Page 135 - Historical Study of Yerba Buena Island, Treasure Island and Their Buildings

The Hospital operated its own Welfare and Recreation department to provide comfort and
entertainment for both ambulatory and bed-ridden patients. Patients often received visits from
the Grey Ladies of the Red Cross and noted celebrities, watched movies, and enjoyed hobbies
and crafts. When the Hollywood stars would visit Treasure Island, they would rarely leave
without making a tour of the hospital. Some of the patients had "up close" visits from stars such
as Sonja Renie and Bing Crosby.

The busiest day of the hospital's history was V-J Day. Three complete surgical teams worked
round-the-clock providing medical attention to those casualties of the "end of war celebrations".
By the end of the night an entire ward had been designated just for patients having fractured their
jaws during the celebrations. All in all, the surgeons treated one hundred twenty five cases that
day and night, however, not one of them was a corpsman.

2.3.1.5 Recreation and Entertainment

The Navy was well aware of the recreational needs of the servicemen. To support their needs,
Treasure Island, at its peak, provided three theaters, two gymnasiums, three swimming pools,
three large athletic fields, several bowling alleys, the Hostess House, the Recreation Center, and
Chief Petty Officer's (CPO) club. Each barracks had its own recreational lounge and reading
room. The desire for news was satisfied by the Masthead, an eight page newspaper of the station
which had a distribution of approximately twenty thousand every Saturday.

In line with this policy, the Navy continued to boost the morale of its men by bringing in "big
name" entertainers, USO Camp Shows, dance bands on tour, night club floor shows, the San
Francisco Symphony Orchestra, and nationally known musical stars. Just to name a few of the
stars providing entertainment at Treasure Island, the following "big names", at one time or
another, appeared on the station marquee: Bing Crosby, Bob Hope (see Figure 52), Jeannette
McDonald, Grace McDonald, Gracie Fields, Kay Kyser, Bill Robinson, the Glenn Miller Band,
Benny Goodman and his jazz band, the Marx Brothers, Jose lturbi, Sonja Henie, Orson Welles,
Carmen Miranda, and Linda Darnell. Station dances were held regularly in the big gymnasium
with hostesses arriving by bus from USO Hospitality Houses, sororities, and civic clubs of the
Bay Area to dance with the four thousand sailors to the sounds of the Navy bands.
See Figure 54. The command also brought in special events, such as a complete three-ring
circus, the Ice Follies (see Figure 53), a championship Rodeo, and the Aquacade.

Sports were also a major part of base recreation. During World War II and for a while thereafter,
sports teams from the various military commands often competed on a level with the "better"
college teams. Treasure Island supported such contests as baseball, football, basketball,
swimming, and even rugby. See Figure 55 and Figure 56.

September I, 1995 Historical Study ofYerba Buena Island, 2-31
Treasure Island, and their Buildings