Camp Ruston

Camp Ruston was one of the largest prisoner-of-war camps in the United States during World War II, with 4,315 prisoners at its peak in October 1943. Camp Ruston served as the "base camp" and had 8 smaller work branch camps associated to it. Camp Ruston included three large, separated compounds for POWs, a full, modern hospital compound, and a compound for the American personnel. One of the POW compounds, located in the far northwestern part of the camp was designated for officers. The officer's compound's barracks were constructed to house a lesser number of POWs affording more privacy and room for the officers. The enlisted men's barracks were designed to house a maximum 50 POWs in two rows of bunks that ran along each side. POW latrines were separate buildings located at the end of each compound.Construction and WAC useCamp Ruston was built by the local T.L. James Company under the supervision of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on 770acre about seven miles (11 km) west of Ruston, Louisiana in 1942. The land was purchased for $24,200, and construction cost $2.5 million. Camp Ruston was originally designated as an "Enemy Alien Internment Camp", a detention facility for internees of Japanese ancestry. Plans for the internment of enemy aliens that may have also included internees of German and Italian ancestries never developed and the need for additional enemy alien internment camps were abandoned. It soon became evident that Camp Ruston's usage plan would change due to the unexpected number of POWs being housed in Europe needing to be transferred.The camp served first as a training center for the Fifth Women's Army Corps from March to June 1943. Approximately 2,000 WACs received basic training at the camp. Once plans for prisoners were made to bring prisoners to Camp Ruston, the WAC training center was moved in order to make room for the expected large numbers of POW's captured in the European and Northern African Theaters.