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Births at During both World War II and the Korean War, there were 1,500 births at the Wakeman General Hospital (WW2) and later the Army General Hospital (Korean War). If you were born there, or know of someone who was, please email the information to me and I will add it to our list. Also please include a story about the experience. Ordered by date of birth |
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| World War II | ||
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Rivard, Robert 03/27/1943 |
Born 03/27/1943,
and is thought to have been the first baby born at the new Camp Atterbury
Hospital. Prior to its having been renamed to Wakeman. Johnson County Health Department, Indiana 
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Risley, Marilyn Ruth 05/17/1943 |
I was born at Camp Atterbury on May 17, 1943 to Ruth Abbott Risley and Lt. Leonard Thompson Risley, of the 83rd Infantry Division. My son, Maj. Geoffrey W. Wright, visited there a few years ago when he was at Fort Knox and took pictures at Camp Atterbury. My father is still living in Florida. It was a unique place to be born. My mother said the nurses weren't used to babies--many were from WWI and had taken care of soldiers. When I was born, the nurse said "here's one who won't march". My mother became upset because she thought there was something wrong with my feet or legs. Actually the nurse meant I would never be combat. Little did she know how things would change for women in the service. |
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Buchanan, Barry D. 05/24/1943 |
I was born at Camp Atterbury on MAY 24TH 1943, my father was overseas at the time.
I also worked there in civil service after I got out of
the Air Force and at Bakalar, my name is listed with the holding force
in the base history page, I was there until they closed the base.
I was on the fire department.
Barry D. Buchanan
Shelbyville In
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Cohn, David 08/02/1943 |
Maryland
David
Cohn Camp Atterbury and I go back a long ways -- a lifetime, in fact.
During World War II, my pregnant
mother, Mary Cohn, was living in Franklin with her parents, E.O. and
Mamie Lagle. They had no car, so when my time came, family friends
drove her the 10 miles or so to Camp Atterbury's new hospital, where
an O.B. ward had just opened. After a long labor during a 90-degree
day in un-air-conditioned barracks (which my mother never fails to
mention), I was born on Aug. 2, 1943. I weighed 7 pounds, 12 ounces.
My father, Frank Cohn, was getting
ready to go to war. A surgeon with the 101st Airborne Division, he was
training in North Carolina. She had followed him around from post to
post in the South for about a year, but when his duties kept them
apart more and more and she reached her last trimester, she went back
to Franklin. When Dad got word of my birth, he hopped a ride on an
Army transport plane and few back to see his little family at
Atterbury. He walked into a room ful of flowers, my mother said, but
could stay for only a couple of days. He would not see us again for
almost two years.
After a 10-day hospital stay, during
which time I put on 4 ounces, my mother and I were driven home to 48
W. Wayne St. by another family friend. Mom saved the instruction card
the hospital had given her. I was to be fed a formula consisting of
water, Karo (Blue) syrup and irradiated Carnation milk. In his letters
from overseas, Dad also prescribed regular doses of cod liver oil, but
I think she discreetly ignored that.
Near the end of the war, Dad was
wounded in a bombing in Germany and hospitalized in Paris. It took him
a month to recover from all wounds but one: his left eardrum had been
blown out by the concussions. He was sent home and told to report to
Wakeman Hospital for further treatment.
After a happy reunion in Franklin, Dad
returned to the hospital where his son had been born. An Army doctor
from Detroit examined the eardrum and tried various treatments in
vain. Finally, he proposed an experiment that he said he recommended
only because his patient was also a doctor. He would insert a wad of
soft, thin cigarette paper into the ear in hopes that gentle
irritation would encourage the drum to regrow. The patient agreed, but
the treatment turned out to be anything but gentle. Dad would come
home from the hospital in excruciating pain, my mother said. All he
could do was lie down, but he could not sleep. Then the paper would
fall out, and he'd had to repeat the process again the next day. This
went on for many agonizing weeks that summer, but gradually the
experiment worked. His eardrum grew back, and his hearing was
partially restored.
Twenty years later, in 1965, I too
returned to Camp Atterbury on assignment. Fresh out of Indiana
University, I was a reporter for the Franklin Daily Journal,
and my beat included the new and controversial Job Corps Center. One
of my first jobs was to cover a meeting about law enforcement and
discipline problems at the center. The meeting, in the corps
headquarters building, was closed to the public, so I waited outside
in a hall. When the meeting broke up, I interviewed participants and
took their pictures.
