Camp Lejeune | military, United States Marine Corps

 military, United States Marine Corps

Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune is near Jacksonville, North Carolina, on the Atlantic seaboard of the United States.

Camp Lejeune is home to the U.S. Marine Corps' II Marine Expeditionary Force, 2nd Marine Division, three other major Marine commands and a Naval hospital. As of the early 2000s, Onslow County's population was 143,491 of which 43,100 were active service members.

The base occupies 246 square miles (637 km²)[1]. The base's 14 miles (23 km) of beaches make it a major area for amphibious assault training, and its location between two deep-water ports (Wilmington and Morehead City) allows for fast deployments.

The main base is supplemented by four satellite facilities: Camp Geiger, Stone Bay, Courthouse Bay, Camp Johnson, and the latest addition to the facility, the Greater Sandy Run Training Area. When added to the main base and MCAS Cherry Point, they make up the largest concentration of Marines and U.S. Navy sailors in the world.

Also, Camp Lejeune is home to the infamous Camp Lejeune water contamination. Since the 1950s, the base has had problems with chemicals in its tap water that lead to many getting cancer or other chemical ailments. After years of apparent cover-up, the news became public in 1984. In 2012 a federal act was invoked to clean up the Camp Lejuene tap water.

The movie "Semper Fi: Always Faithful" was set at Camp Lejeune and depicted a solider uncovering the tap water contamination after his daughter died from it.