DUANE
Duane's take
Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about Camp Swift, out there in Bastrop County. Now, if you're drivin' through this part of Texas and you feel like the land itself carries some weight — well, there's a reason for that. What you're passing near was once one of the largest military training facilities in the entire country during World War II.
They called it Camp Swift. It was named for Major General Eben Swift, who lived from 1854 to 1935. The camp was established primarily for infantry division training, and when I tell you it was big, I want you to really sit with that for a moment.
Nearly fifty-six thousand acres. Shaped like a triangle. Two thousand, seven hundred and fifty buildings standing inside that triangle — because this place wasn't just a camp, it was a self-contained city.
It had the capacity to house and train forty-five thousand people at one time. From May 1942 until July 1946, three hundred thousand men and women passed through those gates. Three hundred thousand.
The 95th, the 97th, and the 102nd Infantry Divisions trained here. So did the 10th Mountain Division. And after the war ended, the 2nd Infantry Division was processed through the camp as well.
Five divisions in all — and among those five, more than thirty-two thousand casualties were suffered. You let that number settle. But the story of Camp Swift is wider than those divisions.
The camp also provided training for more than one hundred separate non-divisional combat and support units. And it was home to the only nurses combat training program in the entire state of Texas. The only one.
There's one more chapter to this city inside a triangle. About four thousand, eight hundred German prisoners of war were held at Swift during the war. A whole other world contained within those fifty-six thousand acres.
When the fighting finally stopped, Camp Swift didn't just go quiet overnight. It shifted its mission — from training soldiers to go out into the world, to helping more than twelve thousand, four hundred officers and enlisted personnel come back into it. Processing them from the service to civilian life.
That is no small thing. That is the work of returning people to themselves. On June 30, 1946, the camp became inactive.
And in December of 1948, utilization was transferred from the United States Army to the State of Texas. Three hundred thousand souls moved through this triangle in the Texas pines. The land remembers, even when the buildings are gone.
What the marker says
Named for Major General Eben Swift (1854-1935), Camp Swift, established primarily for infantry division training, was a major military training facility for 300,000 men and women during World War II. The camp was active from May 1942 until July 1946, and covered nearly 56,000 acres. Shaped like a triangle, the reservation was like a self-contained city and included 2,750 buildings. The camp had the capacity to house and train 45,000 people. The 95th, the 97th, and the 102nd Infantry divisions and the 10th Mountain Division trained here during the war. The 2nd Infantry Division was processed through the camp after the war. More than 32,000 casualties were suffered by these five divisions. The camp also provided training for more than 100 separate non-divisional combat and other support units, and the only nurses combat training program in Texas. About 4,800 German prisoners of war were also held at Swift. At the end of world War II the camp shifted from war-time training to processing more than 12,400 officers and enlisted personnel from the service to civilian life. On June 30, 1946, the camp became inactive, and utilization was transferred from the U.S. Army to the State of Texas in December 1948. (1996)