 proudly we hail from New York City where the American State begins here is another program with a cast of outstanding players public service time has been made available by this station for your army and your Air Force to bring you this story as proudly we hail the United States Army our story is entitled birthday salute for Fort Riley this is the story of the colorful and exciting 100-year history of Fort Riley Kansas once a frontier outposts guarding settlers from Indian attack now one of the most important army training centers in the nation our first act curtain will rise in just a moment but first here's an important message that concerns all the young men and young women of America if you know radios telephones motors or if you're experienced in any other technical skills you are needed in the United States Army your expert knowledge and know-how is just as essential to the army as is the man with the gun you'll be an important member of the team for the high school graduate thinking about a future career this is a must you can begin immediately training for a highly skilled position and a vigorous active life visit your nearest United States Army and United States Air Force recruiting station they'll help you to decide where you're needed most you'll be proud of your part in assuring the future security of our country if you're interested in more information see your army recruiter today and now your army and your Air Force present the proudly we hail production birthday salute for Fort Riley the letter from the White House was not long but it pretty well summed up the meaning of the occasion it was addressed to Major General Thomas L. Harold commanding General Fort Riley Kansas in commemoration of that military establishment's 100th birthday dear General Harold for a hundred years Fort Riley has been part of the color and spirit of the United States Army something of the frontiersmen of the blue clad cavalryman has come down through the years and helped to inspire the men in khaki who subdued our enemies in great world wars that quality of persisting to this day is one of those factors that make the American soldier of today a formidable defender of freedom a sincerely white the Eisenhower something of the frontiersmen of the blue clad cavalryman to begin they must go back to the year 1842 and come at even tide upon a small encampment where men are busy picketing their horses under a flaming sky and the great rolling land seems to reach out forever we can rest easy captain no sign at all kit some but it's nine ten days old whole caboodle heading down the smoke good you know kit this land never ceases to amaze me like a great sea you wonder if it'll ever end plenty of room that's what a man needs captain maybe one day it'll be filled up oh I allow folks who come this way you just can't stop them you know as a soldier I can't help but look at terrain in terms of its possible use as a military sense there have been times when I had to do that right quick here we are right at the junction of the smoke and the Republican rivers trail going west bound to pass close by here and the rivers are usable right you know my name isn't Charles Fremont if this isn't an excellent spot for a fort from Leavenworth to this point here if the Indians were hostile cavalry could protect the whole area well captain I agree it's a mighty handy spot for a fort and let settlers start pulling over this land and you're going to need it and so it was that the soldier explorer captain Charles Fremont on his expedition to the Rocky Mountains guided by the noted scout and trapper Kit Carson camped at the junction of the smoke and Republican rivers in the territory of Kansas his observations there he remembered and passed on to his colleagues one of whom was major EA Ogden stationed in 1852 at Fort Leavenworth don't just stand there grinning what's the word the word is my beamish boy that major EA Ogden has been appointed to take out a scouting party and find a building site for a new fort wonderful when do we leave I don't recall saying I was going to take you along you might not recall saying it but you are gonna aren't you now see here Captain Cowan are you given to ordering superior officers not at all my good major but I I sure want to volunteer and if you do go I'm sure every Arapahoe Pony and Sue will spot that red top of yours and will all lose our scalp well and we can ride to glory together when do we leave how big a party you take him move out of dawn I'm taking a second how much farther is this place that Fremont told you about not far it's where the smoke joins the Republican oh you've seen the site before once Fremont knew what he was talking about huh Charlie usually does I guess you were right like every Arapahoe soon that decoders war party the looks of them too far south of their own territory to be anything else let's be 500 at least it was like they came right up out of the earth easy girl easy yes they're there good at that you'd think they'd attack we could be the vanguard of they're starting to move they're turning off and going out of the river we can all thank God for that true point upon his return to Fort Leavenworth major Ogden reported the site of the junction of the smoke in Republican Rivers an