Early in 1942, the U.S. government designated Santa Anita Park for special wartime use. Pursuant to Executive Order 9066 signed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, from March 30, 1942 until October 27, 1942, the facility served as an assembly and processing center for approximately 20,000 Japanese Americans before their displacement to interment camps in other parts of the country. From 1942 until 1945, the government used the property as Camp Santa Anita, an Army base that became the largest Army ordnance training center on the West Coast, where more than 100,000 soldiers were trained. Racing resumed at Santa Anita on May 15, 1945, just after VE Day.