The answer is in Gary's father's and family history. Gary's dad worked for a construction company in Des Moines just prior to World War II (he worked in that company for his entire career). In the late 1930's and early 1940's it became apparent that the US would probably not be able to avoid being in the war, and military bases were built around the country to handle the many soldiers being inducted into service. Ft Leonard Wood was one of those, and for whatever reason (we are not sure) Neumann Brothers Construction, an Iowa company, was one of the companies working to build Ft Leonard Wood in Missouri.
Gary says that his dad and a crew of Neumann guys would drive down here, work all week, maybe 2 weeks, and then drive back to Des Moines for a weekend. This went on for quite a while. Gary's dad talked about what it was like here at that time. There wasn't much here - mostly mud, crude roads, and the start of the wood buildings that would be the barracks, mess halls, churches, officers quarters, commissary, supply depot, etc. I believe there are photos in a Specker family album somewhere that show what it was like then.
Additionally, Gary's dad's first cousin is remembered here. He was in the Army Corps of Engineers (based here), apparently in a fighting battalion of engineers. Joseph Specker (Joe) was eventually deployed to Europe, was killed in The Battle of Mount Porchia, and was declared a hero for which he was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor posthumously. There is a residential street and a gymnasium named for him on the base. Photos below.
This base incorporates the headquarters of the Army Corps of Engineers, the Chemical Engineers, and the Military Police. It is a beautiful base with very new buildings of red brick. Nothing remains of the wooden structures that Gary's dad helped to build, except for those that have been saved as part of the wonderful Museum. The other thing near here is the Missouri University of Science and Technology, located in Rolla, Missouri, about 20 miles to the east. We drove there last night for dinner and to drive around. Very nice campus, hilly, reminded me of the Colorado School of Mines located in Golden, CO (this school was also formerly a School of Mines).
Our day today began with a 1 ½ hour wait at the Fort Visitor Center where we had to be screened and get clearance to go on the base. There were only two guards on duty and so it was a very slow process, but once we had clearance, we could go where we wanted. Here are some of the photos I took on the base.
A view of the old fort buildings now clustered together as a museum
Congressional Medal of Honor description of the act of bravery of Joe C. Specker. Hard to read here.
Also hard to read.
We had lunch at the Burger King on the base and saw everything we wanted to see including the indoor exhibits of the Army Corps of Engineers. Very illuminating. I have huge respect for the bravery, skill, resourcefulness and intelligence of those soldiers whose task it was to erect bridges, build roads, figure out enemy tunnel systems and go in to learn anything they could before setting up explosives, etc. They were key to the victory in World War II, and played very important roles in other wars as well.
As the last part of our day, we did a run along Historic Route 66, which goes right by the RV park where we are staying. For a little piece of it, it reminded me of our run along the Alaska Highway near Liard River Hot Springs in British Columbia - nobody on the road, very quiet and scenic. It looked to us like the road surface was original!