Afterwards, I walked back to my car
with my notebook in hand and camera dangling from my neck. Some Job
Corps members spotted me as a newsman, surrounded me, and asked to
have their picture taken. They were a little rowdy, and I was
uncomfortable, so I decided the best thing to do was comply with their
request and get out quickly. I snapped a picture, then turned for my
car. But before I could move, I felt a hand grip my elbow from behind.
"Come with me," an
official-sounding voice said. The Job Corpsmen scattered.
Three men in dark suits led me back
into the headquarters building, where an official gave me a lecture on
photographing a government installation. I asked if he wanted my film.
He declined. By then, I think, he was feeling embarrassed by their
overreaction. I left.
Naturally, the first thing the paper
did was print that silly photo along with a first-person account of my
detention at the same place where I had been born. I heard later that
the official apologized, and I continued to cover the Job Corps.
That summer, my draft notice and
enlistment in the Army signaled my departure from Indiana. I now live
in Maryland, but my wife, children and I have returned every now and
then to visit family. One year, my parents proudly took us to some of
the newly opened fishing spots in Camp Atterbury. Another year, my
daughter and I canoed down the east side of the camp on Sugar Creek
and the Big Blue River. I have visited the P.O.W. chapel and prayed
that it be spared from further vandalism.
So, I have seen Camp Atterbury in its
many roles, from wartime to peacetime, and I am impressed at how it
has managed to adapt and still count as a place important to the
nation and the state, as well as to the counties whose land it
occupies. And I'm certainly glad to see that people are taking the
trouble to tell Camp Atterbury's many stories.
David F. Cohn
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Snyder, Nikki Ladonna
Coombs 10/25/1943 |
Dear Jim, I understand that you are looking for people who were born at Camp Atterbury, well I was one. My name is Nikki Ladonna Coombs Snyder. I am the child of Donald Wayne Coombs & Anna Pauline Barker. I was born at the camp because my father was in the Navy and served on the aircraft carrier, the Yorktown. I was born Oct. 25,1943. My grandmother told me when we left the hospital they somehow got turned around and ended up in the area where the Italian prisoners were housed . She said the prisoners were very excited at getting to see a bambino. I was home a couple of weeks ago and went to see the chapel they built - really nice. | |
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Glasheen, Susan B. 03/16/1939 at Wakeman about 1944 for treatment |
I was a patient at age about 5, maybe 6
(birthdate 3/16/39). My father was Capt. Radie H. Bunn. I may have had
meningitis and I clearly recall having antibiotic shots, ice around my
neck, and drinking through a straw. I recall seeing a German prisoner of war doing landscape work and adult patients playing leapfrog in the hall by my door. We lived in Franklin where I went to school by saying I was 6 when I was actually five. My classmates sent cards. Soon, when the war was over, we moved to Amherst, MA. via Ft. Pierre SDAK. |
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Hardy, Diane Carole 06/08/1944 |
06/08/1944 - I was born at Camp Atterbury on June 8, 1944. My father, Captain James Howard Hardy, deployed from Camp Atterbury. He was with the 106th, 423 Regiment, M Company. | |
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James
Michael Harlan 06/21/1945 |
My name is James Michael Harlan. I was born at Camp Atterbury on June 21, 1945 to my mother, Rosemary S. Harlan, and my father, James Fred Harlan. My father was a B-25 bomber pilot. After flying 50 combat missions out of Africa into Italy during WW11, he was assigned to Camp Atterbury. I attended Indiana University and as a member of the ROTC, I attended several training sessions at Camp Atterbury. Also, later, as an Army reservist, my unit spent many weekends at Camp Atterbury | |
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Wirth, Earl Stephen 10/09/1945 |
My name is Earl Stephen (Steve) Wirth, and
I was born at Camp Atterbury on October 9th, 1945. My father, 1st
Lieutenant Earl W. Wirth, was stationed there at the time. I believe he
was recovering from an injury - he was run over by a truck - and later
was permanent party. My birth certificate says only that I was born in
Johnson County and is signed by R.C. Wilson, M.D. Mom swears I was born
in the army hospital, and she ought to know.
