Troy H. Middleton - World War II

World War II

Troy Middleton was out dove hunting with his son, Troy Jr., and a friend on Sunday morning, 7 December 1941. Having had a successful morning, the trio decided to take a break for lunch, then come back out and get their bag limits in the afternoon. When they arrived at home for the mid-day meal, Mrs. Middleton greeted them with the news that Pearl Harbor had just been attacked. This put an end to the dove hunting, and Troy Middleton began to make plans. The next day he reported to the LSU president announcing his intention to offer his services to the U. S. Army, and he sent a telegram to the War Department announcing his availability for service. Within a day or so he received a reply: he would report to active duty as a lieutenant colonel on 20 January 1942, allowing him time to get his affairs in order.

Having returned to active military duty, Middleton was assigned to a training regiment at Camp Wheeler, Georgia where he was quickly promoted to colonel on 1 February, and oversaw the combat training of thousands of recruits. After less than two months, he was given a rapid succession of assignments, including to Camp Gordon, Georgia and Camp Blanding, Florida. While at Blanding he was called to the War Department in Washington, where he was given an assignment to be a staff officer in London, but this rapidly changed when he was subsequently called to the War College, and met a classmate from Command and General Staff School, General Mark Clark, who told him that he was being assigned to the Forty-fifth Infantry Division at Fort Devens, Massachusetts.