excellent one to erect a fort and a year later with the major in command construction was begun native cottonwood pine hedge and oak were used for lumber limestone was quarried from the surrounding hills while hard to get supplies were shipped down the river by flat boat and ever and always throughout the fort's building the men worked under the threat of Indian attack what's the date today day when it's for June 27 1853 June it's almost the middle of July not for us it isn't dispatch just came in from the adjutant general's office in Washington it's dated June 27th it's a date we won't want to forget here why what's so important about it the force been given a name but it's got a name a good name Fort center geographic center of the country and now it's been changed to a better name under general order 17 and an honor of major general Bennett Riley where hence forth to be known as Fort Riley what do you know Fort Riley not a bad name at all a good name from a good man during the next two years Fort Riley grew by leaps and bounds construction crews were enlarged to include civilians wagon trains stopped for water and supplies and cavalry patrols gave them protection along the trail with the summer of 1855 frontier warfare with the tribes became particularly heated and the main complement of the fort rode out to take part in the campaign against them major Ogden left with only a few companies of the 6th infantry face the summer heat and the growing tide of settlers with considerable concern Sergeant know yes sir have that wagon train leader come in here yes sir horton how many trains have you led west I ain't rightly counted why because any greenhorn tenderfoot would know enough to boil all drinking water enroute look major you boil all the water you want to and it's here for but you ain't got nothing to say about what I do with the way you put in here for supplies you're getting them but while you're here you'll do as I say you know what a color of epidemic can do I don't care what you've been color hits your train of this fort it can wipe out every man Jacobus a sergeant law you take a squad of men and see that all the drinking water on the Horton wagon train is boiled now see here major you know the train will be out of here before sundown why you now see you're a sergeant yes sir hey oh hi Joe all you army fellows have to move like the devil was driving you now Joe since you engineer critters are so slow about your work somebody's got to move fast and what's your problem get Horton straightened out pig headed cuss yeah they moved him out this morning he just really worried about the color and taking him because we can what are you gonna do with it people like Horton they've tried to hammer it into the crew but I can't be sure I'm gonna be the rule yeah me get through August will be all right I don't know major wants you on the double yeah I'll see you Joe sergeant have a assembly sounded I want every man on duty or off at the south parade at once cholera has broken out amongst the civilian population color despite all precautions the dread disease struck and swept like a raging prairie fire through soldiers and civilians alike it respected neither rank sex nor age major EA Ogden commanding officer mrs. Armistead whose husband later became a well-known confederate general the new captain from the east and the corporal's children all were victims and daily the list of dead grew and with no officers left to take charge panic struck the civilian population and flared into an ugly madden mob hey Joe Joe do you have any men you can depend on that it doesn't hurt I get him here quick skin you men stand your ground there get out of our ways sergeant we're coming through you come any closer and we'll be forced to fire and no one leaves this foot until the sickness is over I say so these men with me say so and if necessary our guns will say so you ain't in command here well I'm taking command now go on home and you can't hold it here so nice hold your fire now listen to me listen you want to go out of here and go back to Leavenworth maybe start an epidemic there we don't want to stay in here and die and that's what we'll all do if we don't get out of here I've got 15 good men perk and it's like we're gonna need him get him up along the wall here let me talk a minute oh sorry what the sergeant says is right we are stuck with this thing we can't go up running like scared rabbits and passing on other folks you don't Henderson I thought you were a man and you're right you Connors acting like a bunch of scared women to stay here where the sergeant is men and I've got 15 lads all armed and ready to help out now let's not add blood shed to the pack of trouble we already got there ain't no officers left and the sergeant knows his business he's in command and what he says goes now let's stick together this thing man it's the only way we can lick all right first thing we got to do is organize burial parties the second is to isolate all known cases and those that look suspicious if we keep our heads and work together we can lick this you are listening to the proudly we hail production birthday salute for Fort Riley we'll return in just a moment for the second act young man if you want to be the sort of man that others