11th Airborne meets at Kingfisher's Inn years ago
Several members of the Ozark chapter of the 11th Airborne Division and their women's auxiliary, the Angelettes, met Saturday at Kingfisher's Inn, rural Marion.
Chapter president Ken Sly of Salina, a former Marion resident, said he felt Marion County Lake and the restaurant would be a good place for the chapter's quarterly gathering.
"I was raised here and thought it would be a good place to meet," Sly said.
Ozark chapter members hail from the four-state area of Kansas, Missouri, Arkansas, and Oklahoma. Remaining chapter members participated in both World War II and the Korean conflict.
Sly was a member of the division during the Korean conflict, he said.
The 11th Airborne was a jump unit and participated in three major jump missions during World War II, Sly said.
Perhaps the most significant included the Los Banos Rescue mission on Feb. 23, 1945, when the division rescued 2,147 civilian Allied internees who had been imprisoned more than three years.
The second major jump was an aerial assault at Aparri in Nothern Luzon. It was the only operation in which gliders were utilized, according to an 11th Airborne web site.
Each November, Ozark chapter members travel to Branson, Mo., for the fall quarterly meeting. While there, they march in Branson's Veterans Day Parade, said National Quartermaster Cliff Dillard of Colwich.
The chapter has more than 100 members on its mailing list, but only a handful were able to attend Saturday's gathering.
The 11th Airborne Division activated Feb. 25, 1943, at Camp Mackall, N.C. before moving in January 1944 to Camp Polk, La., for maneuvers.
The division left the states May 8, 1944, from Camp Stoneman, Calif., and landed at Dobadura, New Guinea, and received further jump training in preparation for the invasion of the Philippines, according to a division web site.
During World War II, the division was involved in the New Guinea campaign, Leyte, and Luzor.
On Nov. 15, 1948, the 11th Airborne was designated a regular army unit before being deactivated on July 1, 1958.
During the Korean conflict, the division was redesignated Feb. 1, 1963, as the 11th Air Assault Division and was activated Feb. 7, 1963, at Fort Benning, Ga. The unit was deactivated June 30, 1965, at Fort Benning, Ga. It was redesignated again Jan. 24, 1972, during the Vietnam conflict.
