Welcome, San Francisco Port of Embarkation. Camp Stoneman. by (WWII) - 2945

Camp Stoneman, CA: Information and Education Branch, 2945. First edition. 4 1/2 x 5 2/4 inches. 32 pp. Illustrated. Publisher's stapled self wrapper with a depiction of a returning soldier in blue on the front. Very good. OCLC only locate three copies.Camp Stome was located near the town of Pittsbutgh, CA, in Conta Costa County, about 40 miles northeast of San Francisco. The idea for Camp Stoneman was born soon after Pearl Harbor in response for the urgent need for a large cantonment area at which port processing of troops in transit could be housed, fed and transported. The plans for such a camp were, of course, in the works of War Plans before the Japanese attack. The main requirement was that such areas have available three types of transportation--water, rail and highway. There were two rail lines in the Pittsburg area, Southern Pacific and Santa Fe. A mile from the camp was the San Joaquin River, offering a broad water channel into San Francisco Bay. There also were suitable paved highway routes in the area.,\.. The camp was a permanent base for 125 officers and 2,000 troops. Camp Stoneman could house and mess over 20,000 troops at a time on its 2,800 acres. Stoneman also housed German and Italian prisoners of war. In addition to almost 346 barracks (63-man), 86 company administrative and storehouses, 8 infirmaries, and dozens of administrative buildings, the 2,500-acre camp held nine post exchanges, 14 recreation halls, 13 mess halls, a 24-hour shoe repair and tailoring business, one post office, a chapel and one stockade. Overall, the camp was a city onto itself. It had a fire department and observation tower, water reservoir, bakery, Red Cross station, meat-cutting plant, library, parking lots and 31 miles of roads. For recreation, Stoneman boasted two gymnasiums, a baseball diamond, eight basketball courts, eight boxing rings, and indoor pool and a bowling alley. Officer and enlisted clubs provided everything from reading rooms to spaghetti dinners. The camp also contained the largest telephone center of its day, with 75 phone booths and a bank of operators who could handle 2,000 long-distance calls a day. Stoneman even had USO shows featuring stars such as Groucho Marx, Gary Moore, and Red Skelton. Lucille Ball once donned a swimming suit to dedicate an enlisted men's club... At the conclusions of the Second World War and the Korean War, Camp Stoneman was converted into a separation center, the function of which was to ensure that returning soldiers could be sent home as quickly as possible. After World War II, activity at Camp Stoneman declined... The area now consists mainly of residential homes, light industry, office buildings and Los Medanos College. The southern section of the former Camp Stoneman Rifle Range has been converted into an 18-hole public golf course. Other areas of the former rifle range have been developed into Stoneman Park" (Military Museum).