BACK AT THE GAP Major General Frank H. Smoker, Jr. (USAF, Retired) Column on Gap’s history makes its debut This is the first of a series of articles about Fort Indiantown Gap, sponsored by the Military Affairs Committee of the Lebanon County Chamber of Commerce, in cooperation with the editorial staff of the Lebanon Daily News as a public information series. Its purpose is to provide information about the history and status of Fort Indiantown Gap, describing the importance of the contributions made by the Pennsylvania National Guard and especially the vital military and economic value of Fort Indiantown Gap to our community. This series will be the history of Fort Indiantown Gap, past, present and future. But another title for this article could be ... "Back at the Gap". Why such a title, you might ask? Well, this phrase ... “Back at the Gap” ... has special significance to me .... For years, this has been an expression that I've heard local people use, time and time again, when referring to Indiantown Gap. The local citizens always say, “The soldiers and helicopters are from ‘Back at the Gap’". The civilian people know it's there, yet relatively few of our local citizens really know what goes on "Back at the Gap". And the term "Fort Indiantown Gap", at least to the unfamiliar civilians, conjures up the image of a huge wall around the entire military post. So perhaps, during the course of recounting this history, I can dispel any myths about "Back at the Gap", and explain about Fort Indiantown Gap .... which might be described as the best kept secret in Lebanon County! To do this, I thought I would start this series of the history of Fort Indiantown Gap by recounting the story about the Indians who once lived there, and then, in subsequent columns, explaining how the Fort came to be developed from its predecessor National Guard training site at Mt Gretna, and then later, discussing in more detail about Fort Indiantown Gap itself --- then and now --- and the future, as I see it, for further development and improvements "BACK AT THE GAP". I should explain that I am not an historian or authority, but beyond that, I do draw some comfort from my "Claim to Fame"….. as one who is knowledgeable about the Gap because, until my retirement in 1985, my wife Kathleen and I had the dubious distinction of having resided in Quarters 15 on the military post longer than anyone else in history, having lived there for 32 years from 1953 to 1985. We certainly have some special and happy memories about the Gap. My daughter Barbara and son David grew up there. Fort Indiantown Gap was their hometown! So I have very personal reasons for writing this history. Another personal reason is what could also be considered my legacy. I am referring to the Stone Wall that I built outside our residence at Quarters 15, located at the west end of the Gap, across the street from what was then Miller’s Store. I conceived the idea for this wall in 1966 when a stone barn, near our house, was being razed. Although I was a rank amateur stonemason, I asked General Richard Snyder, then Deputy Adjutant General for Army, for and received several truck loads of stones delivered to my driveway. Construction of this wall took place in my leisure time and extended during the summers of 1966, 1967, and 1968. As my construction progressed, being in full view of the road in front of the house, numerous passers-by and friends frequently stopped to observe the progress, to present compliments on how nice the wall looked, or to voice criticism as to the non-straight lines. One of the frequent visitors was Major General Thomas R. White, Jr., the Adjutant General of Pennsylvania, who would comment on the progress of the wall and add words of encouragement. Meanwhile, during the earlier stages of the construction of the stone wall, I noticed that the State Park officials had decided to build stone pillars to the northern most entrance of Memorial State Park which was just across the road from my quarters where I was building the stone wall. So every day after work, I would stop by these new pillars then under construction and observe the progress. Of course, by this time of the day, the workmen had packed up their kit and had gone home. However, I would carefully note the manner in which the workmen had laid the base, and how they built the stones up to form the pillars. Then I’d go on home and resume my construction of the wall, diligently and carefully duplicating the steps I had observed from examining the progress of the Park’s stone pillars. I happened to go home for lunch one day, looked across the road and saw the workmen busily engaged in building the stone pillars. I immediately went over to talk to the men, commenting to them that I was delighted to have the opportunity at last to observe stone masons at work, and that I hoped to learn from their expertise. To my surprise, the men replied that they were not stone masons. So, I asked, “Well, if you are not stone masons, how do you know how to build these stone pillars?’ The men replied, “We’ve never build a stone pillar before, but there’s a guy building a stone wall across the street. So every morning when we get to work, we go across the street and see how this guy was constructing his wall!” Although this is a story about the “blind leading the blind,” as strange as it may sound, this is really a true story! This Stone Wall still stands today, 37 years later, as a tribute my “skill” and ability to copy the Park’s pseudo “stone masons”. I also consider this Great Stone Wall to be my legacy for my many years serving Back at the Gap. I should add, the Stone Wall is still standing today! Now that I have established my “qualifications” to report on what has gone on “Back at the Gap”, in my next column I’ll tell you about the Lennie Lenape Indians who once roamed the country side in northern Lebanon County. -30- Published in the Lebanon Daily News, Wednesday, 19 November 2003 © 2003  Frank H. Smoker, Jr. All rights reserved. Reproduced by permission of the author. Go "Back at the Gap" Index