FDR FDR reviews nat guard troops at fort ontario

FDR FDR reviews nat guard troops at fort ontario

Upon deciding to open a camp for Holocaust refugees in the US in 1944, President Franklin D. Roosevelt reviewed a list of recently closed army posts for its location and enthusiastically selected Fort Ontario in Oswego, NY. FDR exclaimed, “Fort Ontario is my camp! I know the fort very well. It goes back to the Civil War times and is a very excellent place.” FDR’s association with the fort reached back to at least 1913 when he dedicated Montcalm Park in Oswego and toured the regular army post as Assistant Secretary of the Navy. Later, as Governor of NYS, Roosevelt reviewed NY National Guard troops at Fort Ontario during summer training and visited while conducting official duties and campaigning in Oswego.