102d Infantry Division Unidentified Color Slides Circa 1945

These 13 slides are unidentified members of the 102d Infantry Division.  Use of color slides was unusual in World War II because of the expense of the film and developing required special labs.  However, these appear to be taken in Europe probably before this soldier/photographer was sent home in 1945.  Some of the pictures appear to be taken at one of the United States Cigarette Camps.

Cigarette Camps were named after popular brands of cigarettes smoked primarily in the United States.  At first the camps were used to detain German POWs before they shipped out to camps in the United States.  Then, after the war ended, most of these camps became the last assignment on the European continent for most GIs as they boarded ships here from home. (More information on Cigarette Camp is included below these pictures.)

If anyone recognizes any of the men featured in these photos I will be happy to identify them in this blog.

The following information is attributed to https://skylighters.org/special/cigcamps/cigintro.html

Introduction: The Cigarette Camps

 

After the Allies secured the French harbor of Le Havre (left) (on the eastern side of the Bay of the Seine, opposite Cherbourg, as in the modern map view of Northern France below), the Americans began ringing the city with camps that served as staging areas for new troops arriving in the ETO. Most of the camps were located between Le Havre and Rouen. [They also constructed the so-called "City Camps"around the city of Reims; these camps served as assembly areas for units about to enter combat. And there were additional embarkation camps in Southern France, north of Marseilles, and, of course, Camp Tophat near Antwerp, Belgium.] The wartime plan was for incoming units to first pass through staging camps on their way to the assembly areas, and then to the front. The staging-area camps were named after various brands of American cigarettes; the assembly area camps were named after American cities. The names of cigarettes and cities were chosen for two reasons: First, and primarily, for security. Referring to the camps without an indication of their geographical location went a long way to ensuring that the enemy would not know precisely where they were. Anybody eavesdropping or listening to radio traffic would think that cigarettes were being discussed or the camp was stateside, especially regarding the city camps. Secondly, there was a subtle psychological reason, the premise being that troops heading into battle wouldn't mind staying at a place where cigarettes must be plentiful and troops about to depart for combat would be somehow comforted in places with familiar names of cities back home (Camp Atlanta, Camp Baltimore, Camp New York, and Camp Pittsburgh, among others). (I doubt if the GIs heading into Europe were taken in by any of that cigarette and city mumbo-jumbo!) By war's end, however, all of the cigarette and city camps were devoted to departees. Many processed liberated American POWs (Prisoners of War) and some even held German POWs for a while.]

A drawing of Le Havre at the mouth of the Seine.

 

The city of Le Havre had fallen on September 12, 1944, but because of the persistence of the German defense and the ferocity of the Allied air assault, much of it was destroyed, including the world-class harbor facilities so coveted by the British and Americans. After sustaining heavy bombing throughout the war — between 130 and 150 air raids had been launched against the city — the town center was completely destroyed in the span of just four hours on 5/6 September 1944, in routine "carpet bombing" operations carried out by the Royal Air Force (RAF). The necessity of liberating this great port on the north bank of the River Seine, in order to provide the necessary supplies for the Allied troops which were progressing north (Paris was liberated on 25 August),prompted General Montgomery to give the order for this large-scale attack, which made Le Havre the most severely damaged city in France. In the meantime, the Germans, in order to prevent the Allies from using the port, chose to destroy all of the port facilities before evacuating the city: 17 kilometers of quaysides were thus destroyed, leaving only one crane in working condition. All in all, the war took the following toll: 5,000 people were killed, 12,500 buildings were destroyed, 80,000 people were left homeless; the population lost all tangible traces of its history. A few terrible words proved enough to express the feeling of the city's population in the face of this wasteland, which spread out over almost two kilometres, all the way to the sea front: "You could see as far as the sea!" Considering that Cherbourg's harbor facilities were slowly being restored after being demolished by the Germans prior to surrendering the port, most of the Allies' men and materiel were being landed directly on the Normandy beaches and ferried inland, initially to be injected directly into combat and later to be sent to staging areas for placement.

The British had liberated the city, rested there for just a few days, and then continued their pursuit of the retreating Germans. The Americans arrived next, who desired to convert the harbor into a powerful logistical base from which to supply their armies with men and materiél. As they moved further and further from the Normandy beaches, Le Havre seemed ideally situated to feed the assault across Northern France. The Americans, as they had done in Cherbourg, began to restore the harbor facilities, of which nearly 90% had been destroyed by the Germans, first by increasing the depth of the channel through which ships entered and then the general water level by prodigious dredging in the dock areas.

The XVIth Port Command also constructed dozens of ramps to facilitate the easy shuttling of personnel and supplies from ship to shore, since the city's beautiful quays were unusable by U.S. Quartermaster Corps standards since they were too high above the water. The Americans were practical and many physical changes were necessary to ease the transfer of supplies from ship to amphibious vehicles (such as LCAs and DUKWs) to the warehouses and storage areas where trucks (mostly operated under the auspices of the famous "Red Ball Express") would load up. Just as the concept of "hards" (which resembled sloping car parks that led directly into the water) had transformed dozens of British harbors prior to D-Day (and expedited the ferrying of troops from shore to large landing ships via assault craft), Le Havre's waterfront suddenly saw the construction of similar ramps to speed the delivery of spare parts and spare GIs to the mainland.

