffee directly from 
Tank Destroyer School at Camp Hood, Texas. Seventeen of the officers were assigned directly 
from the Infantry School, Fort Benning, Georgia, while the remaining five of the original 
group were cadre officers from the 705th.

	In addition to the usual difficulties which confront a new unit, neither the 
officers nor the enlisted men had been especially trained in forming units, but they set 
out determined to show themselves and the Army that they could do it and do it well. The 
battalion as it stood on V-J day will show how well they succeeded.

	At the start, all personnel were assigned to headquaters and headquarters company 
because they were to few to fill in all companies, and they began immediately to prepare 
themselves to recieve and train fillers. On 19 June, 1942, all companies were assigned 
personnel and the real work and trouble began in earnest. The command was as follows:

	Of the above assignments only two officers remained with the battalion on 2 
September, 1945--Captain Jack M. Pace as S-3, and Captain Merritt E. Overton as Company 
Commander of Company "B". In addition Captain Robert L. Dauterman as S-4, Captain Lloyd 
B. Simmons as headquaters Commandant, and Captain Lawrence A. Wickline as S-2 were with 
the battalion on activation date and remained on 2 September, 1945.

	Of the orginial enlisted cadre, the following men were still on duty with the 
battalion on V-J day:

	No one company had enough personnel to act as a unit so it was necessary to 
pool all resources, of both personnel and equiptment. All members of the battalion 
continued to prepare themselves for the job ahead by daily classes, drills, study, 
work, and even classes outside drill hours and on Sundays.

	Fillers were recieved in July,1942. There was no problem as to which company 
to assign these men to--they they were only three and trained for medics. Fillers 
continued to arrive in small numbers, and as a result the training program was very 
difficult to arrange and sometimes a bit confusing. V-J day found seven men still 
with the battalion from these first small filler groups:

	In spite of all difficulties the battalion did continue to function as a 
battalion and made remarkable progress. Inspectors from the second Army were pleased 
with the work being done. At Camp Chaffee Major Palmer was relieved from assignment 
to the battalion and Major James F. Wooster, (then Captain) was assigned and became 
executive officer.

	The first company competition on rifle markmanship was completed on the Camp 
Chaffee Rifle Range in October, 1942, with Company "B" winning high honors. A chance 
to participate in the Armistice Day Parade at Russellville, Arkansas, was their 
reward.

	On 15, December, 1942, the battalion was relieved from the Second Army and 
sent to Camp Bowie, Texas, where it was assigned to the Tank Destroyer Center and 
placed under Basic Unit Training Center (BUTC) for training. It was not untill 
January, 1943, that the battalion began to receive fillers in large numbers. All 
companies were at full strength, and soon the battalion had to many men. We found 
that having to many men in some ways was worse than having too few.

	It was decided to forget the different stages of training of the groups of 
men and start all over. The latest fillers were received direct from Reception 
Centers and had had no miltary training. The entire battalion began training all 
over, and the new men learned faster for competing with men partially trained. 
Though it did not seem so at the time, all men benefited by the review.

	It was at Camp Bowie, Texas, that the battalion was first assigned to a Tank 
Destroyer Group for training, and while the relationship between Group and Battalion 
was never clarified at Bowie it was, for the most part, pleasant and beneficial to 
both. Shortly before leaving Bowie the battalion was attached to the 11th 
Tank Destroyer Group, whose Commanding Officer, Colonel Devine, is well remembered by 
all who knew him.

	From Bowie the Battalion moved to Camp Hood, Texas, for advanced training 
with Advanced Unit Training Center (AUTC). We were stationed at Shell Camp #1 for the 
first part of our stay at Hood. Here the battalion trained as a unit rather than by 
seperate company. Emphasis was on tactics and combat operations. And the battalion got 
acquainted with the cammando course, of which they had heard many and varied stories. 
The dread with most of the battalion thought of the course turned to respect when the 
battalion moved to the course for one week.