Fort McCoy, Wis., was established in 1909. Here is a look back at some installation history from December 2020 and back.
75 Years Ago — December 1945
Camp McCoy's separation center had discharged more than 110,000 enlisted men and officers since it began operations Aug. 1, 1945, and would separate another 100,000 by the end of March 1946; said Brig. Gen. John K. Rice, commanding general, in December 1945. The War Department forecast on arrivals overseas during the following 3 1/2 months showed more than 2 1/4 million GIs would be setting foot again on U. S. soil.
Rice said Camp McCoy's separation center was preparing to handle 1,225 discharges a day during the remainder of December 1945 and January 1946 and 1,000 a day during February 1946. Rice said McCoy's separation center was still seeking civilian workers to replace soldiers leaving the service.
75 Years Ago — December 1945
Lt. Russell L. Arms, assistant recreation officer at Camp McCoy, was very much alive for a fellow who has been “killed” twice.
Arms’ “deaths” occurred while movie making in Hollywood — a career he had embarked on before Uncle Sam gave him the glad eye. He appeared in “The Man Who Came to Dinner,” “Captains of the Clouds,” and “Wings for the Eagle.”
A graduate of the Pasadena, Calif., Playhouse, Arms went from there to Warner Bros., where he stayed for eight months. Since his entry into the service in March 1942, Arms had served as narrator in 75 War Department training films and did some acting in several of the training productions, notably a part in “Baptism of Fire.”
20 Years Ago — Dec. 15, 2000
A grand-opening ceremony for Fire Station No. 2, building 6055 on South Post, and the nearby Airfield Complex (U.S. Army Reserve Center) building 6058, was held at the Sparta-Fort McCoy Airport on Dec. 15, 2000.
The program was held inside the then-new $1.6 million fire station, which included the fire crash and rescue facility.
10 Years Ago — Dec. 1, 2010
Shigebumi Sato and Yusuke Takahashi, Japanese journalists, visited Fort McCoy on Dec. 1, 2010, to get information to help write a book.
The book was about Kazuo Sakamaki, who was the first Japanese prisoner of war during World War II and spent time at Camp McCoy. Sakamaki was captured in Hawaii after his two-person mini-sub was disabled.
Social Sharing