Camp Clipper

Camp Clipper opened in the spring of 1942 and ran from Essex Road east to about here, one of twelve camps in the Desert Training Center. The whole of it was a simulated theatre of operations laid across California, Arizona and Nevada, chosen because the ground resembled North Africa closely enough to harden men for it. The others were Young, Coxcomb, Iron Mountain, Ibis, Granite, Pilot Knob, Laguna, Horn, Hyder, Bouse and Rice. Goffs kept a camp of its own, off that list.

What the plaque says

Camp Clipper was established at a site that reached from Essex Road to this location in the spring of 1942. It was one of twelve such camps built in the Southwestern Deserts to harden and train United States Troops for service on the battlefields of World War II. The Desert Training Center was a simulated theater of operations that included portions of California, Arizona and Nevada. The other camps were Young Coxcomb, Iron Mountain, Ibis, Granite, Pilot Knob, Laguna, Horn, Hyder, Bouse and Rice. A total of 13 Infantry Divisions and 7 Armored Divisions plus numerous smaller units were trained in this harsh environment. The training center was in operation for almost two years and was closed early in 1944 when the last units were shipped overseas. During the brief period of operation over one million American soldiers were trained for combat. The 33rd & 93rd Infantry Divisions were trained here. This monument is dedicated to all the soldiers that served here, and especially for those who gave their lives in battle, ending the Holocaust & defeating the armed forces of Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy and Imperial Japan.

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Goffs — 12 mi
  A near-ghost on the pre-1931 Route 66 alignment, keeper of a 1914 desert schoolhouse and a WWII Army camp.
• Kelso Depot — 28 mi
  A grand 1920s Mission Revival rail depot standing alone in the deep Mojave, now the preserve's visitor center.

More markers nearby

• Camp Ibis — 25 mi