 

The men who disembarked in the harbor (photo at left) were ferried immediately to the Cigarette Camps, the hastily erected conglomerations of tents and wooden huts that rose up in the forests and fields to the east and southeast of the city. There was Camp Herbert Tareyton, located in the Forest of Montgeon within the city limits, with a capacity of 16,400 men. Camp Wings, with a capacity of 2,250 men, was situated — somewhat appropriately — on the grounds of the Blaville Aerodrome. At Sanvic, 2,000 men called Camp Home Runhome; at Gainneville, Camp Philip Morris held 35,000 men; and at Etretat, Camp Pall Mall provided rather soggy billets for 7,700 men. But these were not the largest, or even the busiest, camps. That distinction goes to the "Big Three" — Camp Lucky Strike, located between Cany and Saint-Valery (capacity 58,000); Camp Old Gold, at Ourville (capacity 35,000); and Camp Twenty Grand, at Duclair (capacity 20,000). (Information about Camp Chesterfield is very sparse; please contact the Webmaster if you have any information regarding it.)

 

It is estimated that nearly three million American troops either entered or left Europe through Le Havre, which led to it becoming known as the "Gateway to America" in 1945-46. (A tremendous resource for information about Le Havre during this period is one of the official sites for the City of Le Havre. Although the site is in French, it can be freely translated at AltaVista's Translation Page.)

In late 1944 these camps were rather primitive places, usually sprawling tent cities characterized by a sense of transience, with little if any conveniences. These "canvas" camps were at the mercy of the weather that was particular to Northern Europe in the Fall and Winter of 1944-45, and many U. S. veterans who spent time at any of them before the onset of the Battle of the Bulge and prior to being shuttled forward recall nothing but cold rain and colder mud, and, of course, snow. Trenchfoot ran rampant. So did the flu.

 

The camps, located in what the Army designated the "Red Horse" staging area, were, as noted, named for American cigarettes, which were fast becoming a universal currency in the ETO. Soon, GIs were cursing places called Camp Chesterfield and Camp Lucky Strike. And there was Camp Old Gold too, and Philip Morris, Pall Mall, Herbert Tareyton, Wings, Home Run, and Twenty Grand (click on a button at the top of the page to visit a camp, or use the "Deuce-and-a-Half" below to tour them one by one). They'd cross the channel in some LST or an even tinier tub, perhaps an LCI, spend a few days in what must have seemed like a hell hole, and then entrain to the front in boxcars known as "40 and 8s" (so called for the French designation "40 hommes et 8 cheveaux," which means the boxcars had a capacity of 40 men or eight horses; the photo at left shows the typical French boxcar known as the 40 and 8) or in trucks. The camps were also known as "pneumonia holes," "repple-depples," or "Repo Depots" (denoting Replacement Depots, also spelled as Repo Depos). (WW II movie buffs will recall that the opening scenes of WIlliam Wellmann's Battleground evoke the atmosphere at these camps pretty accurately.)

MEMORIES OF THE MEN WHO WERE THERE

The camp sites first had military designations like B-19 and in the fall and winter of 1944 were not more than snow-covered patches of France on top of which squad tents had been erected. The following account (culled and condensed from the experiences of many units that were there) of the changes they saw at Camp Lucky Strike between their arrival in open trucks in late 1944 and their departure the following spring shows how these camps evolved:

"New arrivals were cold, tired, and hungry, but there was work to be done before they could get some shut-eye. They had to assemble their own cots and set up stoves and pick up fuel and haul it back. (There was no room service!) The heat from the stoves barely heated the tents and seemed only effective at thawing the frozen dirt floors so by morning the cots had settled into a good four inches of mud. Soon gravel was available to put down and the men hauled it back in pails, steel helmets, and any other container that could be found. The paths leading through the rows of tents were also graveled and the situation was beginning to improve. After a few months, most of the tents had wooden floors, doors, shelves, and cabinets. A softball diamond, as well as volleyball and basketball courts, had been constructed. Day room and theater tents had been set up. Soon resident units were printing their own newspapers. And the whole place was wired for electricity. Twenty-four hour passes were available to Le Havre, Rouen, Fecamp, and Yvetot. Since bathing facilities at camp were nonexistent, one of the first places visited by men on pass was the Red Cross shower room. Perhaps the next most popular spot was the Hotel Metropole in Rouen, where for a price just about anything could be obtained. It was also while on pass that most of the men had their first experiences with French wines, cognac, calvados, and benedictine."

"There was a sign at Lucky Strike, prominently displayed, that in no uncertain terms stated that 'personnel being processed through this camp were entitled to have one souvenir pistol in their possession, but only one. Anyone found to have more than one will be court marshaled and given a sentence of six months hard labor in the European Theater of Operations!' There were pyramidal tents pitched on platforms and outside each tent was a large hogshead full of water to be used in case of fire. Before we had been in the camp more than an hour or so, these barrels were overflowing and by evening you could clearly see that they were half full of all sorts of side arms. If you'd ever been there, many GIs agree that you would have no desire to revisit the camp. Under the floor of the tents the rats grew to cat size and sounded as though they were wearing boots when they tramped around while the men were trying to sleep at night. Really nothing to do all day, don't remember being allowed to go into the city and time passed slowly waiting for a ship." 

Happy U.S. veterans head for harbor of Le Havre, France, the first to be

sent home and discharged under the Army's new point system.

[Signal Corps photo dated May 25, 1945 (111-SC-207868]. 

