Task Force Smith - A Reminder of the Forgotten War

The year was 1950, and the world was recovering from the most destructive conflict to have ever occurred. The reconstruction of the world was ongoing, with two major power blocs dominating the international order: the American led Western Bloc and the Soviet led Eastern Bloc. In late June, the news came to the world: the Soviet aligned Democratic People’s Republic of Korea has crossed the dividing line into the American aligned Republic of Korea. The first war of the post-World War II world had come; the Korean War had begun. Often referred to as the Forgotten War here in the United States due to its unfortunate timeline placement between WWII and Vietnam, the Korean War was mired with the political backdrop of the Cold War and the drawdown undertaken by the western powers in the wake of the end of WWII.

The first Americans deployed in the wake of the DPRK’s southward advance were members of the Japanese occupation forces, sent to garrison the Japanese Home Islands in the wake of Imperial Japan’s surrender at the end of World War II. While the wider United Nations intervention would not come until after the coming battle, the battle at Osan is considered the first engagement by the United Nations Command. While overall command was held by General Douglas MacArthur, Lieutenant Colonel Charles Smith was given operational command of the task force, made up of 1st Battalion, 21st Infantry Regiment, and Battery A of the 542nd Field Artillery, leading to the apt name of ‘Task Force Smith.’ Made up of portions of the 24th Infantry Division, the 540 men were instructed to halt or delay the advancing North Koreans for long enough to deploy further reinforcements. Just under two weeks after the beginning of the invasion, on July 5th, 1950, (and two days before the official formation of the United Nations Command) the American Task Force Smith would settle in at Osan, located south of the Republic of Korea’s captured capital in Seoul. The defensive position was accompanied by artillery and anti-tank weapons used by the American Army during the second World War, with the expectation being that nothing the North Koreans had would be able to resist the might of American arms. Task Force Smith, in the early hours of the morning, would be disabused of this notion rather quickly and violently. The Task Force was faced with thousands of advancing North Korean soldiers, including DPRK Soviet T-34s, with only an undermanned battalion and a single artillery battery to carry out their orders to delay.

According to the National Museum United States Army article from January 29th, 2025, “Task Force Smith and the Problem with ‘Readiness,’” the artillery employed by the US soldiers would ricochet off the T-34's armor. Likewise, the American anti-tank weapons were also unable to pierce the Soviet armor. Still, these soldiers would delay, spending themselves dearly to halt the advance. However, they were able to eventually disable six of the Soviet designed tanks, as well as fight the DPRK’s soldiers to a standstill for seven long, grueling hours. With the limited ammunition that could break the tank armor expended and the increasing number of North Korean infantry advancing, the heavy order to retreat was given. In the end, there would be over 150 casualties (missing, wounded, or dead).

Among the number of men who served with Task Force Smith and survived, there was a Bossier resident of special note. Corporal Joseph Rachal Jr., a resident of what was at the time Curtis, Louisiana, was among a selection of the men who served with Task Force Smith who were brought to the White House for honors on behalf of those that fought at Osan. This collection of eighteen men were met with President Truman in the White House Rose Garden, and according to the UC Santa Barbara American Presidency Project, said to them: “I congratulate you men on the job you did in that original task force. Had it not been for the fact that these two divisions to which you belong had caused the Communists to hesitate, we possibly would not have been able to hold our position with the Korean Republic.” It is because of Corporal Rachal and the men alongside him of Task Force Smith that gave the South Koreans and Americans time to dig in further down the road, with a better understanding of who and what they were facing in the times to come.

The legacy of Task Force Smith, and by extension the Korean War, has been a mixed one. Task Force Smith taught the U.S. Army a valuable reminder about the necessity of intelligence and the perils of overconfidence. The Korean War, meanwhile, is an example of the Cold War that was to come: two dominant world powers in a constant game of back-and-forth. Regardless of these facts, the men of Task Force Smith were not responsible for what brought them there. Their sacrifice bought time for the Republic of Korea and the United Nations Command to muster a response that would ultimately see the DPRK pushed back beyond the 38th parallel, and the current ongoing cessation of hostilities.

If you have any photos or other information relating to the history of Bossier City or Bossier Parish, the History Center may be interested in adding the materials to its research collection by donation or by scanning them and returning the originals. Call or visit us to learn more. We are open M-Th 9-8, Fri 9-6, and Sat 9-5. Our phone number is (318) 746-7717 and our email is history-center@bossierlibrary.org. We can also be found online at https://www.facebook.com/BPLHistoryCenter/ and http://bpl-hc.blogspot.com/

Images: 

• Task Force Smith arrives in South Korea - (U.S. National Archives/July 2, 1950/NAID: 315834053)
• Task Force Smith Monument at Osan - (U.S. Air Force photo/Master Sgt. Matt Summers/VIRN: 081009-F-9999S-0001)

Article by: Jonah Daigle

History Center Collection Highlights Wedding Fashions and Trends of the Past

June is such a popular month for marriages. Did you know that the month of June derives its name from Juno, the Roman goddess of marriage? Here is a look in the History Center’s collection to learn about the traditions and fashions of Bossier’s historic weddings.

