Camp Toccoa
| Camp Toccoa | |
|---|---|
| Stephens County, near Toccoa, Georgia, U.S. | |
 Camp Toccoa in 1942 | |
  Camp Toccoa Location in the United States  Camp Toccoa Location in Georgia | |
| Coordinates | 34°33′01″N 83°23′50″W / 34.5504°N 83.3973°W |
| Type | Military training base |
| Site information | |
| Controlled by | United States Army |
| Site history | |
| Built | 1940 |
| In use | 1941 – ca. 1946 |
Camp Toccoa (formerly Camp Toombs) was a
Construction
The training camp known as Camp Toombs was conceived in 1938. The
Wartime operations
The U.S. Army took over the site in 1942 when it had few buildings or permanent structures. Most personnel had to be housed in tents. Permanent barracks only became available after the first trainees had begun to arrive.
All paratrooper trainees were required to regularly run up
Notable units that underwent training at Camp Toccoa were:
- 501st Parachute Infantry Regiment: attached to the 101st Airborne Division
- 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment: attached to the 101st Airborne Division
- 507th Parachute Infantry Regiment: attached to the 82nd Airborne Division and the 17th Airborne Division
- 11th Airborne Division
- 517th Parachute Infantry Regiment: attached to the 17th Airborne Division and the 13th Airborne Division
- 457th Parachute Field Artillery Battalion: attached to the 11th Airborne Division
- 295th Ordnance Heavy Maintenance Company (FA): completed basic training at Camp Toccoa, from July 21, 1943, through November 24, 1943.
- 296th. Ordnance Heavy Main Company (CT): completed basic training at Camp Toccoa, from July 21, 1943, through November 24, 1943
In 1943, comedian Bob Hope visited Camp Toccoa.[4] He told the recruits, "You guys are so rugged, you look like Wheaties with legs."[5] After the defeat of Japan, the US Army handed Camp Toccoa back to state control in 1946.
Post war use
In the late 1940s, it became a satellite camp of Georgia State Prison, which primarily housed young offenders. However, after repeated escapes, the unit was moved to a new facility at Alto, Georgia in the 1950s. Part of the site was eventually occupied by the Patterson Pump Company which makes industrial, flood, fire and HVAC pumps.
Preservation
In 2012 an organization, Camp Toccoa at Currahee, a not-for profit foundation, was formed to celebrate the lives and contributions of the Airborne paratroopers who trained at Camp Toccoa at Currahee Mountain during World War II. A plan was set forth to restore the facilities at the camp site.[6] The only original remaining building from WWII was the training camp's mess hall.
In commemoration of all the paratrooper trainees that ran the same route, the
References
- ^ "historical information camp Robert Toombs". Retrieved 18 October 2021.
- ^ Curraheee Mountain in Georgia Place-Names by Kenneth K. Krakow
- ^ "506th Infantry Website :: History". www.506infantry.org. Retrieved 17 January 2019.
- ^ "The Thunderbolt" (PDF). 517PRCT. Retrieved 30 January 2020.
- ^ Estep, Tyler. "Camp Toccoa reborn: Reviving one of Georgia's greatest WWII legacies". AJC.com. Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Archived from the original on 30 January 2020. Retrieved 30 January 2020.
- ^ Clark, Heather (3 July 2013). "Camp Toccoa to live on: Historical society to preserve 506th birthplace". Army.mil. United States Army. Retrieved 5 July 2016.
- ^ "Col. Robert F. Sink Trail - City of Toccoa". www.cityoftoccoa.com. Retrieved 2020-08-08.
- ^ "Currahee Challenge". Retrieved 2015-02-06.