In 1945, when the end of the war in Europe was in sight, some of these camps underwent tremendous changes, in anticipation of the role they were to play after the war in Europe was over. Barracks and other permanent structures were built. Hospitals and PXs too. Mess halls replaced outdoor chowlines snaking through rows of tents to mobile field kitchens. One of the ironies of war that these camps lent themselves to was that after V-E Day the mess halls at some of the camps were staffed with cooks and waiters that were German POWs. Many U.S. veterans recall arriving at a camp underfed and malnourished and being served by Germans who were well-fed by virtue of working in the American mess halls for a few months. Stories abound of tired GIs arriving on a cold autumn night after a five-day-long ride from Germany to France in a boxcar — only to end up being served lousy boiled chicken by "fat krauts" that had been eating steak on a regular basis.)

Wood began replacing canvas and concrete and asphalt replaced the mud. The Red Cross had a tremendous presence at those camps that were to handle returning POWs (Prisoners of War). "Java Junctions," those ubiquitous dispensaries of real coffee and doughnuts, were established at all of the camps. (Spend a day at a camp and one would come away thinking that the American GI could be sustained solely by tobacco and doughnuts!) After V-E Day the camps were now ready for these new roles and were redesignated redeployment centers as part of the American plans to both reassign units to the Pacific Theatre and to demobilize others and return men home.

At the core of the U.S. Army Demobilization Plan was the so-called 'Point System.' Points were awarded for years of service overseas, medals and other commendations received, campaign battle stars earned, as well as other factors. The magic point total for being sent home was 85. Many men had more points, and those that had the most were slated to be sent home first. Following is a pretty typical point-system computation table (though probably incomplete):

Number of months in the armed forces 

1 point per month 

Number of months overseas 

1 point per month 

Number of children 

12 points per child 

Number of battle stars earned by unit 

5 points per star 

Purple Heart winner 

5 points per award 

Soldier's Medal winner 

5 points per award 

Bronze Star winner 

5 points per award 

Presidential Unit Citation winner 

5 points per award 

GI were constantly badgering company clerks to get errors corrected and adjustments made to their point totals, which were recorded on their "Adjusted Service Rating Cards." Those men with the magic number of 85 points, or more, were to return to the United States, while those with fewer points were transferred out to make room for high point men from other organizations. Those with 80 to 84 points were sent to other units in the ETO and some of those with even fewer points were sent home on furlough and then went on to retraining for duty in the Pacific. The latter were perhaps the most fortunate of all, since the war in the Pacific soon ended and many of them were discharged before the higher-point men in the ETO got home.

An Army band plays a farewell tune as a Victory Ship leaves Le Havre bound for the States. 

Occupation troops also continued to arrive at Le Havre and spend a few days at a "cigarette camp" before receiving final orders throughout 1945, although by 1946, they were falling into disrepair and were becoming little more than the ramshackle collections of tents pitched in vast mudholes that they were two years before. Today, little remains. Names of GIs carved into trees in the surrounding forests. Some scuffed tarmac. Perhaps a wooden structure or two absorbed into the French villages that have grown up around the original sites.

In these pages, we hope to document the history of "The Cigarette Camps," collect maps and pictures depicting them, and tell the story of what life was like there for the few days between hopping off the boat in Le Havre and heading for the front lines, or waiting for a Victory Ship ride back home. We will be working with contacts in the U. S. Army Military History Institute to procure source materials and other ephemera. We also welcome contributions of such material from individuals (maps, photos, postcards, etc.). We will pay all postage associated with sending them or facsimiles (address below) and will return original material by express mail at no cost to the contributor. As always, we cannot write history properly without the participation of the men and women who were there, and we invite GIs and other personnel who have memories of these camps to get in touch with the Webmaster at:

E-mail: webmaster@skylighters.org

Telephone: (516) 363-8014 (leave message)

FAX: (516) 363-8014

Address: Larry M. Belmont, 30 Purick St, Blue Point, NY 11715-1120 A parallel effort is underway in France, coordinated by Frédéric Brière, who is concentrating on Camp Lucky Strike, but hopes to document the history of all of the camps. He reports (October 1999) that he has been in touch with many veterans who have contributed photos and related their memories. Further, he reported the following:

there is no trace of Camp Old Gold (Yerville, adjacent to Yvetot) 

the surviving buildings of Camp Twenty Grand are being used by the town of St. Pierre de Varengeville 

the taxiways of a former runway at Camp Lucky Strike are in need of serious repair 

the site of Camp Philip Morris is deserted, but there are still artifacts to be uncovered if one digs a little bit (as at Lucky Strike) 

Scenes of Le Havre, 1944-45 

The city after the German withdrawal, 1944

The city in ruins, 1944

USA or bust!

Three USO Clubs Opened in Paris And One In Hugo To Serve Camp Maxey Soldiers During World War II

The USO (United Service Organizations) Clubs in WWII were a major component of keeping morale up for those in the military, along with their dependents. From java hour, to wives craft club, to a class called Ball and Chain for military couples, to basketball at Paris Jr. College there was something to keep everyone occupied.

This 1944 USO Club program bulletin is from Paris, Texas. The bulletin is part of the Melvin Mason Collection. Dr. Melvin Mason taught English at Sam Houston State from 1962-1991. In he was drafted into the Army from Roxton, Texas and sent to Chicago for training. WWII ended before he was sent overseas.