There are many photographs of wedding parties and brides in our collection. Thomas P. Adger and Clyde Louise Herndon wed at the First Baptist Church in Plain Dealing on June 17, 1914. We have an entire series of candid photos from their wedding day taken by John Allen, including one of the young couple climbing into an automobile after the ceremony. This series highlights the fashions of the couple and the wedding party, as well as the many attendees.

The Bossier Banner frequently would include wedding announcements and ceremony descriptions. B.F. Smisson and his new bride, Sallie M. Arnold Smisson, sent the Banner more than just a write-up of their 1875 wedding – they also sent cake! William Scanland, editor of the newspaper, received a box filled with “the most delicious cake – from the richest fruit to the snow-white bride’s cake, emblematic of her purity.” The couple was married at the home of T.J. Tidwell, one of Bossier Parish’s well-known citizens.

In fact, sending wedding cake “in exchange” for an announcement seems to be business as usual for editor Scanland. When the couple - Mr. Henry Bodenheimer and Miss Cora Well - were married in the bride’s mother’s Shreveport home on May 26, 1880, Scanland wrote that, though both bride and groom had been residing in Shreveport the past several years, they “in fact have been raised here and have many warm friends of all classes and creeds. The fair bride is one of the handsomest and most lovable young ladies in the city, and certainly Henry has won a rich prize … We acknowledge the receipt of the usual printer’s fee--delicious cake and sparkling wine. We wish them all imaginable happiness.”

The majority of brides today wear white dresses for their weddings, but colorful dresses were common in the past. Leila Wyche wore a dark brown dress with a matching hat for her marriage to Harry M. Carter on November 15, 1887 in Bellevue. This practical dress was donated with its coordinating hat by her family to be preserved in the History Center’s collection. It was fashionable enough for a wedding and Leila could wear it for other occasions, too. The Bossier Banner printed the Carters’ marriage announcement two days after the wedding, noting that the bride is a “lovely and accomplished lady and a favorite in Bossier Parish social circles,” while the groom is a “worthy young gentleman of excellent character and energetic habits.”

The History Center’s collection also contains a photo of a young woman with wavy bobbed hair wearing a high-necked Victorian-style long-sleeved, floor-length gown covered entirely in lace, possibly ivory or another light color, and two strands of pearls. It is not, however, her wedding day! It is a photo of the donor’s friend, “Maugrete T in her mother's wedding dress on ‘Dignity Day’ c. 1930.” Another reference to such a day is found in the Shreveport Journal in October of 1930. It describes members of Shreveport’s Fair Park High School Class of 1931, the first graduating class of Fair Park, who “observed their ‘Dignity Day’ last Tuesday. The girls were dressed in the sweeping skirts, ornate blouses and waists (shirts) and fantastic hats of bygone days. The boys turned out in full dress.” It appears that roughly a century ago, Dignity Day meant dressing up for fun in very formal, noticeably old-fashioned clothes and, of course, accessories.

Like the photos mentioned above, many of our photographs are black and white, so it helps to research the wedding announcements in the local newspapers to get a better idea of bridal fashions. William Calvin Vance, Jr. and his fiancée, Mary Emily Arnold, married on February 6, 1902. The following week, an article about their wedding ran in the Bossier Banner. We learn that Mary’s dress was much more vibrant than the photo leads us to believe. “The beautiful and charming bride wore a dainty gown of green Venetian cloth, with trimmings of delicate pink appliquéd in white. An exquisite boa of soft white chiffon gave an elegant finish to this lovely costume. She carried a bouquet of bride’s roses, white carnations, and ferns.”

Please visit the History Center to look at these and other photos of weddings in Bossier Parish, or to utilize our genealogy resources to research the marriages in your family tree. The History Center is located at 7204 Hutchison Drive, Bossier City, LA. We are open: M-Th 9-8, Fri 9-6, and Sat 9-5. Our phone number is (318) 746-7717 and our email is history-center@bossierlibrary.org.For other fun facts, photos, and videos, be sure to follow us @BPLHistoryCenter on FB and check out our blog http://bpl-hc.blogspot.com/.

