Status: U Return-Path: Received: from web5202.mail.yahoo.com ([216.115.106.170]) by hazard.mail.mindspring.net (Earthlink Mail Service) with SMTP id tb4gm0.cbb.37kb01i for ; Fri, 16 Mar 2001 11:43:44 -0500 (EST) Message-ID: <20010316164059.9451.qmail@web5202.mail.yahoo.com> Received: from [205.188.200.51] by web5202.mail.yahoo.com; Fri, 16 Mar 2001 08:40:59 PST Date: Fri, 16 Mar 2001 08:40:59 -0800 (PST) From: MPCgram Subject: MPCGram 282 To: MPCGram@yahoo.com MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii ==================================================== MPC Gram ==================================================== Covering the Entire World of Military Numismatics ---------------------------------------------------- Series 002-Number 282 Friday 16 March 2001 A Brief Military History of Port Clinton with Tour By Philip M. Goldstein , IWANTMYMPC / Mr. 641 For those of you who had to leave Sunday night/Monday morning to return to your regularly scheduled mundane lives, you missed out on some interesting local history lessons, with Fred as acting tour guide / instructor. The remaining Festers on hand Monday afternoon were: Harold Kroll, Larry Smulczenski, Tom Warburton, Fred, and myself. (Leo May was in still in Port Clinton as well, but unable to tour) Our first stop after we packed up the Fest material in the conference room, was Camp Perry. For those of you familiar (or unfamiliar) with target shooting, Camp Perry is the hallowed ground for all the competition shooters. But even more so than that, is was a prisoner of war camp, during WW2. Here is a short history of Camp Perry: CAMP PERRY Camp Perry is 5 miles west of Port Clinton, and was a training camp for the Ohio Nat'l Guard. It was a small camp, yet it had the facilities to house and feed 10,000 people. It was also in the middle of a tourist area and had it's own 3500' beach front on Lake Erie. In 1942 the Army chose Camp Perry to be a main prisoner of war camp. At peak, it eventually housed 2500 prisoners, the majority of whom, worked for the US military or in food service industry. Most of the branch POW camps located throughout Ohio were sub-camps of Camp Perry. After the end of WW2, the remaining POW's were repatriated and Camp Perry itself was returned to the Ohio National Guard. Camp Perry is still active today, as The Ohio National Guard still utilizes it. There are various weapons ranges on site, in addition to the Long Range Rifle range used for competition. Knowing in advance from Fred of this "field" trip, I packed along my camera equipment. Harold asked if I would be able to take some extra shots for him, but I just lent him one of my spare Minolta bodies with lens to simplify things.. I will attempt to describe the POW Camp, and what is nice about Camp Perry camp, is that quite a few of the barracks that held the POW's are still there, in various states of repair/disrepair. The barracks are approximately 15' x 15', wood construction, asbestos shingles, asphalt shingled roofs. These were on poured cement bases, but I don't know if that is original. Fred said there was a single pot belly stove in each barracks, but none remained that I saw. However the flue pipe hole in the roof was tar paper patched. There were screen doors over the main wood door. As we walked around while Fred was explaining the history to Tom, Harold and I took pictures from various angles and perspectives. After a while, we came into a court yard approximately 200' x 100', surrounded by the barracks. Harold and I stopped. I said to him, "close your eyes, forget that you have that camera, and picture yourself a POW here 55 years ago: barbed wire, watchtowers, threadbare uniform, several hundred guys milling about in the bare ground (it was grassy while we were there, but I'm sure with all that traffic, it wasn't then!) packed 10? 12? to a barracks.... probably not in the cleanest state they have ever been. Smell the smoke from the wood burning stoves. The languages being spoken: German. Italian. Think of the communal washing area. The communal mess area. We stood there for a while quietly, the chilly wind blowing in off Lake Erie, patches of snow here and there on ground, just absorbing what once was. This wasn't a monument erected to remember, this was true and actual history. after a few moments I believe he said, "I can hear the sounds, smell the smells..... Nothing more needed to be said. Fred was waiting in the car with Larry and Tom, and we explored Camp Perry further, there was another similarly constructed group of barracks. Fred said it that sections of the POW camp were demolished to make way for the modern structures need by the Ohio N. G. We came across what first appeared to be a WW1 vintage European railway boxcar, painted in American and French colors. It turned out to be WW2 vintage, and if I remember correctly, was used to transport gifts from the French to the Americans in gratitude for liberation of France. The railway car is kept in remarkable shape. Naturally being a military installation, the are also numerous inert military vehicles, and weapons on site: M4 Sherman, Nike Missile and Launcher, a 105mm Howitzer, among others. ERIE PROVING GROUND / ORDNANCE DEPOT After that, further down the road a piece was the Erie Proving Ground / Ammunition Depot. The ammo bunkers are still there, as well as the buildings and railway sidings. (Those are now used for modern commerce) This area was built in 1918, by the US Army to test artillery. The site was selected because large artillery guns were manufactured at that time in Detroit/Toledo/Cleveland area. In 1920, the post became a storage facility for ordnance materials, and was renamed Erie Ordnance Depot. In 1938 the newly designed M1 Garand Rifle was publicly demonstrated here for the first time. It would go on to become the standard infantry weapon of the Army during WW2. In 1940 the facility was expanded and an indoor armor plate testing range was constructed. In January 1941, it regain it's original name Erie Proving Ground. Throughout the war, the facility tested and approved the sample lots of armor plate manufactured by the various steel makers from around the US, as well as mobile artillery pieces, gun carriages & mounts, and recoil mechanisms. Approximately three-fourths of the Army's mobile artillery guns and armor plate was tested here. The Proving Ground had a large branch of the Port