introduction-107 th engineer association（介绍- 107 th工程师协会）（108页）.docVIP

Combat Engineer! The History of the 107th Engineering Battalion 1881-1981 BY FREDERICK STONEHOUSE Copyright, 2001 107th Engineer Association This history is dedicated to: the members of the Battalion who have come before, the present members, and to those of future years.  ? They may look like tramps, but they build your camps, and they sometimes lead the advance. They sweat red blood to bridge the flood, to give you a fighting chance. Who stays behind when it gets too hot, to blow up your roads in the rear? Just tell your wife she owes your life to some muddy old Engineer... Some dusty, crusty, croaking, joking, muddy old Engineer. -Anonymous INTRODUCTION  The purpose of this book is to faithfully and accurately record the history of the 107th Combat Engineer Battalion, Michigan Army National Guard, from its beginning in Calumet, Michigan in 1881 to the present. Without any bias, I will attempt to relate the history from available historical evidence. Where opinion is required, I will render it a critical, impartial analysis. My point of view is at all times both that of a historian and soldier. Under no circumstance is this book an attempt to praise the 107th. That is unnecessary. The facts speak for themselves. The locating of hard, factual information was the major problem encountered during the writing of this book. The loss of the Regimental Trains in World War I, and later the Battalion Trains during World War II, created a void of pre-war information for both periods. In addition, there were never efforts to maintain unit history files. The entire research procedure has therefore been of a catch as catch can nature; literally building a history as each fact comes to light. The best available source material has been used to record this history. These included National A