Brookhaven National Lab began with physicists looking for peaceful uses of the atom in 1947, but before that the Lab site was home to Camp Upton, an induction and training camp during World War I and a military rehabilitation center for returning soldiers during World War II.
Before we had particle accelerators, light sources, nano centers, and biology centers, there were soliders’ barracks, officer’s quarters, and training trenches. Some of those old military buildings have been renovated and repurposed, and we still use a few of them today.
The Long Island Museum is currently hosting a collection of war memorabilia, including standard items soldiers may have had in the barracks at Camp Upton. The makeshift bunk area is filled with pieces from Brookhaven’s collections. The Camp Upton sign is circa World War I, and there’s also a bayonet, a military helmet from the Army’s 77th Infantry Division (nicknamed the “Liberty Division”), a mess kit, and a gas mask, all lying on an Army cot. A stretcher leans against the wall, and a wooden trunk with the name of a soldier is at the foot of the cot. Uniform jackets hang on the walls.
They are also showcasing a World War I-era bugle and the sheet music to Irving Berlin’s “Oh! How I Hate To Get Up In The Morning” which he wrote while stationed here at Camp Upton.