Images: 

• Tom Adger and his bride Louise after their wedding, June 17, 1914/History Center collection
• Woman wearing her mother's wedding dress on Dignity Day, 1930/History Center collection
• Emily Vance in her wedding attire, Feb. 6, 1902/History Center collection

Article by: Pam Carlisle

Barksdale Provided Training to Help Frenchmen Reclaim Homeland

Eighty-five years ago this month, France officially surrendered to the Germans following the Nazi invasion of the country in 1940. But while flags emblazoned with the Nazi swastika flew over Paris, there were those who vowed that Hitler’s forces would not long remain on French soil. And Barksdale Field, as the base was then known, helped keep that promise.

Beginning in May 1944, young Frenchmen started arriving at Barksdale to train as pilots, gunners, navigators, and bombardiers. They carried with them the hopes of a nation desperate to oust the invaders. In the coming weeks and months, others arrived. They were part of a larger contingent of French cadets, eventually totaling approximately 4,000, that came from areas outside occupied France for training at airfields across the United States. The goal: to equip them with the skills necessary to help reclaim their homeland. They would be known as the Free French Air Force and, according to a September 2019 article in the magazine France-Amerique, the men were quite surprised by life in the U.S. “They couldn’t believe their eyes,” the article states. “After the hardships of war, they discovered an affluent America filled with Coca-Cola, hamburgers, drive-in theaters, and boogie-woogie music.”

The Frenchmen who came to Barksdale received a warm welcome. The Shreveport Times of May 7, 1944, contains a story of the first arrivals being feted with a party at the home of Centenary College language professor, Dr. E.L. Ford. Although, according to the story, some of the men spoke no English, that didn’t prove a hinderance. “Once at the Ford home, … where a number of persons who spoke French were present and also a group of girls from the French club at Centenary, the men … in bits of French and English strongly expressed their delight at being here,” the story states. “They like ‘cokes’… and are in awe of our food.” I wasn’t able to find specific information about how the language barrier was overcome during their training at the airfield.

As the parties and welcoming faded into memory and the men’s training began, a seriousness took hold, reminding them that they had a job to do and a country to save. An article in Smithsonian Magazine from March 2004, describes the scolding that one cadet training in Alabama received after a poor flight performance. “The exasperated instructor marched him over to another officer on the flightline and told him to give the student hell—in French.”

Unfortunately, some of the cadets at Barksdale paid the ultimate price during flight training. From September 1944 through February 1945, thirteen Frenchmen were killed in plane crashes here. Newspaper accounts of the time detailed the tragedies. A witness to one of the crashes was a city editor with The Shreveport Journal. “There was a dull thud as it struck the ground, an explosion, a burst of flame … and then great billows of smoke rose skyward,” he said in the September 15, 1944 issue of the paper. And the hazards of training were not limited to the air. Another young cadet died after accidently stepping into a spinning propeller.

The B-26 Marauder, a twin-engined bomber, was the aircraft in which the men were given instruction. According to the National Air and Space Museum, it included some new features, but could be difficult to learn due to higher speeds needed during take-offs and landings. The museum states that one of the plane’s early nicknames was the “Widow Maker.” Despite these challenges, the B-26 proved to be invaluable. The museum says of it, “Like the M1 Garand combat rifle, the Sherman tank, and the LST, the Marauder was an important weapon in the war against the Axis powers.”

As reports came over the radio of the liberation of Paris in August 1944, the Frenchmen were, of course, thrilled. Barksdale’s Bark, the official newspaper of the airfield, stated in an article from August 26 that year that the men “ … marked the stirring events in their native France by marching together on the parade grounds.” A photo shows them carrying both the American flag and the French tri-color flag, a fitting tribute to Barksdale’s role in providing the skills necessary to help France rise again.

If you have any photos or other information relating to the history of Bossier Parish, the History Center may be interested in adding the materials to its research collection by donation or by scanning them and returning the originals. Call or visit us to learn more. We are open M-Th 9-8, Fri 9-6, and Sat 9-5. Our phone number is (318) 746-7717 and our email is history-center@bossierlibrary.org. We can also be found online at https://www.facebook.com/BPLHistoryCenter/ and http://bpl-hc.blogspot.com/

Images: 

• French fliers attend party welcoming them to Barksdale Field/courtesy The Shreveport Times, May 7, 1944
• French fliers march on parade grounds at Barksdale to mark the liberation of Paris/courtesy Barksdale's Bark, August 26, 1944

Article by: Kevin Flowers

Safety on the Home Front

If you’ve ever worked or been anywhere where accidents can happen (which of course is anywhere us fallible humans are!) chances are you’ve seen signs: “Safety is no accident!” Or, “Stay alert, don’t get hurt!” or some other slogan reminding you that a minute of distraction could lead to a lifetime of pain – or worse. The National Safety Council (a nonprofit symbolized by a green cross that was founded in 1913, and chartered by Congress in 1953) has designated June for National Safety Month as an annual observance to help keep each other safe, in the workplace, home or anyplace. The designation of June to highlight safety happened in 1996, but special campaigns at other times of the year had already been run for decades earlier, including, and perhaps especially, toward the end of and just after WWII.

