A Little Off the Top: 1917

I know this is an old topic, but I came here because Fort Monmouth is about to close up shop due to BRAC. Coleen and Dave are both right. After the original Monmouth Park fell into disrepair, the Army acquired a tract of land that included the old racetrack during WWI to set up a training site. It was first called Camp Vail and later renamed Fort Monmouth. Adding to the confusion, there's also a racetrack called Monmouth Park nearby that has been in operation since the 40s.

There's some history and great pictures of the site and COL Hartmann here.

Oh my. I had no idea. Serves me right for shooting off my mouth like that. Can you forgive me?

I used to have a friend who used dig for bottles at the racetrack. As I recall, he found some pretty nice specimens. Now I know why.

I learn something new every day here. Including the fact that I don't always have all the answers.

I love this site and stop by often. Wanted to just mention that this is from FORT Monmouth, New Jersey, not Monmouth Park. At the time this picture was taken, the Fort was known as Camp Alfred Vail. Monmouth Park is a nearby horse track.

[The Signal Corps camp was at Monmouth Park, which had no horse racing from the 1890s until it became legal again in 1946. - Dave]

My grandfather was an Army ambulance driver, about this time and into 1918. Eventually in France.

Other than the regular barracks meetings where the local veterans got together through the 1980s anyway, he never talked about the war. At least he never volunteered to talk about it, but I never really asked either. It's hard to believe he was ever this young.