Photo By Scott Sturkol | A scene from the 'New Camp' at then-Camp McCoy, Wis., is shown in 1942 during World...... read more read more
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FROM THE SEPT. 4, 1942, EDITION OF THE REAL MCCOY: Spectators praise new camp site — The public came. The public saw. The public praised.
Yes Soldiers, nearly 50,000 persons stared with pop-eyed amazement at the wonders of new Camp McCoy last Sunday when they came as guests in answer to the open house invitation of Camp Commander Col. George M. MacMullin.
Roads, from every direction from miles around, were jammed with motor vehicles. Our visitors came in automobiles, trucks, taxicabs, and buses — an endless stream — almost bumper to bumper.
Largest crowd
According to Provost Marshal Capt. Hans R. Biegel, former sheriff of this county, it was the largest crowd of visitors he had ever seen.
Expressions of delight at the beautiful buildings were heard on all sides.
High praise was sounded at the efficient manner in which traffic was handled through the immense camp area. Not a word of dissatisfaction came from anyone. Members of the post and 732nd Military Police units acted as escorts and street guides were showered with compliments.
Monument to freedom
It was a great day for the military personnel of Camp McCoy. The Army had constructed a city out of nowhere. A monumental token to freedom had raised its red-top head from a hill-enclosed valley of jack pines and scrub oaks.
Started last March (1942), the new Camp McCoy today is a city of homes, chapels, theaters, recreation halls, garages, and oil stations. It has its stores and barber shops, fire halls and hospitals, training fields and athletic grounds.
It is a new city, sparkling and bright. Soldiers, let’s keep it that way.
FROM THE AUG. 28, 1942, EDITION OF THE REAL MCCOY NEWSPAPER: A city from nowhere — A city from nowhere is the new Camp McCoy.
Where once jack pines and scrub oaks only grew — where wild grass filled the fields — where valleys lifted up their chins to become lofty hills — now stands one of America’s finest military camps.
The camp, with its hundreds of buildings, theaters, churches, recreation halls, and athletic fields, is a monumental tribute to Army Engineers and the contractors and workmen.
Soon within an area where men a few years ago once hunted deer, fished in its streams, will be thousands of marching feet, marching in cadence which is to be heard around the world.
Cannon to roar
Soon within those majestic hills will be heard the roar of cannon whose echo will beat down with thunder upon the enemies of freedom.
The new Camp McCoy is a new city. A city where one will find determined faces, serious faces, smiling faces, and faces shining from the light of victory to come.
One will not find the slums of congested metropolitan areas in this new Camp McCoy. There, one will not find men hungry and unkept. Instead of stylish and unstylish dress, the men of the newest city of Wisconsin will have a dress of uniform style.
Open house Sunday
Thousands of feet of electrical cables will be carrying electricity within the camp. Thousands of telephones will be used to carry on the business of the city.
Thousands of feet of water mains will carry its fluid to the thirsty. Thousands of feet of sewer pipe will keep the city clean.
And — all this happened in a few months. And — Sunday is your chance to see this new Camp McCoy. The open house, provided by the camp’s commanding officer, Col. George M. MacMullin, will permit visitors to travel through the camp in conducted tours from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. that day.
FROM THE AUG. 28, 1942, EDITION OF THE REAL MCCOY NEWSPAPER: New Camp McCoy opened for public inspection; thousands are expected — The new Camp McCoy, the largest military training center in the north central states, will be opened for public inspection (Aug. 30, 1942) Sunday between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m.
This was the announcement of Col. George M. MacMullin, camp commander.
With this announcement, it is expected that thousands of visitors will flock to the new camp area and to facilitate the inspection. Soldiers will conduct caravan tours throughout the new McCoy site.
Conducted tours
The tours will be made under the direction of Lt. Col. Horace L. Rogers, chief of internal security. Cameras will not be permitted within the area and will be checked at the main entrance by all visitors.
Actual building operations at the new area were started March 20, 1942, and was this week that Col. MacMullin received word the new camp was partially completed for occupancy.
HUGE is not the name for it. The camp is larger than many of the cities within this territory, and plans for training, according to Col. MacMullin, will bring in more Soldiers than there area civilians in many of the nearby communities.
Started March 20
Actual building and grading operations for the erection of the hundreds of buildings began March 20, 1942, although the original survey by a corps of engineers was made in July 1941. Authorization for construction was given by the War Department on Feb. 9, 1942.
Few civilians have had the opportunity to view this immense training center, although Col. MacMullin has been flooded with requests for permission to visit the new camp. Military regulations prohibited the visits while actual building operations were in progress.
Of latest design
Each of the new buildings is of the most modern design for the comfort and welfare of the Soldiers. All are equipped with the latest scientific appliances.
The first Soldiers to move into the new area were the Camp McCoy Military Police. Hundreds of mechanics of every type and description were employed to grade and construct the hundreds of buildings, warehouses, recreation centers, chapels, and other necessary buildings.
A few months ago, this new camp site was a countryside consisting of beautiful hills and valleys studded with scrub oak, jack pine, and wild grass. Today it is one of the finest military camps in the world.
FROM THE AUG. 28, 1942, EDITION OF THE REAL MCCOY NEWSPAPER: Soldiers await moving orders to new McCoy — Trees to the right of them, trees to the left of them; barracks in front of them; with Mother Nature casting her magic spell all around such will be the future surroundings of those who will move to the new camp area.
One of the largest and most modern Army camps, the new Camp McCoy, located further inland than the old one, will offer its personnel the best that any Army camp can afford with its two spacious service clubs, its numerous theaters with its large seating capacity, its chapels, and its unlimited recreational facilities.
The greatest innovation to the personnel no doubt will be the opportunity to dwell in the most modern barracks with the privilege of taking a shower in one’s own home instead of hiking to distant points to cleanse oneself.
So, it is with great impatier…that those who are soon to dwell in this Army paradise are awaiting impatiently for their migration to the new Camp McCoy.
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: | 03.09.2025 |
| Date Posted: | 03.09.2025 22:49 |
| Story ID: | 492353 |
| Location: | FORT MCCOY, WISCONSIN, US |
| Web Views: | 17 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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