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| SUNRAYS JUNE 2014
ONLINE:
SCTXCA.ORG
W
hen you drive on Texas High-
way 195, you may have noticed
the signs naming it the “Phan-
tom Warriors Highway.” Did you ever
wonder who “The Phantom Warriors”
were? Curious as to how the highway
got that name, I began researching—but
it wasn’t as easy as I thought to find
an answer. I called several places, was
transferred to and from internal depart-
ments within those various places, and,
then, I was told the Texas Department of
Transportation (TxDOT) would probably
be able to answer my question. Subse-
quently, TxDOT didn’t know either and
referred me to another office, which then
referred me to another office, who sug-
gested that I call the Community Re-
lations Office at Fort Hood. Alas, they
didn’t know either, but helpfully sug-
gested I call TxDOT. Needless to say it
was some weeks and quite a number of
phone calls later that someone suggested
I call the Sun City Texas Veterans Me-
morial Advisory Group, which looks after
our Veterans Memorial Plaza. I found
the answer! General Chuck Graham, a
veteran of Korea, Vietnam, and the Cold
War and who has been stationed around
the world, told me how it all started.
The Warriors’ Origin
It was the III Corps of the United States
Army that took on the nickname “The
Phantom Warriors.” The Corps was ac-
tivated in France during World War I,
where it commanded various infantry
divisions during the conflict. It was, and
is, a major subordinate command forma-
tion of the U.S. Army Forces Command
that consists of the Army’s deployable
forces in the continental U.S.
After World War I, the Corps was pri-
marily involved in the training of small-
er units. With the Japanese attack on
Pearl Harbor and the U.S. entering
World War II, the III Corps was reacti-
vated but remained stateside, where it
organized the defenses on the West Coast
in case of enemy attack. In 1942, it was
designated as a separate Corps and was
capable of deployment; although, for two
more years, it was kept busy in the U.S.
training thousands of troops for combat
duty. The Corps’ call to action came early
in 1944—it was off to Europe as one of
many corps required to direct the tacti-
cal fighting of more than a million men.
Once in Europe, III Corps moved loca-
tions frequently; they were never in the
same place for long and began taking
German strongholds and field headquar-
ters in various towns on their march to
victory. III Corps was in major battles
and key engagements, including the Bat-
tle of the Bulge where more than 250,000
German troops (supported by over 1,000
tanks and assault guns) surrounded the
101st Airborne Division. General George
Patton ordered III Corps to turn north—
The Phantom
Warriors
Highway 195’s
Namesake Explained
By Edna Heard
Texas Highway 195 is named after the Phantom Warriors, or the III Corps of the U.S. Army, based at Ft. Hood in Killeen, Texas.
Photo by EDNA HEARD
