Nestled alongside Kingsley Lake in western Clay County, Florida, is Camp Blanding. Established in 1939, Camp Blanding was one of the biggest WWII infantry training centers in the country: at one point it had more than 10,000 buildings and the largest hospital in Florida and helped 800,000 men get ready for war.
While its WWII heyday is in the past, Camp Blanding is still used as a joint training facility for the National Guard and others. In June 2018, Camp Blanding hosted the 20th reunion of the 66th Infantry Division—also known as the Black Panthers—which activated and trained there in 1943.
In this interview, I spoke with Lenore Angelo, the reunion coordinator of the Panther Veterans Organization. Here she shares the story of the 66th Infantry, its last formal reunion and why Camp Blanding is such an important place for everyone to visit.
The 66th trained under General Kramer—these guys were really put through the ropes. On a daily and nightly basis, they trained and they trained hard. General Kramer used to say that he loved his men and he trained the hell out of them so they would be the best—an elite division.
But they were held back from going overseas. They kept saying, “When are we going? When are we going?” but they were held back. In November [of 1944] they got the call to go to England, but there it was the same thing—they were held back in England and trained hard.
The reason, in hindsight, was that generals Eisenhower and Patton were watching the outplay of the Battle of the Bulge. They were keeping the 66th back as America’s secret weapon—40,000 fresh, highly trained soldiers to surprise Germany if the battle started to turn.
Yes and no. On Christmas Eve, 1944, the 66th was called up to go to the Battle of the Bulge. It was chaos; Kramer just told them to get on the boats. It didn’t matter if you were Company K or C or L; they were told to just hurry up and get on the boats, so some were on the Cheshire and some were on the Leopoldville, all scattered.
My father, Frank Bertino, was a mess sergeant and he was preparing 400 turkeys for Christmas dinner when they got the call to go. He still wonders what the heck happened to all those turkeys. He hopes somebody got a good meal and they enjoyed it!
No, thankfully. He stayed behind a day to pack up all the mess equipment. But because of what happened to the Leopoldville, the 66th replaced the 94th Infantry at Saint Nazaire and Lorient [in France], and the 94th was sent to the Battle of the Bulge instead. The 94th Infantry really took a beating there, so a lot of my guys have survivor’s guilt.
Yes, the war was over on the 11th, but there were die-hard German troops in the area that dug in—they were never going to give up. Thanks to the efforts of the 66th, though, they surrendered on the 13th of May.
The French celebrate the surrender like we celebrate our Independence Day. They have parades, reenactments and Jeeps with the Panthers’ logo—it’s a big celebration.
It’s the 20th reunion, and the last. The Panther Veterans Organization is going to continue; it’s just that the large, one-week reunions are on the shelf. Travel has become difficult, so this seemed like a good time to bring closure. Camp Blanding is where they activated, so I wanted to bring my boys (the Veterans from the 66th) back here.
The reunion centered around Camp Blanding, but there were a lot of activities during the week, including a day on the beach for the whole PVO family. And it really is a family, with second, third and fourth generations all creating close bonds and friendships that will continue.
The last evening of the reunion, there was a dinner, a patriotic red-white-and-blue affair. After dinner we said closing prayers then headed outside, sang “Auld Lang Syne,” lit sparklers and then we had a lantern release over the St. Johns River. After that, we had a bugler play “Taps.” Everyone was able to say a final goodbye.
They will. Camp Blanding is taking individual histories and interviews of each of our veterans. Clay County’s Tourism Department is also developing a video, and the main part of the video is going to revolve around the veterans coming back to Camp Blanding.
The Witness to War Foundation interviewed all the guys, too. Some didn’t want to do it—they didn’t want to talk about it—but I asked them to, and every one of them did. We heard stories they’d never told anyone.
You can also read about our guys (the 66th Infantry Veterans) on the PVO website. National Geographic and the History Channel have done stories, books have been written and our sister organization in France has a website.
That’s the objective of the PVO going forward—to keep the legacy of these heroes alive.
John Aguilera, founder and former president of destination management company Active Escapes and veteran, has organized many adventures at Camp Blanding. Here’s what he has to say:
Your company put together many military reunions at Camp Blanding—what makes it such a great venue?
All military groups appreciate the history and the real training that still goes on at Camp Blanding. They have a few places you can rent: an event hall with a restaurant that’s right on the lake, great views. There’s also Cooper Hall for bigger groups. It’s good for more formal events. We’ve held several catered barbecues out there by the lake—there are pavilions you can rent.
Then you also have the activities: you can visit the Memorial Park and museum there—there’s a lot of great history. Parking is good, too, as a lot of people come with motor coaches and those can be hard to park at venues in the city.
Would non-military visitors find it an interesting place to visit?
Yeah, the museum is great. They have a lot of WWII exhibits and history about the POWs held there, it’s really interesting. Families can camp at the lake, too—they have RV sites there. It’s such an important spot in history; it’s really worth a visit if you’re in northeast Florida.
Celebrating its 80th anniversary this year, Historic Camp Blanding has a lot of stories to tell.
Plan your visit to Clay County.
