Camp Kilmer is a former

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

camp in

Central New Jersey Central Jersey, or Central New Jersey, is the middle region of the U.S. state of New Jersey. The designation Central Jersey is a distinct administrative division, administrative toponymy, toponym. While New Jersey is often divided into North Je ...

that was activated in June 1942 as a staging area and part of an installation of the

New York Port of Embarkation The New York Port of Embarkation (NYPOE) was a United States Army command responsible for the movement of troops and supplies from the United States to overseas commands. The command had facilities in New York and New Jersey, roughly covering th ...

. The camp was organized as part of the Army Service Forces Transportation Corps. Troops were quartered at Camp Kilmer in preparation for transport to the

European Theater of Operations The European Theater of Operations, United States Army (ETOUSA) was a Theater (warfare), theater of Operations responsible for directing United States Army operations throughout the European theatre of World War II, from 1942 to 1945. It command ...

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. Eventually, it became the largest processing center for troops heading overseas and returning from World War II, processing over 2.5 million soldiers. It officially closed in 2009.

Origins and history

The camp was named for

Joyce Kilmer Alfred Joyce Kilmer (December 6, 1886 – July 30, 1918) was an American people, American writer and poet mainly remembered for a short poem titled "Trees (poem), Trees" (1913), which was published in the collection ''Trees and Other Poems'' in ...

, a poet killed in

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

while serving with 69th Infantry Regiment. His home was in nearby

New Brunswick, New Jersey New Brunswick is a city (New Jersey), city in and the county seat of Middlesex County, New Jersey, Middlesex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey.War Department as the best site to serve the

. Construction began in early 1942. Located in

Piscataway Township, New Jersey Piscataway ( ) is a Township (New Jersey), township in Middlesex County, New Jersey, Middlesex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is a suburb of the New York metropolitan area, in the Raritan River, Raritan Valley. As of the 2020 United ...

and

Edison Township, New Jersey Edison is a township located in Middlesex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Situated in Central New Jersey within the core of the state's Raritan Valley region, Edison is a commercial hub (home to Menlo Park Mall and Little India) and i ...

at , the closest city was New Brunswick located two miles to the south. Plainfield was located four miles north of the camp.

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, about 22 miles to the northeast, could be reached by the mainline of the

Pennsylvania Railroad The Pennsylvania Railroad ( reporting mark PRR), legal name as the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, also known as the "Pennsy," was an American Class I railroad that was established in 1846 and headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. At its ...

. A flyover loop crossing the four-track mainline (now the Amtrak NEC) allowed movements into the large train loading yards without interference with mainline traffic. Many troop embarkations would be at the New Jersey locations of Military Ocean Terminal at Bayonne and Hoboken. The camp was also served by the Port Reading branch of the Reading Railroad and the Amboy branch of the

Lehigh Valley Railroad The Lehigh Valley Railroad was a railroad in the Northeastern United States built predominantly to haul anthracite, anthracite coal from the Coal Region in Northeastern Pennsylvania to major consumer markets in Philadelphia, New York City, and ...

The post was activated in June 1942Camp Kilmer Pamphlet, p. 1. and the first unit to arrive at Camp Kilmer was the 332nd Engineer General Service Regiment, a complement of 1,239 enlisted men and 52 officers. The unit arrived July 22, 1942, on three separate trains from Camp Claiborne,

Louisiana Louisiana ( ; ; ) is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It borders Texas to the west, Arkansas to the north, and Mississippi to the east. Of the 50 U.S. states, it ranks 31st in area and 25 ...

. The buildings were constructed of wood and were painted bright contrasting colors for a

camouflage Camouflage is the use of any combination of materials, coloration, or illumination for concealment, either by making animals or objects hard to see, or by disguising them as something else. Examples include the leopard's spotted coat, the b ...

effect. This was similar to the

dazzle camouflage Dazzle camouflage, also known as razzle dazzle (in the U.S.) or dazzle painting, is a type of ship camouflage that was used extensively in World War I, and to a lesser extent in World War II and afterwards. Credited to the British marine art ...

used for ships in World War I. The camp primarily consisted of ten "Disposition Areas", or sets of barracks in which units and soldiers were assigned while awaiting transportation to Europe.Camp Kilmer Pamphlet, p. 2. At Camp Kilmer troops sent personal effects home, received medical injections and the supplies needed before loading onto transport ships for travel to the European Theater of Operations. After

V-E Day Victory in Europe Day is the day celebrating the formal acceptance by the Allies of World War II of Germany's unconditional surrender of its armed forces on Tuesday, 8 May 1945; it marked the official surrender of all German military operations ...

