Cumberland University (Tennessee) Seeks to Honor Veterans Who Trained There

From the Feb. 4, 2012, Nashville Tennessean" by Matt Anderson.

Planes flew over Lebanon, Tennessee, soldiers fought across the Cumberland River, artillery fire abounded and the night skies were lit up like a 4th of July.

Thosands of U.S. soldiers came to be trained in Middle Tennessee.

Cumberland University wants to have a ceremony on May 8, 2012 to commemorate the 70th anniversary of VE Day.  This will also mark the 70th anniversary of the simulated training on the campus and elsewhere in Middle Tennessee..

From 1941 to 1944, some 25 U.S. Army divisions participated in seven large-scale maneuvers in  Middle Tennessee to prepare for operations in Europe.  Some 850,000 soldiers participated in Davidson County and 25 others around it.

Forces were divided into Red and Blue groups.  landings were made similar to the ones they would experience in Europe.

On the last river crossing during the last of these maneuvers, a boat overturned in the Cumberland River between Hartsville and Lebanon, killing 21.  The last of the bodies was found two months later, 81 miles downstream on Lower Broadway in Nashville.

During maneuvers, Saturday nights were quite the thing with as many as 100,000 soldiers on leave in Nashville.

--GreGen