69th Infantry Brigade (United States)

The 69th Infantry Brigade was a brigade of the Kansas Army National Guard, which saw service with the 35th Infantry Division during World War I.

The brigade was then mobilized for training at Fort Carson during the Vietnam War. In a message received from the Department of the Army dated April 11, 1968, the 69th Infantry Brigade was ordered to active duty effective May 13, 1968. The 3rd Battalion, 137th Infantry was not included in the call to active duty for two reasons; to leave a unit available in Kansas in the event of civil disturbances or major natural disaster; and because the battalion was newly reorganized as an infantry unit and had not yet completed Advanced Unit Training. The 69th Brigade arrived at Fort Carson in May 1968, and some personnel began to be levied for Vietnam duty in July, arriving in-theater in October. After return from Fort Carson, on December 12, 1969 demobilization ceremonies were held at various armories throughout Kansas and Iowa. The 69th Brigade officially reverted to state control on December 13, 1969. 324 officers and 2,073 enlisted men of the Brigade served in Vietnam and 40 died, with hundreds being wounded.^[1]

On 25 August 1984, it again became part of the reformed 35th Infantry Division (Mechanized). In 1984–85, the 69th Infantry Brigade was reported to comprise the 1st and 2nd Battalions of the 137th Infantry Regiment, the 1st Battalion, 635th Armored Regiment, 1st Battalion, 127th Field Artillery Regiment, E Troop, 114th Cavalry, and the 169th Engineer Company.^[2]

References

1. ↑ 69th Infantry Brigade: The 1968 Mobilization, from "THE BATTLE OF FORT CARSON, VIETNAM AND RETURN," the program for 69th Infantry Brigade (Separate). Second Reunion In Commemoration of the Brigade’s Mobilization for Federal Active Duty (May 13, 1968 – December 12, 1969), Topeka, Kansas, October 28–29, 1994.
2. ↑ Isby and Kamps, 1985, 383.