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More 86th Blackhawk
Division History
History of the 86th USARCOM Page 4 of 6
Last update 18
Jan 2007
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Training for the Pacific Theater
and VJ Day
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In mid-August 1945, time was spent training at Camp Gruber, Oklahoma
(near Muskogee) for
redeployment to the Pacific Theater in preparation for the invasion of
Japan. The 86th was transferred to Camp Stoneman (near Pittsburg, California). From there the
troops were ferried to San Francisco, where
on August
23, 1945, the division embarked on the troop ships:
It sailed beneath the Golden Gate Bridge for the Philippine Islands. By this time the Japanese had indicated their
willingness to surrender after the two atom
bomb attacks on 6 and 9 August 1945. The surrender of the Japanese Empire took place aboard the USS Missouri in Tokyo
Bay on September 2, 1945 and ended the war with Japan.
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However, even though the war ended, the troops of the 86th
continued to the Philippines, for occupation
duty. The 86th Division
troops stepped ashore
11 September 1945.
The next two weeks of activities centered around quartering the troops
in assigned areas in and around Batangas. During this settling in, the Division
was under direct control of Headquarters, United States, Army Forces, Western
Pacific. Initially, the Division received no tactical orders and activity was
confined to improve living conditions.
History of the 86th USARCOM Page 4 of 6
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