Dad died Oct 20, 2003, at age 80 of
Alzheimer's. Dad was discharged in 1946 and took the family
back home to Cincinnati. My wife and I have just recently moved to
Dearborn County, Indiana, and I am planning to visit Camp Atterbury
this summer. I am also an Army veteran, having served in Viet Nam
from October, 1966 to December, 1967. (Made it home in time for
Christmas.)
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| Morton, Dennis | Mother Dorothy Mae Morton, Father Edward Morton. date unknown | |
| Korean War | ||
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Austin, Terry
Richard 10/06/1950 |
First Baby !! Outstanding among the firsts of re-activated Camp Atterbury was the birth of the first baby in the U. S. Army Hospital, 10/06/1950. Just about the time lasts week’s Camp Crier was going to press, Terry Richard Austin, son of Captain and Mrs. Frank B. Austin, saw the waning light of day. The seven pound, red haired boy and his mother are well and happy. Late bulletins indicate that Captain Austin, Post Signal Officer, will recover also. This is the second child for the Austins, whose daughter Sandra Lee is two and a half years old. |
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Bell, Julie Dianne Doan 11/26/1950 |
Father: Col. Howard W. Doan
Mother: Dorothy Havens Doan
Father was in charge of Camp Atterbury Hospital #8. I found an old uniform of his for sale on the Internet, and the article that accompanied it had a lot of information about his career and a number of pictures. Including Camp Atterbury. I was also in one of the pictures with Col. Louis Hackett as my pediatrician. |
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Wright, Cynthia 1951 |
My name is Cynthia Wright and I was born at Camp Atterbury in 1951. My father John Wright Jr. was in the hospital there at the time of my birth. My mothers name is Betty L. Ennis (Wright) Both lived in Edinburgh. I lived in Edinburgh with my grandfather Louis and Geneva Stout. | |
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Constance Marie "Connie" Jett Budd 03/02/1951 |
Born March 2, 1951, at Camp Atterbury
near Edinburgh, Ind., she was a daughter of the late James and
Patricia Jett. She was a 1970 graduate of New Haven High School. -
See more at:
http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/fortwayne/obituary.aspx?n=constance-marie-budd-connie&pid=177913188&fhid=13753&eid=sp_ommatch#sthash.DKNjmAgk.dpuf
Born March 2, 1951, at Camp Atterbury
near Edinburgh, Ind., she was a daughter of the late James and
Patricia Jett. She was a 1970 graduate of New Haven High School. -
See more at:
http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/fortwayne/obituary.aspx?n=constance-marie-budd-connie&pid=177913188&fhid=13753&eid=sp_ommatch#sthash.DKNjmAgk.dpuf
Born March 2, 1951, at Camp Atterbury
near Edinburgh, Ind., she was a daughter of the late James and
Patricia Jett - See more at:
http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/fortwayne/obituary.aspx?n=constance-marie-budd-connie&pid=177913188&fhid=13753&eid=sp_ommatch#sthash.DKNjmAgk.dpuf
born March 2, 1951 at Camp Atterbury,
she was the daughter of James and Patricia Jett. |
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McQueen, Allen D. 06/01/1951 |
born
06/01/1951. Father: Frank McQueen |
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Berry Duxbury 06/23/1952 |
Berry was born on June 23, 1951 at Camp Atterbury, Indiana to the late Bryce and Dorothy (Hicks) Duxbury. Berry graduated from Harmony High School, Class of 1969 and immediately enlisted into the United States Coast Guard. | |
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Rodriguez,
Marguerite 03/14/1952 |
My Army Father, John Cunningham was stationed there and working at the hospital. My mother also worked at the hospital as a civilian. They were married in the little white Chapel that was near the hospital. | |
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Bjerke, Scott D. 09/03/1952 |
My mother visited my dad at Camp Atterbury, and
lived at 202 S. Holland St, Edinburg. She went into labor at the movies
at the Pixy Theater. I was evidently a little pre-mature when I was born
09/03/1952. I weighed only 6 lbs and 2 ounces at birth. I was not
expected to survive because the sedatives given my mother affected me
also. Mom and I stayed three weeks before returning home to Vancouver. I've been back twice and I'm coming again in September (2023) to visit my Uncle in Greenwood. One of the reasons for this letter is that I cannot make out the Doctor's name on my birth certificate. The first name looks to be "Ralph".
