Officers of Battery C, 128th F. A. Shown above are the officers of the Regimental band and Battery C. 128th F. A. When they left Maryville for active service in 1940. Top picture. left to right: Warrant Officer, Ralph Yehle, Capt. Robert S. Perkins, Major Edward V. Condon, and First Lieutenant Guy R. Shelton. Yehle owned a music store for years. Robert S. Perkins’ wife, Mabel Perkins, was active in the Garden Club, and the park, the St. Francis statue at Lincoln and Main (the old Big Pump location) is named Mabel Perkins Park. Condon owned Condon’s Corner Drug and was a lifelong friend of Harry Truman.
There may be some confusion about the Army National Guard. The 129th was the unit’s name during World War I, when its most famous soldier was Harry Truman. The 129th disbanded after WWI and was partially replaced by the 128th. The 128th disbanded after World War II. When Harry Truman was President, the 129th name was recreated.
Lower picture. left to right, all second lieutenants, W.H. Davis, Edward Bird, Albert J. Myers, and William R. Bills.
Newspaper article: Maryville Daily Forum July 24, 1942
