An Accounting of the Progress and Present Status of the Blackford County Civil Defense Council. Prepared at the request of the Indiana State Defense Council.

By Jack Dolan, Director Blackford County Civil Defense Council.

April 30, 1942.

Blackford City, Indiana

At the time of this writing it is just a few days past four months since the Japanese made their cowardly surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, early in the peaceful Sunday morning of December 7, 1941. For this reason some of the final phases of the organization under the Blackford County Civilian Defense Council have not as yet been completed, and it is hoped that anyone reading this report will bear this in mind throughout.

It was scarcely a week after the Pearl Harbor attack that a group of grave-faced and aroused men gathered in Hartford City to determine what must be done, and planned, in order that Blackford County might meet the demands, sacrifices and dangers created by a war-torn world.

At that meeting Jack Bolan was named to direct and lead the Civilian Defense organization in this county, and part of the group immediately journeyed to Indianapolis for a meeting with the State Defense Council, to ascertain certain steps necessary toward inaugurating a Civil Defense program here.

It was recognized at once that protection of our people and of our property, together with the lending of every ounce of energy to the general war effort must be the motivating force in the daily lives of our people, from that day forward until this new and very real world war here is ended. It was determined that in Blackford County no stone would be left unturned to achieve the utmost in these aims.

Out of that first meeting grew the present fine Civil Defense organization now functioning in our county. It has reached into the lives and homes of every man, woman and child in the community, looking toward their protection and safety, and the war is but four months old, as these lines are being written.

What the future holds in store for America and her people now engaged in a great struggle to preserve a way of life which has become sacred to us, no man can say, but whatever the outcome – whatever the dangers we might have to face in the days ahead – this county will be ready.

Blackford County, located in the east central part of Indiana, is approximately 13 miles square, and is in the center of the rich Indiana tomato belt, although her farmers raise a diversified variety of farm products. There are four townships: Licking, Jackson, Washington and Harrison. Population of the county is about 14,000. Hartford City is the county seat. Other towns in the county are Montpelier, Roll and Millgrove.

Faced with a common danger our citizens have become a truly united people and that unity has been amply expressed through various activities inaugurated under the Blackford County Civil Defense Council.

The strategy of total war contemplates direct attacks against civilian life and institutions, in an effort to crush national morale and disrupt civilian support of the defending military forces, insofar as the manufacture of supplies, maintenance of transportation lines and the many other civilian activities are concerned.

The horrors of an all-out war are not pleasant to consider, but unfortunately, facts are facts. The pattern of Axis aggression is clearly recorded in bombed cities, enslaved peoples, treacherous fifth columnists, lying promises and the destruction of human freedom. War no longer pits army against army, It reaches down to the old and to the young; to peace-loving men, women and children in THEIR HOMES. That record cannot be blinked away by wishful thinking.

The corresponding strategy of defense, therefore, must include well developed plans for co-ordinated action on the part on the part of civil agencies to protect civilians and their property from military attack.

Thus we see Civilian Defense has two tasks:

1. The first is to prepare for the day when bombs and artillery fire fall on our cities, towns and country-side and when men, women and children must stand prepared to defend their homes and liberties.
2. The second is to better the health, the economic security and well-being of our people, so as to make our county strong in its support of our military force.

Total war is said to be a new kind of war. On the contrary, it is as old as mankind. We used to know it as the”the law of tooth and talon”. Because modern warfare is TOTAL warfare, civilian defense has, for the first time in history, assumed a major importance in the defense of a nation. You might ask what is meant by total warfare. I believe that total warfare means that a whole society of people in its economic, social and political aspects, as well as in its military aspect, becomes a part of the war endeavor.

Thus we find the present war is being conducted on three broad fronts. These are:

1. Economic
2. Morale
3. Military

Added to this, in modern war is the danger of sabotage, which is doubly dangerous because it is so insidious, so undermining to the confidence we have in constituted authority. Sabotage can be outlined as following:

1. Industrial – actual bombing, damage to machinery or material or products in the course of work.
2. Commercial – possible damage to transportation.
3. Health – cause spread of disease.
4. Morale – undermined by propaganda

It can readily be seen that civilians must aid, not alone in winning an actual victory, but also in preserving and maintaining everything we have labored so hard to build in this country, for we face today an enemy that prefers destruction of everything to a possible defeat. They are ruthless and will stoop to the use of gas, disease spreading, food or water poisoning or any other means to accomplish their purpose, no matter how low or how horrible. I am afraid our people, as a whole, do not yet realize this and they must be made to realize these possibilities before we, as a people, can make our full contribution to the war effort of this nation.

