Hammond General Hospital, or Hammond Army Hospital, was a large United States Army medical treatment facility during World War II, located in the city of Modesto in Stanislaus County, California, and in operation from 1942 until 1946. The facility was preceded by the Modesto State Hospital, a public psychiatric hospital in operation from 1946 to 1972. [1]
Hammond General Hospital operated on 267 acres of land in Modesto, California purchased from the County of Stanislaus. Hammond General Hospital is named after Brigadier General William A. Hammond (1828–1900). William A. Hammond was appointed US Army Surgeon General by President Abraham Lincoln in 1862. William A. Hammond also founded the American Neurological Association in 1875.
The general hospital opened in 1942 with 2,540 beds to serve wounded servicemen. By the end of war, in 1945, the Hospital had 2,556-beds. The Hospital had 240 buildings that included 78 wards, convalescent wards, clinics, barracks, offices, warehouses, 6 mess halls, water treatment pump houses, laundry houses and utility shops. While serving the U.S. Army, the hospital facility maintained 6 "detention wards" for the mentally ill patients. [2] To move supplies and troops a rail station off the Southern Pacific Railroad's Fresno Line was installed at the hospital.
Hammond General Hospital was closed in December 1945. The facility for Hammond General Hospital became the Modesto State Hospital in November 1946. [1]
The Hammond General Hospital a subcamp, near the town of Vernalis, California on 52 acres. The Army built 938 temporary buildings that were used for the Vernalis Reconditioning Center, a large convalescent center for the wounded serviceman and to house prisoner of war at the Vernalis Prisoner of War Branch Camp. German POWs picked tomatoes, guayule, and worked in the farmland in the area. The camp held 757 prisoners who volunteered to work in agricultural jobs for better treatment. The POW camp had 250 trusted POWs work at the Reconditioning Center. The POW camp opened in June 1945 and closed in March 1946. [3] The camp and center were near the Naval Auxiliary Air Station Vernalis, which gave some support to the center. [4]
Hiwi, the German abbreviation of the word Hilfswilliger or, in English, auxiliary volunteer, designated, during World War II, a member of different kinds of voluntary auxiliary forces made up of recruits indigenous to the territories of Eastern Europe occupied by Nazi Germany. Adolf Hitler reluctantly agreed to allow recruitment of Soviet citizens in the Rear Areas during Operation Barbarossa. In a short period of time, many of them were moved to combat units.
Camp Atterbury-Muscatatuck is a federally owned military post, licensed to and operated by the Indiana National Guard, located in south-central Indiana, 4 miles (6.4 km) west of Edinburgh, Indiana and U.S. Route 31. The camp's mission is to provide full logistical and training support for up to two brigade-sized elements simultaneously. The Camp offers a variety of training ranges, live-fire venues, managed airspace with air-to-ground fighting capabilities and an LVC simulation and exercise center. It is also the normal Annual Training location for National Guard and Reserve forces located in Indiana.
Camp Adair was a United States Army division training facility established north of Corvallis, Oregon, operating from 1942 to 1946. During its peak period of use, the camp was home to approximately 40,000 persons — enough to have constituted the second largest city in the state of Oregon. The camp was largely scrapped as government surplus following termination of World War II, with a portion of the site reconstituted as "Adair Air Force Station" in 1957.
Camp Maxey is a Texas Army National Guard training facility that was originally built as a U.S. Army infantry-training camp during World War II. It was occupied from July 1942 to early 1946, and located near the community of Powderly, Texas in the north central portion of Lamar County, Texas. Its main entrance was located nine miles north of Paris, Texas. Planning for the 70,000-acre military post began in 1940, soon after the National Military Draft was ordered; the planning accelerated in 1941 shortly before the United States entered World War II in December 1941.
Camp Lockett was a United States Army military post located in Campo, California, east of San Diego, and north of the Mexican border. Camp Lockett has historical connections to the Buffalo Soldiers due to the 10th and 28th Cavalry Regiments having been garrisoned there during World War II. It was named in honor of Colonel James R. Lockett who fought in the Spanish–American War, Philippine Insurrection, and the Punitive Expedition. There was an active preservation effort underway with long-term plans of creating the 'Camp Locket Historic District' in the National Register of Historic Places, which ended due to private property concerns. In 2009 it was designated as a California Historical Landmark, and there are plans to create a county park out of the majority of its former area.
Camp Butner was a United States Army installation in Butner, North Carolina during World War II. It was named after Army general and North Carolina native Henry W. Butner. Part of it was used as a POW camp for German prisoners of war in the United States and this site eventually became the Federal Correctional Complex, Butner. The camp site was chosen in the late summer of 1941 to have a major training area, built with construction starting in January 1942. In just 6 short months, over 1,700 buildings were constructed. There were enough beds in the enlisted barracks alone to accommodate over 35,000 soldiers.
The Angels of Bataan were the members of the United States Army Nurse Corps and the United States Navy Nurse Corps who were stationed in the Philippines at the outset of the Pacific War and served during the Battle of the Philippines (1941–1942). When Bataan and Corregidor fell, 11 navy nurses, 66 army nurses, and 1 nurse-anesthetist were captured and imprisoned in and around Manila. They continued to serve as a nursing unit while prisoners of war. After years of hardship, they were finally liberated in February 1945.
NASA Crows Landing Airport is a private use airport owned by the NASA Ames Research Center, 1 nautical mile northwest of the central business district of Crows Landing, in Stanislaus County, California, United States. The airfield was formerly named Naval Auxiliary Landing Field Crows Landing or NALF Crows Landing when operated by the U.S. Navy. In January 2011, Airport-data.com reported the airport status as closed permanently. In March 2022, Stanislaus County announced the former airfield would be redeveloped into a business park.
