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Tyndall, a Wilmington resident originally from Pink Hill, has conducted in-depth oral history interviews with World War II veterans and civilian employees associated with the camp. He also has compiled research from period newspapers, journals, correspondence and military records.

The work covers, in detail, the history of the now vanished Antiaircraft Artillery Training Center, once based in Holly Ridge. "Greetings from Camp Davis" begins with the pre-World War II decision to construct a Coast Artillery center at Holly Ridge and then traces the massive construction project that built an army camp in less than six months.

The book also details military activities at the camp, including the operation of the army's only AAA School and AAA Officer Candidate School. Most of the wartime advances in AAA tactics and material originated in Camp Davis.

The camp's single most important wartime contribution was the organization and creation of AAA units, which contributed to the Allied war effort, from the North Africa campaign to the surrender of Germany and Japan, 60 years ago this year.

The existence of Camp Davis shook the social, cultural and economic fabric of southeastern North Carolina. The thousands of soldiers, black and white, associated with Camp Davis inundated Wilmington and other local communities and forever changed the region.

In Camp Davis, the U.S. Army initiated and experimented with changes in race and gender relations that foreshadowed the future of America.

Tyndall is well known for his interest in World War II history and has spoken to historical associations and museum audiences on the subject of Camp Davis. In 1999, he directed planning for the Camp Davis Remembrance Weekend in Holly Ridge, and he has conducted several tours of the remains of the once sprawling camp.

His interest in the World War II camp dates to his childhood when he became fascinated with the brick chimneys and crumbling streets of the former army base, visible from the pine woods near Holly Ridge. His grandfather, a Lenoir County farmer and carpenter, helped construct the base during the winter of 1940-41.

"Greetings from Camp Davis" will be released in December. For more information, go to the Web site, greetingsfromcampdavis. com. "Greetings from Camp Davis" - $20/ soft cover, 280 pages - is available through the publisher, Chapel Hill Press Inc