From 1942 to 1943, 42 Japanese, German, and Italian Americans were held at Fort Lewis as part of the government's "enemy alien" internment program during World War II. The Japanese and Italian internees were transferred to Fort Missoula and the Germans to Fort Lincoln, and the temporary detention facility closed on March 30, 1943."Fort Lewis (detention facility)" Densho Encyclopedia. Retrieved 25 July 2014. Italian prisoners of war, organized into units, were trained as quartermaster units at Fort Lewis since, after Italy surrendered to the Allies and declared war on Germany, they were not strictly held to the work requirements that prohibited prisoners of war from working on items directly headed for the war or in the war effort.
From 1942 to 1943, 42 Japanese, German, and Italian Americans were held at Fort Lewis as part of the government's "enemy alien" internment program during World War II. The Japanese and Italian internees were transferred to Fort Missoula and the Germans to Fort Lincoln and the temporary detention facility closed on March 30, 1943."Fort Lewis (detention facility)" Densho Encyclopedia Retrieved 25 July 2014. Italian prisoners of war, organized into units, were trained as quartermaster units at Fort Lewis since after Italy surrendered to the Allies and declared war on Germany, they were not strictly held to the work requirements that prohibited prisoners of war from working on items directly headed for the war or in the war effort.