WASHINGTON (Army News Service, May 9, 2003) -- National Guard troops answered the call to help civil authorities deal with the devastation of violent tornadoes that hammered the Midwest and flooding in Alabama during early May.
Nearly 200 Army Guard soldiers were on duty in Missouri, Kansas and Tennessee by May 6 after a massive tornado system tore through those states May 4. Six more served in Alabama, according to reports from the Army National Guard's Readiness Center in Arlington, Va.
Missouri fielded the largest force of 173 citizen-soldiers after the severe weather system killed 18 people in that state and at least 40 in all, according to newspaper accounts.
One of the victims was Wanda Sue Handley, 46, the wife of Missouri Army Guard Spc. William Handley. She was killed in her home in Monett, Mo., Guard officials reported. Spc. Handley is a member of the 203rd Engineer Battalion that is on active duty at Fort Leonard Wood, Mo., after being mobilized in March.
Handley was talking with his wife on his cellular phone, the Associated Press reported.
"She told him 'I see it,' and then the phone went dead," said Company C 1st Sgt. Randy Mackey. "He was in shock."
Handley received immediate approval to return to his home.
The Missouri tornadoes badly damaged Guard armories in Pierce City and DeSoto.
President George W. Bush issued federal disaster declarations for 39 counties in Missouri and seven counties in Kansas, according to Guard and press reports.
Guard soldiers from the 110th Engineer Battalion in Kansas City, Company A 735th Main Support Battalion in Nevada, Mo., and Company C, 935th Division Aviation Support Battalion in Aurora and Springfield were sent to badly damaged Pierce City, Gladstone and Stockton.
Sgt. 1st Class Ron Holbrook reported that Guard troops initially set up generators to provide power for water pumps and about 70 then helped police patrol streets in hard-hit Pierce City, an historic railroad town in Missouri's southwest corner.
Guard soldiers delivered four large generators to Pierce City and seven to Stockton to help generate electricity for emergency needs, said 2nd Lt. Jamie Melchert.
About 125 of the 203rd's soldiers were allowed to leave Fort Leonard Wood to help their families and communities recover from the damage. They were expected to return to the fort on Thursday to await their deployment to Iraq within the next two weeks.
Several of the 203rd's soldiers had seen nature's wrath while serving in Honduras in 1999 to help that country recover from Hurricane Mitch, the Associated Press also reported.
"That was a cakewalk compared to what happened here," said Staff Sgt. Ed Hatfield. "This is unbelievable."
Staff Sgt. Ray Stockton said "it looks like one of those old movies with the Germans with all of the destruction."
"Our equipment is on a boat [going overseas] right now, so we're using our hands," Mackey said. "But we'll get it done."
Guard aviation personnel also helped in the recovery effort, and Missouri Guard soldiers served in Gladstone and Battlefield City, said Holbrook, a Missouri Guard spokesman.
Guard troops blocked off a subdivision of Battlefield City, outside Springfield, from residents and onlookers as heavy equipment cleared debris, USA Today reported.
One civilian man who was seeking shelter in the Pierce City armory, that was built in 1941, was killed when a tornado tore down a wall and caused some of the storm system's worst devastation in that community.
The armory was home to Detachment 1, C Company of the 203rd.
No injuries were reported at the DeSoto armory.
Fifteen Guard troops remained on duty in Kansas May 8, but nine who had served in Tennessee and the six in Alabama completed their missions on May 7, said a Readiness Center spokesman in Virginia.
(Editor's note: Master Sgt. Bob Haskell is a member of the National Guard Bureau public affairs team.)