Indiana Boy Scout Troop visits Fort McCoy Commemorative Area; learns about Army, Fort McCoy history

Photo By Melissa Dubois | Boy Scouts with Boy Scout Troop 301 of Danville, Ind., visit the Commemorative Area at Fort McCoy, Wis., on June 18, 2025, to get a first-hand learning experience about the U.S. military, the Army, and Fort McCoy. This was the group’s first visit to Fort McCoy. The 900 block of Fort McCoy and the 11-acre area surrounding it are at the hub of the fort’s history-preservation efforts and is called the Commemorative Area. The Commemorative Area consists of five World War II-era buildings set aside to help tell Fort McCoy's unique story. These facilities are representative of the types found in the cantonment area when it was constructed in 1942. Three of the buildings — an administrative facility, a dining facility, and a barracks — are set up to depict Soldier life during the 1940s. Display items include a World War II chapel, bunk beds, footlockers, mannequins, and potbelly stoves. Another building highlights four different modern military training venues, and a separate facility shows various training aids. The area also has the Equipment Park and Veterans Memorial Plaza, which is a tribute to all of the men and women who have served the nation during each era of Fort McCoy’s history. (U.S. Army Photo by Melissa Dubois, Public Affairs Office, Fort McCoy, Wis.)  

FORT MCCOY, WISCONSIN, UNITED STATES

06.25.2025

Story by Melissa Dubois and Scott Sturkol

Fort McCoy Public Affairs Office           

Boy Scouts and troop leadership with Boy Scout Troop 301 of Danville, Ind., visited Fort McCoy’s Commemorative Area on June 18 to get a first-hand learning experience about the U.S. military, the Army, and Fort McCoy.

The group was less than 10 people but was fully engaged in all of what the area had to offer. Army Historian Ward Zischke with the 88th Readiness Division led the effort to engage with the visitors, discussing many of the artifacts in the Fort McCoy History Center and historical buildings in the area.

The 900 block of Fort McCoy and the 11-acre area surrounding it are the hub of the fort’s history-preservation efforts that make up the Commemorative Area. Many visitors to the Commemorative Area, including those with Boy Scout Troop 301, first take a walk around the Fort McCoy History Center.

Through every major operation, and everything else supported, that history is remembered in the Fort McCoy History Center. In 2015, a former Fort McCoy public affairs officer described how the History Center was improved after several months of work to renovate the interior and exterior of the facility. That person said then those interior renovations provided for expanded exhibit floor space, improved lighting, and installation of energy efficient heating and air-conditioning systems. Exterior improvements included new steps and a ramp to improve access for visitors.

The History Center features exhibits as well as displays of artifacts, photographs, and memorabilia that tell the story of Fort McCoy since its founding in 1909. The center first was opened in 1999 in building 902 when Fort McCoy observed its 90th anniversary.

Whether it’s Maj. Gen. Robert B. McCoy’s World War I gas mask, horseshoes from the early
camp stables, World War II-era uniforms, or items from the 1980 Cuban Refugee Resettlement mission, the History Center offers exhibits spanning from Fort McCoy’s earliest beginnings to the installation’s involvement in the war on terrorism.

In 2022, the center also received two new additions as well. In July 2022, Alan McCoy, grandson of Maj. Gen. Robert Bruce McCoy for whom Fort McCoy is named after had visited the installation with his family members, and with him he brought a century-old artifact he’d received in the form of a wood crate that included the words stamped on it: “CAMP EMERY UPTON” and “CAMP ROBINSON.”

The Commemorative Area overall consists of five World War II-era buildings set aside to help tell Fort McCoy’s unique story, Fort McCoy Public Affairs Office officials said. These facilities are representative of the types found in the cantonment area when it was constructed in 1942.

Three of the buildings — an administrative facility, a dining facility, and a barracks — are set up to depict Soldier life during the 1940s. Display items include a World War II chapel, bunk beds, footlockers, mannequins, and potbelly stoves. Another building highlights four different modern military training venues, and a separate facility shows various training aids.

Among the favorite of the historical buildings for this tour group was the old dining facility and other historical buildings. There they could look over old menu cards and the old equipment used to make food for Soldiers more than 80 years ago.

Also, this group walked into Equipment Park. The Equipment Park is an outdoor display of historic and present-day equipment representative of the types used on the installation. The design of the park allows for display of 70 pieces of equipment, ranging from helicopters and howitzers to trucks and trailers.

Visitors also hiked over to Veterans Memorial Plaza. Construction on Veterans Memorial Plaza began in 2006, as did the work to create the five Soldier statues on the memorial representative of each of the major conflicts that Fort McCoy had been involved with to that point in time: i.e., World War I, World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, and the war on terrorism.

The formal dedication of Veterans Memorial Plaza was June 13, 2009 — the date of Fort McCoy’s 100th anniversary. Several descendants of the installation’s founder, Maj. Gen. Robert B. McCoy, attended this dedication. The dedication was the key event in a series of activities held during Fort McCoy’s year-long centennial observance.

Ever since its dedication, the Veterans Memorial Plaza has been the center of more than a dozen annual Armed Forces Day Open House events, dozens of official events, dozens of tours, and met by thousands of people throughout the years.

This Boy Scouts troop spent the week camping, hiking, and fishing at Devils Lake State Park in Wisconsin, troop leaders stated. They wanted to learn about the history of Fort McCoy and the history of the military, and thanks to Zischke and public affairs staff, they were able to do so.

For more information about the Commemorative Area, contact the Fort McCoy Public Affairs Office at 502-898-2407, by email at [e-mail], or go online to see the Commemorative Area section in the Fort McCoy Guide at https://d34w7g4gy10iej.cloudfront.net/pubs/pdf_73364.pdf.

Fort McCoy’s motto is to be “The Total Force Training Center.”

The post supports Army Reserve, National Guard, active duty, and other service members from all services.

Located in the heart of the upper Midwest, Fort McCoy is the only U.S. Army installation in Wisconsin.

The installation has provided support and facilities for the field and classroom training of more than 100,000 military personnel from all services nearly every year since 1984.

Learn more about Fort McCoy online at https://home.army.mil/mccoy, on Facebook by searching “ftmccoy,” and on Twitter by searching “usagmccoy.”

Fort McCoy is also part of Army’s Installation Management Command where “We Are The Army’s Home.” See more at https://home.army.mil/imcom.

• Date Taken: 06.25.2025
• Date Posted: 06.25.2025 14:36
• Story ID: 501507
• Location: FORT MCCOY, WISCONSIN, US