194th Regiment

05/27/2026

New details about members of the 194th Tank Battalion in WWII. Food for thought.

Forensic scientists say the Pentagon could use DNA to help identify missing service members faster.

04/27/2026

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This is the third and last of three posts regarding the installation of the WWII M3A1 Stuart, as described below. There are many new photographs, but no changes in the following text which relates to the M3 “Stuart” small tank which fought America’s first land battles in WWII, manned by the men of the 194th Tank Battalion, including Company A, Brainerd, 62 men and officers who, along with thousands of other Allied forces and Filipino Army and Scouts, stopped the Japanese in the Philippines from December 1941 through early April 1942, when ordered to surrender.

In the near future, photographs of the April 9, 2026 Bataan Wreath Laying Ceremony will begin being posted on this FB page. Those photographs are by Brainerd Public Schools Archives photographer Scott Ransom.

Brainerd Public Schools Archives has a sustained history of recognizing and acting upon the stories of the men of WWII's Co A, 194 Tank Battalion in their defense of democracy in the first American land battles of WWII, given that roughly half of the men of Co A were at one time students in Brainerd Public Schools, with three of those students ultimately being awarded Congressional Gold Medals.

BPS Archives is an entirely volunteer organization and has many needs for volunteer assistance. Please contact John Erickson, BPS archivist/curator, at [email protected] to learn more.


INSTALLATION OF THE WWII M3A1 STUART TANK, NOW AT THE MINNESOTA MILITARY AND VETERANS MUSEUM

After a brutal march into captivity, dangerous POW and forced labor camps in the Philippines and Asia for the balance of WWII, and for some, shipment to Asia via inhuman, unmarked “Hell Ships,” some of which were sunk by American submarines, only 29 of the initial 62 men of Company A, many of them very young, recent students of Brainerd Public Schools, returned home.

Three of those men, Walter Straka, Herbert Strobel and Julius St. John Knudsen, were each awarded a Congressional Gold Medal for their service. The 194th Tank Battalion, as a unit, was three times awarded Presidential Unit Citations for its service in the Philippines. A Presidential Unit Citation is the equivalent of a Presidential Medal of Honor awarded only to an individual service member.

On April 17, 8 days after the annual Fall of Bataan Wreath Laying Ceremony in Bataan Hall, Brainerd National Guard Armory, and almost exactly 84 years after the first US bombing of the Japanese mainland, executed by 16 B-25 bombers led by Jimmy Doolittle flying from the USS Hornet, the Brainerd Armory’s M3A1 Stuart tank (the model used by Brainerd’s 194th Tank Battalion in WWII) was installed at the must see Minnesota Military and Veterans Museum clearly located along Hwy 371 at the exit to Camp Ripley south of Brainerd and north of Little Falls.

A contingent of veterans and public from the 194th Tank Battalion Regiment, a 501 c 3 concerned principally with maintaining the history of the 194th, its officers and men, and its descendant units, was present at installation of the Stuart, which had been restored by technicians at Camp Ripley after almost 30 years stationed outside the Brainerd Armory. Using powerful hydraulic equipment and literally moving inch by inch into and through the museum to its gallery, the Stuart was first lifted off a flatbed, then slowly moved through a just wide enough service portal and into the $32.7 million, 40,000 square feet international quality museum.

The Stuart’s “final home” is a permanent installation within the first gallery visitors encounter shortly after entering this appropriately grand historical space through the museum’s main entrance. The museum will host a grand opening on September 12 – 13, 2026.

04/25/2026

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This is the second of three planned posts regarding the installation of the WWII M3A1 Stuart, as described below. There are new photographs, but no changes in the following text.

INSTALLATION OF THE WWII M3A1 STUART TANK, NOW AT THE MINNESOTA MILITARY AND VETERANS MUSEUM

This is the first of three planned posts of approximately 20 images each (the text accompanying these posts will not change: Only the photos) relating to the M3 “Stuart” small tank which fought America’s first land battles in WWII, manned by the men of the 194th Tank Battalion, including Company A, Brainerd, 62 men and officers who, along with thousands of other Allied forces and Filipino Army and Scouts, stopped the Japanese in the Philippines from December 1941 through early April 1942, when ordered to surrender.

After a brutal march into captivity, dangerous POW and forced labor camps in the Philippines and Asia for the balance of WWII, and for some, shipment to Asia via inhuman, unmarked “Hell Ships,” some of which were sunk by American submarines, only 29 of the initial 62 men of Company A, many of them very young, recent students of Brainerd Public Schools, returned home.
Three of those men, Walter Straka, Herbert Strobel and Julius St. John Knudsen, were each awarded a Congressional Gold Medal for their service. The 194th Tank Battalion, as a unit, was three times awarded Presidential Unit Citations for its service in the Philippines. A Presidential Unit Citation is the equivalent of a Presidential Medal of Honor awarded only to an individual service member.

On April 17, 8 days after the annual Fall of Bataan Wreath Laying Ceremony in Bataan Hall, Brainerd National Guard Armory, and almost exactly 84 years after the first US bombing of the Japanese mainland, executed by 16 B-25 bombers led by Jimmy Doolittle flying from the USS Hornet, the Brainerd Armory’s M3A1 Stuart tank (the model used by Brainerd’s 194th Tank Battalion in WWII) was installed at the must see Minnesota Military and Veterans Museum clearly located along Hwy 371 at the exit to Camp Ripley south of Brainerd and north of Little Falls.