A Religious History of the American 

Servicemen and Servicewomen (GI’s) in World War II 

                

By G. Kurt Piehler 

Director, Institute on World War II and the Human Experience 

Department of History, Florida State University 

Tallahassee, Florida 

kpiehler@fsu.edu  

© 2011 by G. Kurt Piehler 

My project seeks to understand the religious history of American servicemen and servicewomen in World War II.    President Franklin D. Roosevelt and the armed forces adopted a series of policies that sought to promote the free exercise of religion, including a dramatic expansion of the military chaplaincy and the commissioning of an unprecedented number of Roman Catholic priests and Jewish rabbis as chaplains in an attempt to make the chaplaincy representative of the religious pluralism of the United States.  Religious organizations played an important role in catering to the spiritual and recreational needs of GIs, most notably through the United Service Organization (USO) founded in 1940 by the Jewish Welfare Board (JWB), 

National Catholic Community Service, National Travelers Aid Society, the Salvation Army, the 
Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA), and the Young Women’s Christian Association (YWCA).  
My research at the Rockefeller Archive Center (RAC) from July 11th through July 15, 

2011, provided a wealth of documentation about the early history of the USO and the pivotal role John D. Rockefeller, Jr. (JDR Jr.) played in overcoming a number of early difficulties this organization faced.  The bulk of my research centered on examining the records of the Office of Messrs. Rockefeller (OMR) (Record Group 2), specifically, the files related to the USO in Series P –Welfare-General Files, and some of the files on the YMCA and World War II in Series RWelfare Interests-Youth.   

The USO represented one of the high points of ecumenical cooperation during the war by bringing together Protestants (YMCA, YWCA, and the Salvation Army), Roman Catholics (National Catholic Community Service), and Jews (Jewish Welfare Board) behind a common mission of serving the recreational needs of American GIs at home and abroad.  The USO  implemented policies that stressed non-sectarianism in delivering recreational services and made special efforts to provide Roman Catholics and Jews with access to clergy when stationed in communities that lacked priests and rabbis (most notably in the South).  At the same time, the USO faced a series of problems in the early years from ineffective leadership, intense rivalries between the constituent organizations, and the rapid pace of mobilization that would have strained the most efficient organization.  

John D. Rockefeller, Jr.’s Role
  
John D. Rockefeller, Jr. had a long-standing interest in the work of both the YMCA and the YWCA.  During World War I he spoke to a number of army camps, including Camp Dix, New Jersey where he participated in the dedication of a new YMCA building.1   Both the senior leadership of the YWCA and the YMCA encouraged JDR Jr. to take an active role in the USO and proposed him as an at-large member of the Board of Trustees that was being established in 1941.2  Rockefeller not only joined the board, but made a substantial financial contribution of 

$100,000 to the first national campaign.3   
JDR Jr. served on the USO board throughout the war and into the immediate postwar era.  As an active board member, on a number of occasions he offered space in the Rockefeller Center complex for USO meetings and functions. When absent from a meeting, Arthur W. Packard of the Rockefeller Foundation (RF) served as his representative. After attending meetings, Packard regularly reported the substance of meetings and other affairs to JDR Jr.  Over the course of the war, JDR Jr. and members of his family contributed substantial sums to the USO.   Moreover, he delivered a number of public speeches on its behalf, including one of his most famous in New York City in 1941, which included a statement of his personal philosophy of life.   

New Dealers and Private Philanthropy  
The mobilization of a large standing army and navy, after the fall of France, in the spring of 1940, lead to the exponential expansion of military and naval bases across the country.  Small communities, especially in the American South, strained to accommodate the influx of young GIs and provide adequate recreational facilities.  Outside of many bases, off-duty GIs usually encountered gin joints, brothels, and gambling dens.  Army and navy leaders were concerned with rising venereal disease rates and sought assistance from private philanthropic groups.4 
  In late 1940, leaders of several organizations, including the Jewish Welfare Board, the 
Knights of Columbus (quickly supplanted by the National Catholic Community Service), the Salvation Army, the YMCA, and the YWCA, that had participated in the World I federal agency, the Commission on Training Camp Activities, discussed the need to mobilize for this latest war.  These organizations decided to merge their collective efforts and seek federal financial support and recognition.  In the meantime, New Dealers in the Federal Security Agency, under the leadership of former Indiana Governor Paul McNutt, wanted the federal government to directly provide recreational services to GIs.  In seeking a federal role, New Dealers stressed the efficiencies that would be gained by centralizing the delivery of services in the hands of a federal agency.  Religious organizations stressed the precedents established during World War I and the need to add a spiritual dimension to this work.  
In early 1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt decided that the USO would have primary responsibility for meeting the recreational needs of GIs stationed in the United States.  In 1942, in a fundraising speech, JDR Jr. stressed the ideological significance of this decision, in a period when the future of the New Deal was hotly contested:  “He made the choice despite strong pressure in administrative circles to put this vital task in the hands of the government under the WPA.  To those American citizens who believe in private enterprise, the significance of the 
President’s decision cannot easily be overestimated.  The wholehearted support of the USO and the Red Cross would be a prime responsibility of all good citizens if for no other reason than because these two organizations represent the service of citizens by citizens, rather than by government.”5 
Private funds did play an important role in creating the USO, and the organization’s first national fundraising campaign raised over ten million dollars in 1941.  However, public funds were crucial to the creation of the USO and the organization actively sought federal monies to build the hundreds of USO centers that would dot the country.  Initially, the Federal Security Agency and the USO had come to an agreement regarding the construction of USO centers, but the U.S. Congress appropriated funds for a different agency, the Public Works Agency (PWA) to build them.  As a board member of the USO, Rockefeller was regularly informed of these efforts.  For instance, Arthur Packard in reporting on the August 14, 1941 meeting, noted the attendance of Charles Taft, representing the Joint Army-Navy Committee on Welfare and Recreation, and the comments he offered regarding the good working relationship that had been established between the USO and the PWA, and that fifteen million dollars in federal funds would be available for USO Buildings.6  

