Fort George G. Meade: The First 100 Years

174 THE FIRST 100 YEARS
Charles A. Albrecht – Temporary classrooms
Due to the draft and the Vietnam War the post was crowded and the schools were beyond capacity, so in 2 nd grade,
my classroom was located in a WWII-style, two-story, white, wooden barracks far from the main school building. My
classroom was on the first floor and another classroom was located upstairs. By the time I reached 3rd grade, my class
was located in another old barracks building and then moved into the basement of the post high school. We were kept
very separate from the high school students and amazingly almost never saw them. (Below) WWII barracks converted to
temporary housing.
Bruce Hopkins – Classroom shifts
While I was in elementary school, the new Anne Arundel Junior High was
being built off post. The county needed a location for a temporary junior
high school. For two years, Fort Meade opened part of the WWII barracks
to serve this need. Students, on and off post, attended classes in two shifts.
One shift was from 6 a.m. – noon. The other shift was 1 – 6 p.m. Kids
complained about having to go outside and bring in coal for the pot belly
stove in all the buildings.
I have extremely fond memories as a young child at Fort Meade in the
1950s. At this time, it was much different than today. It was a troop post
with combat-type units. The post had a wooden divisional WWII complex
with few buildings. It was a safe place. Kids could wander all over from
morning to night. Everyone, draftee soldiers and MPs, looked after us. We
had so much freedom to roam, we grew to be very independent.
(Left) Young Bruce Hopkins.