In looking at other Birth Certificates, the Doctor's signature is equally difficult to read. But it appears on other documents the first name is "Ralph" and last name does begin with a "G" and ends with a "son". Perhaps with a total of 5-6 letters in the last name. I cannot find any such name in my rosters. If anyone can help please email me at imo.jimwest@gmail.com |
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Henderson, Candice Lee 09/19/1953 |
I was born at Camp Atterbury on September 19, 1953. My dad was in the navy at the time, but Camp Atterbury was the closet hospital. My name on the birth certifcate is Candice Lee Henderson and my dad's name is Don Lee Henderson. My mother's name is Carolyn. | |
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Hittinger, John Pollard 02/08/1952 |
I was born at Camp Atterbury on February 8, 1952. My father, Lt Francis Russel Hittinger, Jr. USMC was a Marine Corps officer stationed at NAVAL ORDINANCE PLANT INDIANAPOLIS (NOPI). He saw action in Korea (Inchon and Chosin) and returned to the states in June 1951. I was born a month premature and was in a incubator for a week or so. My mother was Anne Pollard Hittinger, daughter of Naval office Willard Averrel Pollard and Julia Bottom. |
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Fehlow, Susan Marie 02/20/1952 |
Parents Marie and Otto Fehlow. My father was stationed at Fort Ben Harrison at the time and was reassigned soon after, and that’s about all I know. I had a reminder that stayed with me, however, growing up there were little scars noticeable on the tops of my toes and my mother liked to point out that they came from Camp Atterbury. Apparently, when they brought me home I had little sores from nose to toes from the hospital’s starched sheets. Wonder how common that was! | |
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Manning, Dwight
Kelvin 07/05/1952 |
the Cardinal Camp Atterbury, Indiana 07/11/1952 1,000 Baby Born July 5th, 1952 Dwight Kelvin Manning. Mrs. Manning gave birth to the 7 lb. 13 oz. boy at 0418 hours on July 5th. The father is 1st Lt. Ralph K. Manning and is stationed at Fort Benjamin Harrison. Baby Manning is the 3rd of three sons. |
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Holloway, Rebecca Ann 10/10/1952 |
Legacy.com 10/2014 10/10/1952 - 09/14/2014.  |
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William K
Arthur, Jr. 01/24/1953 |
January 24th
1953 was bitterly cold and the roads surrounding Camp Atterbury
were covered with ice. My mother had been driven from Mars Hill (about
30 miles) by her friends earlier in the evening, but had been sent home
as she was not ready for delivery. They were wrong. A second trip was
made later that night and I was delivered in the early morning hours of
January 25th.
William K Arthur, Jr., son of SNPN William K Arthur, USNR and Jean C. Arthur, was born. My mother tells me that the labor room was a large ward and she was the only person in it. She felt especially alone as my father was stationed at Norfolk VA. After I was born I was put in a bassinet next to her bed in another empty ward, they called it “rooming in”. The only thing that was not covered was my mother’s meals, so I cost seven dollars. A few winters later we were living in a trailer as my father attended Purdue on the GI bill. One night the fuel oil ran out and his shoes were frozen to the floor. He said “That’s it!” and a week later we were moving to California. In the early seventies my draft board took a look at my Camp Atterbury birth certificate and told me that my birthplace no longer existed. I would have to choose a new one, so I chose Franklin. Otherwise my Camp Atterbury birth certificate worked just fine for me until the late eighties. The passport office said that it was no longer valid because it didn’t come from the county recorder. I called the Johnson County Health Department to see if I could order one over the phone, but the ladies laughed and said “Maybe that’s how you do it in California, but we’re just a small county and don’t take credit cards” I work in the airline industry and it seems that they’re always doing more background checks. So now my wonderful, ornate birth certificate (with the picture of the hospital) sits in a file cabinet, while the plain little form from the Health Department is being used. |
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Cochenour, Diana L. 04/16/1953 |
Diana L. "D" Cochenour, 61, of Frankfort, died
unexpectedly following her courageous battle with cancer on Tuesday,
November 25, 2014. at 12:34 p.m. in the OSU Wexner Medical Center,
Columbus. D was born on April 16, 1953 in Camp Atterbury, IN, the
daughter of the late Charles and Florence Elizabeth Collins Patton.
