Harold K. Holden - Veterans Legacy Project

Their Story

Brigadier General Harold K. Holden"

If there was one title to give to Harold Keeler Holden’s life it would be public servant. Harold Keeler Holden was born on September 28, 1894, to Frank and Edna Mae Keeler Holden,^[1] in Galesburg, Illinois. He had two brothers, Claude and Vincent.^[2] His father was a farmer. In 1910, the family was living in Missouri.^[3]

On March 29, 1911, Holden enlisted in the National Guard of the State of Missouri, serving in B Company, 2nd Regiment, for three years.^[4] In 1915, he moved to Des Moines, Iowa.

He served in Co. C of the 168th Infantry of the Iowa National Guard.^[5] At twenty-two years old he was sent to serve on the Mexican border in 1916 – 1917 to help in the United States’ efforts against Pancho Villa. The war for them never came and the National Guard units fell into a cycle of border guard duty and rigorous training. “An unforeseen byproduct of Pancho Villa’s raid was the creation of a well-trained National Guard force just in time for the United States to enter into World War I. The 150,000 Guardsmen that served on the border received more valuable training during their time there than would have been possible in years of normal home-armory training. It also highlighted the growing importance of the National Guard in the U.S. military strategy.”^[6]

He then served with the Rainbow Division during WWI.^[7] “The 42nd Division was created in August 1917 and was comprised of mobilized National Guard Units from 26 States and the District of Columbia. The nickname Rainbow Division represented the diversity of men grouped into one division as reflected by Chief of Staff Major Douglass MacArthur that they ‘would stretch over the whole country like a rainbow.’^[8] The unit fought at the second battle of the Marne, Luneville Sector, Ourcq River, Chateau-Thierry counteroffensive, St. Mihiel, Verdun, Champagne Woevre, and Meuse-Argonne, suffering heavy losses of more than 12,000 casualties in 264 days of combat operations out of 457 days of service on the front lines.” On October 6, 1919, 2LT Holden sailed from Brest, France, to the states with Prisoner of War Escort Company 72.^[9]

He married Zula E. Riggle on Christmas Eve 1921.^[10] They had a son, Robert, born in July 1924,^[11] and a daughter, Elizabeth, born in December 1929.^[12] In 1930, Holden was a salesman for a wholesale grocery company in Des Moines. His parents and brother, Vincent, were residing with him and his family. In 1932, he was promoted to major.^[13]

After coming back to Des Moines and raising a family, Holden became interested in public service. In 1936 he ran for safety commissioner in Des Moines. He did not win. Holden was a pillar of the Des Moines community, though, and ran again for safety commissioner in 1940 and won. By then, he had already served 19 years in the military.^[14] The Des Moines community was having a drinking and gambling problem. In addition to serving in the National Guard, as safety commissioner, it was Holden’s job to fix this problem. Holden provided a seven-step solution to fixing the issues. He went on record saying he was for, “absolute control of the beer, liquor, and gambling problems – but no promises of closing everything up.”

In August 1940, he spent three weeks at National Guard camp.^[15] He was not able to complete his term as safety commissioner since he was a Lt. Colonel in the Iowa National Guard. At the age of 46, Holden entered active-duty Army service on February 10, 1941, serving in his second world war.

In April 1942, Holden was sent overseas to England and Ireland. He commanded the 1st Battalion, 168th Infantry, 34th Division for three years. At the time of his discharge Holden had worked his way up to Lieutenant Colonel. He had been Army Quartermaster for North Ireland.^[16] When he returned home in 1944, he started up his own real estate business, H.K. Holden Realty Company, which was a great success.

In 1946, he continued his passion for public service by running for mayor of Des Moines. He also served eight years on the Veterans Memorial Auditorium Commission. By 1950, he was divorced from Zula.^[17] In August 1949, Holden filed an application with the State of Iowa for World War II Service Compensation. The notary witnessing his signature was Lucille Cox, who would later become his wife.^[18] He retired from the organized reserve in September 1954^[19] as a colonel.^[20] His headstone has brigadier general inscribed on it.^[21]

In 1963, Holden and Lucille moved to Seal Beach, California and lived in a retirement community there. Holden quickly became the director, and later the president of the retirement community. He was also a city councilman in numerous capacities from 1970 – 1977.^[22]

Lucille Holden died on March 23, 1981.^[23]

After Lucille’s passing Harold moved back to Iowa and lived in Davenport until his death on April 8,1981 at Fejervary Health Care Center in Davenport, Iowa.^[24]

Harold K. Holden gave his life to helping others. He was an extremely hard-working man, serving Des Moines, Iowa, for a huge part of his life. Holden also served his country and will be remembered as a hero and a pillar of any community he set foot in.