| The first large group of
soldiers arrived for training in April 1942. The 79th “Cross of Lorraine”
Infantry Division, U.S. Army Reserve, trained for three months before deploying
to Camp Blanding, Fla., and later served in Europe, fighting from Normandy
into central Germany.
While the 79th underwent its training, the first African-American troops arrived at Camp Pickett. Beginning with the organization of the 357th Engineer General Service Regiment (Colored) on June 25, 1942, most of the African-American soldiers serving on the post were assigned to segregated engineer units. As at other Army posts across the nation, these soldiers mainly lived in a separate world from their white counterparts. They had their own barracks, chapels, movie theaters, enlisted clubs and medical clinics, and only certain wards of the hospital were open to them. Soon after the 79th shipped out, the 3rd “Rock of the Marne” Infantry Division arrived in September 1942, followed by the 3rd” Spearhead” Armored Division and, later, the 45th “Thunderhead” Infantry Division. The 45th was composed of National Guard soldiers from Oklahoma, Arizona, Colorado and New Mexico, including three of the division’s eight future Medal of Honor recipients and the famous wartime cartoonist Bill Mauldin, creator of the cartoon characters, Willie and Joe. When the 45th departed Pickett, it sailed directly to participate in the invasion of Sicily. The Pennsylvania National Guard’s 28th “Keystone” Infantry Division replaced the Thunderbirds at Pickett, but only stayed for three months. In September 1943, the 28th departed for deployment to England and later fought in the Normandy campaign and the Battle of the Bulge. By mid-1943 the need for quality training space forced the Army to “double up” two divisions at Pickett. The 28th briefly shared the post with the 31st “Dixie” Infantry Division, which arrived in August. The 31st was composed of Guard soldiers from Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida. When the 28th left for England, it was replaced by the 77th “Statue of Liberty” Infantry Division, an Army Reserve command activated in 1942. When both the 31st and 77th left Pickett in March 1944, they were replaced by the last wartime division to be stationed on post, the 78th “Lightning” Infantry Division, an Army Reserve command, which departed for combat in Europe in October. Camp Pickett also was used to train a variety of smaller units, such as artillery and engineer battalions. In addition, a vast number of new recruits destined as replacements for divisions suffering losses in combat were trained at Pickett. Before and during the early days of the war, new recruits usually received their basic and advanced individual training with the unit in which they were expected to serve. However, once a unit was committed to combat, it was impossible to give basic training to replacements. Training centers like Pickett were set up to prepare the thousands of men who would fill in the “gaps” caused by enemy action. NEXT: LIFE AT CAMP PICKETT |