, the post was used to process troops returning from Europe, prior to sending them on to their local Personnel Center, Separation Center or Reception Station.Camp Kilmer Pamphlet, pp. 3, 28. The camp remained active until the fall of 1949 when it was no longer needed.

Post-war use and closure

In the fall of 1950, with hostilities in Korea, the camp was reactivated. It was placed on inactive status again in June 1955, but continued to serve as discharge site for troops returning from Europe. In November 1956 it served as an initial place for housing for refugees from the

1956 Hungarian Revolution The Hungarian Revolution of 1956 (23 October – 4 November 1956; ), also known as the Hungarian Uprising, was an attempted countrywide revolution against the government of the Hungarian People's Republic (1949–1989) and the policies caused by ...

until June 1957. In March 1958, Camp Kilmer became Headquarters for the U.S. Army II Corps, the controlling headquarters for

United States Army Reserve The United States Army Reserve (USAR) is a Military reserve force, reserve force of the United States Army. Together, the Army Reserve and the Army National Guard constitute the Army element of the reserve components of the United States Armed ...

units across the northeast. Camp Kilmer also housed a maintenance and repair facility supporting the Nike/Hercules missile sites in the greater

New York metropolitan area The New York metropolitan area, also called the Tri-State area and sometimes referred to as Greater New York, is the List of cities by GDP, largest metropolitan economy in the world, with a List of U.S. metropolitan areas by GDP, gross metropo ...

. This facility included large, armored rooms with heavy blast doors where missile engines and conventional warheads were stored and maintained. During the

Cold War The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 unt ...

after the failed

30,000 refugees were resettled at Camp Kilmer. Many settled in

New Brunswick New Brunswick is a Provinces and Territories of Canada, province of Canada, bordering Quebec to the north, Nova Scotia to the east, the Gulf of Saint Lawrence to the northeast, the Bay of Fundy to the southeast, and the U.S. state of Maine to ...

, which had a thriving Hungarian American community in its Fifth Ward. In 1963, most of the 1,600 acres was auctioned and sold to local governments, and

Rutgers University Rutgers University ( ), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a Public university, public land-grant research university consisting of three campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's C ...

. The Livingston College campus currently sits on 540-acres acquired by Rutgers in 1964. By the 1960s much of the Camp's properties and land were dispersed. Today, there is a Vocational Training Center located at the site as well as housing and school
Camp Kilmer
The concentration camp scenes for the 1964 movie '' The Pawnbroker'' were filmed in the section of Camp Kilmer which had been used for the movement of prisoners-of-war. Throughout the 1980s and 90s, the remnants of Camp Kilmer, then known as the Sergeant Joyce Kilmer Reserve Center, was the location for Headquarters, 78th Division (TS) and for the Division's 1st Brigade (BCST) headquarters, both units of the US Army Reserve. The 78th Division (TS), nicknamed the "Lightning Division" or "Jersey Lightning", is the lineal descendant of the 78th Division of World War I and the 78th Infantry Division of World War II. The current 78th Division (TS) is responsible for conducting simulations exercises and field training for US Army Reserve and Army National Guard units across 14 states from North Carolina to the Canada–US border. In the immediate aftermath of the September 11th terrorist attacks, the

Federal Emergency Management Agency The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is an agency of the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS), initially created under President Jimmy Carter by Presidential Reorganization Plan No. 3 of 1978 and implemented by two Exec ...

created a temporary headquarters at the facility. As of October 2009, the Sergeant Joyce Kilmer Reserve Center was closed as per the recommendation of the

Base Realignment and Closure, 2005 The 2005 Base Realignment and Closure Commission preliminary list was released by the United States Department of Defense on May 13, 2005. It was the fifth Base Realignment and Closure ("BRAC") proposal generated since the process was created in ...

