[2] After the Siege of Vicksburg during the American Civil War, survivors were brought by boat to the hotel, where there were housed and allowed to recuperate.

In the Pacific Theater, the United States utilized the Leapfrogging (strategy) as a means of capturing islands held by the Japanese that were of strategic or tactical advantage.

Lieutenant Colonel Matthew Thompson, oversaw Operation Ivory Soap from a Suite in the Grand Hotel.

The Nineteenth Century Alabama Hotel housed soldiers and served as a maritime training facility training troops in skills including swimming, special calisthenics, marching, drill, navigation, ship identification, signaling, cargo handling, ship orientation, sail making and amphibious operations.

The training these troops received thanks to Operation Ivory Soap allowed the soldiers to help save countless lives and aircraft.