New reserves pose for the camera at Fort Lewis in June 1950. Nineteen men stand at ease awaiting the photographer's instructions. By October of that year, Fort Lewis was a major enlisted reservist training center, the only one of its kind on the West Coast. Reservists were given intensive combat refresher training by combat veterans. (TNT 10-22-50, p. A-11)

Military; Military reserves; Photographers;

On July 29, 1950, the Tacoma Naval Station was the scene of the recommissioning of the escort carrier U.S.S. Sitkoh Bay (CVE-86), twenty days after the orders came through to "take her out of mothballs". Captain H.B. Butterfield, representing the Commander Pacific Reserve Fleet, read the directive placing the ship in commission. Captain C.W. Lord accepted command of the ship from Captain Butterfield. The Sitkoh Bay, named for a small bay in southeastern Alaska, was originally commissioned in Astoria, Oregon, on March 28, 1944. The escort carrier participated in many engagements during World War II, including Palau, the Philippines, Okinawa, and Japan. The Sitkoh Bay transported a total of 2032 aircraft, 10,716 passengers and traveled 182,618 miles before being decommissioned at the end of the war. (TNT 7-30-50, p.1)

U.S.S. Sitkoh Bay; Aircraft carriers;

Cpl. Goro Tomisato, Battalion D, 11th AAA, poses for this sepia studio portrait on August 19, 1950. Tomisato, a Japanese American stationed at Fort Lewis, is wearing dress khakis.

Military personnel--Tacoma; Military uniforms; Men--Tacoma--1950-1960;

View of L. H. Stevens, Adj. General at AGO Camp Murray, Washington National Guard, Washington State Military Department. L. H. Stevens is leaning against an automobile in his National Guard uniform.

Military personnel--Tacoma--1940-1950; Military uniforms; Insignia--Tacoma; Military decorations--Tacoma; Military organizations; Men--Military service--Tacoma--1940-1950; Washington National Guard (Tacoma); Stevens, L.H.;

General Kaiser coming down gang plank from ship, Mt. McKinley, Chamber of Commerce, Armed Services Committee, Col. James Stack. The Second Infantry division troops have returned from "Operation Miki" maneuvers in Hawaii. Approximately 15,000 Fort Lewis men participated in the "invasion". A Red Cross stand provided milk, coffee, and doughnuts through the Tacoma Chamber of Commerce. One of the Fort Lewis Dairy delivery trucks and another vehicle with loudspeakers on top of the cab stand behind the tables with apples and milk for the service men. (TNT,11/17/1949, p.1) TPL-10358

Soldiers--Tacoma--1940-1950; American National Red Cross Pierce County Chapter (Tacoma); Charitable organizations--Tacoma; Trucks--Tacoma--1940-1950; Military uniforms--United States;

General Kaiser coming down gang plank from ship, Mt. McKinley, Chamber of Commerce, Armed Services Committee, Col. James Stack. A group of G.I.'s disembark from the U.S.S. Mount McKinley at the McCormick dock. They are members of the 2nd infantry division from Fort Lewis who have just returned from "Operation Miki" in Hawaii. The Mount McKinley brought home 191 Army officers and men home from the 15,000 who were involved in the training. Several other ships were expected over the next three days, bringing home more soldiers. (TNT, 11/17, 1949, p.1)

Soldiers--Tacoma--1940-1950; Military uniforms--United States; Homecomings--Tacoma--1940-1950; Arrivals & departures--Tacoma--1940-1950;

Military police for layout story, Times, Earl Floathe. A man wears the arm band and helmet of the Military Police while talking on a specialized telephone and reviewing notes in this photograph from February of 1949.

Military police--Tacoma--1940-1950; Communication devices; Telephones;

Cobbler at sole stitching machine in a work coat.

ca. 1941. Fort Lewis soldiers demonstrate artillery techniques on the main parade ground in this 1941 photograph. The base chapel can be seen in the background at left. The citizens of Pierce County donated the land for a federal military base in 1917. Camp Lewis was named for Meriwether Lewis of the Lewis & Clark Expedition. The named was changed to Fort Lewis in 1927.

Fort Lewis (Wash.); Chapels--Fort Lewis; Artillery (Weaponry )--Fort Lewis;