Florida in World War II

by Wynne, Nick

• ISBN13: 9781596299290
• ISBN10: 1596299290
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2010-06-21
• Publisher: History Pr

Summary

Few realize what a vital role World War II and Florida played in each other's history. The war helped Florida move past its southern conservative mentality and emerge as a sophisticated society, and thousands of military men were trained under Florida's sunny skies. Here are stories from some of the one hundred military bases, including Tyndall Field, where Clark Gable trained, and Eglin Air Force Base, where Doolittle planned his raid on Tokyo. Read about Camp Gordon Johnston, referred to as "Hell by the Sea," built in a swampy, snake-infested subtropical jungle, and uncover the secrets of "Station J," a base that monitored the transmissions of German U-boats prowling off the coast. This fascinating collaboration between historians Nick Wynne and Richard Moorhead reveals the lasting impact of World War II on Florida as the United States heads into the seventieth anniversary of its entry into the war.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements	p. 9
Introduction: World War II and Its Impact on the Sunshine State	p. 13
Cloudy Skies in the Sunshine State: Prewar Florida	p. 17
The World at War: The 1930s	p. 31
Pearl Harbor Mobilizes the Florida Homefront	p. 41
War Comes to Florida: U-boats and Alien Spies	p. 59
"The Biggest Damned Aircraft Carrier in the World"	p. 75
Florida Takes to the Oceans: Naval Bases	p. 97
The United States Army in the Sunshine State: Camp Blanding	p. 115
"Hell by the Sea": Camp Gordon Johnston	p. 135
Rosie the Riveter: War on the Homefront	p. 155
Prostitutes, Victory Girls and Venereal Diseases: Social Problems	p. 169
Nazi and Italian POWs: The Axis Foothold in Florida	p. 181
War on Two Fronts: Soldiers of Color in Florida	p. 197
Of Smaller Units and Special Training	p. 211
War Propaganda: American Style	p. 225
Victory at Last!: Florida Returns to Normalcy	p. 237
Recommended Reading	p. 251
About the Authors	p. 253
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