CAMP UPTON
from a pamphlet published by
the Public Affairs Office
Brookhaven National Laboratory
The area of central Suffolk
County presently occupied by Brookhaven National
Laboratory once served the nation in a different manner.
It was the site of Camp Upton, which was active from 1917
until 1920, and again from 1940 until 1946. During World
War II, the camp was rebuilt primarily as an induction
center for draftees. The Army was later to use the site
as a convalescent and rehabilitation hospital for
returning wounded.
When the United States entered the First World War in
1917, a standing army was non-existent, and large forces
would be needed to fight overseas. It was decided that
sixteen cantonments would be erected across the country
to train the New York area inductees. The proposed army
base was to be named Camp Upton, after Major General
Emery Upton, who served in the Civil War and wrote
numerous books on U.S. military policies.
Construction began in the summer of 1917. Plans called
for a U-shaped encampment, large enough to house 40,000
troops. The land had to be totally cleared of the scrub
pines, oak, and tangled undergrowth which dominated the
landscape before any construction could begin. A rail
spur was built, connecting Upton to the Long Island Rail
Road, on which most of the supplies for construction
arrived.
Labor problems plagued construction. Local communities
could not supply all the men needed, so workers were
brought in from New York City. Many of these laborers
were immigrants who had recently arrived from Europe and
could understand little English. Irish workers would not
eat the pasta products requested by the Italian laborers.
Gambling theft, and alcohol were constant headaches for
Major "O.K" Meyers, the construction
quartermaster. July was an especially hard time for
Meyers. Intense heat, frequent downpours, and swarms of
mosquitoes harassed the workers.
Despite these problems, the
camp started to take shape by late summer. Fifty-five
railroad cars of supplies were unloaded daily. Thousands
of tons of lumber, nails, and stone arrived at the
construction site. The original order called for 680
buildings. This was raised to 1400 buildings. However,
the scheduled date of completion was delayed only 10
days. When the first 2000 drafted men arrived on
September 10th, two-thirds of the camp had yet to be
completed. The new soldiers were put side by side with
the laborers to help complete the camp. On December 20th,
the camp was officially declared complete, and turned
over to Major General J. Franklin Bell, the Camp
Commander.
The recruits who arrived at Upton came from all walks of
life. They came from New York, New Jersey, and
Connecticut, and represented twenty-five or more national
backgrounds. In all, some 40,000 men would spend some
part of their military service at Upton. The completed
camp doubled the population of Suffolk County.
The drafted men were issued equipment and uniforms and
were assigned a bunk. Until the first shipment of rifles
arrived in late September, the troops were kept busy on
the parade ground. In October, General Bell put into
action a sixteen week training program, outlined by the
War Department.
This program included training in almost every aspect of
infantry combat. French and British officers were brought
to the U.S.A. and instructed the men in tank, trench, and
gas warfare. The draftees trained in the use of hand
grenades and machine guns. Professional boxers taught the
men hand-to-hand combat.
From these raw recruits came the nucleus of the famed
77th Division. Officially formed before the first draftee
arrived in camp, the 77th was to gain recognition for its
valor at the Argonne Forest in gust of 1918. Major
General Bell was found unable command the 77th in Europe
due to health problems. When the first contingent of the
Division t Upton for France in March, General Bell turned
leadership of the men over to Brigadier General Evanson.
It was to be General Johnson who would d the 77th to fame
at Argonne.
Among the members of the 77th was one individual who was
already famous, and whose fame would grow after the war.
This was Sergeant Irving Berlin. While at Upton, Berlin
wrote "Yip, Yip, Yaphank," a military musical
based on his life at the camp. The show was produced on
Broadway, with Berlin's fellow soldiers filling the cast.
From this show came one of Berlin's most famous songs,
"Oh, How I Hate to Get Up in the Morning."
With the war's end in November of 1918, Upton's use was
limited. The camp served as a demobilization site for
returning veterans. The Army decided that Camp Upton was
of no further use, and was deactivated. A public auction
in August of 1921 saw everything from stoves to complete
structures bought up and removed from the Yaphank base.
By the fall of that year, all that remained of the great
military city of 1917 was the roads. Many of the
temporary buildings still exist, having been converted to
homes by Long Island residents.
For almost twenty years, the site remained quiet as Upton
National Forest. Then, in 1940, the Yaphank wilderness
came to life again. The war in Europe and in the Pacific
(of which America was not yet a part) gave rise to a
drive for military preparation among some members of the
government. Since the Yaphank land was still available,
the decision was made to rebuild the camp. Once again,
plans were drawn up for parade grounds, barracks, and the
like, and, again, before the construction could commence,
the undergrowth had to be cleared. However, this time it
was not to be the struggle it had been in 1917. This time
there was only a twenty year growth to contend with.
Also, part of the site had already been reforested by the
Civilian Conservation Corps. Sewerage systems were
installed to help drain the water that often accumulated
on the roads and parade grounds, and the road system was
improved.
Again, the raw recruits started entering the camp. Once
war was declared, the camp was filled to the brim with
men and machinery.
But the camp was not used solely as an induction center.
After the war effort moved from the European to the
Pacific Theatre, the induction center was moved to Fort
Dix, N.J. The camp was then expanded to convert it into a
convalescent and rehabilitation hospital in September of
1944. Bowling alleys, swimming pools, and tennis courts
were added to serve as recreational therapy for the
patients. Upton became a showcase for the type of
treatment the returning wounded veteran would receive.
The camp was again deemed unneeded once combat in the
Pacific ended, drawing a close on the Second World War.
It was officially declared surplus on June 30,1945.
However, this time the base was not dismantled. A number
of suggestions arose as to how the base and its
facilities could be put to the best use among them a plan
to use Upton as a vocational school for the youth of Long
Island. The final accepted proposal, however, called for
the former army camp to be converted into a research
center for the peaceful uses of atomic energy. Barracks
were to be used until permanent structures could be built
to house the equipment to be used by the scientists.
Thus, in January 1947, Brookhaven National Laboratory was
born, and Camp Upton had finally completed its service to
the nation.