"Ward Loren Schrantz, of Carthage, Missouri, entered the U.S. Army in 1912, during a time when the future of the horse cavalry was still being seriously debated. He left active military service in 1946, after the dropping of the atomic bomb. Not only did Schrantz serve capably during a time when the U.S. military was undergoing rapid technological and strategic transformation; as a journalist and attentive observer, he also left a vivid personal account of his time in the Army and Missouri National Guard. Now, editor Jeff Patrick has woven Schrantz's three undated versions of his memoir into a single narrative focused on the sparsely documented pre-World War I period from 1912 to 1917, thus helping to fill a significant gap in the existing literature." "Students, scholars, and others interested in military and borderlands history will find much to enjoy in Guarding the Border: The Military Memoirs of Ward Schrantz, 1912-1917."--BOOK JACKET.