Shipping Out

Leaving home was a new experience for many members of Minnesota's Greatest Generation, many of whom had never been beyond the borders of their home counties before the war. Most saw military service as a duty, some as a grand adventure. Many would not return. Those that did would have a greatly expanded perspective on their world.

Fort Snelling, in St. Paul, was the first stop for more than 300,000 new recruits during the war years. There they received a thorough medical exam to confirm their suitability for service. All were required to take the Army General Qualification Test and underwent a personal interview to determine where individual skills might best be used. Recruits were issued uniforms and given the necessary injections. Once fully processed, they were sent home to wait for transportation orders.

The next stop was a military "boot" camp stateside where they would receive their basic training, with the location dependent upon the branch of service. For many Minnesota men entering the Army, that meant six weeks at Camp Claiborne, Louisiana. For women of the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC), the destination was likely Fort Des Moines in Iowa. Many new Navy recruits from Minnesota found themselves at the Great Lakes Naval Training Station in Chicago, while Women Auxiliary Volunteers for Emergency Service (Navy WAVEs) and women Marines went to Hunter College, the Bronx, New York for basic training.

After a few weeks of basic training each was sent to a specialty training facility, depending upon their new assignments. Some men were transferred to an air base for flight training. Others received medical or clerical training, or were sent to schools to become artillerymen or paratroopers. When training was completed, servicemen were sent to a staging camp, such as Camp Shanks, New York and Fort Dix, New Jersey on the east coast, or to a port of embarkation such as San Francisco in the west - the final stop before shipping out for "unknown destinations" abroad.

Citations:

• Osman, Stephen E., Fort Snelling's Last War. Minnesota Historical Society, 2007.
• Photo: Medical Examination for Inductees at Fort Snelling, 1942.
• Fort Des Moines. Minnesota Historical Society Photograph Collection, 2007.
• Duis, Perry R., Great Lakes Naval Training Station. Encyclopedia of Chicago, 2005.
• Camp Shanks. New York State Military Museum and Veterans Research Center, 2006.
• Fort Dix. Wikipedia.org, 2007.