GEORGIA HISTORY IN PICTURES

By F. N. Boney

G.I. Georgia: The Army in the State During

World War II A new era dawned for old Georgia on December 7, 1941, when

the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor and plunged the United States into World War II. The sluggish economy, not stimulated effectively by the New Deal, now boomed with industries expanding rapidly to furnish the tools of war. By the next census, in 1950, Georgia had more people employed in manufacturing than in agriculture for the first time. Led by Atlanta, the state's urban areas surged ahead too, while all over Georgia individual incomes rose dramatically.

Weekend passes gave soldiers a chance to visit tourist attractions like Atlanta's Cyclo- rama at Grant Park. In July 1941 two young G.I.s join the fray as an earlier generation of U. S. Army men (Sherman's troops) attack the Confederate stronghold of Atlanta. Courtesy of die National Archives.

The Georgia Historical Quarterly Vol. LXXI, No. 2, Summer 1987

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The draft began more than a year before America entered World War II, and al- though blacks as well as whites served, the armed forces remained segregated throughout the conflict. Here black "selectees" (draftees) march from the train to the reception center at Fort Benning in August 1941. Courtesy of the National Ar- chives.

The war stimulated progress in Georgia, but it made cruel de- mands, too. Around 320,000 Georgians, volunteers and draf- tees, served in the armed forces, but more than 6,700 never came home. Some women donned uni- forms voluntarily, and a few died in service, but their most signifi- cant contribution to the war effort came when they took over tradi- tional male jobs on the home front, especially in the burgeoning fac- tories.

Only American men were drafted and trained for actual combat. A large number of them got their introduction to military life in training camps in Georgia.

Thanks to influential politicians like Representative Carl Vinson and Senators Walter F. George and Richard B. Russell, Georgia during World War II trailed only much larger Texas in its number of military installations, especially army camps.1

The United States Army had come in force to Georgia before. Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman and his "bluebellies" had carried fire and sword through Georgia in 1864, devastating the state and deal- ing a lethal blow to the crumb-

1 Kenneth Coleman, et al, A History of Georgia (Athens, 1977), 339-41.

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ling Confederacy. The Civil War had not been forgotten, but the passage of generations had mel- lowed old passions. In the early 1940s Georgia men mustered to the colors - "Old Glory," not the "Stars and Bars" - and fully ten percent of the state's population served as "Yanks" in World War II despite a higher than average medical rejection rate.2

Georgians were again full- fledged Americans, and their state bristled with army bases full of their fellow countrymen from every corner of the Union. Sol- diers of every creed and color put on army khaki and came to Geor- gia to learn the art of war, though the services continued to segregate blacks from whites. Fort Benning, established during World War I, became the largest infantry train- ing school in the world with many other related activities, but other camps sprouted up almost over- night during World War II. A be- wildering variety of training ac- tivities also spilled over into com- mercial buildings and onto college campuses as Georgia went to war in earnest.3

The bloody conflict finally ended in 1945 when the Axis pow- ers surrendered unconditionally, but neither Georgia nor the rest of the country returned to prewar tranquility. Too much had hap- pened. The age of two wary super- powers had dawned, with the Un- ited States committed to many overseas responsibilities. A power- ful new America had been born. Today, many thousands of WWII veterans remember the old days when they came to Georgia to pre- pare for the test of battle overseas.

The withering, damp heat of sum- mer, the stubborn red clay soil, the wild honky tonk districts near army camps, the Sunday dinners with friendly families after church, the pretty girls at post dances, the large number of blacks and small number of immigrants, the lush countryside and teeming wildlife along lines of march, the soft ac- cents and informal courtesies of ordinary folk - these and many other bittersweet memories linger for many aging Americans who came to know Georgia as their last "home away from home" before they shipped out to wage war in the far corners of the world.4

2T. Conn Bryan, Confederate Georgia (Athens, 1953), 156-73; Coleman, Georgia, 339.

3John Hope Franklin, From Slavery to Freedom: A History of Negro Americans (New York, 1980), 425-7. For additional informa- tion about and photographs of Fort Ben- ning see F. Clason Kyle, Images: A Pictorial History of Columbus, Georgia (Norfolk/Vir- ginia Beach, 1986).

4For a recent study of the life of Amer- ican troops in their training camps during World War II, see chapters 3 and 4 in Lee Kennett, G.I. : The American Soldier in World War II (New York, 1987).

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A convoy of new trucks and drivers stood ready to roll in front ot the General Motors plant in Atlanta in the summer of 1941, their destination Camp Stewart near Savannah. Courtesy of the National Archives.

