Courtesy Photo | Soldiers conduct bayonet training in 1942 at Camp McCoy, Wis. Winter training was...... read more read more
Subscribe
On Sept. 2, 1945, the official end of World War II came to pass with Japan’s signing of the Instrument of Surrender aboard the battleship USS Missouri.
At then-Camp McCoy, Wis., the thousands of service members, civilian workers, and more who had kept the war effort going at the post were already preparing to send service members home after the war was all done.
The first announcement that the war was over was printed in the special Aug. 14, 1945, edition of The Real McCoy newspaper where the entire front page had a hammer headline of “EXTRA: WAR’S OVER!”
The paper also stated that the Japanese had accepted the terms of unconditional surrender from the Allies. It wasn’t until Sept. 2, 1945, that the war was officially over.
In that Aug. 14 special edition, the post commander, Brig. Gen. John K. Rice, stated that “now there was a lot of work ahead.”
In an article in that same paper, entitled “Important job ahead for McCoy, Gen. Rice asserts,” it states how the plan going forward has begun to start increased discharges instead of the post changing course to train more Soldiers for the Pacific theater of operations.
“Camp McCoy’s importance in the new problems posed by the end of the war were emphasized by Brig. Gen. John K. Rice, commanding general, who declared the task faced by the post in separation of men from the service ‘parallels anything undertaken here during the fighting years and will task our energies to the utmost,’” the article states. “The huge job of discharging thousands of veterans from the six-state area serviced by Camp McCoy will swing into high shortly when the War Department is expected to announce its new plans regarding disposition of at least five million of the men now in uniform.”
By Sept. 7, 1945, less than a week after the official end of the war, separations were well underway from Camp McCoy. The headline in the Sept. 7 edition of The Real McCoy newspaper stated, “Separation Center doubles discharges; 25,680 redeployed here in August, more coming.”
“August was a busy month for personnel of the reception center as pay vouchers and furlough papers were signed for 25,680 men who were processed for redeployment,” the article states. “Bigger loads are expected this month.
“Under direction of Capt. D.D. O’Connell, commanding officer, the reception station handled an average of 500 to 1,000 men daily during the past month. The largest number to be processed was on Aug. 31 which included 116 officers and 1,587 enlisted men,” the article states. “New arrivals for the reception station are met by guides who remain with the group during medical examinations, screening, issuing of clothing, and until furlough papers are signed.”
The article also states that upon returning to the camp after their furlough, the service members are assembled and grouped for shipment, excluding those who have requested furlough extensions, special agricultural and essential job discharges, and those becoming eligible for discharge.
That same Sept. 7 paper stated the dining facilities were also extra busy feeding the troops being discharged through McCoy.
In the article, “‘Jumbo’ messes feed 1,700 a meal,” it states on mess hall, now called dining facilities, was cranking out a record effort to feed everyone.
“With a boom in discharges steadily mounting at the separation center, its new double mess hall was doing capacity business this week, according to Capt. Kenneth Cochran, assistant mess officer for the personnel center. Capt. John M. Willis is mess officer for the center,” the article states. “Approximately 1,700 men are being fed in mess hall 1726-27 in the separation center, Cochran said. Another mess hall of the new double type is in operation in the new reception station.
The new mess halls have bigger seating capacities with the room where the old kitchens were now being used for seating space and cafeteria-style facilities,” the article states. “The kitchen in the middle permits serving on both sides simultaneously from steam tables which keep the food warm.”
In the Aug. 14 “victory” edition of The Real McCoy, the man who had been the post commander for most of the wartime period at McCoy, Col. George M. MacMullin, wrote a short column, entitled “Praise for McCoy,” where he also celebrated the war victory.
“The victory for which our nation and all United Nations have striven has been achieved, thank God,” MacMullin wrote. “With the proclamation by President Harry S. Truman, our commander in chief, this day has been designated as (Victory in Japan) V-J Day, signifying the end of hostilities against the remaining Axis foe, Japan.
“The record amassed by our military forces during the fighting years since Japan attacked this nation Dec. 7, 1941, has been studded with feats of military achievement bordering on the impossible. The magnificent triumphs of our armed forces serve as a symbol of Americanism, portray a nation united as one,” the article states.