Religious Ecumenicalism and Public Service  
  In the fundraising literature and press releases written during the war, the USO stressed the remarkable cooperation of Protestant, Catholic, and Jewish sponsored organizations united behind the common purpose of serving the needs of American GIs.  With some reluctance,  
JDR Jr. agreed to serve as Honorary Chair of the Parents’ and Neighbors’ Division of the New York City fundraising campaign in 1941.    In accepting this position, JDR Jr. also agreed to deliver a radio address on the evening of July 8, 1941 in support of the New York City house-tohouse solicitation campaign.7  In this program, JDR Jr. would be joined by Richard W. Lawrence, chair of the USO New York City campaign, New York Governor Herbert Lehman, Roman Catholic cleric Monsignor Robert F. Keegan, and U.S. Army Colonel Arthur W. McDermott.   The speech offered by JDR Jr. would be the most famous of his career.  In seeking support for the USO, JDR Jr. not only discussed the value of this new organization for providing servicemen with wholesome recreation, but he also elaborated on his philosophy of life that had guided him since he was a young boy.  Regarding religion he declared his belief “in an all-wise and all-loving God, named by whatever name.”8  Rockefeller’s religious philosophy reflected the strong ecumenical sensibilities that struck a responsive chord, especially among Roman Catholic and Jewish listeners.  In his statement, and also his work with the USO, he made clear his rejection of narrow sectarian sentiment, and his belief in tolerance of religious diversity. 
  The reaction to this speech was remarkable.  Letters poured into the office of JDR Jr. at Rockefeller Center praising the speech.  Support for his statement came from a wide range of  various fields, including political, religious, educational, business and publishing. Princeton University President Harold Dodds, U.S. Senator Claude Pepper of Florida, and African 
American leader and New Deal official, Mary McLeod Bethune, all sent personal letters to  
JDR Jr. praising the principles he enunciated in the speech.9  D.R. Sharpe, Executive Secretary of the Cleveland Baptist Association thought of the statement of belief a “remarkably clear-cut and Christian document.”10 In a handwritten note, Archbishop, later Cardinal, F.J. Spellman observed that the “fundamental principles which you enumerated last night and which if only accepted and lived by men would insure peace and happiness for the world and for all us.”11 Praise came from a number of prominent Jewish leaders, including Robert W. Straus, John M. Schiff, and New York Times publisher Arthur Hays Sulzberger.12  In a short one line letter Sulzberger wrote, “Just a line to let you know that your ten principles have become required reading in the Sulzberger family.”13 
A public relations firm hired by JDR Jr. tabulated that two hundred and seventy-five editorials were written about the speech in virtually every state in the Union.14  The Daily 
Worker published by the American Communist Party offered one of the few negative critiques of JDR Jr.’s speech, arguing that the stress on the development of individual character did not take into account the fact that “A man’s fate is determined by world-wide economic factors over which he has no control.”15  Requests poured in over the years to reprint the principles of living in journals and books.  In September 1941, Boy’s Life published by the Boy Scouts of America, would be among the first major magazines to reprint JDR Jr.’s principles for living.16    