On February 16, 1985 she married Gary M. Cochenour and he survives.
- See more at:
http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/chillicothegazette/obituary.aspx?n=diana-cochenour&pid=173299867&fhid=15348&eid=sp_ommatch#sthash.fTuyQH88.dpuf
Diana L. "D" Cochenour, 61, of Frankfort, died
unexpectedly following her courageous battle with cancer on Tuesday,
November 25, 2014. at 12:34 p.m. in the OSU Wexner Medical Center,
Columbus. D was born on April 16, 1953 in Camp Atterbury, IN, the
daughter of the late Charles and Florence Elizabeth Collins Patton.
On February 16, 1985 she married Gary M. Cochenour and he survives.
- See more at:
http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/chillicothegazette/obituary.aspx?n=diana-cochenour&pid=173299867&fhid=15348&eid=sp_ommatch#sthash.fTuyQH88.dpuf
Diana L. "D" Cochenour, 61, of Frankfort, died
unexpectedly following her courageous battle with cancer on Tuesday,
November 25, 2014. at 12:34 p.m. in the OSU Wexner Medical Center,
Columbus. D was born on April 16, 1953 in Camp Atterbury, IN, the
daughter of the late Charles and Florence Elizabeth Collins Patton.
On February 16, 1985 she married Gary M. Cochenour and he survives.
- See more at:
http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/chillicothegazette/obituary.aspx?n=diana-cochenour&pid=173299867&fhid=15348&eid=sp_ommatch#sthash.fTuyQH88.dpuf
born on April 16, 1953 in Camp Atterbury, IN, the daughter of the late Charles and Florence Elizabeth Collins Patton |
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| Carson, Mike | Bartholomew County, Indiana. Son of James and Norma Carson. | |
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Wilson Birge, Wanda Sue 05/14/1953  |
Born to Lloyd L. and Annabelle Primmer Wilson. Died 02/11/2016 | |
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Scott, Michael W. 06/10/1953 |
I was
born at Camp Atterbury on June 10, 1953 to SSgt. Richard L. Scott and
his wife Taeko Scott. I was 3 months premature, weighed 2 lbs when
born and had to be kept in an incubator for 3 months. My dad would tell me stories growing up about how small I was. So small I could sit in a tea cup. So small they had to cut a diaper into 12 pcs just to fit me. I was black and blue and looked like a baby monkey he would say. Later, when we lived in Brown County and he worked in the movie theater on base running the projectors on Saturdays, I would go with him. We would drive by the hospital and I would see the Red Cross on the roof and he would tell me the same stories each time. It was great. |
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Talsma, Linda Joanne 07/14/1953 |
14 July 1953 - born to MSgt and Mrs. Charles J. Talsma. | |
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Light, Niles W. 07/24/1953 |
Father was a 1Lt in Korea | |
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Tucker, John H.
and Michael L. 09/23/1953 |
Twins - John H Tucker (5# 4oz) Michael L Tucker (5# 6oz) 09/23/1953 at 8:09 pm. Dad was Capt. Alfred N. Tucker. We lived at 60 Martin Place, Franklin, IN. The day we were born we won free diaper service for a year, all the baby food we could eat, and a washer and dryer! First and last thing we ever won! The contest was twins born on that day! | |
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Hogan, Deirde Joyce 01/09/1954 |
My name is Deirdre Guynn. My birth name was Deirdre Joyce Hogan. Born January 8, 1954 at 10:30 in the morning. Parents Mason and Doris Hogan. My mother's maiden name was Miller. | |
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Grimsey, James 01/10/1954 |
I was born at Wakeman Hospital on January 10, 1954. My father was in the Army. I now live in Tacoma Washington. | |
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Chasteen, Jannette Marie 01/17/1954 |
Reported by her father. | |
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Sheldon, Barbara J. 02/14/1954 |
02/14/1954 to Leonard and Nancy J. Sheldon. Father was in 31st Infantry Division. One of the last born at the hospital before it closed. |
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My
Father, I am told, had a rough time while over sea's. For
some time after the war was over you would have to wake him
very gently. Otherwise he was back in the war. He never
talked about it.
