Near the top of agenda items at last night’s council meeting, was a presentation from the Pennsylvania National Guard’s Command Historian SGT Damian-Jeffery M. Smith.

SGT Smith approached the councillors with a presentation to “discuss the possibility of obtaining the field artillery piece” from the borough.

According to this Waymarking.com poster, “This artillery display is next to an official PHMP historic blue marker. The caisson is at the end or the beginning of the Columbia-Wrightsville Bridge, depending if you are coming or going.”

On a mission in support of the Pennsylvania National Guard Military Museum, the sergeant’s purpose is to encourage the borough to contribute the artillery piece to the Pennsylvania National Guard, and not the Army. His proposal states, ” … the Army does not want it, so to speak.”

His proposal continues, “The Pennsylvania National Guard Military Museum at Fort Indiantown Gap, located about 30 miles away would like to acquire it for the collection. In the past 6 weeks we were able to obtain from Washington D.C. the Limber and Caisson that would go with this model of the field piece. … there are only a few complete sets, we would like to have a complete set made.”

“The town at Columbia has had a long proud history in association with the Pennsylvania National Guard,” the report says and shows a picture of the armory building on Walnut Street.

Indeed the armory building has a long history with the field artillery. Charlie Battery, 1-108 Field Artillery, was located there during the 1980s. “The Black Sheep” of Charlie Battery had a proud lineage of being good field “canon cockers.” Representative David Hickernell’s Website says “House Bills 1338 and 2215, Acts 9 and 25 of 2005 respectively, authorized the sale of the General Shannon Armory Building and Garage to Columbia Borough.” The structure now houses the Columbia Boys Athletic Association’s (CBAA) Noah Wenger Center.

Following his presentation, before leaving the meeting, he thanked the council and said he hoped the councillors would consider the request favorably.

“The Caisson Song, while perhaps more well known, was never really the official U.S. Army song, clearly because the lyrics were too closely associated with the field artillery… not the entire army.” – armysignalocs.com