Organizational Chaos and Sectarian Tensions      
The rapid expansion of the USO in 1941 was plagued with problems that would soon be recognized by the U.S. Army, community leaders, the USO governing board, and JDR Jr.  Part of the chaos stemmed from the need to build a central administrative office from scratch.  Moreover, the involvement of the federal government added a further layer of bureaucracy and delay.  Thomas Dewey who chaired the first national fundraising campaign sent a memorandum to the “Officers and Members of the Executive Committee” on October 30, 1941, informing them of an “increasing volume of mail which has been coming to me from important and influential people all over the United States, protesting in unqualified and vigorous terms about the manner of operation of the USO.”17   
  The promotion of religious values, together with the non-sectarian delivery of services, remained core principles of the USO.  Behind a veneer of unity, the reports and correspondence in the Rockefeller papers suggest intense suspicion between many Catholic, Protestant, and Jewish leaders.18   For instance, Roman Catholics leaders stressed that they were outnumbered by a board dominated by Protestant run organizations (i.e., YMCA, YWCA, and the Salvation Army).19  In turn, Protestant Church leaders associated with the Federal Council of Churches complained that the Roman Catholic hierarchy was directly represented on the governing body of the USO through the National Catholic Community Service, while they had no direct control of either the YMCA, YWCA, or the Salvation Army.20 
  To understand the problems facing the USO, JDR Jr. commissioned several individuals to report on the operation of the organization. Raymond Fosdick, who had chaired the World War I Training Camp Commission, provided JDR Jr. with an eleven page report, complete with five exhibits.  In his report he stressed how difficult it is in practice to meld six different constituent organizations behind a common program proved in implementation. He observed that the “basic principle of organization seems to be that the leisure time of Protestant, Catholic and Jewish soldiers, when they got into town, can be taken care of only by Protestant, Catholic  and Jewish agencies respectively—each for its own.  One constantly hears the remark from agency representatives: “The Catholic soldiers in the camp (or the Protestant or Jewish soldiers, as the case may be) are entitled to U.S.O. service from their own agency.”  The irony of this attitude for Fosdick is that the army commanders and the average enlisted man generally could care less which group was providing recreational opportunities.  As he observed, “A dance is a dance and a bowling alley is a bowling alley regardless of auspices, and when a soldier talks to a girl, he is not interested in what church she goes to.”21 
  JDR Jr. played an important role in the Board of Directors in forcing the resignation of Harper Sibley as USO president, and replacing him with Chester I. Barnard.  Sibley did not resign willingly, in fact, he argued that his resignation would not benefit the USO and feared it lent further credence to critics who perceived the organization as hopelessly disunited.  In his handwritten letter to JDR Jr., Sibley acknowledged that “Unhappily, the USO is being criticized on all sides for appearing to be a divided instead of a united organization.  I am afraid the separate Catholic, Protestant, and Jewish USO units do give this impression.”22  After Sibley’s formal resignation on March 11, 1942, JDR Jr. served on a three member search committees to find a suitable replacement.  A number of candidates were proposed.  James R. Angell of the National Broadcasting Company suggested William Allen White, and Rutgers University President Robert Clothier for the position.23  Former President Herbert Hoover recommended future Secretary of State Christian Herter.  John D. Adams, Vice President of Brown University travelled to New York City to meet with JDR Jr., but decided against further consideration.24  JDR Jr. gave serious consideration to John Pomfret, who served as Dean of Vanderbilt University, and even wrote to the Chancellor of the institution, Dr. Oliver C. Carmichael, regarding the opening of the position.  JDR Jr. asked Carmichael if Vanderbilt would consider loaning Pomfret with full salary for the unpaid position of USO President.25 
The Army leadership’s displeasure with USO operations played a role in their decision to initially prohibit the organization from expanding operations to overseas theaters such as Australia in 1942.  JDR Jr. journeyed to Washington, D.C. to attend a conference at the home of 
General Frederick Osborn, on Easter Sunday, 1942, to discuss this issue.  Osborn, in writing to JDR Jr. after the meeting, noted that USO operations demanded “a leadership of great strength and firmness.  Good will and devotion alone are not enough.”  He went on to observe “between the denominations, and the competitive quality of much of the work being done, I have acted to restrain the enthusiasm of the Army for their development of new fields, and have given those who never wanted the USO in the picture, opportunities for recrimination which greatly complicated our task.”26 
  Chester I. Barnard, President of New Jersey Bell Telephone Company, accepted the position as unpaid president of the USO.  JDR Jr., together with W. Spencer Robertson of the YMCA, played a crucial role in swaying Barnard to accept the position and they developed an excellent working relationship during his tenure as president.27  Moreover, the association between JDR Jr. and Barnard continued after the war, and in 1948 the latter became President of the RF.     
  Barnard’s leadership did lead to improvements in the organizational structure of the USO and he gained the confidence of the Board of Directors.  At the same time, Barnard’s leadership was not without controversy, most notably over the question of race relations.  Although the USO would ultimately be a model of religious cooperation, its record on race proved much more complicated.  Official national policy proclaimed non-discrimination, but USO clubs were generally segregated, and this pattern occurred even in many non-Southern communities.  For the most part the USO was not on the vanguard of improving race relations.28  
  JDR Jr. supported Barnard in the controversy over distribution of the Races of Mankind pamphlet, coauthored by the anthropologists Ruth Benedict and Gene Weltfish.  This pamphlet, distributed by the YMCA, had not yet been approved by the USO national organization.  Barnard demanded removal of this pamphlet, and this issue would be considered by both the Executive 
Committee and the full Board of Directors.  In Barnard’s view, the pamphlet deserved to be removed because it had not been cleared by proper channels within the USO.  In addition, he argued the controversial nature of the pamphlet which stressed the need for racial understanding and argued there was no scientific basis for viewing some races as inferior, and it would embroil the USO in an unnecessary controversy.  New York City Judge, Hubert Delaney, the only African American board member, vehemently protested the removal of the pamphlet and argued that the USO had failed to promote the American ideals of equality and justice.  Although Delaney garnered some support, in 1944, the majority of the board sided with Barnard and in the end Delaney resigned in protest.29 

