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HISTORY of camp toccoa

In the beginning

Built in the 1930’s under FDR’s “Works Projects Administration” (renamed during 1939 as the Works Project Administration; WPA) the camp served the National Guard.

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In  July 1942,  5,000 men arrived at the remote training camp 5 miles outside of Toccoa, Georgia at Currahee Mountain for training as a new type of soldier – a paratrooper. Over the next few years 17,000 soldiers from  501st, 506th, 511th, and 517th Parachute Infantry Division; the 295th Ordnance Heavy Maintenance and the 38th Signal Construction Battalion trained at Camp Toccoa in preparation to defend the free world from the German offensive that was World War II and also housed prisoners of war. 

 

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Currahee

It seemed fitting that Currahee was the name of the mountain at Camp Toccoa as it is an indian word for “Stands Alone” – significant that paratroopers do “stand alone" as they drop behind enemy lines.  Today “Currahee” is the battle cry of the 506th Infantry Regiment.

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Camp Toccoa subjected the young men who trained there with many rigorous physical challenges to help prepare them for battle.  One notable event was the 115 mile march from Camp Toccoa to Atlanta, GA. on 12/1-3/1942, where they boarded trains for the remainder of the trip to Fort Benning. 

 

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"3 miles up - 3 miles down

The roads up Currahee Mountain remain as U.S. Forest Service roads and as a reminder of the quote from training soldiers, “3 Miles up, 3 Miles down”, as they used these roads for their hikes and runs.

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In recent years Camp Toccoa has become a destination for historians, tour groups, reunions, and especially veterans returning to visit their “home” during training.  Currahee Mountain is part of the Piedmont province and rises sharply about 800 feet above it’s surroundings and is the highest peak in Stephens County Georgia. Also adjacent to the Chattahoochee National Forest, Camp Toccoa has become a favorite place to camp, hike, horseback ride, sightseeing, and to run footraces following the footsteps of the soldiers run of “3 Miles up, 3 Miles down”.

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In nearby Toccoa the Stephens County Historical Society maintains the Currahee Military Museum at the site of the old train depot where soldiers arrived before they made the five mile hike to Camp Toccoa.  The Museum houses photos, documents and memorabilia of WWII including an actual stable that housed members of the PIR before and after D-Day.

 

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World War II

Four Airborne Regiments Trained at Camp Toccoa

Beginning in 1942

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506 PIR  – 101st Airborne Division
(Often called the “Five- Oh- Sink” in honor of their Commander Col. Robert Sink)
Camp Toccoa from 20 July to 15 November 1942
Campaigns: European – Overlord, Market Garden, Battle of Bulge

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E Company – Second Batallion

Featured in Band of Brothers – written by historian and biographer Stephen E. Ambros and a ten-part, 11-hour television World War II miniseries, originally produced and broadcast in 2001 – Directed by Stephen Spieldburg and Tom Hanks.

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501 PIR – 101st Airborne Division
Camp Toccoa from 15 November 1942 to 15 March 1943
Campaigns: European – Overlord, Market Garden, Battle of Bulge

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511 PIR – 11th Airborne Division
Camp Toccoa from 5 January to 23 March 1943
Campaigns: Philippines  – Leyte, Luzon. Participated with Filipino Guerrillas in liberation of notorious Los Banos Japanese Prison often referred to as “Angels At Dawn”

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517 PIR - PRCT

Operated as a separate unit as part of the First Airborne Task Force – then in intervals: The 17th, The 82nd and The 13th Airborne Divisions.
Camp Toccoa from 15 March to 8 August 1943
Campaigns: Italian-  Italy – Anzio, France – Dragoon, Battle of Bulge

 

Military Units that trained after the PIR's:

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295th Ordnance Heavy Maintenance Company

Camp Toccoa from July 21 - Nov. 24, 1943

Completed basic training

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38th Signal Construction Battalion

Camp Toccoa from July - October 1943

 

 

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