Florida in World War II: Floating Fortress

by Nick Wynne, Richard Moorhead

Overview

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.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781596299290
Publisher:	History Press, The
Publication date:	07/28/2010
Pages:	256
Sales rank:	1,017,005
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

Dr. Nick Wynne retired in 2008 from his post as executive director of the Florida Historical Society. After obtaining his PhD in history, Dr. Wynne taught college history at the University of South Florida. Since 1996, he has served as executive director of the Florida Historical Library Foundation. He is an active lecturer who has given 450 presentations and speeches in the past five years and more than one hundred television and radio interviews. He is a member of the Southern Historical Association, the American Historical Association, the Florida College Teachers of History, the Georgia Association of Historians and, of course, the Florida Historical Society. He currently resides in Rockledge, Florida (near Cocoa Beach).

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements 9

Introduction: World War II and Its Impact on the Sunshine State 13

Chapter 1 Cloudy Skies in the Sunshine State: Prewar Florida 17

Chapter 2 The World at War: The 1930s 31

Chapter 3 Pearl Harbor Mobilizes the Florida Homefront 41

Chapter 4 War Comes to Florida: U-boats and Alien Spies 59

Chapter 5 "The Biggest Damned Aircraft Carrier in the World" 75

Chapter 6 Florida Takes to the Oceans: Naval Bases 97

Chapter 7 The United States Army in the Sunshine State: Camp Blanding 115

Chapter 8 "Hell by the Sea": Camp Gordon Johnston 135

Chapter 9 Rosie the Riveter: War on the Homefront 155

Chapter 10 Prostitutes, Victory Girls and Venereal Diseases: Social Problems 169

Chapter 11 Nazi and Italian POWs: The Axis Foothold in Florida 181

Chapter 12 War on Two Fronts: Soldiers of Color in Florida 197

Chapter 13 Of Smaller Units and Special Training 211

Chapter 14 War Propaganda: American Style 225

Chapter 15 Victory at Last!: Florida Returns to Normalcy 237

Recommended Reading 251

About the Authors 253