I recall my family talking about soldiers doing maneuvers in the field adjacent to their house in Lebanon. The soldiers would give my brother and sister candy ( they were 5 and 7 at the time). Finding this item documents their story.
A few years ago, I mentioned military helicopters doing takeoffs and landing drills in the park at 37th and Clifton to Sophie, and recalled seeing maneuvers as a young child in Lebanon. The Army held four more Maneuver phases in 1943, beginning
April 26, July 5, September 13, and November 22. The last phase of the Tennessee Maneuvers began on January 31, 1944, and future exercises were suspended because of the great need for troops in Europe. Middle Tennessee was not without an Army presence between Maneuver phases. Besides the regular training being conducted in the area, Signal Corp and Engineer troops came in before and stayed after the combat troops. The Signal Corps strung miles of wire for field communications and outfitted the message center that connected the Maneuver Director Headquarters in Lebanon with the Second Army Headquarters in Memphis and with officials in Washington, D.C. The Signal Corps also maintained messenger pigeons to carry messages between headquarters and front line troops. The photographic section of the Signal Corps maintained a visual record of the Tennessee Maneuvers. The engineers had the task of repairing some of the damage to area farms, roads, bridges, and anything else that the mock fighting had damaged. Landowners could also file claims for compensation for damage incurred. Army inspectors settled claims as quickly as possible (Sloan 1995). Some of the troops left behind for damage repair were black soldiers. A resident of Bellwood in Wilson County remembers black troops camping near his farm after a Maneuver phase. They were in the area to repair fences.
