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Camp Shelby

Camp Shelby was a training camp for the men of the 100th Infantry Battalion and the 442nd Regimental Combat Team during World War II. The men of the 100th Battalion were training at Camp McCoy in the state of Wisconsin. Camp Shelby is located in the state of Mississippi in the United States. During World War II, the camp contained 360,000 acres with an additional 400,000 acres that was used for training space. On February 1, 1943 about 1,300 Americans with Japanese ancestry (AJAs) from the mainland reported to Camp Shelby for training, and about two months later, on April 13, 1943 approximately 2,500 AJAs from Hawaii arrived in Mississippi for additional training at Camp Shelby. These men did not know then, but in the months to follow they would be faced with new and unfamiliar situations and shocks that they would be forced to overcome and adapt to.

The first shock was the conditions of the "hutments" of barracks they had to live in. The "hutments" were flimsy and put together without any care. The barracks had leaky roofs, sagging floors, weak walls, windows with no glass, and broken doors. It was most unpleasant. Furthermore, even though it was April, it was still very cold, especially for the "thin-blooded Hawaiians." One night they received comforters, but the next night they were told the it was summer and the comforters were taken away. The cold wasn't the only problem, in the real summer it was 115°F in the shade and 100 percent humidity.

Nisei soldiers at Camp Shelby
Another unpleasant thing was the food. The men from Hawaii were used to always having rice in their diet, but once they reached training, the rice was replaced with bread and potatoes. They also had the mutton, tongue, liver and cheese, which most of the men were not used to having eating. This left the men very hungry. As much as possible they went to Hattiesburg the nearest town to get some steak. Also, the training used up most of their energy, so by mealtime they were very hungry. For lunch, they were fed usually two sandwiches, peanut butter and jelly and a bologna sandwich along with and orange. Although most of the men disliked the food, a few benefited from it. Tamotsu Okino grew seven inches which most likely would not have happened with his normal diet.

And, of coarse, there was the very difficult training. The weather did make it difficult, but that was not the worst part. Because most of the men were short, while doing marches and other drills, the length of their legs made it mot difficult to keep up with their long-legged Caucasian officers.

Harold Fukunaga explained:

"In Shelby I used to dread the four-mile forced march which we had every morning with the full field pack. Lt. Nilges, a tall, long-legged guy with a long stride, was our platoon leader and led the march. We were supposed to walk fast for three minutes then slow down for three, but with our short legs, we were running all the time to keep up with the lieutenant. This went on the the full 16-week basic training period."

Training at Camp Shelby

Camp Shelby seemed like a very difficult place to be for months, with the barracks, the food, the training and other problems they had such as trying to get along with the other men at the camp.

As Americans, we all need to be very grateful for all that the 100th Infantry Battalion and 442nd Regimental Combat Team went through for our country. They worked very hard and went through awful situations.

Resources

AJA Veterans in WWII -- Time Line
http://libweb.hawaii.edu/hwrd/HWRD_html/HWRD-TL.htm