photo
Catalog Number
2019.30.64Description
Photo about Company D (renamed Company B in 1963). This black and white photo is of two men. On the back handwritten are the names Geerds (on the right) & Kempker and the date 1958.History
Colonel Henry Geerds was the driving force behind bringing a National Guard unit to Holland, MI. After his experience in WWI he was determined to have someplace where he could properly train young men to become soldiers. Geerds' Company D, a machine gun battery, began enlisting young men in 1921.Geerds then began making plans to have an Armory built in Holland. The Holland Armory was dedicated in 1925.