Today we’re in the remote mountains of north Georgia, exploring a small destination that’s had a huge impact on the world stage. Welcome to Camp Toccoa and the Currahee Military Museum.
First we’re stopping by the beautifully restored train depot of Toccoa, Georgia, that now houses the Currahee Military Museum – with thousands of artifacts from 1942 onwards. These items were used by the heroes who trained at Camp Toccoa as a new kind of soldier—the paratrooper.
These specially selected men arrived on this platform and made the 5 mile march – or run – down Highway 12, past a casket company, and through a cemetery to Camp Toccoa, where they trained and would eventually learn to jump out of airplanes.
In preparation for their daring drops in the campaigns of the European and Pacific theaters, 17,000 trainees took on rigorous conditioning at nearby Camp Toccoa – the 6,000 that made it became some of the Army’s most physically fit warriors. The challenge of running Mount Currahee at camp inspired the paratroopers to adopt “3 miles up, 3 miles down,” as their training mantra, and they later yelled “Currahee!,” ( Cherokee for “I stand alone”) as they leapt from their aircraft.
Their struggles at camp and on the front lines are showcased in the museum at the camp, and at the train station.
The exhibits inside the military museum illustrate what life was like for these paratroopers. Take this 84 year old t-shirt for example, a gift from a trainee to his date, who after surviving the war, asked her to be his wife.
The t-shirt and other items on display have served Hollywood’s stars too! Some of the first men who trained at Camp Toccoa were later assigned to “Easy Company,” the US Army’s 101st Airborne Division, whose story was the inspiration for the Band of Brothers mini-series.
These stories and artifacts are powerful and eye-opening. Together they show just how committed these men were to each other and to their cause.
Amazingly, this is one of the horse stables that housed the paratroopers in Aldbourne, England before and after their D-Day jumps. It was disassembled in England, then transported and preserved here at the Currahee Military Museum.
Every visit to Camp Toccoa and the Military museum helps preserve and pass on the legacy of the incredible service and sacrifice of these brave young soldiers.