In its March 29, 1946 issue, The Plain Dealing Progress ran an article announcing a special fund-raising and awareness campaign for May that year “to enlist all in a “war on accidents” under the banner of the “Green Cross for Safety”. This drive that for the first time in the council’s history appealed directly to the general public for funds, because of “the appalling rise in traffic deaths since end of the war. The Green Cross will serve as the emblem of safety in the home, on the farm, in the factory and in the school, as well as on the teeming streets and highways of the nation.” said the NSC’s president Ned Dearborn.

This increase in accidents was after, Mr. Dearborn pointed out, already during the war, deaths and injuries from accidents on the home front exceeded battle casualties among the American military forces. He stated that in 1945 alone 96,000 Americans including 20,000 children lost their lives through all types of accidents. And at least 10,300,000 persons were injured accidentally.

Some of these home front incidents of course, were affected by wartime deprivations. A dwindling availability of farm labor due to Americans fighting in the war, meant that fewer, and less experienced, farm workers were doing the vital, yet often dangerous work of growing and harvesting food, and raw materials, such as rubber used in tires, and production workers and facilities for newer vehicles or replacement parts, being needed for wartime equipment needs rather than civilian automotive use meant more older, or less-maintained vehicles were on American roads.

The following June, just before the first Fourth of July in peacetime (following the surrender of Japan) an editorial from the National Safety Council was published in the “Bossier Banner-Progress,” on June 20, 1946, entitled, “Be Alive on the Fifth.” The column warned that historically, the Fourth of July has also been a tragic day when hundreds of citizens have died of careless accidents and that if a recent trend held, that year could be the worst:

“Peace brought an end to the killing only on the battlefield. Since V-J Day (Victory in Japan Day, September 2, 1945) the accident toll has skyrocketed to near record highs, up 44 percent in traffic alone. Why? Plenty of gas, more leisure, release from restraint and restrictions. No wartime patriotic urge. A long-deferred desire to blow off stream with a little fun and relaxation. Add to that worn-out cars and tires, deteriorated highways, a carefree sprit that too often becomes a careless spirt, and you have a dark prospect for this Fourth of July and the entire vacation season. The tragic and ironic part of it is that so many Americans, after sacrificing and risking so much to preservice life and freedom, will lose it irrevocably and needlessly during a moment of carelessness.”

The editorial concluded, “It has been a long time since America enjoyed a real summer holiday and vacation season. Everyone deserves that relaxation. So have fun on the Fourth. But be alive on the Fifth!”

Incidentally, this seems like a good time to brag on the employees of the Bossier Parish Police Jury and members of the BPPJ and say that Jason Hazelton, Safety Services Consultant with the Louisiana Workers' Compensation Corporation (LWCC), recently awarded a plaque to Glenn Benton, Police Jury President, for being one of the 70 safest workplaces in the state in 2024! Workers from each BPPJ department, including Bossier Parish Libraries, were present to receive the award on May 21, 2025.

If you have any information, stories, or photos about the home front in Bossier Parish during WWII, or about past campaigns to keep Bossier citizens safe and healthy, we would love to add them to our History Center’s research collection. Contact us at 318-746-7717 or email history-center@bossierlibrary.org or visit us at 2206 Beckett St., Bossier City. We are now open: M-Th 9-8, Fri 9-6, and Sat 9-5. For other intriguing facts, photos, and videos, be sure to follow us @BPLHistoryCenter on FB, @bplhistorycenter on TikTok, and check out our blog http://bpl-hc.blogspot.com/.

Images:

• Postwar advertisement for Firestone Tires and the company’s solution for worn tires until new tires become available.  The Planters Press, Bossier City, Louisiana, Jan 17, 1946.
• Members of the Bossier Parish Police Jury and staff from all BPPJ departments receive a plaque from Jason Hazelton, Safety Services Consultant with the Louisiana Workers' Compensation Corporation (LWCC), for being one of the 70 safest workplaces in Louisiana in 2024. May 21, 2025. BPPJ photo.

