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The Wisconsin National Guard's 32nd Infantry Division earned its nickname in World War I because its soldiers cut through enemy lines like a red arrow, and it strengthened its fame during World War II with fierce fighting in the Pacific.

The third mass deployment of the Red Arrow Division was ordered at a time when many wondered if there would be World War III.

But for thousands of Wisconsin National Guardsmen who shipped out to Fort Lewis, Wash., 55 years ago this month, their mobilization would end 10 months later with them returning to their homes, not heading to a distant battlefield.

It was all because of bullying by Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev over the fate of Germany's capital. In June 1961, the Soviet leader threatened to cut off access to West Berlin. Then in August, the barriers dividing East Berlin from West Berlin were replaced with a wall to prevent thousands more East Germans from fleeing to the West.

In response, President John F. Kennedy ordered the mobilization of 148,000 National Guard and Reserves members to active duty. Among them were soldiers in Wisconsin's Red Arrow Division.

Such a large call-up had not happened to the Wisconsin National Guard since World War II.

"Most of us who had a sense of history knew it was a very serious matter. After about a month and a half, it became fairly clear that the Russians had backed down a little bit in Berlin," said David Foran, 79, a member of the 32nd Division's public information office. But until then, "it was a very scary time. The Cold War was really at its height at the time. People thought it was Armageddon."

Formally activated Oct. 15, 1961, the Wisconsin troops traveled by plane, train and automobile to Fort Lewis for training, and moved into barracks that hadn't been used in a few decades; some of the buildings lacked heat or hot water. In stories sent back to his civilian employer, The Milwaukee Journal, Foran, a Specialist 4, wrote about the rain, and cramped and austere conditions.

Some soldiers' complaints about conditions found their way to Wisconsin congressmen, who visited the base and called for an investigation. But eventually the complaints died down when conditions improved and some soldiers were allowed to live off the base with their families. Still, for many, it was a hardship because their Army pay was often much less than their civilian paychecks.

"You just lived with it until you got back," said Tony Eckenrod, who left his job as a Milwaukee police officer to command an administration company handling records and replacements coming in to the Red Arrow Division. "You put your house payments on hold and pay just the interest."

Eckenrod, 87, missed the December 1961 birth of his youngest child, a daughter. (Tracy is now a Mukwonago police dispatcher). Eckenrod returned home to Milwaukee on emergency leave shortly after Tracy's birth and moved his wife and five children to Fort Lewis. While there were a lot of rumors about the division deploying overseas, none proved true.

"We initially thought we were going to go to Vietnam and that changed. Supposedly we were going to go to Korea and that changed. And we stayed right where we were, training in case something else did come up," said Eckenrod.

Among the reservists called up with the 32nd were Green Bay Packers Ray Nitschke and Boyd Dowler, and New York Yankees star Tony Kubek. Packers star Paul Hornung was also caught up in the deployment — sent to Fort Riley, Kan., with an engineer unit. The Packers managed to work out an agreement with the military: Players trained with their Army units during the week and were furloughed on weekends to play football.

In addition to sending stories back to The Journal, Foran was the assistant editor of the base's newspaper. His stories included accounts of a half-dozen Red Arrow soldiers sent to Germany to visit East and West Berlin, troops celebrating Thanksgiving and Christmas away from home, troops attending an outdoor show with comedian Mort Sahl, and the division's final review before U.S. Army Secretary Cyrus Vance in July before heading home to Wisconsin.

"We look back on it as one of our most fun times. Everyone banded together," said Foran.

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