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A Seasoned Recruit: Joe Joins the Michigan National Guard

Discharge to OfficerEL PASO, TEXAS (Aug. 3, 1916) -- What does the U.S. Army and National Guard do when a veteran soldier shows up on its doorstep to enlist? Joseph L. Bachus joined the Michigan National Guard on June 12, 1916 as a buck private, but he had recently served in the Ohio National Guard when his sales job forced him to leave his recently adopted home state of Michigan.
MichNGDischarge2When Joe joined the Ohio National Guard, he had already served a year as a naval apprentice, three years in the U.S. Marine Corps, and a year as an Isthmian Canal Commission police officer. He quickly rose in rank with the Ohio National Guard and was elected captain by his company, but he resigned his position when he and his wife, Lina, moved back to Ann Arbor, Michigan.

It didn’t take long for the Michigan guardsmen of the 31st Infantry Regiment to realize what they had in the tall 30-year-old veteran who joined their ranks. Shortly after signing up and shipping out for active duty on the Mexican border during the Pancho Villa Affair, Joe was honorably discharged as an enlisted man and appointed as 2nd Lieutenant at Camp Cotton, El Paso, by Capt. Albert C. Wilson, commanding officer of Company I, 31st Inf. Regiment.

His “Enlistment Record” identifies Joe’s health as “Good” and his character as “Excellent.

NEXT WEEK: “On the Border Chasing Villa”

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