Fort McCoy, Wis., was founded in 1909. Here's a look back at its history from March 2022 and back.
79 years ago — March 17, 1943
Lt. Coral Bremer of the 17th General Hospital delivered a one-hour talk to Girls’ Reserve Club of Sparta High School on March 17, 1943, on the potentialities of a career in nursing.
“Many of these girls will soon be through high school,” Lt. Bremer said. “They may want to make a career of nursing. Of course, we are interested now primarily in Army nursing, especially since there is such a shortage of nurses in this country.
“But we went through the many types of nursing, inasmuch as many girls may want to remain in the field after the war.”
The Army Nurses Corps and the American Red Cross were launching a drive for 30,000 new nurses. Bremer pointed out that in the past she had found that talks to high school girls in her home state of Michigan had served as a strong stimulant to recruiting.
77 years ago — March 1945
The Bronze Star medal awarded for bravery displayed at St. Lo (Saint-Lo, France) was presented Pfc. Joseph Jolivette, 23, Chicago, by Col. George M:, MacMullin, Camp McCoy commander, at a retreat formation in March 1945.
Jolivette was a patient in the McCoy hospital, convalescing from battle wounds received during the fighting for St. Lo. Jolivette served with a medical detachment of the 30th Infantry division and was recommended for the Bronze Star following an action in which he rescued two wounded advance scouts. He himself was later wounded in the legs.
35 years ago — March 1987
Fort McCoy’s full-time military strength was scheduled to increase with the addition of four major training programs, it was announced in March 1987.
The first program to begin was a Light Leaders Course, (LLC) scheduled for September. Also opening its doors that fall was a Noncommissioned Officers (NCO) Academy. The third and fourth — a Regional Maintenance Training Site (RMTS) and Regional Medical Training Center (RMTC) — were to begin following construction of facilities scheduled for fiscal years (FY) 1989 and 1990, respectively.
Approximately 110 military members were to be stationed at Fort McCoy as instructors and support personnel for these activities between then and 1989.
By 1989, year-round use at Fort McCoy was projected to increase significantly. Projected student loads at the new centers and troop training populations indicated that 140,000 military and civilian personnel would train at Fort McCoy annually — 20,000 more than 1987’s training population.
25 years ago — March 1997
Soldier of the Year titles were being stockpiled at Fort McCoy.
Spc. Harold Dunn, an 88th Ordnance Company (Explosive Ordnance Disposal) EOD technician, became the third consecutive Fort McCoy soldier to claim the First Army Soldier of the Year title in the active component/Active Guard/Reserve category. Spc. Jack Cooper and Spc. Phillip Walley from Fort McCoy had won the title in the previous two years.
(Article prepared from The Triad and The Real McCoy archives.)
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