CAMP BLANDING – Residents, veterans and their families will have a variety of options to honor the people who’ve served in the military on Thursday, Nov. 11.

One of the largest celebrations will be at the Camp Blanding Museum. Starting with a short ceremony at 11 a.m., Family Day will last until 2 p.m.

A limited number of free T-shirts will be given away to the first 100 veterans, and lunch will be sold at “World War II prices.”

The museum has displays of uniforms, weapons, equipment, vehicles and aircraft going back to when the camp to the 1940s when it was home to more than 800,000 troops during World War II. Also included are displays from the Korean and Vietnam wars, Desert Shield/Desert Storm and the Global War on Terror.

All Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, Coast Guard and Space Force veterans are encouraged to attend, especially those from the National Guard who’ve trained at Camp Blanding.

The 73,000-acre base is an iconic fixture in Northeast Florida, and particularly for Clay County. According to the camp, in 1940, as the threat of war increased and the U.S. Army was built up, Camp Blanding became a federal facility housing two infantry divisions plus auxiliary units.

Between 1940 and 1943, nine U.S. Army infantry divisions trained at Camp Blanding. In 1943, it became an Infantry Replacement Center, training soldiers to be sent to existing infantry divisions as replacements, providing a high percentage of the replacements sent to Army combat units.

The base was a holding center for 343 Japanese, German and Italian immigrant residents of the United States.

At one point during World War 11, the camp contained the population of the fourth-largest city in Florida. It had 10,000 buildings, 125 miles of paved roads and the largest hospital in the state. It was one of the largest training bases in the country.

Originally known as Armistice Day, Veteran’s Day is a federal holiday in the United States for honoring military veterans, who are people who have served in the United States Armed Forces who were honorably discharged. It coincides with other holidays including Armistice Day and Remembrance Day which are celebrated in other countries that mark the anniversary of the end of World War I.

There are other Veterans’ Day programs planned around the county.

The Keystone Heights Memorial Gardens will host a ceremony at 11 a.m., while Orange Park will host a program at Magnolia Cemetery at 11 a.m.

VFW Post 1988 in Green Cove Springs will honor its veterans at 2 p.m.