Religious Life of the GI  
  There are hints about the religious life of the American GI in the correspondence. For example, the changing mores regarding the observance of Sunday as a Christian day of rest are reflected in an interesting exchange between JDR Jr. and Margaret Cross.  In a letter to JDR Jr., she complained that the YMCA and the YWCA were at a disadvantage because of their reluctance to hold dances on Sunday evening, while in “many of the USO buildings operated by the Catholics and the JWB, dancing on Sun[day] Evening seems taken for granted—and in some places the Y.W. [C.A.] when in a position of joint authority give in on the point.”  She wondered if it was possible to implement religious programs on Sunday night for GIs that would be lead by a few women who rode a circuit.30  In his reply, JDR Jr. noted that Sunday evening services and other religious programs have been fading at many Protestant churches and wondered how many GIs would be interested in them.  Moreover, he recalled a conversation with his son Winthrop, who was serving with the Army, about the resentment his men felt in one of the Southern camps when the USO building was placed off limits for a Sunday night dance.31     
  How do you preserve the free and individual expression of religion while still promoting ecumenicalism and inclusion?  This issue came to JDR Jr.’s attention when Eleanor Wilson, who served as Women’s Activities Director of the Army and Navy Department of the YMCA, wrote to him asking for advice on this issue.  The problem she wrote is that “we cannot meet the requests of USO volunteers and staff workers who are asking for prayer and devotional services that may be used at the USO meetings where Protestant, Catholic, and Jewish groups are represented.” 32  In response to this request, JDR Jr. wrote to Reverend Norris L. Tibbets, of Riverside Church for suggestions and ideas.  In reply, Tibbets assembled a group of prayers and litanies that might be used by Protestants, Catholics, and Jews that JDR Jr. passed on to Eleanor Wilson.33 
  In conclusion, I want to express my appreciation for the support the RAC provided for my research.  The material found at the Center has taken my research project the religious history of the American GI in many different directions.  As a result of my investigation of these issues, it has made me even more sensitive to the difficulties of promoting the free exercise of religion while still ensuring religious pluralism. The remarkable degree of ecumenical cooperation among Protestant, Roman Catholics, and Jewish organizations in World War II was not easily achieved. 

Editor's Note: This research report is presented here with the author’s permission but should not be cited or quoted without the author’s consent.  
Rockefeller Archive Center Research Reports Online is a periodic publication of the Rockefeller Archive Center. Edited by Erwin Levold, Research Reports Online is intended to foster the network of scholarship in the history of philanthropy and to highlight the diverse range of materials and subjects covered in the collections at the Rockefeller Archive Center. The reports are drawn from essays submitted by researchers who have visited the Archive Center, many of whom have received grants from the Archive Center to support their research.  
The ideas and opinions expressed in this report are those of the author and are not intended to represent the Rockefeller Archive Center. 
ENDNOTES: 
                                                          
1 “The Sabbath in the Camps—John D. Rockefeller, Jr. (JDR Jr.) at Camp Dix” January-February issue, 1918, press clipping, Folder 570, Series P,  Record Group (RG) 2 Office of the Messrs. Rockefeller (OMR), Rockefeller Family Archives, Rockefeller Archive Center (RAC), Sleepy Hollow, New York. 
2 Mrs. Henry A. (Mary S.)  Ingraham to JDR Jr., March 10, 1941,  JDR Jr. to Ingraham, March 20, 1941; 
W. Spencer Robertson to JDR Jr., March 27, 1941; Walter Hoving to JDR Jr., March 28, 1941; JDR Jr. to Robertson, April 1, 1941; JDR, Jr. to Walter Hoving, April 1, 1941, Folder 570, Box 51, Series P,  RG 2 OMR, Rockefeller Family Archives, RAC. 
3 Walter Hoving to JDR Jr., April 9, 1941; Arthur W. Packard to Hoving, April 21, 1941; Packard to  JDR Jr., April, 21, 1941; and JDR, Jr. to Hoving, June 2, 1941, Folder 576, Box 52, Series P,  RG 2 OMR, Rockefeller Family Archives, RAC. 
4 H.A. Drum to Nelson A. Rockefeller (NAR), April 11, 1940; Arthur W. Packard to JDR Jr., June 28, 1940; Frank Knox to T.A. Rymer, November 12, 1940, copy, Folder 223, Box 22, Series R, RG 2 OMR, Rockefeller Family Archives, RAC. 
5 JDR Jr., “The USO, Its Background, Origin, Set-Up, and Why I Believe in It.”  Talk at business men’s dinner, Thursday, March 19, 1942, at Rockefeller Plaza, 67th Floor, New York, NY, Folder 605, Box 54, Series P, RG 2 OMR, Rockefeller Family Archives, RAC. 
6 Arthur W. Packard to JDR Jr., August 14, 1941, Folder 612, Box 54, Series P, RG 2 OMR, Rockefeller Family Archives, RAC. 
7 JDR Jr. to Richard W. Lawrence, June 20, 1941, Folder 570, Box 51, Series P, RG 2 OMR, Rockefeller Family Archives, RAC. 
8 “To New York City Parents & Neighbors, An Appeal by John D. Rockefeller, Jr., Manager  
Robert F. Keegan, Governor Herbert H. Lehman, Colonial Arthur V. McDermott, With a foreword by Richard W. Lawrence,” July 1941, pamphlet, p. 7, Folder 585, Series P, RG 2 OMR, Rockefeller Family Archives, RAC. 
9 Mary McLeod Bethune to JDR Jr., July 10, 1941, Folder 589; Harold Dodds to JDR Jr., July 9, 1941, Folder 590; Claude Pepper to JDR Jr., July 12, 1941, Folder 591, Box 53, Series P, RG  2 OMR, Rockefeller Family Archives, RAC. 
10 D.R. Sharpe to JDR Jr., July 29, 1941, Folder 592, Box 53, Series P, RG 2 OMR, Rockefeller Family Archives, RAC. 
11 F.J. Spellman to JDR Jr., July 9, 1941, Folder 592, Box 53, Series P, RG 2 OMR, Rockefeller Family Archives, RAC.  
12 Roger W. Straus to JDR  Jr., July 9, 1941; John M. Schiff to JDR Jr., July 9, 1941, Folder 592, Box 53, Series P, RG 2 OMR, Rockefeller Family Archives, RAC. 
13 Arthur Hays Sulzberger to JDR Jr., July 9, 1941, Folder 592, Box 53, Series P, RG 2 OMR, Rockefeller Family Archives, RAC. 
14 T.J. Ross to JDR Jr., September 15, 1941, Folder 587, Untitled Document, Summary of Editorial and Editorial Paragraphs, (September 1941), Folder 588, Box 53, Series P, RG 2 OMR, Rockefeller Family Archives, RAC. 
15 “John D. Rockefeller, Dangerous Agitator.” Daily Worker (July 11, 1941), p. 6,  clipping, Folder 589, Box 53, Series P, RG 2 OMR, Rockefeller Family Archives, RAC. 
16 “John D. Rockefeller’s Principles for Living.” Boy’s Life (September 1941), clipping,  Folder 595,  Box 53, Series P, RG 2 OMR, Rockefeller Family Archives, RAC. 
17 Thomas E. Dewey, Memorandum-To The Officers and Members of the Executive Committee of the USO, October 30, 1941, Folder 562, Box 50,  Series P, RG 2 OMR , Rockefeller Family Archives, RAC.   
18 Raymond Fosdick to Arthur W. Packard, April 27, 1942, and an undated confidential report made by Fowler Harper, Chairman of the Joint Army and Navy Committee on Welfare and Recreation (before April 27, 1942), Folder 614, Box 54, Series P, RG 2 OMR, Rockefeller Family Archives, RAC. 
                                                                                                                                                                                           
