During World War II, various branches of the US military had 

access to/set up training camps in National Parks and on 

other public lands.  Formal agreements were drawn up between 

the Department of War and Interior -- in some instances these 

pre-dated the war.  These were not always easy alliances, as 

conflicts in the missions of these Departments often erupted 

over the impacts of military training on Park lands.   



In Shenandoah National Park, for example, the Army Corps of 

Engineers constructed an Engineer Replacement Training Center 

at Big Meadows during 1943 and maintained an extensive 

training program there through the fall of 1944.  After the 

war ended, the agreement between the military and DOI was 

terminated, in part because the Park Service refused to budge 

on allowable impacts (bulldozers and Bailey Bridge 

construction, for example).



Our report of the archaeological study of this camp is 

forthcoming in the new Uplands Archaeology in the East 

volume, which will be available at the Eastern States 

Archaeological Federation meetings in Williamsburg in mid-

November.  



I can't put my hands on it at the moment, but I believe that 

a 2004 issue of CRM: The Journal of Heritage Stewardship has 

on its cover a photo of WWII soldier at Sequoia.  Anyone have 

this available?  It contains an article by Roger Kelly 

entitled "America’s World War II Home Front Heritage" that 

reviews uses of public lands by the military during WWII.  

Carole 



---- Original message ----

>Date: Thu, 20 Oct 2005 08:25:04 -0400

>From: "Joe B. Jones" <[log in to unmask]>  

>Subject: Re: Frozen Dead Soldier at Sequoia National Park  

>To: [log in to unmask]

>

>My understanding is, once Army property, always Army 

property (unless sold 

>by the Army as surplus).

>----- Original Message ----- 

>From: "Ron May" <[log in to unmask]>

>To: <[log in to unmask]>

>Sent: Thursday, October 20, 2005 3:37 AM

>Subject: Frozen Dead Soldier at Sequoia National Park

>

>

>> Who is excavating the frozen Army soldier found in Sequoia 

National Park?

>> The TV news tonight had a team excavating ice and snow 

away from the 

>> frozen body

>> of a World War II soldier enshrouded in his parachute. The 

artifacts date

>> him to  1942, but the story was not clear who he might be 

or why he was 

>> there.

>> In such  discoveries, are the parachute and other 

artifacts National Park

>> Service or Army  property?

>>

>> Ron May

>> Legacy 106, Inc. 

Carole Nash

Department of Integrated Science and Technology 

Geographic Science Program

MSC 4102

James Madison University

Harrisonburg, VA 22807