Operation Swift Strike II an occasion to remember

Operation Swift Strike II will be remembered by many in the area, even though it took place 46 years ago.

Some 70,000 men participated in the mock war games that covered about 5,500 square miles in North and South Carolina.

Among the top federal officials who observed the maneuvers were Robert S. McNamara, secretary of defense; Cyrus Vance, secretary of the Army; Eugene Zuckert, Secretary of the Air Force; Gen. Lyman L. Lemnitzer, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; and Gen Curtis E. LeMay, U. S. Air Force chief of staff.

And it wasn’t just the military who participated.

“Florence city officials and other community leaders found themselves assuming unusual roles,” a front page story in the Morning News read. “To add local flavor to the war games and to give them an extra touch of authenticity, this group found itself designated to serve as the Cabinet of Renloa, a country which must slug it out with invading forces.”

Mayor David H. McLeod wore the mantle of president of Renloa through the exercise.

Florence City Manager Powell Black was the prime minister. Black served on submarine tenders during World War II.

Other members of the cabinet were Florence County Treasurer Elting L. Chapman, minister of finance; Administrative Assistant William Snow, minister of the interior; Health Commissioner Claude Ballard, minister of health; and Solicitor Richard Dusenbury, attorney general.

But there were more in the cabinet.

Florence Public Works Administrator H.J. Dickman was minister of public works; Morning News Editor James A. Rogers, minister of information; County Farm Agent Herman L. Livingston, minister of agriculture; Florence building official Jack Pope, minister of public property; and Florence County law enforcement official John Hanna, chief of national police.

And there was some damage and injuries after Swift Strike ended.

“So far we’ve settled some 200 claims,” Lt. Col. Robert DeMund, commanding officer of the claims office, said in a Morning News interview. “I’d estimate a total of $6,000 in damages paid. We have two units of Army engineers doing as much repair work as possible and 12 claims officers are at work soothing landowners.”

DeMund said an 11-year-old boy lost three fingers and an eye while playing with a .30-caliber blank.

And a 19-year-old struck a match to a pile of artillery powder he had salvaged. He lost the use of both hands until skin grafts could be made.