MARIETTA, Ga. - For more than 120 years, Georgia National Guard Citizen-Soldiers, operating out of armories across the state, have partnered with state and local responders in times of emergency. But in September 1958, the Georgia Guard and Georgia State Patrol combined forces in a unique emergency mission.
At the direction of Georgia Gov. Marvin Griffin, Maj. Gen. Charlie Camp, adjutant general of the Georgia National Guard, ordered more than 600 Guard members to state active duty over the Labor Day weekend for an unprecedented mission of public safety.
The Guard members, representing more than 30 units from across the state, took to the roads and skies in partnership with the Georgia State Patrol to spread a message of traffic safety and to prevent traffic accidents and deaths associated with increased holiday traffic.
Operation Deathless, as it was called, was conceived by the governor as a means to prevent 14 predicted traffic fatalities over the holiday weekend. On the ground, more than 100 National Guard Jeeps, prominently adorned with the 12 by 18-inch Operation Deathless sign with two skull and cross-bones logos were positioned to inform and assist motorists. Guardsmen in radio-equipped Jeeps maintained road blocks and observation points at key intersections and highways.
Though Guardsmen had no arresting authority, they provided back up to law enforcement, detained intoxicated drivers and stopped cars with defective headlights. Georgia Guardsmen also delivered 20,000 letters from the governor on motor safety most notably to motorists entering Georgia from neighboring states. The Guardsmen also rendered aid to stranded motorists with flat tires, stalled vehicles and other minor problems.
In addition to the robust ground effort, twenty Georgia National Guard helicopter and fixed wing aircraft also took to the air to advise Georgia State Patrol of reckless drivers. One pilot reported an incident in which a motorist was exceeding the speed of his Cessna L-19 which had a top speed of 100 miles per hour.
Operating 24 hours a day from 6:00 pm Friday to midnight on Monday, The Georgia Guardsmen worked with State and local law enforcement officials to spread the word about highway safety and to respond to those in need. As a result of their combined efforts traffic fatalities fell well below the predicted level of 14 with only eight lives lost over the long travel weekend.