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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

13. The Little-Known War Shipping Administration

Magic-Carpet - War Shipping Administration badge — War Shipping Administration badge. Pinterest

The massive logistical effort to bring the boys home was entrusted to the War Shipping Administration (WSA). Little known then and even less known today, the WSA was created during the emergency of WWII to coordinate, oversee, and operate US civilian shipping in support of the war effort. Planning for Magic Carpet began in 1943. Even as transports crossed the Atlantic, laden with the troops who would help free a continent from the Nazi yoke, the WSA and the War Department drew plans for the servicemen’s eventual return.

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.