. The last tenant units relocated to

Fort Dix Fort Dix, the common name for the Army Support Activity (ASA) located at Joint Base McGuire–Dix–Lakehurst, is a United States Army post. It is located south-southeast of Trenton, New Jersey. Fort Dix is under the jurisdiction of the Air Fo ...

. In Fall 2014 the last section of Camp Kilmer was occupied by the Edison Township Public Works Department. Areas surrounding the former base now belong to Piscataway Township or to

and many existent buildings and facilities were clearly part of the former Camp Kilmer. Portions of the World War II-era camp are still used by the Edison

Job Corps Job Corps is a program administered by the United States Department of Labor that offers free education and vocational training to young people ages 16 to 24.

, including some of the original barracks, the chapel and post flag pole. The Edison Job Corps Center (Excess Land Sale Only) is on a High Value Asset List of fourteen properties that the United States Public Buildings Reform Board has recommended for disposal. A few extant structures are now occupied by the Timothy Christian School. The camp's post command headquarters building still exists, located at 35 Berrue Circle on Rutgers Livingston Campus in Piscataway, and used by the Rutgers Makerspace. As an "upgraded" military building, the building's lobby includes the original curved staircases and the cashier's pay windows.

Notable people

* New York Yankee star

Joe DiMaggio Joseph Paul DiMaggio (; born Giuseppe Paolo DiMaggio, ; November 25, 1914 – March 8, 1999), nicknamed "Joltin' Joe", "the Yankee Clipper" and "Joe D.", was an American professional baseball center fielder who played his entire 13-year career ...

and comedian

Red Skelton Richard Bernard Skelton (July 18, 1913September 17, 1997) was an American entertainer best known for his national old-time radio, radio and television shows between 1937 and 1971, especially as host of the television program ''The Red Skelto ...

, both serving with the Army, were temporarily assigned to the Camp. DiMaggio autographed baseballs for wounded soldiers and gave hitting and fielding lessons, while Skelton made unannounced visits to the hospital for his version of "laugh therapy." Numerous celebrities visited the camp to put on shows for the troops including

Betty Grable Elizabeth Ruth Grable (December 18, 1916 – July 2, 1973) was an American actress, pin-up girl, dancer, model, and singer. Her 42 films during the 1930s and 1940s grossed more than $100 million, and for 10 consecutive years (1942–1951) she p ...

Benny Goodman Benjamin David Goodman (May 30, 1909 – June 13, 1986) was an American clarinetist and bandleader, known as the "King of Swing". His orchestra did well commercially. From 1936 until the mid-1940s, Goodman led one of the most popular swing bi ...

and others.

Environmental hazard

The former environs of Camp Kilmer, and the current Kilmer Reserve Center, are soiled with numerous contaminants including PAHs, VOCs, SVOCs, PCBs,

asbestos Asbestos ( ) is a group of naturally occurring, Toxicity, toxic, carcinogenic and fibrous silicate minerals. There are six types, all of which are composed of long and thin fibrous Crystal habit, crystals, each fibre (particulate with length su ...

, and

heavy metals upright=1.2, Crystals of lead.html" ;"title="osmium, a heavy metal nearly twice as dense as lead">osmium, a heavy metal nearly twice as dense as lead Heavy metals is a controversial and ambiguous term for metallic elements with relatively h ...

affecting groundwater, surface waters and sediment, as well as the soil.

References

Bibliography

*"Camp Kilmer" pamphlet. Camp Kilmer, NJ: Special Services Branch, 1945.

External links

Camp Kilmer overview
at GlobalSecurity.org

* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20050913002046/http://scc.rutgers.edu/njh/WW2/ww2women/1Kilmer.html Digital Archives of New Jersey History, Camp Kilmer information
EPA report 2005

Camp Kilmer Online Exhibit from the National Archives at New York City
from the

National Archives and Records Administration The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) is an independent agency of the United States government within the executive branch, charged with the preservation and documentation of government and historical records. It is also task ...

Map of Middlesex County, New Jersey shows the location of Camp Kilmer straddling the border between Edison Township (then known as Raritan Township) and Piscataway Township
*
National Archives at New York City, Camp Kilmer

History: Camp Kilmer
{{Edison, New Jersey Former installations of the United States Army Edison, New Jersey History of New Jersey Buildings and structures in Middlesex County, New Jersey Hungarian-American culture in New Jersey