Points system WWII

[Walt's Daughter]

Sent to me by Al Kincer. Thank you!

[Cadetat6]

As I remember it we neeeded 90+ points to go home.

 

papa

[alkincer]

HI Papa....The article I copied from said 85 points needed. Also just being married counted 12 points. AL

[Cadetat6]

Al,

I wonder if points were different for Army, Navy USMC.

Pilots ,after 25 missions went home but did the enlisted men on the plane go home too?I read about a Marine with 125 points

Don't make any difference now we are all out.

 

papa

[alkincer]

I do not know about the other services. I had 132 points, I left the theater in July 45. Bill Munson & I went from Marisailles France to Casa Blanca in a B-17, then flew in a C-54 across the Atlantic, with two stops. The MP's in Jacksonville Florida stopped us for being out of uniform & carrying side arms. Yes we are fortunate that we made it back. AL

[Walt's Daughter]

The whole shenanigans...

 

Taken from an editorial by Chris Anderson, WWII Magazine

 

Early in 1945, General Dwight D. Eisenhower and the Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Forces staff had begun to work on plans to redeploy millions of soldiers to the Pacific.

 

It was a logistical challenge of the first order. By the spring of 1945, Eisenhower commanded some 4.5 million men. Three million of these were GIs. Moving them would be equivalent to packing up every man, woman and child living in Chicago today and transporting them, with their possessions, more than 5,000 miles around the globe. Once this mass migration was complete, all these souls would have to be trained and equipped for what promised to be among the most brutal amphibious landings in military history—Operation Olympic, the invasion of the Japanese Home Islands, which was scheduled to begin on November 1, 1945.

 

The War Department wanted to be fair to those soldiers who had served in combat or who had been overseas the longest. This desire, however, had to be balanced against the task of assembling a military force adequate for Operation Olympic and retaining sufficient strength in Europe to maintain order. Seeking a solution, the War Department polled some 20,000 soldiers and asked them what would be the fairest method of deciding who would go home, and when. Their answer seemed simple: a point system. Points would be awarded for time overseas, decorations, awards, number of dependents, etc. Chief of Staff George C. Marshall agreed.

 

If everything went as expected, troops with 85 points would be allowed to return to the States, veterans with between 80 and 84 points would be assigned to occupation duty in Europe while they waited for transport and the remainder would be sent along to the Pacific, where fighting was expected to last well into 1946.

 

To control such a mass movement of troops, all of the GIs would be sent from nine transit camps that had been established near the port of LeHavre. Named after popular brands of American cigarettes, the camps were miniature American cities that grew from nothing. The largest, Camp Lucky Strike, began as a temporary camp for troops being sent to the front. Conditions were basic at best. An engineer soldier recalled, “The area to which the 488th was assigned, designated B-19, was at first nothing but a snow-covered stretch of ground on which squad tents had been erected.â€

 

Such facilities were sufficient for troops simply passing through, but they were woefully inadequate for the task of providing war-weary GIs a place to wait for the ship that would finally take them home. By the spring of 1945, Lucky Strike had been expanded considerably. Dubbed “The Gateway to America,†the camp could now accommodate up to 60,000 men and included everything that one would find at the usual American military base. Eventually, even an ice cream factory was built.

 

Among the first to enjoy the improved facilities were POWs who had been liberated from various Stalags across Europe. The former prisoners were given medical treatment, new uniforms and back pay (see “In Enemy Hands,†P. 26). Eventually, the Army’s high-point men began making their way through the camp. At its peak, some 6,000 men a day were leaving from Lucky Strike and heading home.

 

With the sheer numbers involved, and the desire of all the men to get home, complaints were bound to be leveled at the camps and the point system. The criticism became acute when the atomic blasts in August 1945 abruptly brought the war to an end.

 

When the War Department implemented the point system, it had no idea the war would end a year earlier than expected. Under tremendous pressure to meet the deadline for the next mission, priority for transport had been given to those troops and units headed toward the Pacific. That left thousands of the most deserving soldiers cooling their heels in the cigarette camps. GIs who had been in combat since Normandy or even earlier were stuck, while others who had not even heard a shot fired in anger found themselves in the States.

 

Tempers flared. Congressional offices were bombarded with angry letters, and there were disturbances at some of the camps. Little could be done, however. The magnificent fighting force that had defeated Nazi Germany had taken years to build; its dismantling could not be accomplished overnight. It was not until well into 1946 that many of the Army’s combat veterans made it home.

 

Christopher J. Anderson, Editor

 

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http://members.aol.com/ItalyHistory/Points.htm

[roque_riojas]

I was rotated home after No. Africa and Italy, I wasn't told how many points

I had, all my Sgt. said,"GET YOUR GEAR TOGETHER YOU'RE GOING HOME"

After over 600 days combat I was on the, six by, in less than one hour.

This was Oct. '45. How about you JOE j3rdinf. RJR

[j3rdinf]

Roque: Not sure just how many points I had, but not enough for a immediate return home as I only joined the 3rd in France, great majoriy of us in the company were replacements. Very few were old timers like you and Recon in the Infantry. I never

much cared for the way this Point system was set up. Never figured it held much value

for those of us that were in continual combat, suffering by far the most casualties and

existing in continual bad conditions. Always wondered why the C.I.B. recieved no

points . Seems to me that this system catered to the "rear support troops" who usually

lmust have been bored at waiting for wars end. Oh well, its done and over long ago.

Besides, just waiting to go home without being shot at anymore was O.K. with me.

I sometimes wonder just what the "average points" were for the Combat Infantryman

was at wars end against other soldiers "average points".. Let alone their "life expectancy" in days, weeks or months.. Might be interesting. Seems to me that Marions post afrom Chris Andersons WW 2 magazine :: " most deserving soldiers cooling their heels in the cigarette camps. GIs who had been in combat since Normandy or even earlier were stuck, while others who had not even heard a shot fired in anger found themselves in the States. " . HOW DAMN TRUE.. There are POINTS and there

are POINTS. But one hell of a big difference on how one got them.

[Frank Gubbels]

Zero points for me but very interesting to see this.

 

Frank

[Custermen]

Pilots ,after 25 missions went home but did the enlisted men on the plane go home too?I read about a Marine with 125 points

I interviewed a tail gunner enlistedman who did get to go home after his 50 missions. It was 25 but they increased it to 50 later in the war. Of course, many of those shipped home early before the war ended were not always discharged. The tail gunner became an instructor for the replacment troops.

The article I copied from said 85 points needed. Also just being married counted 12 points.

The score required to go home was 85. Then it was lowered to 75 (according to 88th Division history)but by the time the war ended in Japan, I don't think they used it at all for anything. I have not read anywhere that a wife earned you points---just children.

You will find the ASR score listed on the bottom block of the Discharge Papers for many soldiers. Then under it will you will usually find "Lapel Pin issued"----referring to the "Ruptured Duck" pin.

 

BTW, that table of points in the first posting looks like it was copied directly off my webpage. Advanced Service Rating Score

Steve