DUANE
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Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'm just gonna do my best to honor every word. Camp Barkeley. Seven miles south of where you're sitting right now, give or take, there was once a place bigger than Abilene itself.
Let that sink in. The city of Abilene, and the camp had more than twice its population. That is not a small thing.
That is a world unto itself, dropped down in the Texas dust. It started in 1940, established as a U.S. Army training camp, and it grew into one of the largest World War II military training bases in the entire nation.
Now, a place that size needs soldiers, and it got them. In September 1942, over at Camp Campbell, Kentucky, the 12th Armored Division was activated. By November 1943, they were assigned to Camp Barkeley, and by April 1944 the division had reached its peak strength.
Combat commands. Three battalions each of tanks, armored infantry, and armored field artillery. Numerous support units.
The kind of force that, when it moves, the ground remembers. They trained hard here. Day and night, intensive drills that didn't let up until the division had taken the tests and qualified for combat.
And the soldiers weren't alone. Their families came too, folded themselves into the community of Abilene, and many of those families, when the war was done, came back and stayed. The 12th Armored was the last combat division stationed at Camp Barkeley, and in September 1944, they shipped out to Europe.
They earned a nickname out there, the Hellcats, and another one, the Mystery Division, rolling with General George S. Patton, Jr. in his historic drive to the Rhine River. When it was all said and done, that division had received more than eight hundred battle decorations.
More than eight hundred. On April 1, 1945, Camp Barkeley was deactivated. A dominating presence in Abilene during the war, and then, quiet.
But the families stayed, and the decorations were real, and the ground seven miles south of here still knows what passed over it.
What the marker says
Established as a U.S. Army training camp in 1940, Camp Barkeley (whose main entrance was about seven miles south of this site) became one of the nation's largest World War II military training bases. The 12th Armored Division, activated at Camp Campbell, Kentucky, in September 1942, was assigned to Camp Barkeley in November 1943. By April 1944 the manpower of the division was at peak strength with combat commands, three battalions each of tanks, armored infantry, and armored field artillery, and numerous support units. Intensive day and night training at the camp culminated in tests that qualified the division for combat. Camp Barkeley's population was more than twice that of the city of Abilene. Soldiers' families became a part of the community and many returned here to live. The last combat division stationed at Camp Barkeley, the 12th Armored shipped out to Europe in September 1944. The division, nicknamed "Hellcats" and dubbed "The Mystery Division" in General George S. Patton, Jr.'s historic drive to the Rhine River, served with distinction, receiving more than 800 battle decorations. A dominating presence in Abilene during the war, Camp Berkeley was deactivated on April 1, 1945. (1992)