Hudson River Valley National Heritage Area: Camp Shanks

Welcome back to National Parks & other public lands with T! Happy Veterans Day and thank you to all who have served!

The Hudson River Valley National Heritage Area is one of the forty-nine federally recognized National Heritage Areas in the United States. The Hudson Valley NHA is considered a National Park Service affiliate. Through the partnership with the Park Service and other organizations, the Heritage Area includes over one hundred sites spread across ten counties in New York State.

Camp Shanks was the military base that was the last stop in the USA for soldiers heading out to the front lines during World War II. The majority of the landing forces for the D-Day invasion shipped out from here.

The government built the complex of barracks, mess halls, and other buildings in 1942 in Orangeburg, NY, forcing hundreds of local residents from their homes via eminent domain.

Approximately 1.5 million G.I.s were processed through the facility before shipping out to combat. Most soldiers spent eight to twelve days there.

There were also female soldiers in the Women’s Army Corps who lived on the base to keep it running.

Today, Camp Shanks is commemorated by a museum behind the town library in a recreated barracks building with displays and artifacts from the time period.

The museum is open on weekends and is staffed by volunteers who are World War II veterans. The three men who were there the day I visited answered my questions and were happy to pose for a picture for me