Guide to the Louis A. Campi scrapbook
1941-1952
Collection number: HMC-0545.
Creator: Campi, Louis A.
Title: Louis A. Campi scrapbook.
Dates: 1941-1952, bulk 1941-1945.
Volume of collection: 0.20 cubic feet.
Language of materials: Materials in this collection are in English.
Collection summary: Scrapbook of a man who served in Adak during WWII.
Biographical note:
Louis Arthur Campi was born in 1920. In 1937, he graduated from Mission High School in San Francisco, California, and then worked as a statistical clerk for the Premier Insurance Company. In February 1942, Campi enlisted in the U.S. Army at Presidio, California, and completed basic training as a member of Company C, 54th Battalion, at Camp Walters in Fort Worth, Texas. He was later assigned as a member of the Service Company, 53rd Infantry Regiment, serving in the Alaska Department at Adak Army Air Field, from 1943 to 1944. During the war, Campi served as a Clerk Typist, Personnel NCO, and a Classification Specialist. After returning to the continental U.S. in late 1944, he was stationed at Camp Swift, Texas, and then attended the Adjutant General School at Fort Sam Houston. Louis Campi was released from active service at Camp Beale, California, in October 1945.
Collection description:
The collection consists of papers, service patches, and photographs taken from Louis A. Campi’s scrapbook. The collection includes a xerographic copy of Campi’s original photograph album, service records, cards from military service, menus, an Organization Day booklet for the fourth anniversary of the reactivation of the 53rd Infantry Regiment, and a copy of a Catholic parish’s announcements. The service patches include shoulder patches for the Alaska Department, the Fourth Army, Replacement and School Command, Army Ground Forces, and the Kiska Task Force, as well as overseas service bars, a service stripe, and staff sergeant rank insignia. Subjects of the photographs include training at Camp Walters, Texas (1942), service at Adak Army Air Field in the Aleutians (1943-1944), service at Camp Swift and Fort Sam Houston, Texas, and Camp Beale, California (1944-1945), U.S. Army soldier Richard P. Campi at Fort Ord, California and Kumhwa, Korea (1951-1952), and unidentified friends.
Arrangement: The collection is arranged by type.
Alternative formats: The collection includes a xerographic copy of the original scrapbook indicating the original order of the materials. Copy negatives were made from select photographs in the collection.
Digitized copies: Selected photographs from this collection have been digitized and can be viewed on Alaska’s Digital Archives. For information about obtaining digital copies, please contact Archives and Special Collections.
Rights note: Archives does not hold copyright to materials in this collection.
Preferred citation: Louis A. Campi scrapbook, Archives and Special Collections, Consortium Library, University of Alaska Anchorage.
Separated materials: Publications were removed from the collection and some were added to Rare Books. Please ask an archivist for further information.
Acquisition note: The collection was purchased via eBay in 2001.
Processing information: The scrapbook was dismantled, materials removed and rearranged by item type, photographs rearranged by subject, and the collection described by Jeffrey Sinnott in 2001. The collection was converted to current standard by Veronica Denison in 2015.
Container list:
| Folder | Description | Dates |
| 1 | Xerographic copy of photograph album and scrapbook | 1942-1945 |
| 2 | Service records: Special Orders appointing Campi to the rank of Corporal; Special Orders appointing Campi to Technician 4th Grade (temporary); General Orders awarding Campi the Good Conduct Medal (extract and full copy of orders); Letter of reference for Campi from Harold K. Wolfe, 1st Lieutenant, 53rd Infantry, Commanding; Commendation letter for Campi by Leon L. Kotzebue, Colonel, 53rd Infantry, Commanding; Special Orders promoting Campi to temporary grade of Staff Sergeant; Special Orders transferring Campi to the Separation Center, Army Service Forces, Ninth Service Command, Headquarters, Camp Beale, California; Army of the United States, Separation Record for Campi, issued at Camp Beale, California | 1942-1945 |
| 3 | Identification, membership, and other cards: Registration Certificate; Membership card, NCO Club, Special Units Battalion, Amchitka, Alaska; Card recognizing Campi as a member of the Regimental Command Post, issued aboard the SS Christopher Greenup by Clark B. Rosser, 1st Lieutenant, 53rd Infantry, Ship Adjutant; Card authorizing Campi to wear the following decorations: Good Conduct Medal and Ribbon, Asiatic Pacific Campaign Medal and Ribbon, and one Bronze Star; Class A Pass issued to Campi at the Personnel Center, Camp Beale, California; Tobacco Ration Card, Expires 29 October 1945, issued at Camp Beale, California | undated, 1941-1945 |
| 4 | Menus: Service Company, 53rd Infantry, Thanksgiving Day and Christmas; Service Company’s 4th Anniversary “Somewhere in the Aleutians” | 1943-1944 |
| 5 | Organization Day, 53rd Infantry “Somewhere in the Aleutians”: Greetings memorandum by Leon L. Kotzebue, Colonel; Regimental History; Blazonry: description of shield, crest, and motto; Prayer by Chaplains Alex L. Sullivan and Felix N. Myslewiec; Marching Song: “Kings of the Highway”; “A Bow to the Infantry,” poem by Grantland Rice; Autograph pages; Alaska Department polar bear insignia on rear cover | 1944 August 1 |
| 6 | Service patches: Alaska Department (round with polar bear head and gold star on blue field); Fourth Army (diamond shaped with four-leafed clover on red field); Replacement and School Command (round with blue, gold, and red bars);-Army Ground Forces (round with red, white, and blue bars); Kiska Task Force (round with knife on light blue field); Overseas Service Bars (4 gold bars, one for each 6 months of service); Service Stripe (1 stripe, for 3 years of service); Staff Sergeant (2 patches, 3 chevrons and one rocker) | undated |
| 7 | Mission Dolores Parish Announcements | 1944 February 6 |
| 8 | Photographs: Training at Presidio, California, and Camp Walters, Fort Worth, Texas, 1st Platoon, Company C, 54th Battalion, soldiers pictured include: Dick Brockett, Joe Boyd, Dick Close, Harold Florence, Al Foley, Baker Hallows, and George Varni | 1942 February-May |
| 9 | Photographs: Service at Adak Army Air Field, Aleutians, Service Company, 53rd Infantry Regiment, soldiers pictures include: Fred W. Allison, Merle M. Bennett, Frank Cepelis, Charles Brett, Clifford F. Demain, Tommy Hastings, Lloyd W. Hellem, Robert H. Henshaw, Robert Howard, Joe Jenny (1st Sergeant), Charles Keyes, Leon L. Kotzebue (Colonel, 53rd Infantry), Simon B. Magana, William H. Pique, Kenneth Smith, Juan Valenzuela, Mike Vargon, Alfred Venerr, and Herschel L. Whitacker | 1943-1944 |
| 10 | Photographs: Service at Camp Swift, Texas, Fort Sam Houston, San Antonio, Texas, and Camp Beale, California | 1944-1945 |
| 11 | Richard P. Campi, U.S. Army soldier at Fort Ord, California, and Kumhwa, Korea | 1951-1952 |
| 12 | Unidentified friends | undated |
| 13 | Copy negatives | undated |