Carolina Beach USO Club in WWII
By Matthew M. Peek, Military Collection Archivist, State Archives of North Carolina
During World War II, USO clubs opened, moved, and closed quite a bit in the three to four year window that many operated between 1942 and 1946. The clubs often used existing buildings or portions of buildings, and could only be sustained as long as there were troops in the area and a need for the club’s services. Otherwise, the funds used to operate such clubs by USO member organizations — like the YWCA, Salvation Army, and National Jewish Welfare Board — could be applied to other wartime efforts. Those USO clubs along coastal areas in North Carolina could have a short shelf life, as different military installations opened and closed sometimes in as little as two years to meet various wartime needs in WWII. Yet, in their time in operation, these clubs made a big impact for the service members and the local communities.
The Carolina Beach USO Club (known as Unit No. 459) opened on June 24, 1942, at as an extension branch of the Wilmington, NC, 2nd and Orange Streets USO Club. The purpose was to meet the needs of service members at Fort Fisher and Camp Davis. While it was a temporary facility, the Carolina Beach club was operated through support by the local YMCA, Jewish Welfare Board, and National Travelers Aid Association. Before the extension was even in place, an advisory council of local Carolina Beach citizens was formed to assist the proposed new club, including later if it was to become a regular USO club in its own right. For much of the first months of operation, this advisory council was very active in assisting with operations of the club in its formative period, until it gradually faded out of operation.
In September 1, 1942, the Carolina Beach USO Club became its own stand-alone club, housed in the Greystone Hotel, which was a large two-story building with a dance space on the front roof and front porch overhang to host USO dances. At this time, the local YMCA took over operation until March 31, 1943. Then, the local YWCA joined the YMCA in joint operation of the club until its closure. The club would still have a connection to the Wilmington USO Club for regional operational decisions, though they were not involved in the Wilmington club’s council meetings.
The Caroline Beach USO Club would serve 417, 469 service members and civilians during its over two-year operation. This included serving U.S. Army anti-aircraft artillery troops, U.S. Coast Guard members, U.S. Marine Corps members, and U.S. Navy Members from Camp Davis (Army), Fort Fisher (Army), and Camp Lejeune (Marine Corps and Navy).
The Carolina Beach USO Club did run into problems in the resort community of Carolina Beach from local business interests, that saw the activities the club put on for service members as drawing away from their businesses. The USO club put on a street dance at some point in its operation, because the town council refused them the use of the city auditorium and the club did not have enough space. After the dance, local businesses and concessionaires complained to the town council, that the street dance pulled business away from them and cost them money. Afterwards, the town council greatly restricted the use of streets for such dances in the future. One of the men responsible for this measure on the town council had formerly been on a committee with the USO club.
The community’s churches were much more welcoming to the service members, serving meals to them at the USO club every Sunday at 6PM. In a surprise, the all-white USO club would host African American soldiers at their facility, or simply invite accomplished musicians and singers to perform at the club. The club also allowed an African American chaplain to attend the club to provide services for these individuals.
The club also suffered from the conditions of the Greystone Hotel at the time they were renting it, as it was not in the best physical condition and they had no funds to improve it for better service. As number of local laws, decisions by local military commanders from Fort Fisher, and the wide accessibility of alcohol in the resort community also caused the Carolina Beach USO Club’s mission of providing clean entertainment and moral support for service members to be greatly challenged, in their own words.
Camp Davis and its satellite facilities, including Fort Fisher, closed in October 1944, as the need for coastal and regular anti-aircraft artillery training facilities was winding down after the Allies moving further into central Europe during WWII. The Carolina Beach USO Club would close down on October 31, 1944. The club’s entire operational records once existed and were used to compile a short club history; however, it appears these records were discarded sometime in 1945 or 1946, leaving a lot of the details of the club’s daily operations unknown. There were also no original photographs or event programs retained by with the club’s history report, leaving a lot unknown of the culture and programming at the club (except what was promoted in local newspapers and military base newsletters).
You can learn more about the Carolina Beach USO Club by reading the club’s typed history report online here in the digital WWII Collection of the North Carolina Digital Collections, a joint operation of the State Archives of North Carolina and State Library of North Carolina.
Resources
- Box 1, Folder 5, North Carolina USO Clubs Records, WWII 6, WWII Papers, Military Collection, State Archives of North Carolina, Raleigh, N.C. Finding aid for WWII 6 is available at https://axaem.archives.ncdcr.gov/findingaids/WWII_6_North_Carolina_USO_Clubs_.html