Clinton Prisoner of War Camp on site, of which prisoners were working on post. In 1946, the facility reverted back once again to a storage facility, and retook the name Erie Ordnance Depot. In the 1950s anti-aircraft materials and guided missiles were stored on site. JOHNSON'S ISLAND CIVIL WAR POW CAMP / CEMETERY The last stop on the tour was Johnson's Island. This was the location of a prisoner of war camp for Confederate soldiers during the Civil War. The island itself is one mile long and one and a half miles wide and is located at the mouth of Sandusky Bay near Sandusky, Ohio. Reasons for this site selection included a relatively wooded land, and proximity to Sandusky, Ohio (labor and supplies) which allowed for an early completion date. The camp, which was comprised of thirteen barracks, was completed in February 1862 at a cost of $30,000. Twelve of the barracks were used as living quarters by the prisoners and one acted as a hospital. William Pierson, lawyer and mayor of Sandusky, was selected as the first commanding officer of the camp and was given the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. He was replaced by Brigadier General H. D. Terry on January 14, 1864, who in turn was replaced by Charles W. Hill in May 1865. The history of the camp can be divided into two periods. During the first period, lasting until December 1863, food and money were plentiful and the camp was not crowded. The second period, ending with the disbandment of the camp in August 1865, saw a great influx of prisoners with resulting crowded living conditions, scarcity of food, and the enactment and enforcement of stricter regulations. The prisoners were allowed to earn money and/or have money sent to them. However, the money and a record of it was kept by the camp commander and transferred when necessary. The prisoners used this money to buy supplies from the camp sutler (seller of provisions) who also kept an account of all transactions. The last prisoner left the camp in August 1865. The island now is a cemetery for the 201 soldiers who died there. While we were visiting, the caretaker came to empty out the steel donation box (of which we contributed to) and filled us in and added to the information on the sign on site. This ends our tour with Fred in his hometown. There are many other wonderful and interesting sites (lighthouses, roller coaster park, etc.) that I could mention, but none having a direct reflection on the Fest, and would have the effect of turning this MPCGram into a tourism brochure for Port Clinton. :o) Until the next time my fellow collectors, ==================================================== Editorial ---------------------------------------------------- The Fest stories continue to come in. Brace yourself. On the other hand, as was mentioned yesterday, you can fight back by sending in your favorite alternative story. The good news is that we are negotiating movie rights on Phil's story above. The proceeds to go tot he scholarship fund! =================================================== Mail Call --------------------------------------------------- Dear Gram, Thanks for sending me the MPC Gram. I have been a collector of MPC since my days in the Air Force. I was an Accounting and Finance Officer in Thailand in 1969. Altought we did not use MPC in Thailand the exposure to script got me started in this part of the hobby. Gary Lewis Dear Gary, We would love to hear some finance war stories of your days in Thailand! Editor =================================================== Departments --------------------------------------------------- WWII numismatics seminar at ANA Summer Seminar 2001 --------------------------------------------------- Not only does the scholarship fund have an official identity but also has a bank account! Any further donations should be paid to the order of "Military Numismatists Scholarship" and sent to: Military Numismatists c/o Marcus Turner 8103 East US Highway 36 Suite 163 Avon, IN 46123 THE UPDATED LIST OF SCHOLARSHIP BENEFACTORS 3/5/01. These folks have generously provided money or material to finance scholarships to the ANA WWII Numismatics seminar. Your contributions will help promote collecting WWII material and be greatly appreciated. Many donations were received at CPMX and MPCFest. They are being processed and will be recognized very soon. Mr. Anonymous Donor Mike Cummings Sue and Keith Bauman Ed B. Doug Bell Tom Denly, Denly's R. A. Medina Harold MPCKid Kroll Leo "Paymaster" May Mrs. R.C. Matherne Bill McNease Mel and Jeremy Steinberg Marcus Turner Larry Ski Guido Fred PK6 Joel Shafer World Wide Ventures Pam West John & Nancy Wilson Neil Shafer W. E. Yanchick ==================================================== Post/Base Exchange (PX/BX/NEX) Dump your dupes! Your classified advertisement for items for sale will be run here for free. Send your ads to the gram. This service is for everyone, most humble dealer or most advanced collector. The point is to make the gram more interesting. Send in a list of items for sale and we will list them here in the gram. In all cases confirm your order via email first. Korean Dealers Numismatic catalog for 2001 including Korean MPC coupons for the very first time. Not much to read in English, but some nice color illustrations and an historic MPC literature item. $23.95 postpaid. David Seelye. Contact coinman@rochester.rr.com. 701 FOR SALE. Yes, I have a Series 701 (second printing) available to a good home, $2750, terms available. Contact fred@papermoneyworld.com. WANTED Collectors may submit lists of items wanted for their collections for listing here. Dealers and collectors who have these items are then encouraged to list them for sale in the above section. This is a trial, if you like it, send your list. =================================================== Staff: publisher and editor: Fred Schwan - fred@papermoneyworld.com; assistant editor - Phil Goldstein IWANTMYMPC@aol.com critic: Harold Kroll - MPCKid@papermoneyworld.com; index manager: Ed Beaman webmaster & technical advisor: Doug Bell - (Wiz): doug@papermoneyworld.com; The Boss: Judy Schwan ===== MPC Gram is published by BNR Press and papermoneyworld.com as a free service to the community of military money collectors. Your suggestions, criticisms, complaints, editorial contributions, letters, and even praise are very welcome. 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