Talk:Operation Magic Carpet

Number of European war brides

Article claims "... the almost half a million European women who had married American GIs.", citation: Page 3, Gault, Owen (September 2005). Operation Magic Carpet. Chatsworth: Challenge Publications. Retrieved 13 September 2009.

500,000 war brides seems an incredibly high number, and the linked "War Brides" article claims 60,000 - 70,000 women _and_ children, albeit without citation. Anyone with more knowledge than me care to take a look? Liamwillco (talk) 03:51, 18 September 2012 (UTC)Liamwillco (talk) 3:40, 18 September 2012 (UTC)

The uncited figure can be removed per WP:BURDEN, however the 1/2 million number is cited and should remain. See WP:TRUTH. However if one source gives a lower total number one can use both citations and write say "60 thousand to 500 thousand war brides" and ending the sentence with both references.--RightCowLeftCoast (talk) 14:34, 15 October 2012 (UTC)

Additionally, there is another referenced statement at War brides that states that 100k war brides cam from the United Kingdom, 150k-250k came from continental Europe, 15.5k from Australia, and 1.5k from New Zealand. So the 500k number does not seem out of place, and should remain.--RightCowLeftCoast (talk) 14:40, 15 October 2012 (UTC)

Service points

I did a quick search on Wikipedia and could not find anything regarding the service point system which determined how quickly a service member could be sent back Stateside. Should this be included in this article, or created as a new article?

There is one instance with Filipino American soldiers with the 1st Filipino Infantry where some soldiers were not allowed to return to the States due to lacking said service points.

Any thoughts? --RightCowLeftCoast (talk) 04:57, 10 June 2011 (UTC)

Seems to me that if you want to discuss the demobilization procedures after WWII, a new article under some title is required. Best of luck. Paul, in Saudi (talk) 10:03, 11 June 2011 (UTC)

A lot of what I find is anecdotal stuff, that a system did exist, and it determined return to the States and Discharge. However, none of the searches that I found have talked about the system directly, or how points were accumulated/calculated.

• John Campanelli (29 November 2010). "World War II veteran Jack Kleinman finds lots to laugh about". The Plain Dealer. Retrieved 11 June 2011. He was awarded a Purple Heart, which should have given him enough service points for a discharge. But a paperwork snafu meant he had to stay another six months in Germany, where he served as a military police officer in Regensburg after the Nazis surrendered.
• Lance Q. Zedric. "The Warrior Spirit: Native Americans of the Alamo Scouts". The Alamo Scouts Association. Retrieved 11 June 2011. After the war those Scouts with enough service points went home, while others returned to their parent units or accompanied Sixth Army to Kyoto, Japan, and joined the 6th Ranger Battalion for rations and quarters.
• Julian Philips. "A Story from the European Front". The Heights Remembers. Rice University. Retrieved 11 June 2011. When World War II came to a close in 1945, Mr. Philips had garnered more than enough service points to return home and "was on the first ship to come back to the States."
• Zedric, Lance Q. (1995). Silent warriors of World War II: the Alamo Scouts behind the Japanese lines. Ventura, California: Pathfinder Publishing, Inc. p. 248. ISBN 9780934793568. Retrieved 11 June 2011. Those who had eighty-five or more service points and wished to separate from the service were sent home
• Jean Reynolds (8 September 2009). "John Baker" (PDF). World War II Veterans History Project. City of Chandler, Arizona. Retrieved 11 June 2011.
• Freeman, Gregory (2011). The Last Mission of the Wham Bam Boys: Courage, Tragedy, and Justice in World War II. New York, New York: Macmillan. p. 224. ISBN 9780230108547. Retrieved 11 June 2011. Having long since accumulated enough service points to be discharged and go home, Woods told the Army he wanted to stay on and maybe have a go at hanging Hermann Goring

Furthermore a similar system appears to be in place during the Korean War.

• Bullough, Vern L. (2004). Sentz, Lilli (ed.). American Nursing: A Biographical Dictionary, Volume 3. New York, New York: Springer Publishing Company. p. 129. ISBN 9780826111470. Retrieved 11 June 2011. After earning enough service points to depart Korea during her 7-month combat tour, Hays transferred to Tokyo Army Hospital and spent a year there as a management nurse in the comptroller's office.

--RightCowLeftCoast (talk) 19:03, 11 June 2011 (UTC)

USS Washington

Why was the battleship USS Washington used for only one Magic Carpet run after it had been adapted for the task? Radio Sharon (talk) 00:00, 25 June 2013 (UTC)

Please go to Wikipedia:Reference desk for questions.--RightCowLeftCoast (talk) 21:59, 27 June 2013 (UTC)

Looking at the USS Washington (BB-56) article, it appears she was decommissioned shortly after that one trip. Speculating, it was probably a matter of economics. Operating a BB as a troop transport must have been horribly inefficient, just based on the weight of armor being hauled around for no purpose.--J Clear (talk) 12:53, 25 August 2013 (UTC)

Single source tag

The article has been tagged for mostly using references to a single source. That is unfortunate but true, I see. There are some online, NPOV and RS sources available that I am going to incorporate. If I can manage to source the existing content or additional content to two or three other sources, I will remove the tag.

I also found a great, unrestricted use (i.e. public domain) photograph from the U.S. government which I will try to include in the article.--FeralOink (talk) 11:56, 3 November 2023 (UTC)