As If They Were Ours

Camp Tyson was unique and historic because it was the only barrage balloon training facility in the U.S., so soldiers who were there had an experience unlike any other. The Camp also became ingrained in the lives of Henry Countians - most every home in Paris, Tennessee, had a soldier and his family living with them (including the author's) and the camp is credited with modernizing Paris and the county. Camp Tyson was also the home of the all-black 320th Barrage Balloon Battalion, which landed on the beaches on D-Day. They were trained at Camp Tyson and their accomplishments have been largely unheralded. Additionally, both Italian and German prisoners of war were held there during and after the war. First-person accounts from white and black soldiers who were at the camp are included. Much of the book is first-person interviews, as well as documents from government sources that have never been published before. 40 photos, footnotes. A Merriam Press World War II History.