Warrant Office R.W. Skains managed Winn Guard unit
By James Ronald Skains
Journal Correspondent
Warrant Officer Richard W. Skains (ret) was a fixture in the Winnfield Unit of the Louisiana National Guard for 32 years beginning in 1950 and ending with retirement in 1982. As Warrant Officer, Skains managed the day-to-day operations of the Guard Unit.
However, Skains almost didn't make it back from WWII service in Europe he told the Piney Woods Journal. "I had not been out of high school very long when I found myself in the back of troop truck in full gear somewhere in France."
"We were in full battle gear and headed to the front when we got sideswiped by a 'Red Ball Express' tanker truck," Skains recalled. "General Patton and his tanks were rapidly rolling across Europe and the General had first priority on all fuel to make sure his tanks kept moving. His fuel tankers had the right-of-way on all the roads in Europe."
"If you didn't get out of the way, they would literally run over you and that is what happened to the truck I was in," Skains remembered. "One of the Red Ball trucks hit ours and turned it over. The next thing I knew I was skidding down the road flat on my back. When I stopped, I was surprised that I was still alive."
"Why the tanker truck didn't explode we never knew," Skains explained. "There were soldiers all over the roadway and in the ditches. A couple of guys in our unit had been killed and several others wounded."
"In a little while, the officers got us survivors together and on another troop carrier and we headed toward the front," Skains pointed out. "There was only one way and that was forward in that war."
The Winnfield Armory was built in 1949 under the administration of Governor Earl K. Long. Earl had promised the Winn Parish war veterans that if they could get a unit together, he would build them an Armory.
"It didn't take long to get a Guard Unit organized, and didn't take long for the Governor to get the Armory built," Skains noted. "Being only a few years after WWII, it was easy for the veterans to understand the need for a strong National Guard after all the things we went through in WWII."
For several years, the Winnfield National Guard unit marched in various local parades held in the area. The Winnfield Guard Unit also marched in the inaugural parade of Governor Long in 1956. That was the second time the Winnfield Guard Unit had traveled to Baton Rouge to march in a parade in the Capitol city.
Although, the Winnfield Guard Unit usually took their two week summer training exercise at nearby Fort Polk during Skains' tenure, they made five trips for summer exercises to Fort Chaffee, Arkansas.
"That was a four hundred fifty mile trip one way riding over not the best of roads in military vehicles," Skains recalled. "It wasn't any closer back home either. All of us were glad when we were assigned to Fort Polk for summer training exercises which was a little less than a hundred mile trip from Winnfield."
"Maybe the shorter trip was good for our unit because we won several drill competitions at Fort Polk," Skains remembered. "There were some minor Army functions during our summer excursions to Polk and Chaffee but for the most part, it was all military training exercises."
Also, during Skains' tenure with the Winnfield Guard Unit, the Unit was assigned to three different branches of the service, Infantry, then Transportation and finally Ordnance groups. In his career as a Warrant Officer, Skains completed several Regular Army Schools including Train-fire Instructor, Chemical & Biological Warfare, Maintenance Administration, Maintenance Officer, Personnel Officer Course, and Maintenance & Tire Construction and Use. At his retirement ceremony, Skains was presented with additional Service Medals.
After his official retirement from the National Guard in 1982, Skains joined the management team at Humana Hospital in Winnfield which was the forerunner of the present day Winn Parish Medical Center. After using his many years of experience in personnel matters with the Guard, Skains retired from his second career as Personnel Director of the Hospital in 1989.
Skains then put his full time attention to growing one of the finest and best cared for garden in the Joyce area. At age 80, having been born on July 1, 1925, Skains still retains his military posture as he goes about his "duties" on his farm that he has dubbed, "Little Valley."
Skains and his wife, the former Wardell McCartney have three boys, two of whom followed him into military service in the Guard and a short stint of active duty. The younger son began a longtime career in Hospital and Medical Administration initially with Humana while his father was at the local hospital.
Also, and perhaps more important to the WWII veteran and longtime Louisiana National Guard enlisted officer has been his service with the East Winnfield Baptist Church located in Joyce. A fixture in the church since the 1950's, Skains has served on the Board of Deacons for the last 30 years.
In addition to his official careers, Skains has built the reputation as one of the best white perch fishermen in Winn Parish. However, Skains recently told the Journal, "If I don't start doing a better job of going fishing, I'm afraid my aluminum boat is going to start rotting."