“Victory is here, and we look to the future confident our country will continue to lead the world in peace as it did in war. For those of us at Camp McCoy, there remains an important task before we write Finis to the war years. The return to civilian pursuits of thousands of veterans is the responsibility of Camp McCoy’s personnel center. This huge assignment parallels anything undertaken here during the fighting years and will require our maximum efforts. I am certain I will receive your wholehearted support — as in the past — and we at Camp McCoy shall meet our objectives promptly and with as much dispatch as possible. Again, my congratulations to you and your part in this great triumph.”
Camp McCoy (today Fort McCoy) played a major role in World War II as one of the U.S. Army’s most important training and mobilization centers in the Midwest. Here’s a breakdown of its significance during the war:
Throughout World War II, history shows Camp McCoy made its mark in the Army. First, the installation served as a key training and mobilization hub. The post expanded dramatically after 1940 with new barracks, ranges, and facilities built to handle the wartime draft. By 1942, it could house over 35,000 troops at a time.
During the “fighting years,” Camp McCoy hosted dozens of divisions and units for basic, advanced, and specialized training before deployment overseas. Units trained at McCoy included: 2nd Infantry Division, 76th Infantry Division, 100th Infantry Battalion (Nisei soldiers from Hawaii), and various artillery, engineer, and support units.
The 100th Infantry Battalion, especially was one that made historical achievements during the war. The 100th was the first Japanese-American unit in the Army during World War II, and they arrived at McCoy in 1942.
Their successful training at McCoy helped prove the loyalty and capability of Nisei Soldiers, McCoy’s history states, leading to the creation of the famed 442nd Regimental Combat Team, the most decorated unit of its size in U.S. military history.
Training for the 100th at McCoy lasted roughly six months, covering marksmanship, physical conditioning, and tactical exercises. Anecdotes highlight the unit’s advanced, multi-weapon training to prove their loyalty and competency. One story from The Real McCoy archives show five 100th Soldiers received the Soldier’s Medal for rescuing civilians from drowning on a frozen Wisconsin lake.
Soldiers with the 100th also interacted with local communities, especially in Sparta, La Crosse, and Tomah. The Soldiers even formed a baseball team nicknamed the “Aloha team,” complete with Hawaiian musicians and leis, playing local teams around Wisconsin. They also hosted a farewell luau before departing — full of music, food, and aloha spirit.
McCoy also served as a prisoner-of-war (POW) camp during World War II. The former Civil Conservation Corps discharge and reception center located on South Post was converted into a POW and relocation camp, history shows. The facility consisted of 35 buildings and a 20-acre enclosure. The FBI relocated 293 enemy-alien internees (five Italians, 106 Germans, and 182 Japanese) to Camp McCoy. The camp was the largest holding facility for Japanese POWs (2,700) in the Continental United States and also housed nearly 3,000 German and 500 Korean POWs until POW operations were ceased in 1946. Camp McCoy is unique in American history as having housed both relocated Japanese-Americans from the West Coast as well as European and Japanese POWs captured during World War II.
McCoy was also well known for specialized training during World War II. The camp supported training in cold-weather operations, artillery, engineering, and maneuver warfare. Its varied terrain (woods, rivers, and open prairie) made it ideal for simulating European combat conditions, as stated by many of the World War II veterans who trained for war at the post.
By the end of World War II, hundreds of thousands of troops had passed through Camp McCoy. It was a symbol of both American preparedness and the integration of diverse groups (including Nisei soldiers) into the Army, the history states. And the post remained active after World War II, serving in the Korean War mobilization and later evolving into today’s Fort McCoy, a key Army and mobilization training center.
Fort McCoy history is also highlighted in every monthly issue of The Real McCoy — Fort McCoy’s official newspaper — in the “This Month in Fort McCoy History” column. See past editions at https://www.dvidshub.net/publication/1002/the-real-mccoy.
Learn more about Army history by visiting the Army Center for Military History at https://history.army.mil.
And learn more about Wisconsin’s history by visiting the Wisconsin Historical Society at https://www.wisconsinhistory.org.
Learn more about Fort McCoy online at https://home.army.mil/mccoy, on Facebook by searching “ftmccoy,” on Flickr at https://www.flickr.com/photos/fortmccoywi, and on X (formerly Twitter) by searching “usagmccoy.”
Also try downloading the My Army Post 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: | 09.03.2025 |
| Date Posted: | 09.03.2025 18:48 |
| Story ID: | 547183 |
| Location: | FORT MCCOY, WISCONSIN, US |
| Web Views: | 504 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, 80 YEARS LATER: Recalling end of World War II at Camp McCoy, by Scott Sturkol, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
No keywords found.