Article by: Pam Carlisle

Where’s the Beef! - Louisiana Beef Week

Agriculture is a key piece in the puzzle that is the Louisiana economy, and within that lies Louisiana beef. Cattle raising, and the subindustries built around enabling it, has been a mainstay in the Louisiana culture and economy since the early days of Louisiana colonization. From there, the industry has only grown, and Bossier Parish is no exception. In 2023 alone, beef production was valued at 15.2 million dollars according to the LSU AgCenter’s annual report of Louisiana agriculture. Therefore, it should come as no surprise that to honor this continued contribution, a celebration was devised in the early 1960s with a single goal: drive Louisianians to eat Louisiana beef. Thus came the aptly titled “Louisiana Beef Week.”

Starting in 1962, after being signed into existence by Governor’s Proclamation by Governor Jimmie Davis, Louisiana Beef Week was imagined by the Louisiana cattle sector in conjunction with the Louisiana Department of Agriculture to encourage Louisiana residents to eat Louisiana beef. Likewise on the local level, the Mayors of both Shreveport and Bossier City met with the local organizers of the celebration to show their support for the mission of Beef Week. Local organizers took to radio and newspaper spots, as well as holding press conferences and luncheons, all revolving around encouraging Caddo-Bossier to partake in Louisiana beef. For example, the “Beef Week Queen” of 1962, Rayetta Broussard, as well as her counterpart in the Caddo-Bossier Cattlemen’s Association Jim Burt III, met mayors George Nattin of Bossier City and Clyde E. Fant of Shreveport. The purpose of this meeting, of course, was to promote the local beef industry, as well as the secondary industries that support and benefit from the wider cattle sector. This tradition of meeting with local leaders would continue as the event grew older and larger. For another example, look to the “Kick-Off Luncheon” of 1967, with a guest list sporting names of local business owners, politicians, and members of the local media. According to a column published in the Shreveport Journal on May 2, 1967, the event was hosted by the Sweetheart of the Caddo-Bossier Cattlemen's Association, Shellye Abington, and held at the Piermont Mall. Mayors Nattin and Fant were gifted beef roasts from the Caddo-Bossier Cowbelles (the women’s auxiliary of the Cattlemen's Association). In 1967 alone, there were multiple such luncheons all sporting similar guest lists. While Beef Week has waned in popularity, the wider idea of a beef focused celebration has not lapsed from the public consciousness. In 2023, by Governor’s Proclamation, the month of May was declared Beef Month, and likewise the LSU AgCenter has tried to continue the tradition of encouraging local beef consumption during what is considered Beef Month.

In retrospect, Louisiana Beef Week’s mission to increase Louisiana beef consumption seemingly succeeded. According to numbers from the USDA, there were over 45 million heads of cattle in Louisiana by the mid 1970s. While numbers have since decreased, cattle still play an integral part in Louisiana at large, and more locally here in Bossier Parish.

If you have any photos or other information relating to the history of Bossier City or Bossier Parish, the History Center may be interested in adding the materials to its research collection by donation or by scanning them and returning the originals. Call or visit us to learn more. We are open M-Th 9-8, Fri 9-6, and Sat 9-5. Our phone number is (318) 746-7717 and our email is history-center@bossierlibrary.org. We can also be found online at https://www.facebook.com/BPLHistoryCenter/ and http://bpl-hc.blogspot.com/

Images: 

• Beef Week is Proclaimed by Governor Jimmie Davis (Photo courtesy of The Shreveport Journal, March 15, 1962)
• Mayors of Shreveport and Bossier City with local Cattlemen (Photo courtesy of The Shreveport Journal, Jack Barham, March 22, 1962)
• 1967 Photo from the Beef Week Kickoff Luncheon - Mayor Fant Issuing proclamation of "Beef Week" (Photo from the Beef Week Scrapbook (Page 18) BPL History Center)
• 1967 Photo from the Beef Week Kickoff Luncheon - Special guests at Head Table (Photo from the Beef Week Scrapbook (Page 18) BPL History Center)
• 1967 Photo from the Beef Week Kickoff Luncheon - Mayor Nattin Issuing proclamation of "Beef Week"(Photo from the Beef Week Scrapbook (Page 18) BPL History Center)
• 1967 Photo from the Beef Week Kickoff Luncheon - Shelly presenting Mayor Fant & Nattin, each, a roast at the luncheon.(Photo from the Beef Week Scrapbook (Page 18) BPL History Center)
• 1967 Photo from the Beef Week Kickoff Luncheon - Lanny Thomas, Shreveport Times, Jack Dillard, Farm Dir., KWKH Radio, Jack Copeland, Shreveport Chamber of Commerce (Photo from the Beef Week Scrapbook (Page 18) BPL History Center)

Article by: Jonah Daigle