Realistic training at Fort Benning included construction as well as destruction. In September 1941 engineers quickly erected a pontoon bridge to carry the ever-present little Jeeps and larger scout cars. Courtesy of the National Archives.

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Even in the most isolated, regimented training camps the troops had some contact with citizens in nearby areas. Among the most popular forms of fraternization were dances like this one put on by the 504th Parachute Battalion in the third hangar at Lawson Field, Fort Benning, in October 1941. Courtesy of the National Archives.

In every section of the nation new military installations appeared almost overnight. The half-wood, half-canvas quarters of Fourth Corps Area Headqarters were easily con- structed on the outskirts of Atlanta in February 1942. Courtesy of the National Archives,

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The Army made a major eitort to serve the troops good food, an especially difficult task in the field. In February 1942 men of the Twenty-Ninth Infantry Regiment at Fort Benning somewhat skeptically prepare to sample the new "U. S. Army Field Ration K." Courtesv of the National Archives.

Not all military training took place in large camps. In March 1942 soldiers received instruction at the United States Army Radio School in a commercial building in downtown Athens. Courtesy of the National Archives.

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Outstanding athletes often gained special recognition in the army. In April 1942 Sgt. H. E. Whittmore (right) of the Public Relations Bureau at Fort Benning interviewed Pvt. John Moody, formerly an All- American football player at Morris Brown College in Atlanta. Courtesy of the National Archives.

As young men prepared for certain battle and possible death, many marriages were performed on military posts. On April 29, 1942, Capt. Millard Gray wedded Patricia Shideler in the main chapel at Fort Benning. Courtesy of the National Archives.

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Almost overnight wooden barracks sprang up in army camps all over the nation to house the flood of new soldiers. In the fell of 1941 several new G.I.s looked out the windows in the second story of their new "home away from home" at Fort Benning. Courtesy of the National Archives.

Soldiers and civilians, the American people enthusiastically supported the war ef- fort. On April 6, 1942, many people turned out in Columbus to watch the Army Day parade which featured the new M-3 Grant medium tank (soon replaced by the more powerful Sherman). Courtesy of the National Archives.

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The large, elaborate training facilities at Fort Benning attracted important visitors. In the summer of 1942 Gen. George C. Marshall, Chief of Staff of the U. S. Army (arms folded), awaits the completion of a walkie-talkie radio experiment by his two British guests, Field Marshal Sir John Dill and Lord Louis Mountbatten, leader of the Commandos. Courtesy of the National Archives.

Within the large military camps some shopping facilities developed for the families of servicemen. By November 1942 Post Exchange and Grocery Number 4 at Fort Benning was doing a thriving business and setting a precedent for much more elabo- rate PXs in the future. Courtesy of the National Archives.

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As their men went off to war, many women went to work for the first time in America's booming industries, making "Rosie the Riveter" as well known as "G.I. Joe." By the spring of 1943 women workers were a common sight at the Augusta Arsenal. Courtesy of the National Archives.

The use of poison gasses in combat, one of the greatest horrors of World War I, was not repeated in World War II, even though all of the major belligerents trained for that terrible possibility. The anti-aircraft training center at Camp Stewart near Savan- nah staged mock attacks from the air which gave troops only a few seconds to don their protective masks. Courtesy of the National Archives.

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Some colleges were uniquely prepared to offer technical training. In October 1943 four students worked on the timing of an airplane motor in the Army Specialized Training Program at Georgia Tech in At- lanta. Courtesy of the National Archives.

Some women volunteered for noncombat- ant military service. In the spring of 1943 Lt. Patricia Quinn practices first aid in the field on Pfc. Steve Micklick at Lawson General Hospital in Atlanta. Courtesy of the National Archives.

The huge Fort Benning installation in- cluded facilities for training elite para- troopers. Before actually jumping from a plane, trainees had to ac- complish several of these jumps from the high tower as performed here in April 1942. Courtesy of the National Archives.

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During the war many colleges and uni- versities lost most of their male stu- dents, making women a majority for the first time. New military training programs brought some men back on campus like these army students at Emory University in Atlanta in the summer of 1943. Courtesy of the Na- tional Archives.

President Franklin D. Roosevelt's second home was Warm Springs, Georgia, where he came for relief from the weariness and pain of polio. On April 12, 1945, he died there on the very threshold of the war's final victory. Troops from Fort Benning lined the main street of the quiet little town as the commander-in-chief s funeral entourage began the last trip back North. Courtesy of the National Archives.