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Bringing the Boys Home: America’s Demobilization After WWII

Khalid Elhassan December 18, 2024 13 min

Magic-Carpet - Cover of a souvenir booklet prepared for US Army personnel in the China-Burma-India Theater of Operations — Cover of a souvenir booklet prepared for US Army personnel in the China-Burma-India Theater of Operations. Yank, the Army Weekly

14. From Tiny Army to Massive Military

One of many newly formed units created during WWII. Warfare History Network

As late as 1939, even as war raged in Asia and the lowering clouds of conflict gathered over Europe, America had a tiny Army of roughly 170,000 men. By 1945, America had mobilized 16 million servicemen – a figure that, if prorated to 2024’s population, would be the equivalent of putting roughly 40 million Americans in uniform. At war’s end, more than 8 million US servicemen were stationed overseas, scattered around the globe. The fighting was over, and it was time to bring our heroes back home – heroes whose eagerness to return to civilian life was matched by the eagerness of their loved ones to see, touch, and embrace them once again. To that end, Operation Magic Carpet was conducted to repatriate US troops to American soil.

Written by

Khalid Elhassan

A lifelong history buff, I developed a particular passion for WW2 history as a child, when I spent hours listening to my grandfather, enraptured, as he recounted his wartime experiences in the British East African Campaign and with the British 8th Army in North Africa.

I graduated with a history BA from George Mason University, then went on to get a JD from the University of Virginia School of Law. After lawyering for a decade, I moved to sunny Rio de Janeiro and a less demanding career, opening a tourism agency in Copacabana.

A big chunk of my free time is spent blogging (you can follow me on Quora https://www.quora.com/profile/Khalid-Elhassan ) or freelance writing, mostly about my favorite subject, history.