| Camp Gordon Johnston | |
| Location: | Big Bend, Florida |
| Type: | Military training base |
| Built: | 1942 |
| Used: | September 1942 – 1946 |
| Controlledby: | United States Army |
| Past Commanders: | Brig. General Frank Keating |
Camp Gordon Johnston was a World War II United States Army training center located in Carrabelle, Florida, United States. The site's history is featured at the Camp Gordon Johnston Museum.
Camp Gordon Johnston[1] opened in September 1942 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.[2] [3]
The camp at 165000acres served as an amphibious training base housing around 10,000 troops at one time and rotating between 24,000 and 30,000 soldiers from 1942 through 1946. The nearby islands of Dog Island and St. George Island were used as landing points for exercises.
Units stationed at Camp Gordon Johnston:
In 1946, many buildings, facilities and the land was sold as war surplus. Officers quarters later became the retirement community of Lanark Village. Live munitions had been used in exercises, as well as dummies. In 2001, a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers found that specially trained technicians were needed to clear certain areas that had been sold into private hands.[4]