A contingent of veterans and public from the 194th Tank Battalion Regiment, a 501 c 3 concerned principally with maintaining the history of the 194th, its officers and men, and its descendant units, was present at installation of the Stuart, which had been restored by technicians at Camp Ripley after almost 30 years stationed outside the Brainerd Armory. Using powerful hydraulic equipment and literally moving inch by inch into and through the museum to its gallery, the Stuart was first lifted off a flatbed, then slowly moved through a just wide enough service portal and into the $32.7 million, 40,000 square feet international quality museum.


The Stuart’s “final home” is a permanent installation within the first gallery visitors encounter shortly after entering this appropriately grand historical space through the museum’s main entrance. The museum will host a grand opening on September 12 – 13, 2026.

04/24/2026

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INSTALLATION OF THE WWII M3A1 STUART TANK, NOW AT THE MINNESOTA MILITARY AND VETERANS MUSEUM

This is the first of three planned posts of approximately 20 images each (the text accompanying these posts will not change: Only the photos) relating to the M3 “Stuart” small tank which fought America’s first land battles in WWII, manned by the men of the 194th Tank Battalion, including Company A, Brainerd, 62 men and officers who, along with thousands of other Allied forces and Filipino Army and Scouts, stopped the Japanese in the Philippines from December 1941 through early April 1942, when ordered to surrender.

After a brutal march into captivity, dangerous POW and forced labor camps in the Philippines and Asia for the balance of WWII, and for some, shipment to Asia via inhuman, unmarked “Hell Ships,” some of which were sunk by American submarines, only 29 of the initial 62 men of Company A, many of them very young, recent students of Brainerd Public Schools, returned home.

Three of those men, Walter Straka, Herbert Strobel and Julius St. John Knudsen, were each awarded a Congressional Gold Medal for their service. The 194th Tank Battalion, as a unit, was three times awarded Presidential Unit Citations for its service in the Philippines. A Presidential Unit Citation is the equivalent of a Presidential Medal of Honor awarded only to an individual service member.

On April 17, 8 days after the annual Fall of Bataan Wreath Laying Ceremony in Bataan Hall, Brainerd National Guard Armory, and almost exactly 84 years after the first US bombing of the Japanese mainland, executed by 16 B-25 bombers led by Jimmy Doolittle flying from the USS Hornet, the Brainerd Armory’s M3A1 Stuart tank (the model used by Brainerd’s 194th Tank Battalion in WWII) was installed at the must see Minnesota Military and Veterans Museum clearly located along Hwy 371 at the exit to Camp Ripley south of Brainerd and north of Little Falls.

A contingent of veterans and public from the 194th Tank Battalion Regiment, a 501 c 3 concerned principally with maintaining the history of the 194th, its officers and men, and its descendant units, was present at installation of the Stuart, which had been restored by technicians at Camp Ripley after almost 30 years stationed outside the Brainerd Armory. Using powerful hydraulic equipment and literally moving inch by inch into and through the museum to its gallery, the Stuart was first lifted off a flatbed, then slowly moved through a just wide enough service portal and into the $32.7 million, 40,000 square feet international quality museum.

The Stuart’s “final home” is a permanent installation within the first gallery visitors encounter shortly after entering this appropriately grand historical space through the museum’s main entrance. The museum will host a grand opening on September 12 – 13, 2026.

04/14/2026

LTC (ret) Larry Osvold, rural Brainerd, longtime Minnesota National Guard soldier, officer and recent commander of the famed Battling Bastards of Bataan (Philippine Islands), one of the WWII 194th Tank Battalions which, along with tens of thousands of Allied and Philippine Army troops held off Imperial Japan for four critical months in the first American land battles of WWII, was honored on April 9, 2026 before a crowd of approximately 200 gathered on the drill floor of Bataan Hall in the former Minnesota National Guard Armory, Brainerd.

Ceremonial recognition of LTC (ret) Osvold followed the 84th Anniversary Wreath Laying Ceremony, at the now Minnesota National Guard Brainerd Training and Community Center, commemorating the WWII Company A, 194th Tank Battalion’s vigorous defense, with other American, Philippine and allied forces, stopping the advance of tyranny in the Southwest Pacific for four months, allowing America time to recover from Japanese attacks in the Philippines and at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941.

LTC (ret) Osvold, a 1965 graduate of Brainerd’s Washington High School, was honored by the US Cavalry & Armor Association for his “many long and dedicated years and service [and] performance throughout his career,” joining “a roster of distinguished soldiers” who have been “honored with the award of the Silver Medallion of the Order of Saint George.”

In addition, LTC (ret) Osvold was recognized by the 194th Tank Battalion Regiment, a 501 c entity which actively supports the considerable history of the 194th Tank Battalion, which was awarded three Presidential Unit Citations (equivalent to the Presidential Medal of Honor) for its service in the Philippine Islands in WWII. Three soldiers of Company A, Julius St. John Knudsen, Herbert Strobel and Walter Straka, received Congressional Gold Medals for their service on Bataan.

The plaque describing the work of LTC (ret) Osvold and presented to him refers to his “tireless dedication in maintaining the history, memories and sacrifices of the soldiers * * * and of their families,” and notes that his “commitment to the men and their families extended over many of the post-War decades,” including the gathering and exhibition of “significant artifacts, reunions for survivors and family members * * * direction of the April 9 Remembrance Ceremony * * * all in your continued committed service for others.”

The noted historian David McCollough taught that “What history teaches, it teaches mainly by example. * * * It inspires courage and tolerance. It is an aid to navigation in perilous times.” LTC (ret) Osvold, an American soldier, by his actions and example through the years, has been both an educator and a military leader, for which his country is most grateful.

REMEMBER BATAAN. NEVER FORGET.

Photographs seen here were made by Brainerd Public Schools Archives photographer Scott Ransom, MinnCam.com.