Vernalis is an unincorporated community in San Joaquin County, California, United States. Vernalis is located on California State Route 33 10.5 miles (16.9 km) southeast of Tracy. It was named after two daughters of local ranchers: Verna Carpenter and Alice Hamilton. Vernalis has a post office with ZIP code 95385. The first post office in the area opened in San Joaquin City in 1851; that post office closed in 1852, reopened in 1874, and was moved 3 miles (4.8 km) southwest in 1888, after which its name was changed to Vernalis.
Rough and Ready Island Naval Supply Depot or Ruff and Ready Island is a former United States Navy installation on the San Joaquin River in Stockton, California in San Joaquin County, near the Stockton Channel and was 3 miles (4.8 km) west of Stockton. The Supply Depot was built during World War II as part of the San Joaquin Depot that operated the nearby Tracy Depot Facility and the Sharpe Depot Facility. It was named in honor of President Zachary Taylor.
Naval Auxiliary Air Station Vernalis was a United States Navy facility located in the small town of Vernalis, California during World War II. It opened on June 8, 1943, and closed on October 15, 1945.
First Lieutenant Reba Zitella Whittle was a member of the United States Army Nurse Corps during World War II. She became the only American military female prisoner of war in the European Theater after her casualty evacuation aircraft was shot down in September 1944.
California during World War II was a major contributor to the World War II effort. California's long Pacific Ocean coastline provided the support needed for the Pacific War. California also supported the war in Europe. After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, most of California's manufacturing was shifted to the war effort. California became a major ship builder and aircraft manufacturer. Existing military installations were enlarged and many new ones were built. California trained many of the troops before their oversea deployment. Over 800,000 Californians served in the United States Armed Forces. California agriculture, ranches and farms were used to feed the troops around the world. California's long coastline also put the state in fear, as an attack on California seemed likely. California was used for the temporary and permanent internment camps for Japanese Americans. The population grew significantly, largely due to servicemen who were stationed at the new military bases/training facilities and the mass influx of workers from around the U.S. in the growing defense industries. With all the new economy activity, California was lifted out of the Great Depression. Over 500,000 people moved to California from other states to work in the growing economy. California expanded its oil and mineral production to keep up with the war demand.
DeWitt General Hospital was a World War II US Army Hospital in Auburn, California, in Placer County at the corner of C Avenue and First Street. The hospital was built in 1944 to care for troops returning home from overseas service and troops that served on the home front. The first patient checked in on February 17, 1944. The hospital had 2,285 beds housed in single story buildings over the 284 acres campus. DeWitt General Hospital was three miles north of downtown Auburn.
The Italian Service Units or ISUs were military units composed of Italian prisoners of war (POWs) that served with the Allies during World War II against Nazi Germany and the Empire of Japan from May 1944 to October 1945. The armed forces of the United States captured many Italian soldiers during the North African campaign Operation Torch, which started in November 1942 and sent 51,000 of them to the United States. After the signing of the armistice by the Badoglio government in Italy on September 8, 1943, and with Pietro Badoglio and the Kingdom of the South officially declaring war on Nazi Germany on October 13, 1943, the Americans began to see the POWs as potential allies. The capture of Rome by the Allies on June 4, 1944, motivated many POWs to change sides. About 90% joined Italian Service Units, which operated in the United States and overseas.
Cherry Valley Hospital, also called Beaumont General Hospital and then Naval Convalescent Hospital Beaumont was a large medical treatment facility during World War 2 near the City of Beaumont, California in Riverside County. The US Army built a 1,000 bed hospital on the 241-acre site in the spring of 1942. The Hospital had 90 wood buildings, including 34 ward buildings, administrative, water treatment, support and staff quarters. The Hospital was at the base of foothills of the San Bernardino National Forest, 4 miles north of the city. The US Army used the to Hospital to support troops training in the California-Arizona Maneuver Area of the vast Desert Training Center. The vast training center trained US Army and Army Air Forces Troops in 1942 and 1943 to prepare for the North African campaign. The training center started in Pomona, California went eastward almost to Phoenix, Arizona, the south boundary was just outside Yuma, Arizona and north boundary to the southern part of Nevada. At the end of Army training the Cherry Valley Hospital was not needed and on May 26, 1944 the facility was surplus. Cherry Valley Hospital was transferred to the US Navy on July 1, 1944 and renamed Naval Convalescent Hospital Beaumont. The Naval Hospital cared for Troops with convalescent wounds or illness, those recovering from surgery and neuropsychiatric troops who were later discharged. After the war, the Hospital closed on December 31, 1945, all but one building was removed by July 1946. The one building remaining became a hardware store. In 1948 the land was sold by the General Services Administration and developed into residential properties, now in Cherry Valley, California, Cherry Valley Acres.
Modesto State Hospital was a public psychiatric hospital in the city of Modesto in Stanislaus County, California, and was established in 1946, opened in late-1947 and closed in 1972. It is the same location of the former Hammond General Hospital (1942–1946), a United States Army hospital during World War II.
Naval Base Manila, Naval Air Base Manila was a major United States Navy base south of the City of Manila, on Luzon Island in the Philippines. Some of the bases dates back to 1898, the end of the Spanish–American War. Starting in 1938 civilian contractors were used to build new facilities in Manila to prepare for World War II. Work stopped on December 23, 1941, when Manila was declared not defendable against the Empire of Japan southward advance, which took over the city on January 2, 1942, after the US declared it an open city. US Navy construction and repair started in March 1945 with the taking of Manila in the costly Battle of Manila ending on March 2, 1945. Naval Base Manila supported the Pacific War and remained a major US Naval Advance Base until its closure in 1971.
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