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Training at Camp White
I have often wondered what it was like to have trained at Camp
White. My curiosity always increases as I climb the stairs of
the Museum’s storage area which is housed in one of the few
untouched buildings that still exists on the Post. I
frequently find myself gazing out of the windows or down the hall
trying to imagine uniformed men marching about its exterior or
making up beds and shining shoes in the barrack’s
bay.
Finding it difficult to conceive what
these soldiers experienced, I decided to revisit the Post through
their eyes or at least through what many of them have written about
their training at Camp White. In the next few issues of the
Grenade, I hope to take our readers back to 1940's and
revisit, not only the Post, but also the various training areas
which prepared these soldiers for war.
For those of you who trained at the Post, I asked that you not be
too quick to criticize should you find discrepancies with what you
may have experienced. There were more than 100 different units
which were stationed at Camp White at one time or another.
These units consisted of more than 100,000 men who passed through
the Post, thus, not all training was identical. With this in
mind, Camp White, revisited.
It was August 27th, 1942 when Ed Walsh looked out of the
back of an Army truck and suddenly saw on the horizon several olive
drab colored buildings. One of these buildings would be his
home for the next several months. Just a few weeks earlier a
young 2nd Lieutenant by the name of Chris Hald had
arrived via taxi at the same Post. Neither man would meet but
both were to become members of a unique fraternity of more than
110,000 men who would be housed at Camp White between 1942 and 1945.
The 242nd Field Artillery Battalion, which Ed was
assigned to, would be just one of more than 137 units to be
stationed at the Post during the war. Of these, 88, or more
than half, and including the 91st Infantry Division,
which Lieutenant Hald was a member, would be activated at Camp
White.
Both young soldiers had already undergone a significant transition
from civilian life. Like most of the new enlisted men at Camp White,
Ed arrived after having been processed at another Army post.
He had been given his initial medical tests, shots, and clothing
issue, and after this “in processing” he was placed on a train and
transported to Medford where military trucks awaited troop arrival.
A third young man by the name of Orin Bartholomen had arrived in
June and was one of several troops that was transported by train
directly to the warehouse area of Camp White. Several
years before the construction of the Post Medco Corporation had
built a logging rail route that served the Butte Falls area
Click here for page two
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Museum Report
The
2nd annual pride ride was held on Sunday May 16th and was a great
success. The route this time was expanded we went from South Medford
to Ashland back through Medford and on to Eagle Point national
Cemetery and culminated at the VA where tents were set up and food
was available. They also passed out toiletries for the vets in need.
On Memorial Day we had the fire truck in the White City parade and
was a great success. We have upgraded our power point presentations
with more pictures and a more refined speech. If you know any group
that would like a presentation please contact us here.
Presentations abound
As we
move into summer we are scheduling more presentations on the history
of Camp White. From the camps conception, early 1941, to ground
breaking in Jan of 1942, completion a record 10 months later and
into today the history of Camp White is amazing. From a 1500 bed
hospital to a P.O.W. camp that housed many Germans. This training
camp had sent over 100,000 troops fully trained and into the defense
of our nation. If you would like for us to come and give a
presentation for your group or association, we would be happy too.
Please call us 541-826-2111 ex 3674 our presentations are free of
charge and last from 30 to 60 minutes depending on what you need.
Pins hats and Shirts
All
our pins are now $3.00 we have flag pins, purple heart pins,
Lifetime member pins, September 11th, 2001 Memorial pins, Air force,
Navy, Army, Marines, and Coast Guard retirement pins. Plus hundreds
of others. Our Camp White hats are now $5.00 and our other caps with
Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force, and Coast Guard as well as assorted
logos are $10.00.
We have T-Shirts Too!!!
Camp White Shirts are $7.00 Army, Navy, Marine, Coast Guard,
and Air Force Shirts are $10.00
Camouflage are $12.00
We are Closeing out are Polo’s at $10.00!!!!!
call or come by and see what we have left VHS or DVD’s
of the history of Camp White are also available for 20.00 |
Commanders Corner
Greetings! I am in the process of extensive
changes in the museum, we have extended the patch and it will have
mostly support units. The machine gun display has a neighbor an 80mm
mortar display, with mortar man. Charlie White is in his Cav uniform
with .03 rifle, and WWII gas mask. Charlie was from the original
cadre or the 91st Div. that trained at Camp White. The original
cadre was from Fort Bliss Texas.
We are proud to display the 299th
Combat Engineer Monument replica. Also many pictures of the 299th
taken at Camp White are on display.
New on display are two banners hand
sewn with needle point. On them are sewn the names of military
personal that served in Desert Shield and Desert Storm from the
state of Oregon.
Our newest displays are beautiful
colored maps of Okinawa where the 96th div. went to battle in WWII.
The displays consist of charts of the 96th organization for combat
April – June 1945 and maps of the Okinawa landing April 1945 with
captions. The 96th trained partly here at Camp White in 1943 in
preparation for the pacific theater.
Al Inlow
Commander
THE GRENADE II
The Grenade II
is the official newsletter of the Camp White Historical Association
and Museum.
Executive
Editor…………..…..Al Inlow
Layout and Design..............David Frick
Historian.................................Del Hussy
The Grenade
accepts suggestions and
contributions from readers.
If you have a story, idea, or appropriate event to promote,
write:
Al Inlow
PO Box 2373,
White City, OR 97503
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