Courtesy Photo | This is a news clip from the Sept. 21, 1945, edition of The Real McCoy newspaper at...... read more read more
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Here’s a collection of excerpts from the special columns of This Month in Fort McCoy history that highlighted history at then-Camp McCoy in September between 1942 and 1945.
80 Years Ago — September 1945
SEPT. 21, 1945: Col. George M. MacMullin, the man who guided Camp McCoy through its war years to national fame as a training center, left the post for a new assignment in the Pacific.
Under MacMullin’s command, Camp McCoy gained fame as the Middle West’s top combat training center. He assumed command June 17, 1942, at that time in the old camp, now the prisoner of war camp.
In August of that year the new camp opened and it was here that, under MacMullin’s command, McCoy gained nationwide fame.
Here the 2nd and 76th Infantry Division and the 100th Infantry Battalion trained for what later proved to be action against the Germans.
A host of other units were also readied for combat against the Nazis and later distinguished themselves in battle.
SEPTEMBER 1945: Seeing his son for the first time in 11 months was a great thrill for Staff Sgt. E. M. Shaw of Medford, Wis., who had been stationed at Camp McCoy since 1942. His son, Pfc. James Shaw, was sent to Camp McCoy for redeployment after serving in Germany.
Two other members of the Shaw family were in service, as well: Lt. Grace Shaw with a hospital in Chicago and Tech Sgt. Jack Shaw, stationed in France.
SEPT. 9, 1945: A 100 percent boost in the rate of discharges from the Camp McCoy Separation Center was reported the week of Sept. 9, 1945, by Maj. Thomas B. Hammond, separation center commanding officer.
Where previously the average daily discharge load was about 250, that week’s daily totals topped the 500 mark, Hammond said. He said the center was aiming for a 1,200-a-day rate of discharge goal and would probably hit a peak of somewhere between 1,600 and 2,000 after the first of the year.
SEPT. 14, 1945: A member of the famed 100th Infantry battalion, made up of Americans of Japanese descent from Hawaii, returned to become a civilian employee the week of Sept. 14, 1945, at Camp McCoy, where he had trained with the unit for more than six months about 2 1/2 years before.
Kenneth Koji was working as a mail clerk at the camp post office. “It’s good to work at Camp McCoy,” Koji said. “Wisconsin weather is different than Hawaii’s, but I like it very much here.”
Most of the remaining original 100th Infantry members had already been discharged, according Koji said. Their combat record, which has been cited as one of the most outstanding of any unit’s in the European Theater of Operations, included nearly two years of fighting from North Africa, the length of Italy, through France from the south, and back for the victory push in Italy.
With headquarters company of the 100th Infantry, Koji earned six campaign stars and the distinguished unit citation with which the unit was honored.
81 Years Ago — September 1944
FROM THE SEPT. 2, 1944, EDITION OF THE REAL MCCOY NEWSPAPER: New camp 2 years old; termed ‘last word’ in Army training centers (By Newspaper Staff) — Camp McCoy this week celebrated the second anniversary of the opening of the new camp — marking the birthday without incident but with an accelerated war effort. Every office shop and unit on the post worked harder to speed victory.
Col. George M. MacMullin, post commander, commenting on the anniversary, declared: “Camp McCoy has established an enviable reputation as a training site. It ranks among the nation’s greatest camps. Its personnel — both military and civilian — has been a credit to the United States, and I am sure will continue unceasingly to work toward victory.”
At the camp’s opening two years ago, 50,000 visitors toured the post expressing surprise at its wonders. The Army has continually pointed to Camp McCoy as the last word in training camps. Since its erection two years ago, the camp gained the reputation throughout the nation as being one of the finest. It has pioneered experiments for the Army and has produced fighting men who are today giving excellent accounts of themselves on the battlefields of France, Italy, and in the Pacific.
Built with permanency
All the experience and practice the Army accumulated in building hundreds of training camps across the nation in the months before Pearl Harbor were combined and brought to the full flower in the construction of Greater Camp McCoy.
The new camp, as differentiated from the old camp — now a prisoners of war center — won praise from high-ranking Army officials as the most modern and most beautiful in the Middle West, if not the entire land.
Spacious — it takes in over 6,000 acres of rugged terrain — the camp bears as much resemblance to the first cantonments thrown up following the move to rearm as a city slum does to a modern housing project. The Army gave Camp McCoy the best — building it with permanency.
Hundreds of barracks, 12 chapels, six theaters, 14 post exchanges, a dozen recreation halls, two service clubs, two guest houses, dozens of offices and blocks of warehouses and shops make Camp McCoy a city out of an area where once only jack pine and scrub oak grew.
Only one for artillery
Giving troops advanced combat training was the objective of Camp McCoy. These troops were generally trained in the field and hardened by months of living in the open before coming here. The camp’s rugged terrain, steep ridges, sandy soil, and hundreds of streams made it ideally suited for preparing Soldiers for combat tests.
Its size made it the only Army station in the North Central states capable of handling the big guns of heavy artillery units.
