T-1 Post Headquarters

In 1940, officials located Fort Missoula’s administrative center on the site of the old post chapel, erecting a tall stucco-covered frame building for $15,300 to house the commanding officer and his staff. After the bombing of Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, the U.S. government detained thousands of Japanese and German American citizens, as well as Italian nationals, and during this dark period Fort Missoula became one of the nation’s largest internment camps rather than a relocation center. During World War II, it held more than one thousand internees of Japanese descent and as many Italian nationals. Government officials removed Japanese American citizens from their communities, often separating them from family, and interned them at camps like Fort Missoula far from home. Although they were not necessarily mistreated, the son of one Fort Missoula internee recalled that the pain and shame of the experience can never be forgotten. Administrative staff processed internees’ records and questioned them, compiled rosters and duty schedules, dispensed military justice, and managed fort business until 1962.

Missoula, Montana · United States