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A HISTORY OF THE
AUGUSTA GEORGIA CHAPTER OF
THE
MILITARY ORDER OF THE WORLD WARS
Beginning in the spring of 1980, under the leadership of Colonel W. L. Bates, USMC,(Ret), Georgia Commander
MOWW, plans were being made to form
a new chapter in Augusta Georgia. This chapter was to include retired officers
residing in Augusta Georgia and Aiken South Carolina and vicinity.
Several retired officers, already on the roster of the national headquarters,
had been contacted by Colonel Bates. They expressed interest in participating and assisting in the formation of a cadre for
the new chapter.Their enthusiasm boded
well for the future.
The first organizational meeting was set for the 6th of December, 1980.
At this meeting it was decided that initially there should be three organizers.
In the meantime Colonel Bates contacted national headquarters
for a list of retired officers who were national members residing in the
CSRA area. It is from this list that the three organizers were selected. They were: Retired Major General Harley S. Moore, Retired Colonel Brian J. Mulherin,
and Retired Lieutenant Commander Frank W.
Medlock.The first two were charged
contacting and soliciting prospective members in Augusta, and Commander Medlock was to contact those living in the Aiken South Carolina area. At this meeting it was also agreed that Colonel Bates would send a letter
to General Talbott requesting that approval be granted to form the new chapter. Approval was granted. The next meeting was held on December 30, 1980 when it was agreed to select twelve officers to form a cadre for the future Augusta Chapter. These officers were: MAJ
Charlie R. Beasley , MAJ Earl L. Duncan, LTC Igor A. Gregorieff, LTC James A. Haynes, COL Floyd W. Hines, COL O.G.A. Mastroianni, Maj
Gen H. L. Moore, COL W. F. Shubert, COL B. J. Mulherin, LCDR F. W. Medlock, COL R. A. Burnett and COL W. L. Bates .
January 17, 1981 was set for the meeting of the cadre to be held at the Town Tavern, # 15 Seventh Street,
Augusta. To enliven the meeting Lieutenant
General John N. McLaughlin, USMC retired, an excellent
speaker, gave a short talk.
Incidentally,
General McLaughlin's
last active duty assignment was that of Commanding General, Fleet Marine
Forces, Pacific Fleet.
At this point we must give
full credit to our friend and companion, Colonel W. L. Bates. It
was his initiative and energy, coupled with time and hard work, which gave birth to the Augusta Chapter of the MOWW. While
he is -a companion of the Atlanta Chapter, he also became a member of the
August Cadre.
He conducted all of the correspondence with Washington
Headquarters, organized all of the initial meetings in Augusta, and gave the necessary leadership for the creation of the Augusta Chapter.
As mentioned before, the first
step in forming the cadre had been accomplished at the meeting on December 30, 1980.
What was left now was to recruit an additional thirteen officers to complete the needed total of twenty-five, in order
to petition MOWW headquarters to establish the Augusta Chapter. This was easily
accomplished by transferring several officers from membership in the National membership together with several new applicants
from the area. The officers mentioned below became charter members:
COL
W. L. Bates;, Jr. USMC MAJ Charles R. Beasley, USA COL Russell A Burnett, USA
COL Claude R. Caldwell, USA LTC Edward McC. Dannemiller, USA CAPT Marion A. Duiker,
USN MAJ Earl L. Duncan, USA MAJ Robert
E. Galloway, USA COL George A. Gibson, USMC LTC Igor A. Gregorieff, USA LTC James 0. Haynes USAF COL Floyd W. Hines, USA
MAJ Wayman J. Johnson, USA CAPT Robert Lemon, USN CPT Kathryn K. Mastroianni,
USA COL O. G. A. Mastroianni, USA LCDR Frank W. Medlock, USN MGEN Harley L. Moore, Jr. USA COL Brian J.
Mulherin, USA LT William G. O'Quinn, USA CDR
David T. Pitts, USN CPT William M. Smith, USA LTC
Daniel B. Smoak, USAF, CW4 John
W. Tomkins, USA, LTC Nicholas P. Valerians, USA
, CDR Harold R. Willis, USN , COL V. Paul Yale,
USA
Application to form the Augusta Chapter was sent to MOWW National Headquarters in Washington, D. C. ,giving the names and ranks of the Charter members, as well as the following elected staff for organizational purposes:
CDR: MGEN Harley L Moore
VCDR: LCDR Frank W. Medlock
ADJ: COL
0.G. A. Mastroianni
TRES: CW4 John W. Tompkins
JAG: COL Claud R. Caldwell
Approval of this petition for the establishment of the Augusta Chapter was received on the 24th day of May 1981.
In conclusion, it is most worthy to mention the efforts, dedication, enthusiasm, and a great deal of work of those few who were instrumental in the success of this endeavor.
Special mention belongs to Major General Harley L. Moore Jr., Colonel Brian J. Mulherin, Colonel O. G. A. Mastroianni,
Colonel George A. Gibson, and Lieutenant
Commander Frank W. Medlock
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