FROM THE SEPT. 16, 1944, EDITION OF THE REAL MCCOY NEWSPAPER: Medal of Honor award given to hero’s dad here; 76th Combat Team stages huge parade (By Newspaper Staff) — The nation’s highest award — the Congressional Medal of Honor — was presented posthumously at Camp McCoy on Friday afternoon by Maj. Gen. William R. Schmidt, 76th Infantry Division commander, to Erland Gibson, Rice Lake, Wis., in recognition of Gibson’s son’s gallantry in action.
Technician Fifth Grade Eric Gunnar Gibson, 24, was killed in Italy after leading his squad on a dangerous mission. Under heavy enemy artillery, machine gun, and rifle fire, Gibson advanced and destroyed four enemy positions, killed five, and captured two German soldiers and secured the left flank of his company before he fell.
Came over from Sweden
A parade of a reinforced division combat team with motorized elements preceded the presentation. In attendance were Mrs. Gibson, the hero’s mother; Cpl. Sven Gibson, 22, his brother, who is in the air force stationed at Shepherd Field, Texas; and a group of Rice Lake legionairres.
82 Years Ago — September 1943
FROM THE SEPT. 11, 1943, EDITION OF THE REAL MCCOY NEWSPAPER: Camp McCoy Harvest Army’s ‘furlogh’ to farms extended another week by War Department order (By Pvt. Frank Brookhouser) — FINLEY, N.D. — Thousands of shocks of wheat await threshing before the journey to market figuratively toppled over on the Army’s marching orders and, as a result, the Soldiers of the 278th Field Artillery Battalion continued their campaign in the North Dakota grain belt for another week.
The six-day extension of time to aid the farmers was finally granted by the War Department and word of the decision reached the temporary camps on Sunday as the men were preparing for the trip back to Camp McCoy.
The extension lengthened the work period to Sept. 10 and affected the entire 177th Field Artillery Group from McCoy, both battalions having been scheduled to leave Monday under previous orders. This group, under the command of veteran campaigner Col. R. T. Guthrie — who found nothing about threshing in the numerable training manuals he studied — is the largest individual group which was moved to the grain fields in the home front emergency.
Scenes that might be called the tragi-comic type developed from the sudden change in virtually all camps. Here in Finley, “home” of the 278th’s “Charlie” Battery, the men had just taken down all of the six-man tents when the telephone call from headquarters came through to Capt. Ernest E. Keusch.
A photographer with the artistic touch could have caught nearly a hundred inspired portraits of “man beset by adversity” if he had been on the grounds when the announcement was made.
SEPT. 4, 1943: Shots fired at Camp McCoy were heard around the world as the Army Hour picked up a five-minute broadcast from the camp as part of its show.
The program included Camp McCoy rifle marksmanship under the direction of Lt. Frank W. Luchowski, 23rd Infantry. Enlisted men appearing on the program included 1st Sgt. Edwin L. Neyrey, Cpl. Glenn W. Spray, Pfc. James R. Hill, and Pfc. Robert K. Garritt.
Written and directed by Maj. Jack Harris, executive officer of the radio branch of the War Department Public Relations Division, the Camp McCoy portion of the Army Hour came between the pickups from Fort Benning, Ga., and North Africa.
83 Years Ago ― September 1942
NOTES AND NEWS: Avocado — “Avocado has the highest food value of all fresh fruits, claim scientists.” This one liner was printed in the September 1942 edition of The Real McCoy. A forecast for the future of avocados?
Believe it or not, but The Real McCoy is believed to be the ‘first Army camp paper’ in America to be sold by newsboys on the streets of a civilian city. This unusual phenomenon occurred in Sparta, Wis., (1942); shortly after The Real McCoy came off the presses with its sixth issue. The unusual fact; which thrilled the camp paper’s personnel was that it almost outsold all other publications for those days.
OTHER NOTED HISTORY FROM SEPTEMBER 1942 AT CAMP MCCOY: On Aug. 30, 1942, Camp McCoy’s expansive new cantonment — the “New Camp” — was officially inaugurated after rapid construction of over a thousand buildings and extensive.
On Sept. 4, 1942, an open-house event welcomed nearly 50,000 visitors, drawn in droves by curiosity and civic pride. Roads were packed — cars, buses, even taxicabs streamed in — as people came to marvel at the transformed military city consisting of homes, theaters, chapels, hospitals, mess halls, and more.
The Real McCoy newspaper highlighted the visitor’s praise: “Expressions of delight at the beautiful buildings were heard on all sides,” calling the site “a monumental token to freedom.”
Around this time, the camp began its dual function as a training base, preparing units like the 100th Infantry Battalion (Nisei soldiers) for deployment. Its role as a POW camp housing Japanese and German prisoners would emerge later in the war. Meanwhile, members of the 100th Infantry Battalion — many from Hawaii — were also experiencing their first snowfall that month. According to veterans’ accounts, snow in September, paired with the song “White Christmas” showing at the base theater, created a poignant, nostalgic moment — especially when snow didn’t return until Thanksgiving.
(Article prepared by the Fort McCoy Public Affairs Office with special contributions from Theresa Fitzgerald, Aimee Malone, Kaleen Holliday, and Scott T. Sturkol.)
| Date Taken: | 09.12.2025 |
| Date Posted: | 09.12.2025 15:26 |
| Story ID: | 548021 |
| Location: | FORT MCCOY, WISCONSIN, US |
| Web Views: | 26 |
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