Blog Entry with Site Visit - Camp Blanding

 My fiance and I visited the Camp Blanding Museum this afternoon. We were there for about 45 mins, and got to look around at all of the WWII memorabilia. They had a ton of airplanes, ambulances, and tanks in the outdoor part of the museum. Once we got inside, we were able to walk around and read about WWII and the role Camp Blanding played in it. There was a model of the German Prisoner of War camp located at Camp Blanding. It showed where the jail was, the mess hall, the chapel, the theater, and even where they played soccer. Seeing the exhibit where the soldiers slept brought to life how life must have been as a soldier there in the early 1940's. 

One of the last exhibits in the museum was about the impact of women in WWII. "The most visible and powerful symbol of the war's impact on the home front was the presence of women in the workplace." (Mormino 345) This was something that we saw many pictures of, including the iconic Rosie the Riveter poster. We saw women working as farmers, in factories, and working in hotels. This showed the impact that women could and would later go on to show en masse across Florida and America, the ability to do the jobs that previously only men were thought of being able to do. 

Something that we also discussed with our tour guide was the creation of Camp Blanding. Something that he talked about and that I read about was "construction companies employed 21,000 carpenters and laborers to expand the base," (Mormino 333) after its initial design as a summer camp for the Florida National Guard. Originally designed at roughly 1/3 of its eventual size, the federal government stepped in and used it as a training post for two infantry units as well as auxiliary units. I was shocked to learn that over 800,000 troops were trained there during WWII. I had no idea that the place I used to visit as a kid during the summer to go to the lake was once a key training center for troops.

 

Source: 

Gannon, M., & Mormino, G. (2018). Chaper 19 - World War II. In The history of Florida (pp. 332–352). essay, University Press of Florida.