look up to you'll get there fast if you can qualify to join the army you'll see a change from the very moment you put on the uniform of a United States soldier you're not only stand straighter and taller you'll walk with a sure tread of a man who knows where he's going your training in the army will give you the confidence of a man with an important job to do you have to pass the mental and physical examinations in order to get in this oldest military service in our country but once you're in you're on the way up visit your local United States Army and United States Air Force recruiting station there's a recruiter there who'll be very glad to tell you all about what's in it for you when you join the United States Army you are listening to proudly we hail and now we present the second act of birthday salute for Fort Riley before a determined sergeant named Percival Lowe with the help of a civilian engineer named Joseph Sawyer did lick the terrible epidemic approximately 100 men women and children had perished but through the efforts of these two men a serious panic which could have led only to a greater disaster was averted for the next few years Fort Riley continued to grow and play a leading role in the opening up of the territory in the protection of wagon trains west and then came that fateful day April 12th 1861 well boys I got to be on my way whichever side is ruckus Virginia's own well clam you wanted to be a cavalry man looks like you're going to get plenty of chance looks like we all are for four bloody long years the war between the states went on and in that time all work on the fort ceased under man and caught in the vicious guerrilla border warfare that took place in Kansas it's small cavalry patrols did what they could to protect the against renegade bands and men like one trail who treated all as combatants showed no mercy to anyone too late always too late if I ever catch up with that murder and David Allen put this ain't war Todd it's I know I know sergeant all right you're sure the man can be trusted captain his home was in Lawrenceville major he was away when Quintrell struck he lost his wife and three children I see and he's sure that Quintrell is hiding in Locust Valley been on his trail for over two years just about as long as you have captain and that's about major August 63 all right captain take whatever men you need go get him thank you sir we have you surrounded either throw down your arms and come out will open fire all right man open fire 1861 1865 and then it was over and peace had come and once again men looked to the west and wagon trains began to roll but now they were accompanied by a faster newer mode of travel the railroad it too was moving west and in its twin ribbons of steel slicing across the land toward the horizon the planes tried saw in it their doom the cradle of the cavalry so Fort Riley came to be known for it was here that the nation's most famous cavalry regiments were formed and in 1866 the most famous of all came into the seven commanding officer Colonel AJ Smith second in command Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong let me ride out with the seventh and the second infantry in support and I'll put an end to your Indian Wars quick enough George if confidence and enthusiasm alone could solve this problem I'm sure you could do the job with no more than a troop at your disposal but this is a far different kind of fighting than you're used to more good men have lost their scalps out here because they underestimated the great courage and ability of their adversary I admire their courage in their ability Colonel but I admire my own more I like you George because you're so modest I can't help what I know and I know given the man I can put an end to this affair let me tell you something my eager young buck ohm if there's a better cavalryman in all this territory than a Cheyenne warrior it would be a Sue brave I know Colonel I know but if you don't know George that's what I'm trying to tell you that's why I want you to ride out with Captain Todd's troop Todd's been here since he was wounded at Gettysburg he's a good man and he knows his business I'm sending car the scout along I've told him to take you right in amongst the Sue so I've come to be in a schoolboy again try not to act like one George joke all you like Colonel but one day you one day someday that's not today today you orderly Joe Captain Todd in we get any closer car not unless you want to join in their dance Colonel there are gala suit when they're out of like this they just ain't nothing to fool with wish that moon and stay out tell me what it prevent us around them and coming in on them from both ends of the valley can't be very sharp eyes we got through three or four men maybe we'll just sneak in on him Colonel but not a half a dozen troops of cavalry a hundred good men and I could break that a lot of them you may change that figure some what kind of happy a fight them a bit we had them or so it seemed they got away change your opinion they're smart they arrived like demons and fight like devil now you're learning but I'm the one man who's going to tame it took three years of taming before the tribes hurt but not defeated we tweeted from the territory to carry on their fight