FORGOTTEN HISTORY: LOCAL BOYS WERE THE FIRST LINE OF DEFENSE

By Bob Fitch

“Comets” was a fitting mascot for Hawarden High School graduates in the 1950s. Junior high and high school boys had their eyes trained on the heavens – on the lookout for Soviet aircraft – perched in the bell tower of the old Hawarden Central School. From 1950 to 1958, young men across the country took part in the Ground Observer Corps, an arm of the United States Air Force Civil Defense service.

Sound far-fetched? Well, it wasn’t. From 1953 to 1958, Hawarden was part of the Ground Observer Corps (GOC) because the town was along the logical flight path of Soviet jets which might descend from Siberia to bomb the U.S. Strategic Air Command at Omaha. Observers were trained to identify the silhouettes of various aircraft. The Hawarden post (identified with the code: Juliet, Nectar Three Five Black) had a direct line to SAC headquarters. (In Iowa alone in 1954, there were 13,000 volunteers in the program.)

The American Legion sponsored the local observer post and Don Dowdey was the supervisor. According to Hawarden native Mary Truesdell Johnson, a 1957 HHS graduate, the Ground Observer Corps (GOC) experience was one of life’s highlights for her late husband, Jules. She said being a part of the corps was a frequent discussion topic at class reunions. “They thought it was the greatest thing they ever did. And they talked about it every time we’d get together.” Female students were jealous they couldn’t participate or even visit the bell tower.

Ron Thompson, a 1957 HHS graduate, wrote: “I was 14 years of age and proud to be a member of the Hawarden Ground Observer Corps when it was formed in 1953. Like all the volunteers, I took the responsibility that the corps shouldered very seriously. We were part of our country’s early warning system against an enemy warplanes invasion. The USSR had ‘the bomb’ and we were doing our part to fight the Cold War.”

Thompson continued, “When my team of observers was scheduled for duty, I made sure that I was on time to relieve the previous observers. No one in the corps wanted to be responsible for breaking the continuity of our air watch patrol and allow an enemy plane to slip by without it being reported to GOC central at Offutt Air Force Base.”

Junior and senior high boys watched the skies for enemy planes from the bell tower of the old Central School, which was located east of today’s West Sioux Elementary building in Hawarden.

The late PBS and NBC political analyst Ken Bode grew up in Hawarden and received a “Lavender Heart” during a class of ’57 reunion. He was “injured in the line of duty” as a member of the Ground Observer Corps. The Lavender Heart is shown here with a note he wrote to Mary Johnson.

The late PBS and NBC political analyst Ken Bode grew up in Hawarden and received a “Lavender Heart” during a class of ’57 reunion. He was “injured in the line of duty” as a member of the Ground Observer Corps. The Lavender Heart is shown here with a note he wrote to Mary Johnson.

From Central School’s third floor, observers climbed a narrow ladder up to the open air belfry. On a small table in the little square room sat their observation gear: A pair of binoculars, a duty roster, and a black telephone. Next to the phone was the GOC Aircraft Recognition book containing silhouettes of every plane ever built. Plenty of pigeons helped the observers keep watch.

Ken Bode, a political analyst for NBC and CNN and the moderator of Washington Week on PBS, was a 1957 graduate of Hawarden High School. He was also a journalism professor at Northwestern University, DePauw University and other colleges. Bode told Mary Johnson, “The first time I ever felt like a man was when I took my lunch pail and I went up to the tower to watch for enemy airplanes.” Bode received a gash on his head when a 2x4 fell down the ladder hole while he was on his way up. He later received an unofficial “Lavender Heart” to recognize the “injury” he suffered during the Cold War.

Stuart Flynn was a 1956 HHS graduate. One year on Armed Forces Day, he and Jules Johnson were on duty when suddenly the tower was being buzzed by two thundering jet fighters. Flynn said, “The roar of those two fighters was deafening … they were probably less than 500 feet off the ground and made at least a couple passes at us. For a brief moment, I thought we were under attack by the Russians!” Jules called the report in to Offutt Air Force Base. They eventually determined it was friendly aircraft – two P-51 Mustang Fighters from the Air National Guard in Sioux City.

-Most of this story is excerpted and adapted from an article written by Mary Truesdell Johnson in 2012, Hawarden’s sesquicentennial year.

Every member of the Ground Observer Corps received a “wings” identification pin.