Big Bend Scenic Byway - Camp Gordon Johnston - Carrabelle, Florida, USA. - National Scenic Byways on Waymarking.com

Camp Gordon Johnston, World War II Museum & Historic Marker are located alongside the Big Bend Scenic Byway - Coastal Trail, Carrabelle, on the forgotten Florida panhandle Gulf Coast.

The site's history is featured at the Camp Gordon Johnston Museum:
"Camp Johnston opened in September 1941 as Camp Carrabelle and was later named after Colonel Gordon Johnston, a well-decorated soldier who served in the Spanish–American War in Cuba with the Rough Riders, in the Philippine–American War, and in World War I.

The camp at 165,000 acres (670 km2) served as an amphibious training base housing around 10,000 troops at one time and rotating between 24,000 and 30,000 soldiers from 1941 through 1946. The nearby islands of Dog Island and St. George Island were used as landing points for exercises."

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Text from the Historic Marker:
"With the approach of World War II, amphibious warfare training centers were hurriedly built. Camp Carrabelle opened in September 1941. Construction began in July 1942 and the camp was renamed in honor of Colonel Gordon Johnston (1874-1934), a highly decorated Army officer and veteran of multiple wars. The 165,000-acre camp served as an Amphibious Training Center and Armed Service Forces Training Center for soldiers from all branches of the military during the war. Once referred to as the “Alcatraz of the Army” by columnist Walter Winchell, the camp housed around 10,000 troops at any one time and rotated between 24,000 and 30,000 from 1941 to 1946. Nearby islands and beaches, particularly Dog Island and St. George Island, were used as landing points for amphibious exercises. Florida's sandy beaches, swamps, and jungle-like forests allowed the military to simulate the conditions of landings in the European and Pacific theatres. Camp Gordon Johnston provided some of the toughest military training in the world and was the Army's major amphibious training center. The camp was responsible for training nearly 250,000 men and women before it closed in June of 1946."

Program: America's Byways Website: [Web Link] Official Name: Big Bend Scenic Byway - Coastal Trail.

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