If the bombers should break through or a landing should be made on our coasts, or a great epidemic break out, or great explosions take place, or great fires start, all of our public and private agencies of health, safety and transportation and communication within local areas will be strained beyond their capacity. If the bombs fall, it is no longer the job of the soldier to worry about it. The CIVILIAN must do something about it and it is as civilians that we are being called on to act as auxiliaries to many branches of government, which generally provide for our health, our safety and our comforts. It will be our job to do this when disaster strikes and it is necessary to train for it now. This is Civilian Defense.

It is this aspect of modern war that changes so enormously the role of the civilian and out of which Civilian Defense has been born. Thus it is that we in Blackford County have found it necessary to enter into a new activity; that we must concern ourselves with problems that never before occurred to us; that in this modern day of civilization we must prepare to defend our very lives and homes, just as our forefathers accepted this mode of living as part of their every-day lot in the pioneer days, one-hundred years ago.

Each nation has three lines of defense. First comes the armed forces, – the army, navy and air-force. Next, the constituted authorities, and last, but, by no means least, in days of war, – organized civilian efforts. Thus ” We the People” must learn to play the dangerous game of war.

We can readily see how any enemy action would meet each of these lines in succession. The civilian effort, however, as distinguished from the others, is, of course, passive. Civilian defense will seek to minimize the destructive efforts of hostile action; to save lives; to avert the destruction of property; to be alert to invasion attempts by land or air; to prevent sabotage and to aid the war effort in every way possible. A strong civilian defense, or effort, makes any nation strong, where otherwise, it might seem weak. The fate of France has taught us this lesson in blood, famine and despair.

Early in the deliberation of the leaders of this county, it was recognized and kept in mind that through the Civilian Defense organization we are dealing potentially in human lives and that nothing must be left undone which might save one human life in the days to come.

An active Civil Defense organization is not created over night. It is the product of time and effort and leadership. It must be recruited, trained and welded together into a unified corps. England, with its immediate threat of danger, took two years to perfect a unified civilian defense. We are on our way in Blackford County, but there is still much work left to do; thousands of problems lie ahead of us, but those in charge of civilian defense in this country are devoting much time, energy, thought and effort toward solving those problems. Already the citizens of the county are responding in a whole-hearted way, showing their desire to serve in any capacity to insure the safety of our community and the aiding of the general war effort.

At the beginning of the building of the Civilian Defense organization, a registration was held in the lobby of the postoffice. (A form of this registration is included in this report.) Women from every walk of life volunteered to conduct the registration. At the beginning Mrs. Alfred Markins, acted as secretary in the Civilian Defense office and conducted the volunteer registration. Some time later Mrs. Vera Connelly was employed as secretary of the board and she, in turn, was replaced by Mrs. Vera Huddleston, who is the present secretary. Mrs. Conneley left to join her husband who is in the U.S. Army, stationed in Mississippi.

More than two thousand people registered voluntarily to participate in Civilian Defense in Blackford County and the determination shown in these early days indicated that this county would not be found wanting when and if danger confronts our people.

It did not take long to understand that we must, as a county, stand on our own feet; that if the middle west was subjected to bombing, invasion or sabotage, other counties and communities would have their hands full, taking care of themselves, and that in all of our plans we must utilize whatever assets we have in our own county.

Briefly, the Civilian Defense organization in this county is composed of the Blackford County Civilian Defense Council, the Executive Council, Emergency organizations and the continuous community activities organizations. Some forty corps or groups comprise the entire organization, – each charged with a particular duty and each to undergo special training and instruction to carry that duty.

The Blackford County Civilian Defense Council holds its meetings in the Directors’ room in the Citizens State Bank. The council membership was fixed by the State Defense Act, passed in the 1941 session of the legislature and includes regularly elected or appointed officials of the county. Membership of the council follows:

[The rest of this report details the many people working on and with the Civilian Defense Council and their specific duties.]

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