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Camp Atterbury traces its origins back to the late 1930's. With war clouds
looming, land surveys were made in the rolling farm country and woodlands
west of Edinburgh, Indiana. In April 1941, the War Department announced plans
to build the post. An estimated 500 to 600 farm families were displaced as
the Army took over 40,000 acres. Two communities, Kansas and Mount Pisgah,
disappeared forever. Construction started in February 1942 and ended only
seven months later with 1,780 buildings erected at a cost of 38 million dollars.
The camp began operation on June 2, 1942 and the first of the over 275,000
soldiers who trained here during World War II began pouring in.
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An enemy prisoner of war camp was built in late 1942. It later held 3,000
Italian prisoners, some of whom built the Chapel in the Meadow (POW Chapel),
which still stands today. By war's end, over 9,000 German prisoners were
held at Camp Atterbury and satellite camps in the surrounding area. The post
was inactivated in December 1946 and opened again in August 1950 for the
Korean War, then closed again 3 years and 8 months later. With the end of
hostilities, portions of Camp Atterbury were dismantled.
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In 1969, the US Army licensed Camp Atterbury to the Military Department of
Indiana. Serving as the primary training site for Indiana National Guard,
the post also serves as a regional training site for other National Guard,
active, and reserve component forces. Considerable capital investments in
range construction, billeting and support facilities were being made beginning
in the 1980's.
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SIZE: (Original configuration): 40,351.5348 acres, 12.5 miles N-S, 8 miles
E-W. (Effective 1 January 1969, 33,484.64 acres leased to Military Department
of Indiana for use as training/mobilization site; balance of acreage divided
among US Department of Labor (Atterbury Job Corps Center), Indiana Department
of Natural Resources, Indiana Department of Corrections (Work-release Center),
and Johnson County Parks and Recreation Department)
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ORIGINAL COST: Land acquisition: $3,800,000 (average of $94 per acre);
construction: $35,000,000; total $38,800,000
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Wakeman General Hospital (Wakeman General and Convalescent/Wakeman Hospital
Center) originally covered 80 acres and included a total of 68 buildings,
57 of which were inter-connected; 2,700 beds in Hospital, proper; 3,000 in
convalescent center. Wakeman General Hospital, was named in honor of COL
Frank Wakeman, a Hoosier educated Army Doctor. The 9,000-bed hospital, one
of the largest of its kind in the nation, treated more than 85,000 patients
during World War II and was one of the Army's plastic surgery centers.
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Italian war prisoners, desiring a place to worship, gathered building scraps
and paint to build the historic structure known as the "Chapel in the Meadow"
during the summer of 1943. About 200 members of the Italian Heritage Society
of Indiana gathered Sunday for an anniversary Mass and picnic at the chapel
to honor the Italian soldiers and their dedication to building their own
house of worship. The size of a typical bedroom, the chapel is decorated
with hand-painted frescos on the walls and ceilings, With limited art supplies,
the POWs mixed dyes from berries, flower petals and, according to Camp Atterbury
legend, their own blood for the paintings. Cherished by the prisoners, the
chapel nearly had been forgotten until a New Whiteland family generated interest
in restoring it.
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Bob Hope made two visits to Camp Atterbury, one during WW2 and one during
the Korean War.
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During World War II, more than 100 units, nearly 275,000 men received their
training at Camp Atterbury, and thousands more, who received their initial
training elsewhere, were sent here for advanced training.
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Cummins Engine Company, Columbus, Indiana used Atterbury for an extensive
testing program in 1971-1972, to develop engine and drive-trains to retool
the World War II vintage half-track vehicle for the Israeli Army.
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Rosemary Clooney worked at Wakeman General Hospital teaching patients to
sing, as a means to regaining their voice following severe throat and jaw
surgery. Reported by Anne Blocker, daughter of Col. Blocker, Plastic Surgeon
at Wakeman during this time.
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1-11-1943 - the Harlem Globe Trotters downed the Camp Atterbury varsity,
34 to 29. The game was played in the camps huge sports arena.
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9-24-1943 - Sgt. Joe Louis, world's champion fighter, gave an exhibition
bout at the Sports Arena at Camp Atterbury.
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