Courtesy Photo | Marlene Hackett-Hemsey, a Tomah, Wis., area native, and Dorothy Ruby, also from Tomah,...... read more read more
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Marlene Hemsey, formerly known as Marlene Hackett and a native of Tomah, Wis., now calls Winona, Minn., her home, and at 86 years old, has a fondness for history — including Fort McCoy history.
As she entered her mid-80s, Marlene and her family embarked on a journey to document notes and conversations of her cherished memories from her formative youth spent near Fort McCoy and in Tomah during the 1940s and 1950s.
Coming to age on the edge of Fort McCoy in Tomah, Marlene Hemsey said her childhood was punctuated by the sounds of American Soldiers training for World War II.
As a young girl during the early 1940s, Hemsey’s family farm was close enough to the Army post that the booming sounds of training ammunition would sometimes shake their old farmhouse, often spooking their cow and Collie dog that her family named Bing Crosby.
“We could hear the shooting and whatever kind of equipment they were using for the Soldiers,” Hemsey recalled. “And I don’t know if there were bombs or what, but you could hear the shelling and it would rattle the old farmhouse windows. This was a constant noise that I was experiencing when I was growing up because World War II was going on, and the Soldiers were sent to McCoy, to you know, learn how to go into battle and what to do.”
Camp McCoy, as it was known then, served as a training ground for Soldiers preparing to deploy to Europe during World War II. The constant noise of shelling and frequent conversations about the latest news from the front served as a regular backdrop to Hemsey’s early years, an unescapable reminder of the global conflict that was raging overseas.
“I was under … 5 or 6 years old. I knew what was going on, and we of course would talk about World War II and the fighting occurring in Europe,” she said. “We were kind of right there close to Fort McCoy. If you know how close post and Tomah is (11 miles), and our farm was even closer. We were right on the edge of Fort McCoy I would say.”
In a testament to the Tomah community’s spirit of solidarity and to leverage her home’s proximity to Camp McCoy, Hemsey’s family even opened their doors to Soldiers who were training at the installation, she said. They would host Soldiers with their spouses and sometimes children to help them spend more time together before being deployed to fight in the European theater.
“We were contacted by Fort McCoy, or the government, to take in Soldiers and their (spouses). They were trying to help out in the only way they could. And so, they stepped up and received the Soldiers and their (families) in the home so they could be there together for a short time before the (Soldier) was shipped over for battle,” Hemsey said. “We trusted people enough to take them into the home, and they lived with us, sharing the kitchen, and having their own room.”
Hemsey recounted one of her most troubling memories of the war, which involved the loss of a Soldier from a couple her family had hosted on their farm.
“There’s only one who I ever heard of that didn’t come back. I think they were from Tennessee and the fellow was killed in the war. I do remember them talking about it, and I felt sad because I had known him. That’s kind of the way life is,” Hemsey recalled. “I did feel sad about the fact that he was killed.”
Despite the various challenges Hemsey and other Americans faced during the war, she still felt very fortunate to have experienced it afar from the safety of her home.
“We for the most part had it good, unlike some parts of the world where they really had hardships during the war,” she said. “But we did have rationing. I remember my mother had coupons that they had to use to buy certain things. But that was a hardship you know, and we still fortunately had enough to eat.”
Marlene also recounted a fond memory of her childhood years. It was on Sept. 2, 1945 — the day World War II officially ended due to the surrender of Japan and the following celebrations that erupted in the streets as a result.
“I remember my parents saying the war has ended,” Hemsey recalled. “One thing I can remember when World War II ended is cars driving around up and down the country road honking their horn. So, people were celebrating by honking their horns.”
Her family’s support of Soldiers stationed at McCoy wasn’t confined to just during World War II. When the Korean War broke out in the early 1950s, Hemsey’s family once again welcomed Army couples into their home. Among them was a couple named Tom and Ursula Abernathy, whose kindness left a lasting impression on a then young, teenage Marlene.
“Ursula was from Germany. She was very good to me, taking me with them many times to see movies at the Army base theater at Camp McCoy,” Hemsey said. “I became a movie buff because of it. Burt Lancaster movies and Kirk Douglas and in that era — the early 50s. I was overjoyed every time we got to go see a movie with the Soldiers on base.”
As she grew up, Marlene always made sure to highlight the importance of preserving these memories and educating younger generations about the sacrifices made during World War II.
“I think that we should try to emphasize the importance of history and World War II more with the younger people. There’s been generations that probably haven’t experienced what we did during World War II,” Hemsey said. “To them, it maybe feels very far away when it happened, like the distant past. But to us, we feel World War II was closer because we knew the people who were going to be going over and fighting the war. It’s very important that we get that history to the younger people. I was an elementary (school) teacher, so I tried to bring that into the classroom at certain times, too, so that they would understand history was both important and very interesting.”
As someone whose family has a strong military connection, with her husband and his brothers having served in the Army, Hemsey believes in honoring and supporting those who choose to serve their country.
“The military is very important to us,” she said. “And I think the more we give our Soldiers and Sailors and so forth credit the better. I am happy that there's some people that want to serve our country and protect us.”
Hemsey's memories possibly serve as a poignant reminder of an era when communities rallied together in times of war to support their country, and the sounds of training for battle were a constant reminder of the world beyond their doorstep.
According to history, in February 1942, the War Department announced the building of a cantonment area referred to as the “New Camp,” which still serves as the Fort McCoy’s cantonment area today. These additions included construction of the large, triangular-shaped cantonment area, known as the “triad.”
Camp McCoy was used as a training facility for many World War II units, including the 2nd Infantry Division; the 76th Infantry Division; and the 100th Infantry Battalion, which comprised of Hawaii National Guardsmen of Japanese ancestry and was among the most decorated units in history. The post also served as a prisoner-of-war and enemy-alien prison camp during this time.
During the Korean War between 1950-1953, McCoy played a critical role in training and preparing Soldiers for participation in the conflict. For three years the installation returned to a mobilization installation much like it was in World War II.
Learn more about Fort McCoy online at https://home.army.mil/mccoy, on Facebook by searching “ftmccoy,” and on Twitter by searching “usagmccoy.”
Also try downloading the Digital Garrison app to your smartphone and set “Fort McCoy” or another installation as your preferred base. Fort McCoy is also part of Army’s Installation Management Command where “We Are The Army’s Home.”
| Date Taken: | 05.07.2024 |
| Date Posted: | 05.07.2024 14:00 |
| Story ID: | 470553 |
| Location: | FORT MCCOY, WI, US |
| Web Views: | 407 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, 86-year-old Tomah native recalls growing up near Fort McCoy, by Christopher Jones, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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