Camp Gordon Johnston WWII Museum Commemorates D-Day

Camp Gordon Johnston WWII Museum in Carrabelle will present a special exhibit commemorating the anniversary of D-Day. This exhibit opens Tuesday, June 3 and will be on display until Saturday, July 12.  The museum is open Tuesday through Saturday from 11 am to 5 pm. Admission is free, though donations are welcome.

Camp Gordon Johnston was established in 1942 in Carrabelle to train entire infantry divisions, including the U. S. Army’s 4th Infantry Division and their support units, in amphibious warfare. That training and the men who received it would be put to the test on the heavily fortified beaches of Normandy, France on D-Day, June 6, 1944. The first amphibian infantry assault teams to arrive on French soil were from the 4th Infantry Division at Utah Beach. The D-Day invasion, the largest seaborne invasion in history, included over 100,000 Allied troops.

The exhibit will include personal papers, historic photos, and artifacts belonging to Capt. John E. Mellen, generously shared by his family. Capt. Mellen commanded the 818th Amphibious Truck Company and served with them from their training at Camp Gordon Johnston through the end of the war. The 818th trained at Camp Gordon Johnston in late 1943 and early 1944 before deploying to England in preparation for the Normandy invasion. On June 6, 1944, they landed on Utah Beach as part of the 1st Engineer Special Brigade, supporting the 4th Infantry Division. For this the 818th received a Meritorious Unit Citation and Croix de Guerre with palm and five members received Bronze Stars.

A video of amphibious assault training on Carrabelle Beach will play continuously during the day, with a new showing every 10 minutes. This Army training short film, captured by the U.S. Army Signal Corps, documents the D-Day preparations as they happened in March 1943. Several well-known photographs of this training were taken from this footage. These exercises were to be the last training before troops shipped out to England.

The exhibit also features personal interviews with members of the 4th Infantry Division and accounts from German defenders. These, along with other tributes to D-Day, offer a more complete perspective on this historic event. The museum’s three WWII military vehicles will also be on display.

Camp Gordon Johnston WWII Museum is located at 1873 Hwy 98 West, directly across from the very beach where the beach assault training occurred. For more information, contact Camp Gordon Johnston Museum at (850) 697-8575 or museum@campgordonjohnston.com. Funded in part by the Franklin County Tourist Development Council.