In late 1943, Carrabelle Beach and Dog Island, then part of Camp Gordon Johnston, were used by the U.S. Army 4th Infantry Division to train for the Normandy invasion on D-Day, June 6, 1944. Although the Amphibious Training Center had officially closed, it was reopened and staffed for this mission. After more than three years of prior training, the amphibious exercises conducted here were the final step before the troops shipped out to England for the invasion. On D-Day, the first amphibian infantry assault teams to arrive on French soil were from the 4th Infantry Division at Utah Beach. On June 6, 2000, the Camp Gordon Johnston Association removed a small amount of soil from this site and delivered it to the National 4th Infantry Division Association for placement in the Association's monument in Arlington, Virginia. In 1995, the U.S. Department of Defense's World War II Commemoration Committee named the Camp Gordon Johnston Association an official Commemorative Community.