Joseph Bacon Fraser

When World War I broke out, Joseph Bacon Fraser and his brother, Donald A. Fraser, enlisted as privates in the U.S. Army. Joseph was commissioned a second lieutenant in July, 1918 and promoted to first lieutenant in March 1919. He was released from federal service in May 1919, but continued his record of military activity in the National Guard. In September 1920, he was commissioned captain of Troop B. Georgia Cavalry where he served under Harry Truman. He was promoted to major in September 1927, and to lieutenant colonel in January, 1935. Becoming a full colonel in June 1936, he was placed in command of the 108th Cavalry.[4]

Fraser was ordered to federal active duty as a colonel and sent to Australia in February 1942. He left Boston aboard the RMS Queen Mary, the largest passenger ship at the time, with 10,000 other men and overloaded equipment.

Chaplain Lt. Clarence Letson was one of Fraser's Hinesville companions also on board the ship. Leston wrote in his diary that the ship sailed first to Key West, Florida, then to Rio de Janeiro. They spent two days there, blockaded by an axis submarine but escaped over a shallow bar at high tide. "A zigzag course was then taken to Capetown, South Africa, during which the ship caught fire three times — all caused, the captain felt, because of the overload on the wiring. They entered the Tasmanian Sea and stopped in Perth, Australia, then disembarked at Sydney and caught trains up through the interior to Brisbane. The following day, Gen. MacArthur arrived."[5]

With Fraser and Lt. Letson were men from Georgia and South Carolina; they composed the major portion of the 101st Coast Artillery Battalion (Anti-Aircraft) which Fraser commanded in the United States Army Coast Artillery Corps Pacific Theater of Operations from 1942 to 1943. The rest of the 10,000 men aboard the Queen Mary were dispersed throughout the Pacific.

Years later, when addressing a group honoring Fraser for his safe return to Hinesville, he said, "When I left Camp Stewart in February 1942, I requested the men under my command to be made up of Georgia men. A number of the men came from Liberty and Long counties. They were among the best in the country and I am indeed grateful in the manner in which they met the enemy on the battlefront and conducted themselves during the perilous trip overseas."

After receiving General MacArthur's Orders in Sydney, Fraser and the 101st Battalion were the first American combat ground troops to go into New Guinea during the New Guinea Campaign in 1942.

With the Japanese rapidly overtaking New Guinea and MacArthur's forces regrouping in Australia, MacArthur told Fraser that they would have little chances of surviving but to hold off Japanese forces as long as they could. A diary entry by Lt. Lester on March 30, 1942, shortly before the battalion sailed to Port Moresby, New Guinea reads, "This is it. The Japanese are moving in toward New Guinea.... Into combat. We’ve been preparing but didn’t really believe it would happen. … We can’t believe that we’re playing for keeps. Col. Joe Fraser and I met and prayed to God last night for guidance and leadership to carry our men through the battles before them. He was crying; his men were going to die. All are willing to go, but what a sinking feeling." (Col. Fraser later told a group in Hinesville that he prayed another hour in his headquarters before leaving for the Jap-infested area).[5]

The battalion sailed unmolested through enemy waters, where they landed safely and fought off repeated air attacks by Japanese Zeros with 50-caliber machine guns over the next few months until the rest of MacArthur's forces returned. Fraser made his gunners frequently relocate the anti-aircraft gun locations so that the Zeros had a hard time determining where to focus each new attack. The 101st played a role in holding what allied territory remained on New Guinea until the Battle of Coral Sea thwarted the Japanese 5-pronged plan of attack on Australia.

Colonel Fraser was 'mentioned in despatches' in Canberra, Australia, on January 13, 1944.[6]

(England), 1944. Colonel Joseph B. Fraser (seated, center) and other military and political figures during wartime

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Ordered to the European theater in February 1944, he commanded the 23rd anti-aircraft group there. On August 19–21, the 23rd AAA group protected the XV corps of General Patton's Third Army in making the first allied bridge crossing of the Seine River near Paris. Over two days, the 23rd shot down 43 Axis aircraft.

Fraser was again released from federal service in December 1945.[4] He returned to duty with the Georgia National Guard, and was promoted to the rank of brigadier general on February 3, 1947, and placed in command of the 108th Anti-Aircraft Brigade, Georgia National Guard, with headquarters at Savannah, Georgia.[7]

Called back into federal service in August, 1950, Fraser was promoted to the rank of major general and commanded the 48th Infantry Division, composed of Georgia and Florida National Guard units.[7]

He was promoted to the rank of lieutenant general when he retired from the Georgia National Guard on August 1, 1956.[7]