Donating the past

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Lou Burton
  • 482 Fighter Wing Public Affairs
HOMESTEAD AIR RESERVE BASE, Fla. --  World War II played a big part in shaping the state of Florida. This rich history is memorialized in many stories, family histories, and photographs. On Friday, August 18, a framed photo of the U.S. Army Air Force Band taken in the summer of 1943 was donated to the Homestead Air Reserve Base on behalf of the Air Force Association, Miami-Homestead chapter.

"The photograph I donated is a reprint of a photo I found of my father when he was stationed in Miami Beach in 1943," said Mr. Steven A. Edelsetin. "There were two originals, one is at the Miami-Dade County Historical Museum, and the other I donated to the U.S. Southern Command."

"My Dad went to basic training in Miami, then went on to work there conducting training and playing the obo and the English horn in the band," said Edelsetin. " "Back then the band was an additional duty, so he performed with the band for various functions in South Florida while maintaining his regular duty."

Florida was an ideal location for the development of military bases and training troops in the 1930's because of the warm climate and vast amounts of vacant land available.
"Many people do not realize what an impact the military had on South Florida during World War II," said Edelsetin.

After the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, America's involvement in World War II increased dramatically and caused overcrowded military facilities in Florida shortly after. Having limited space led to the military taking over many hotels.
Some hotels commandeered during this time were the Don Cesar in St. Petersburg, the Hollywood Beach Hotel, The Breakers in Fort Lauderdale, the Biltmore Hotel in Coral Gables, and several hundred other hotels and motels throughout Florida, including Miami Beach. These hotels were used for barracks for troops and makeshift hospitals for injured American troops from overseas.

After the war, the effects still rang through Florida. Key West and Miami populations surged. Key West was a small community of 13,000 in 1940, but within five years the population grew to 45,000. Miami's population of 173,000 increased to over 325,000. Between military personnel and winter tourists, the Miami-Dade area expanded tremendously. The Gold Coast felt the influx of thousands of people migrating to Florida because of the war and then choosing to stay. Florida's population hit 2.75 million by 1950. Then after the war, our nations population grew 15%, but Florida's rose an incredible 46%!