photograph
Catalog Number
2019.30.142Description
Black and white photograph showing the National Guardsmen from Company D (renamed Company B in 1963). The photo shows a uniformed men standing in a row with their arms behind them. They are standing in front of a tent. Handwritten on the back is "1955 Camp Grayling, 1st Btn Staff, L to R Burrell DeYoung, Nevin VanAnrooy, Bill Sikkel, Col Williams, Bob Kouw, Stanley, John Schutten".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.