1940s: War Time and Beyond

Clearwater joined the war effort in 1942.

During the early days of World War II, the Fort Harrison hosted benefits for the American Red Cross and was a collection point for two relief efforts – Bundles for America and Bundles for Britain – which provided food, clothing and other emergency supplies to civilians overseas affected by the war.

As did all hotels in the area, the Fort Harrison contracted with Uncle Sam to house the platoons of U.S. Army and Air Force personnel pouring into Florida for military training. Designated Clearwater’s safest building in the event of an air raid, the Fort Harrison was stripped of its luxurious furnishings and reuniformed with hundreds of army cots of olive drab. Though now austere by Fort Harrison standards, the accommodations were luxurious to soldiers of the 588th Army Airborne Squadron billeted there, who wrote letters home bragging about their sumptuous new lodgings.

By the end of 1943, the last of the military had departed and the Fort Harrison was back in the luxury hotel business, gearing up for a new round of tourists.

The Fort Harrison and the rest of the city soon shifted from entertaining “snowbirds” to entertaining the troops. Local merchants stayed open late to accommodate soldiers who were on duty until 6 p.m. Dances were held for soldiers, and society matrons entertained officers’ wives for tea.

In turn, young men in uniform, grateful for all of the attention, repaid some of it by entertaining the citizens of Clearwater.

The Fort Harrison’s 588th Army Airborne held Christmas parties, open houses and performed plays written and directed by their own members. (The Squadron boasted three former Hollywood residents who had worked in the movie industry as set designer, screen writer and character actor.)

Guest columnists – soldiers from the 588th – wrote for the Clearwater Sun, regaling the general public with the exploits of their fellows. One column told of the story of a private, the dishwasher at the Fort Harrison, who fell asleep under the sink and awoke trapped – surrounded by stacks and stacks of dirty dishes and pans that had been piled around him during his nap. Another column warned soldiers in the squadron band not to practice their instruments on the roof of the hotel.