Camp Atterbury, near Edinburgh, Indiana

Edinburgh, Indiana

Edinburgh is a town in Bartholomew, Johnson, and Shelby Counties in the U.S. state of Indiana. The population was 4,480 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Columbus, Indiana metropolitan statistical area. Edinburgh was named in honor of Edinburgh, Scotland and for many years was pronounced the...

, USA, is a training base of the Indiana National Guard

Indiana National Guard

The Indiana National Guard is the armed force of the state of Indiana. It consists of the Indiana Army National Guard and the Indiana Air National Guard, and is part of the larger Army National Guard and the Air National Guard...

. It was planned just months before the U.S. entry into World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

. Originally surveyed and researched by the Hurd Company, the present site was recommended to Congress in 1941. Construction commenced shortly after the attack on Pearl Harbor

Attack on Pearl Harbor

The attack on Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike conducted by the Imperial Japanese Navy against the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on the morning of December 7, 1941...

. More than 1,500 wood frame buildings were constructed, sized to hold more than one army infantry division. It also contained the 47-building, (concrete block, 2-story) Wakeman General and Convalescent Hospital, the largest hospital of its kind in the US in the 1940s.