Storyboards
What the war did to Oregon itself: the shipyards, the camps, the losses off the map.
The Army Air Corps
The Army Air Corps (Army Air Force), the precursor of the U.S. Air Force, was a decisive force in WWII. Oregonians served in large numbers in the Army Air Corps with a concentration in the Eighth Air Force. Oregonians also distinguished themselves as members of the Doolittle Raiders, the WASPs and in one instance making history by shooting down the aircraft transporting Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, the commander of the Imperial Japanese Navy. The Oregon Air Guard was created when the 123rd Observation Squadron was established in 1940.
Camp Adair
Camp Adair was one of thousands of facilities that were federalized in Oregon during WWII. Its distinction was that it was one of the largest. Camp Adair created three Infantry Divisions (the 96th, 104th and 70th) and trained another one (the 91st) having over 100,000 people in residence at one time becoming Oregon’s 2nd largest city from 1942-1944.
The Oregon Home Front
While millions of Americans joined the military to fight the enemy abroad and tens of millions stayed home and found other ways to help the cause, Oregonians also shared a bond of sacrifice during WW II. Tens of thousands of people were arriving from all over the U.S. seeking work. In Portland, ship building yards, manufacturers of airplane parts and other weapons of war were hiring. In Oregon the State Guard, victory gardens, blackouts, air raid warnings and rationing became commonplace.
The Marines
During WWII the Marine Corps fought primarily in the Pacific Theater and had only a few small ship based units in the European Theater. Also as a general rule, East coast recruits and draftees tended to be assigned to units in the European Theater and West coast recruits and draftees tended to be assigned to units in the Pacific Theater therefore as a West coast state, Oregon tended to be overrepresented in the Marines.
The National Guard
Oregon National Guard Units of WWII consisted of the 123rd Observation Squadron, the 249th Coast Artillery and the 41st Infantry Division.
The Navy
The US Navy was very active in Oregon during WWII. Three Naval Air Stations, a blimp base, and the US Navy Armed Guard were important aspects of our defense of the Northwest Coast.
Non-Battle Losses
Many clusters of death occurred in Oregon during WWII that were not considered to be battle losses but were still dramatic and important to the victory of the U.S. Some concentrations of Oregonians were killed at the Port Chicago ammo ship explosion in California, 11 were executed at Wake Island as civilians employed by Morrison-Knudsen Company to create an airstrip there, and a large number died in stateside plane crashes.
Oregon Data/Statistics
Troop Training Facilities: Army Camp Adair - N of Corvallis; Army Camp Abbott - upper Deschutes River S of Bend; Umatilla Army Depot - near Hermiston, sprawling repository for munitions in hundreds of semi subterranean silos
The Japanese
Oregon was the only state to sustain casualties, to be bombed by enemy aircraft and to have a military installation shelled during WWII. Additionally, thousands of Japanese-Americans who had settled in Oregon were sent to internment camps.