19 To Files from Lindsley F. Kimball, Memorandum, Subject: Interview with Monsignor McEntegart, May 15, [1942], May 18, 1942, Folder 614, Box 54, Series P, RG 2 OMR, Rockefeller Family Archives, RAC. 
20 Lindsley F. Kimball, “Community and Campaign Relationships of the United Service Organizations, Inc. As of August 15, 1942, unpublished report, Folder 613, Box 54, Series P, RG 2 OMR, Rockefeller Family Archives, RAC. 
21Raymond Fosdick, Confidential, Memorandum on the USO, April 23, 1942, p. 2,  Folder 571, Box 51, Series P, RG 2 OMR, Rockefeller Family Archives, RAC.   
22 Harper Sibley to JDR Jr., March 9, 1942, Folder 570, Box 51, Series P, RG 2 OMR, Rockefeller Family Archives, RAC. 
23 James R. Angell to JDR Jr., April 10, 1942, Folder 570, Box 51, Series P, RG 2 OMR, Rockefeller Family Archives, RAC.  
24 Herbert Hoover to JDR Jr., March 21, 1942; JDR Jr. to James P. Adams, March 13, 1942; Adams to JDR Jr., March 13, 1942, Folder 570, Box 51, Series P, RG 2 OMR, Rockefeller Family Archives, RAC. 25 JDR Jr. to Oliver C. Carmichael, April 10, 1942, Folder 570, Box 51, Series P, RG 2 OMR, Rockefeller Family Archives, RAC. 
26 Frederick Osborn to JDR Jr., April 7, 1942, Folder 611, Box 54, Series P, RG 2 OMR, Rockefeller Family Archives, RAC. 
27 JDR Jr. to Chester I. Barnard, April 9, 1942; JDR Jr. to W. Spencer Robertson, April 20, 1942; Barnard to JDR Jr., April 20, 1942, Folder 575, Box 51, Series P, RG 2 OMR, Rockefeller Family Archives, RAC. 
28 Arthur W. Packard to JDR Jr., October 6, 1941, Folder 612, Box 54, Series P; Ray Johns to Henry W. 
Pope, March 4, 1944; Johns to Arthur Packard, March 10, 1944, Folder 563, Box 50, Series P, RG 2 OMR, Rockefeller Family Archives, RAC.  In his letter to Packard, Johns observed the facilities for African American GIs in Boston: “As you may know some of the Negro leaders in Boston have been urging the use of the centers in Boston by members of both races.  The Boston USO Soldiers and Sailors Committee, under the leadership of Mr. Hodgkinson, experimented with having a few Negro hostesses there to dance with Negro Service Men.  The Massachusetts State Law forbids the limited use of buildings on public property to any one race.  The experiment did not prove very satisfactory to either the Negroes or to the white people who attended, although no objectionable instance occurred, as far as I know.”  
29 Chester I. Barnard to Arthur W. Packard, January 29, 1944, Folder 563, Box 50, Series P, Arthur W. Packard to JDR Jr., Memorandum, March 10, 1944, Folder 612, Box 54, Series P,  RG 2 OMR, Rockefeller Family Archives, RAC. 
30 Martha Cross to JDR Jr., (March 1942), Folder 224, Box 22, Series R, RG 2 OMR, Rockefeller Family Archives, RAC. 
31 JDR Jr. to Mrs. Eliot (Martha) Cross, March 26, 1942, Folder 224, Box 22, Series R, RG 2 OMR, Rockefeller Family Archives, RAC.  
32 Eleanor Wilson to JDR Jr., December 19, 1942, Folder 224, Box 22, Series R, RG 2 OMR, Rockefeller Family Archives, RAC. 
33 Norris L. Tibbets to JDR Jr., January 9, 1943, Eleanor Wilson to JDR Jr., January 16, 1943, Folder 224, Box 22, Series R, RG 2 OMR, Rockefeller Family Archives, RAC. 

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