Burwell Harrison photo
Burwell Harrison was raised in Tallahassee and enlisted in the Navy when he turned 18 in December 1942. He was a pilot during the war. When he came home, he married his wife Betty, an FSCW graduate he'd known since childhood.
Courtesy: Camp Gordon Johnston World War II Museum.
Camp Gordon Johnston Field Training Hiking through the Florida brush at Camp Gordon Johnston meant more than just hot weather. Soldiers had to keep an eye out for snakes, alligators, mosquitoes and wild hogs. The camp nick-name was “Hell-by-the-Sea.”
Courtesy: Camp Gordon Johnston World War II Museum
Former Mayor James FordFormer Tallahassee Mayor James Ford gets ready to talk about his time in the Navy aboard the U.S.S. Gage with WFSU-TV for their documentary, Florida War Diaries: World War II Remembered. His ship was one of the first to arrive at Nagasaki, Japan, shortly after the second atomic bomb was dropped there.
Courtesy: WFSU-TV
Mary Britz during WFSU-TV Interview Mary Britz talked with WFSU-TV for their documentary, Florida War Diaries: World War II Remembered. The former Navy Nurse is currently a volunteer at Camp Gordon Johnston World War II Museum.
Courtesy: WFSU-TV
Mary Britz, WWII Nurse Photo Mary Britz enlisted as a Navy Nurse as soon as she passed her examinations. She met her husband while stationed in the Great Lakes and married him 6-months later.
Courtesy: Mary Britz
African American Troops at Governor Caldwell’s Inauguration
The Inaugural Parade of Governor Caldwell in January 1945. Approximately 50-thousand African-Americans from Florida served in the war. World War II was the last American War where troops were segregated.
Courtesy: State Archives of Florida
Grumman hellcat landing at dale Mabry
Dale Mabry Municipal Airport became a U-S Army Base in January 1941 due to the forward thinking U.S Senator Claude Pepper and Florida Governor Spessard Holland. Thousands of men trained in planes at Dale Mabry Field, including some divisions of the Famous Tuskegee Airmen.
Courtesy: State Archives of Florida
Soldiers Train for war at Camp Gordon Johnston
Training at Camp Gordon Johnston in Carrabelle, Florida was dangerous. Live ammunition was fired over the heads of the soldiers as they practiced maneuvers.
Courtesy: State Archives of Florida
 Training exercises on Carrabelle Beach The river, beaches, barrier islands of Camp Gordon Johnston made it perfect for the Army Amphibious Training Center. Soldiers practiced landing maneuvers that were later used at the Invasion of Normandy.
Courtesy: State Archives of Florida
Aerial Photo of Dale Mabry Field Photo of Dale Mabry field just before World War II. The view is looking northwest with Jackson Bluff Road in the foreground and Pensacola Street in the background. Today, Tallahassee Community College sits just north of this runway.
Courtesy: State Archives of Florida
Victory Garden at FSCW
The students at Florida State College for Women contributed to the war effort with Victory Gardens. After the war, the large number of returning soldiers prompted the College to change to the co-educational Florida State University.
Courtesy: Special Collections at Florida State University
 Vivian Hess, Postmaster’s Daughter at 8 years old
Vivian Hess, seen here with her parents just before the war, moved from Tallahassee to Camp Gordon Johnston at the age of eight. Her father was Post Master at the camp for the duration of the war. In the beginning, she was the only child living at the training site.
Courtesy: Vivian Hess
Walter Mallet
Walter Mallet grew up the oldest of five in Carrabelle, Florida. Seriously wounded during a Navy battle on January 21, 1945, Mallet spent 16 months in the hospital recovering from his injuries. He returned home well after the war ended.
Courtesy: Camp Gordon Johnston World War II Museum
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