Fort McCoy Commemorative Area preserves Army heritage, showcases installation history through unique exhibits, artifacts

For more than three decades, the Fort McCoy Commemorative Area has served as one of the installation’s premier locations for preserving Army history and honoring generations of service members who trained and served at Wisconsin’s only U.S. Army installation.

Located in the historic 900 block of the cantonment area, the Fort McCoy Commemorative Area has grown from a small World War II preservation effort into an expansive 10-acre historical campus that includes the Fort McCoy History Center, Equipment Park, and Veterans Memorial Plaza. The area collectively tells the story of Fort McCoy’s service to the nation from its founding in 1909 through modern-day military operations.

The Commemorative Area originally was established during the early 1990s as part of nationwide observances marking the 50th anniversary of World War II, according to historical information from the Fort McCoy Public Affairs Office. At the time, many World War II-era wooden structures across Army installations were being demolished or heavily renovated as part of modernization efforts.

Fort McCoy leaders recognized the historical significance of preserving some of those facilities for future generations.

“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 our World War II commemoration,” former Fort McCoy Public Affairs Officer Linda Fournier said in a past article by the Fort McCoy Public Affairs Office. “Fort McCoy was one of the first installations to do so.”

Between 1992 and 1995, five adjoining World War II-era buildings were permanently preserved within the 900 block area. The preserved buildings include barracks, an administrative building, and a former dining facility representative of the cantonment structures built during the massive wartime expansion completed in 1942.

Today, visitors touring the buildings can view displays depicting Soldier life during the 1940s. Exhibits include restored barracks rooms, footlockers, bunk beds, uniforms, period artwork, chapel displays, and potbelly stoves similar to those used during World War II-era training operations.

The area also includes exhibits highlighting modern military training and Army field training equipment used throughout Fort McCoy’s long operational history.

One of the largest attractions within the Commemorative Area is the Fort McCoy Equipment Park, an outdoor collection of military vehicles, artillery, helicopters, trailers, and other historic equipment representative of systems used on the installation throughout the decades.

According to the Fort McCoy Public Affairs Office, the Equipment Park began in the mid-1990s with only a handful of display pieces and has steadily expanded to approximately 70 pieces of equipment. The site was designed with additional expansion capability to support future historical displays.

“All of the items on display in the Equipment Park specifically were selected in keeping with our Commemorative Area mission statement: to present pieces of military equipment that are representative of what was used here on Fort McCoy,” Fournier stated in a previous Fort McCoy Public Affairs Office article.

Another centerpiece attraction is the Fort McCoy History Center, which first opened in 1999 during the installation’s 90th anniversary observance. The facility features extensive exhibits, photographs, historical memorabilia, and artifacts documenting more than a century of Army training and mobilization operations at Fort McCoy.

The Fort McCoy History Center includes displays connected to World War I, World War II, the Korean War, Vietnam War operations, Operation Desert Storm, Operation Iraqi Freedom, Operation Enduring Freedom, and more recent missions such as Operation Allies Welcome.

Among the many artifacts displayed are Maj. Gen. Robert B. McCoy’s World War I-era gas mask, horseshoes from the installation’s early cavalry-era stables, World War II-era uniforms, and historical items associated with Fort McCoy’s support of the 1980 Cuban Refugee Resettlement mission, according to Army history information and Fort McCoy Public Affairs Office articles.

Recent additions to the Fort McCoy History Center have expanded the installation’s historical collection even further.

In 2022, Alan McCoy, grandson of Maj. Gen. Robert Bruce McCoy — the installation’s namesake — donated a century-old wooden crate bearing the original “Camp Emery Upton” and “Camp Robinson” markings tied to the installation’s earliest history before it officially became Fort McCoy, according to Army history records and DVIDS reporting.

The donation also included a historic document presented to Maj. Gen. McCoy by the governor of Wisconsin. According to Army history information, the crate is considered one of the few surviving original artifacts directly connected to the installation’s earliest years as Camp Robinson and Camp Emery Upton.

Additional recent artifacts added to the Fort McCoy History Center include two World War II-era postcards mailed to Fort McCoy in 2023 by Steven Knight of Clever, Mo. The postcards, dating to 1944, depict historic views of Fort McCoy headquarters facilities and military police buildings during the World War II mobilization era.

Another significant addition was the Army uniform of Vietnam War veteran and former Fort McCoy Supervisory Public Safety Dispatcher Alan Blencoe. The uniform was officially placed into a display case in 2023 in remembrance of Blencoe’s military and civilian service, according to Army history records.

The Fort McCoy History Center also is preparing additional future exhibits connected to Operation Allies Welcome and a unique Operation Iraqi Freedom-era time capsule discovered inside a Fort McCoy barracks during renovation work. The time capsule had been hidden by Soldiers with the Kentucky National Guard’s 617th Military Police Company in 2004 before deploying to Iraq and remained undiscovered for nearly two decades, according to Army history reporting.

Adjacent to the Fort McCoy History Center is Veterans Memorial Plaza, dedicated June 13, 2009, during Fort McCoy’s centennial celebration. The memorial includes statues representing Soldiers from World War I, World War II, the Korean War, Vietnam War, and the Global War on Terrorism.

Since its dedication, Veterans Memorial Plaza has served as the centerpiece for numerous ceremonies, Armed Forces Day open houses, tours, and community events.

Fort McCoy officials continue to emphasize the Commemorative Area’s role in preserving the installation’s legacy while educating Soldiers, veterans, and visitors about Army heritage.

“Fort McCoy has a very unique and distinguished history of service to our nation,” former Fort McCoy Deputy to the Garrison Commander Albert R. Fournier said in a previous Fort McCoy Public Affairs Office article. “The Commemorative Area was established to preserve that legacy for future generations.”

The Commemorative Area remains one of the most-visited locations on the installation and continues to support Fort McCoy’s mission of connecting today’s Soldiers and visitors with the Army’s history and traditions.

Fort McCoy’s motto beginning in 2026 is “Training the Total Force and Shaping the Future since 1909.”

The installation’s mission: “Fort McCoy strengthens Total Force Readiness by serving as a training center, Mobilization Force Generation Installation, and Strategic Support Area enabling warfighter lethality to deploy, fight, and win our nation’s wars.”

And Fort McCoy’s vision is, “To be the premier training center supporting the most capable, combat-ready, and lethal armed forces.”

Located in the heart of the upper Midwest, Fort McCoy is the only U.S. Army installation in Wisconsin. The installation has provided support and facilities for the field and classroom training of more than 100,000 military personnel from all services nearly every year since 1984.

Learn more about Fort McCoy online at\[https://home\.army\.mil/mccoy\]\(https://home\.army\.mil/mccoy\)\, on Facebook by searching “ftmccoy\,” on Flickr at https://www\.flickr\.com/photos/fortmccoywi\, and on X \(formerly Twitter\) by searching “usagmccoy\.” Also try downloading the My Army Post 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\.”