Fort Oglethorpe’s vital history: World War II to civilian city
Following the Armistice of November 11, 1918, ending World War I, Fort Oglethorpe was downsized and maintained a peacetime posture until needed again. The military installation that prepared warriors for combat in two wars was quiet. The 6th Cavalry returns from service in Europe to garrison at Fort Oglethorpe.
Nearly 1,200 buildings are ordered destroyed as part of the peacetime downsizing of the post. Part of the Chickamauga Battlefield, used for training, is now returned to the park. Soldiers are mustered out of the service, including one very famous face. Sgt. Alvin York, Medal of Honor recipient, received his discharge papers right here.
In 1933, in the throes of the Great Depression, African-American veterans of World War I formed the Civilian Conservation Corps Company 2425 at the post named the Booker T. Washington Camp. During the 1930s, the CCC worked improving national parks, planted thousands of trees, installed erosion dams and erected stone walls throughout the south. The unit even cleared the Bragg Trail at the Chickamauga Battlefield.
During peacetime the cavalrymen once again returned to playing polo to maintain their horsemanship skills. During this time, the War Department also makes improvements to the post, making it the most modern training facility in the service.
That would be important. Because while World War I was the first “modern” war, it would not be the last. As Europe descended into war yet again, America would prepare by modernizing its military. Horses would not be an effective part of a war-fighting force. The cavalry had to go horseless. A new motor vehicle, the Bantam Car, would be tested here at Fort Oglethorpe. Later nicknamed the Jeep, this small, light, scrappy vehicle was thoroughly tested at Fort Oglethorpe. The north Georgia hills provided a valuable testing ground for a vehicle that would see action in multiple theaters of combat. Newmodel ambulances were also tested here, as well as motorcycles and new, improved tanks.
Another innovation being tested at Fort Oglethorpe would be the
Mobile Army Surgical Hospital, bringing life-saving medical care closer to the front.
Once the United States entered World War II, plenty of changes were seen at the post. In 1942 the 3rd Cavalry moved here. A Prisoner of War Camp was once again erected, a cavalry unit of 900 African-Americans was assigned to the post, and the 65th Medical Detachment reached its full complement of 1,200 men. And as radical as some of these changes are, the post is about to welcome a completely different soldier.
For the first time in U.S. history, women are allowed to join the military, forming the Women’s Army Corps. Fort Oglethorpe is named the Third WAC Training Center, the largest in the country. From February 1943 through December 1945, more than 8,500 women receive basic training and extended field service (overseas) training at Fort Oglethorpe.
The post caught the attention of politicians and celebrities as one of the premier training facilities the Army operated. First, President Franklin D. Roosevelt paid a visit to see the new WACs training. Celebrities such as Bing Crosby, Ella Fitzgerald and Al Jolson all visited the post to entertain the WACs. Movie studios found the north Georgia post, with Metro Goldwyn Mayer filming “Keep Your Powder Dry.” And while the marquee listed Lana Turner as the star, the Fort itself played a prominent part in the movie.
Members of Country music’s Grand Ole Opry also visited the post. Local resident Betty Tate remembers,
“Minnie Pearl said she loved the Military Policemen because they all wore her initials on their shoulders,” referring to the MP on their brassards. Tate’s father, August Krajesky, was a trumpet player in the 6th Cavalry band. She fondly remembers life on the post, making full use of the swimming pool, the movie theater and shopping at the commissary and post exchange.
Fort Oglethorpe made history when one of the units that trained here, an all-African-American unit of WACs, received their overseas training before being shipped to England. It would be the first — and only — all-female, all-AfricanAmerican WAC unit to see foreign service during World War II. The 6888th Central Postal Battalion — nicknamed the Six-Triple Eight
— distinguished itself by clearing a log-jam of 17 million pieces of undelivered mail to Allied troops serving in the European theater in record time.
When World War II came to an end, so did the need for Fort Oglethorpe. As part of the Army’s plan to consolidate fighting units, the order was given to shut down the cavalry post that had served such an important role in three wars. Once again, the post was reconfigured to facilitate the return of soldiers to civilian life, and so, too, would the post itself become “civilian.”
The post-closing ceremony was held December 31st, 1946. Present at the ceremony around the final lowering of the American flag was former Sgt. Angus Clifford. Clifford was the Grandfather of Chattanoogan
Debbie Clifford Brown. Her family has long carried the story of Clifford’s service in Fort Oglethorpe. Angus Clifford was a young soldier when he was first stationed at Fort Oglethorpe in 1898 and was still there in 1903 when the post was dedicated by Teddy Roosevelt. He also saw action in Cuba and hunted Pancho Villa with “Black Jack” Pershing.
Clifford married a local North Georgia girl and raised his family here. For many years, Clifford and his children worked on the Post. When word came down that the post was to close forever, Clifford was invited to be part of the final chapter. Clifford was given the honor of participating in the retreat … lowering the American flag … on that last day of 1946. Clifford was quoted in a local newspaper as saying, “I guess there’s no reason on God’s green Earth to keep Fort Oglethorpe with a streamlined Army, but it was the grandest cavalry post ever.”
In 1947 the post was declared “surplus” by the War Department and by 1948 most of the assets had been sold on the open market. Local residents, eyeing the buildings, roads, water treatment plant, church … all the makings of a town, decided to incorporate and turn Fort Oglethorpe Cavalry Post into the City of Fort Oglethorpe.
Incorporation took place on February 17, 1949, and the City of Fort Oglethorpe, a tribute to fortitude and forward thinking, has grown into a thriving, modern city focused on the future, while remembering its history.