i was the second armor devision. matt klein came from new york s lower east side by way of the battle of normandy. i came here because i was wounded and the warm weather was much better for me. but there was a lot of g.i.s during the war here, right? people were stationed here and all of a sudden, they saw a world that they didn t believe. during world war ii, miami saw a massive influx of military personnel. hotels, which had seen a sharp drop in business, made a deal with the government to house troops in empty resorts. they told their parents about t their parents came down, sons came down, they opened businesses here, and they were basically jewish at the time and that s how it started. by the fall of 1942, more than 78,000 troops were living in more than 300 hotels in miami and miami beach.