Wisconsin began preparing for war more than one year before
Pearl Harbor. In addition to the many Badger men already serving
in the regular armed forces, the 32nd Division (made up of
Wisconsin and Michigan National Guardsmen) was called to active
duty in October 1940 and began training at Camp Beauregard, and
later Camp Livingston, in Louisiana. The Division’s tank company
(largely from Janesville, Wisconsin) was detached, made Company
D, 192nd Tank Battalion, and sent to the Philippines. There,
they were attacked by Japanese forces on December 7, 1941, were
eventually captured at Bataan and forced on the Bataan Death
March, and held prisoner by the Japanese for three years. The
December 7 attacks on Pearl Harbor and the Philippines
accelerated the pace of the 32nd Infantry Division’s training.
By February 1942, they moved to Massachusetts in preparation for
duty in Europe. A month later, they traveled cross country to
California and instead deployed to the South Pacific, arriving
in Australia in May 1942. B