further west Custer and the seventh along with other cavalry and infantry regiments pursued them the story of their campaigns and the fate of Custer a little big horn in 1876 are well known but they do not have a part in the story of Fort Riley for even though cavalry was still the mainstay of the post and small mounted units escorted settlers safely back to their homes in north western Kansas after their annual spring trek for supplies the days of Indian warfare were all but over 1887 a school of light artillery is added to the court December 1890 groups of the seventh and ninth cavalry and second infantry take part in the battle against big foot and his warriors at wounded knee creek in south Dakota ending all sue resistance so the years roll on for the most part a long period of routine soldier occasional Mexican border flare ups and units of troopers from Fort Riley maneuvering southward but for a period of nearly 30 years the cradle of the cavalry is rocked gently in the calm waters of peace and then 1917 gentlemen we're going to have our hands for Fort Riley will not only be our key cavalry training center but it's also going to be one of the largest infantry training centers in the country need I mentioned that we all have our work cut out for us camp Funston they called it the infantry training center for Friday into its building when 47 billion 700 million board feet of lumber not to mention thousands of carloads of hardware roofing and plumbing supplies it covered an area two miles long until accommodate over 50,000 men at one time it became the largest army post of semi-permanent type built in the nation in World War One two short decades would have separate the ending of the first World War and our entry into the second in the latter half of that second decade Fort Riley began to swell the ranks of the US cavalry which had now become largely mechanized a rigid expansion schedule was set up for the construction of new buildings and new camps a new building sprang up every 47 minutes and training went on at full speed tanks now instead of horses fast moving infantry learning new techniques and methods soon to be put to the bitter test hey what's the date today buzz well according to my calendar it's December 7th 1941 but more important it's Sunday and Sunday means a day off so get out of that sack and let's go to town Sunday nicest day of the year Sunday the nicest day of the year and the country was once again at war again Fort Riley became one of the most important training centers for both cavalry and infantry in the nation and various divisions and regiments wrote their history in the Hall of Fame after their training at Fort Riley 26 cavalry regiments wiped out on the 10 April 1942 second cavalry division ninth armored division 124th cavalry regiment the 11th 21st and 36th corps headquarters the 10th mountain division all played their vital part in the winning of the war today in this perilous time of communist threat 100 years since its founding Fort Riley continues to hold a position of great importance in the military training and defense of our country Fort Riley's not only the home of the 10th infantry division but also the army general school it's the latter that you're concerned with you may have been assigned to the part of the school known as the department of tactical research and new doctrine what that means in your case is that you become members of the aggressor force which acts as the mythical enemy of the country during maneuvers 1853 1953 from a frontier outpost to a major training center such has been the colorful 100 year history of Fort Riley and the men who served there who helped to write the pages of our history with their deeds the list is long and noteworthy Fremont Kit Carson Ogden Custer Jeb Stuart Leonard Wood Pershing Merrill Wainwright MacArthur Patton the names are many and impressive the role is long the service to country immeasurable in time courage and sacrifice so proudly we hail Fort Riley Ken America's finest men re-enlist in the United States Army take advantage now of the US Army's career guidance program that gives you plan advancement men with prior Army service may now enlist directly for the infantry field artillery armor Corps of Engineers or the anti-aircraft artillery you can go up fast in one of these crack action teams you'll get well planned schooling to speed you on your way and promotions will depend on your skill and all around efficiency more over if you've been out less than two years you may be eligible to re-enlist in an attractive grade check with your United States Army and United States Air Force recruiter for full career details he'll advise you on the many personal and financial benefits of service when you re-enlist in any branch of our modern Army remember if you're a veteran of the United States Army you can choose your branch of service when you re-enlist this has been another program on proudly we hail presented transcribed in cooperation with this station proudly we hail is produced by the recruiting publicity center for the United States Army and United States Air Force recruiting service this kind of bang heart speaking and inviting you to tune in the same station next week for another interesting story on proudly we hail