"Back at the Gap" BACK AT THE GAP Major General Frank H. Smoker, Jr. (USAF, Retired) Readers share memories of Gap’s construction 14th of a series From time to time, some of the readers of this column contact me to ask questions or relate some memories of the early days of Indiantown Gap Military Reservation. Several have asked me how the National Guard managed to move some of the buildings from Mt. Gretna to the Gap. This has been a question the answer to which I have sought for a long time. Carl Walter of Lebanon, having read my column, shed some light on this question when he called me to explain what he remembered as a young boy of about six years of age. His memories are of the time frame between 1938 and 1940. Carl’s father was one of the general foreman of the WPA working at the Gap. His father would take Carl along with him during the summer months before he went to school and he’d spend the whole day watching what went on. Carl said he got around quite a bit. He was assigned to a worker who was like a baby sitter. This worker drove an old Model A Ford and his job was to go around and fill the water buckets with ice for the workers. Carl went with him and got to see a number of activities. Carl very vividly remembers team of horses and mules pulling buildings from Mt. Gretna over to the Gap. They would cross the Swatara Creek just east of where the bridge is today at Harpers. These teams of about 16 horses and other teams of about 18 mules would each drag buildings across the Swattie. About halfway across, there was a small island where the drivers would let the team rest while the building loaded on a platform with 8 or 10 or 12 solid rubber wheels would remain floating in the water. Once the team was rested, the driver would get the horses or mules moving again, struggling to get the building across the creek and continue on to the Gap. Carl remembers that many of the buildings were taken to Area 2, but he doesn’t believe any of those buildings in Area 2 still exist. Carl also remembers teams of horses and mules pulling scoop like shovels dredging the bottom of what later became Marquette Lake. Some of the wooden buildings from Mt. Gretna that were moved to the Gap are still in use, including the three residences which are located next to the Executive Mansion and are used by senior officers stationed at the Gap. The two stables that were moved into Area 2 were remodeled in the early 1970’s by the Air National Guard and connected to form a large U-shaped work shop. The 114 year old range house, moved recently to Area 8, is now situated adjacent to the PNG Military Museum and will be renovated and eventually become part of the museum. Lieutenant Governor Catherine Baker Knoll is the current resident of the Executive Mansion. Her manager recently invited me to visit the mansion where I had the opportunity to inspect the two attractive stone fireplaces. Inscribed on one of the stones in the fireplace of the original part of the mansion is “EM 42”, indicating “Edward Martin 1942”, referring to the original resident of this home, General Edward Martin, who was then the Adjutant General. He continued to live there during his term as Governor. In the library fireplace is inscribed “JD 49” indicating “James Duff 1949”, referring to Governor James Duff who was occupying the mansion in 1949 when the library addition was built. Built into the one side of this fireplace there is also another old stone inscribed “HH 1796” which appears to have been a cornerstone presumably from an old building that was probably located on the Gap property. Maybe one of our readers could explain its significance. Indiantown Gap Military Reservation soon became the staging area for Army units leaving for Europe. Major Joseph S. Frelinghuysen of Far Hills, New Jersey was a First Lieutenant with First Army, First Division, when ordered in early July 1942 from Fort Benning, Georgia to the Gap. In his book “Passages to Freedom", Major Frelinghuysen describes the camp and departures as follows: "The camp was a veritable city. Row upon row of white wooden barracks in rectangular patterns stretched to the rim of the mountains on the horizon. Unpaved roads and parade grounds separated buildings. Everywhere, the brown, clinging dust blew in the glare of a roasting July sun. Indiantown was gloomy place; I felt in the doomsday mood, the grim specter hanging over the tens of thousands of men waiting for the sentence of banishment that would come with orders to the port of embarkation. The warnings came in sequence; first, all leaves were canceled. Then wives and families had to go home, and men living off the Post moved into barracks.” In the last week of July, his wife Emily came to Indiantown to stay at the old Hershey Hotel so they could steal a few of the remaining hours together. He explained, “On my last night with Emily, she wore an evening dress with a full green and rose colored skirt, and I put on my best garrison uniform .... we had California champagne, lobster, and flaming crepes with ice cream. We danced to some old tunes; Cole Porter's 'Night and Day' and Irving Berlin's tunes from 'Top Hat'. Then they played a new one slowly, and a young girl sang the lyrics to 'The White Cliffs of Dover'”. Noting that England had been at war for three years, he reminisced that it was a song that speaks of "love and laughter" and "peace ever after". Nostalgically, he said, "We finished the dance in an embrace. She took my hand and we walked out through the lobby onto the terrace for a last look at the gardens in the pale light of a quarter moon.” On 31 July 1942, Lieutenant Frelinghuysen, with the 1st Division and the rest of the 5th Division, 17,000 strong, went by rail to the New York Port of Embarkation, where they boarded the new battle-gray Cunard-White Star liner, Queen Mary. On November 15, 1942, the US Government purchased 64.298 acres of land in Lickdale, PA for a railhead. The Lebanon and Tremont Branch of the Reading Railroad Company ran from the main line of the railroad in Lebanon through Jonestown to this railhead, terminating at Suedberg, Schuylkill County. Originally it was planned to build a rail spur from the railhead to the reservation. That idea never came to pass, and the troops either marched to and from the railhead to the camp or they were transported by buses or trucks. The Port Commander retained control and jurisdiction until December 1, 1942 when that authority was turned back to the Commanding General of the Third Service Command. However, official correspondence and authority for that change did not reach Indiantown Gap Headquarters until late in December. During 1942 and in the first few months of 1943, Indiantown Gap handled some of the great fighting units which have made their mark in the annals of military history. Included among these (in addition to the 28th Division) were the gallant 37th Buckeye Division which carried the brunt of America's early land operations in the Southwest Pacific, the 98th Division, the famed lst Division, parts of the 5th Division, the 3rd and 5th Armored Divisions and the intrepid 77th Statue of Liberty Division, whose dogged determination played a key role in enabling General Douglas Mac Arthur to gain a new foothold on Leyte. With the removal of Indiantown Gap from the authority of the Port Commander, the 1325th Service Unit was reactivated. -- (30) -- Published in the Lebanon Daly News Wednesday, 19 May 2004 © 2004 Frank H. Smoker, Jr. All rights reserved. Reproduced by permission of the author. Go "Back at the Gap" Index