Camp Shelby celebrates 100 years

For 100 years Camp Shelby has been training and preparing soldiers to serve and protect our nation.
The camp, which lies in South Mississippi, plays a role in every one of our nation’s conflicts and to celebrate 100 years of service they are holding a centennial celebration.
Camp Shelby was originally supposed to be built in Lauderdale near Meridian, but Walter Crawford, a doctor from Hattiesburg, solicited the Army to have it built in the Hattiesburg area.
In 1917, Hattiesburg was only 35 years old. Col. Greg Michel said, “Over one million service members have been deployed, mobilized, re-deployed, and trained at Camp Shelby to secure our nation’s freedoms.”
Armed Forces Museum Director Chad Daniels said, “This centennial period is a good chance for our civilian community to come out and engage with Camp Shelby and to meet some of the great people that work every day to keep this camp as one of the premiere platforms for the military to use to train soldiers for oversea services.”
July 13th at 6 p.m. will be the Centennial Salute: a formal attire ticketed event held at the Lake Terrace Convention Center in Hattiesburg and is open to military and civilian guests.