Fort McCoy will hold its 2024 Armed Forces Day Open House on May 18 at the installation’s
historic Commemorative Area.
“This year’s open house will be filled with a wide range of activities, static displays, information
tables, and more,” said Public Affairs Officer Tonya Townsell with the Fort McCoy Public
Affairs Office. “We’ll also be taking time to honor our Vietnam veterans once again with a
special ceremony. Hope to see a lot of people out for a fun-filled day at Fort McCoy.”
The free event runs from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. and is open to the public. Adults must be prepared to
present IDs upon entering the installation.
The day’s activities are centered on the Commemorative Area, which features the History
Center; five World War II-era buildings filled with historical equipment and displays, the outdoor
Equipment Park, and Veterans Memorial Plaza.
Within the Commemorative Area, there will be dozens of displays set up under tents for more
interactive fun, Townsell said. Planned activities include guided installation bus tours, a sandbag-
filling station, personalized ID tags, camouflage face painting, military equipment displays,
marksmanship galleries, the special ceremony honoring Vietnam veterans, and more.
Military vehicle displays include the latest Army tactical vehicles and many other vehicles for
visitors to see up close. Soldiers with several Army units will also be there to answer questions
about the vehicles and equipment.
The Directorate of Public Works Environmental Division Natural Resources Branch (NRB) will
again be bringing back its popular display that includes some of the wildlife found on post, such
as turtles, frogs, and snakes, said NRB Chief Tim Wilder. Wildlife Biologist Kevin Luepke with
the NRB said during the 2023 open house they saw a steady stream of visitors to the display.
“I thought it went great,” Luepke said. “Lots of kids were able to handle and learn about Fort
McCoy’s reptiles and turtles, learn about some furbearers and handle pelts, and we were able to
showcase the Natural Resources Branch and its programs to the interested adults and parents.
Great turnout and interest!”
Looking back at the history of the Commemorative Area, a person needs to look back to a day in
late June 1995 when the Commemorative Area formally was dedicated as a World War II
Commemorative Area. Today, the area serves to commemorate not only the installation’s
involvement in World War II, but the entirety of Fort McCoy’s 110-plus years of history.
The work to establish the Commemorative Area began in 1992 during the 50th anniversary of
World War II, records show. Camp McCoy, like many other military reservations, grew
significantly during the World War II era. Because of this expansion and the construction of the
cantonment area, much of what Fort McCoy looks like today is the result of changes that
occurred during that war.
At the time of the 50th anniversary of World War II, Fort McCoy, like many installations of that
era, was in the process of demolishing or significantly renovating its World War II-era wood
structures. Also at that time, Fort McCoy had one of the largest remaining inventories of World
War II-era facilities anywhere, and the Department of Defense was supportive of Fort McCoy’s
efforts to set aside a collection of such structures as part of a World War II commemoration.
Between 1992 and 1995, five adjoining World War II troop buildings — three barracks, a “mess
hall” facility, and an administrative building — in the 900 block of the cantonment area
permanently were set aside for commemoration purposes.
Since then, this area has grown into a 11-acre site. The Equipment Park also was established in
the mid-1990s to complement the Commemorative Area buildings. What began as an initial
outdoor display of five pieces of equipment (“macro-artifacts”) increased over time to what is
today a display of 70 different items, and soon more items will make their way to the park.
All of the items on display in the Equipment Park specifically were selected in keeping with the
Commemorative Area mission statement to present pieces of military equipment that are
representative of what was used here at Fort McCoy in the past.
The Fort McCoy History Center, the next component added to the Commemorative Area, opened
in 1999, during the installation’s 90th anniversary. The center features exhibits and displays of
artifacts, photographs, and period memorabilia. The History Center serves to tell the story of Fort
McCoy based on the military personnel who trained here and the civilian workforce who
supported the service personnel who passed through the installation.
The final piece of the Commemorative Area was to build Fort McCoy Veterans Memorial Plaza
to honor all who have served. Construction on this memorial began in 2006, records show, as did
the work to create five Soldier statues representative of each of the major conflicts that Fort
McCoy had been involved with to that point in time: i.e., World War I, World War II, the Korean
War, the Vietnam War, and the war on terrorism.
The formal dedication of Veterans Memorial Plaza was June 13, 2009, the date of Fort McCoy’s
100th anniversary. Several descendants of the installation’s founder, Maj. Gen. Robert B.
McCoy, attended this dedication. The dedication was the key event in a series of activities held
during Fort McCoy’s year-long centennial observance.
The 2024 Armed Forces Day Open House also will feature the 204th Army Band. The Army
Reserve band, headquartered at Fort Snelling, Minn., brings their talented group of musicians to
not only play Army songs but popular music as well. The band served up hours of music during
the 2023 open house.
Ward E. Zischke, command historian for the 88th Readiness Division, will also be on hand once
again to give hundreds of event-goers a deep look into Army history as he sets up in one of the
historical buildings.
And for a third-consecutive year, the open house will have food trucks available for people
attending. During previous years, the trucks saw a steady flow of people placing orders and then
enjoying their food on the nearby picnic tables and benches.
Dave Jorgensen, a visitor to the 2023 event, said he enjoyed it as well in a comment on a related
Facebook post.
“We were there with my grandson, and we all loved it,” he said. “Fort McCoy is a well-kept
secret that everyone in Wisconsin should be proud of.”
Fort McCoy Garrison Commander Col. Stephen Messenger spent a lot of time in 2023 meeting
with open house visitors. The commander said the open house is an important event for the post.
“Armed Forces Day is a chance to recognize all the people who have served our nation here at
Fort McCoy,” Messenger said. “We open up our gates once a year on the third Saturday of every
May and invite people in just to see Fort McCoy and the rich heritage that it has to offer. …
What we try and do is invite as many different organizations as possible to come out and support
the event, too. … What we’re doing is showcasing the different services in addition to the Army
here and also the different components … whether it’s the active duty, the Guard or the Reserve.”
Read more about the 2023 open house by visiting https://www.dvidshub.net/news/445283/fort-
mccoys-2023-armed-forces-day-open-house-draws-thousands-people.
Learn more about Fort McCoy online at https://home.army.mil/mccoy, on Facebook by searching
“ftmccoy,” and on Twitter by searching “usagmccoy.”
Also try downloading the Digital Garrison app to your smartphone and set “Fort McCoy” or
another installation as your preferred base. Fort McCoy is also part of Army’s Installation
Management Command where “We Are The Army’s Home.”
A scene of the 2023 Fort McCoy Armed Forces Day Open House is shown May 20, 2023, at Fort
McCoy, Wis. The event was considered a great success by installation officials as nearly 3,000
people visited the installation to see numerous vehicle and equipment displays, interactive and
information displays in tents, and much more. The day’s activities were centered on the
Commemorative Area, which features the History Center; five World War II-era buildings filled
with historical equipment and displays, the outdoor Equipment Park, and Veterans Memorial
Plaza. Visitors were treated to sunny day and temperatures in the 70s as well. (U.S. Army Photo
by Scott T. Sturkol, Public Affairs Office, Fort McCoy, Wis.)
Scott T. Sturkol
Fort McCoy, Wisconsin, 2023 Fort McCoy Armed Forces Day Open House, Fort McCoy
Commemorative Area
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