Company I

            A National Guard Company was first established in Millinocket prior to WWI. Some information about Company E and Company I of the 3^rd Maine Regiment has been included in earlier writings. Company E met and drilled at the former Union Chapel building near the mill gate and eventually people referred to the building as the Armory.  Company E members served in WWI in Europe.

            In later years, Company I members trained at the “new” armory on Spring Street and many of these men served in WWII. Two issues of the Katahdin Journal give information about Company I and its men from Millinocket, East Millinocket and Medway. “It was a cold day in February 1941 that 110 officers and men of Company I, 103^rd Regiment, 43^rd Division National Guard, marched their way from the armory to the railroad station in Millinocket. Spectators were on hand to watch them board the train. The Company I members that day were led by Captain Danny Smart, Executive Officer Lt. Gerald “Dutch” Howard, and platoon leaders Lt. Bill Thorpe and Lt. Ellis Hall.” These men were on their way to Portland for induction into Federal Service.

            After arrival in Portland, they were quartered for several weeks at the armory there. They were then transferred by truck and train to Camp Blanding, Florida. For 13 weeks Company I and other National Guard companies underwent strenuous training with new weapons including mortars and machine guns. The article states that sometimes wooden facsimiles were used rather than the actual weapons.

            Then on Dec. 7, 1941, Pearl Harbor, Hawaii was attacked and Company I, along with other National Guard companies in the 3^rd Battalion were sent to guard the Gulf Coast. By March 1942, Company I and others were stationed at Camp Shelby, Mississippi and then in Louisiana.

            By September of 1942, the 43^rd Division was ordered to Fort Ord, California. They all knew this was the staging area for embarkation to the war in the Pacific. Their orders finally came and the Millinocket men of the 103^rd Infantry, Maine National Guard were sent off to the South Pacific.

            The museum has a panoramic photo of the men of Company I and in 2015-16, that photo was part of our military room display. I still remember the day a very spry 90+ year old Ronald Fraser visited and spotted that photo. He stood in front of the photo and proceeded to point to the lines of men and name them…one by one. (He’s in the photo too and believed he was the last living member of the group.) He could name most, but didn’t know some the East Millinocket and Medway men as well as he knew the Millinocket men. He then sat and talked about his military life, growing up in Millinocket and more. He said he left the Co. I group before they headed for the South Pacific. He went off to officer training school. It was a very interesting afternoon with this gentleman!