"Back at the Gap" Major General Frank H. Smoker, Jr. (USAF, Retired) Chaplains kept busy as Gap’s population grows   25th in a series Fort Indiantown Gap was created in 1931 as a Pennsylvania National Guard training site. In late 1940 with the war on in Europe, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania leased Indiantown Gap Military Reservation to the Federal Government. Construction began almost immediately that transformed the area into a military city of over 1,500 buildings, including nine military chapels, resulting in the Gap becoming one of the most modern installations in the country at that time. Most of these buildings were designated as "temporary" and were intended to last five to ten years. Sixty-four years later, many these buildings, including the main Post Chapel (T-0-8), are still designated with a "T" for temporary, although many still standing have been renovated and are in good condition. After Indiantown Gap was officially dedicated on March 3, 1941, the first Post’s first chapel was dedicated on November 9, 1941 with the principal addresses by Major General Raymond Pratt and J. Buell Snyder of Pennsylvania's 24th Congressional District, Chairman of the Military Affairs Committee. During World War II, IGMR soon became an active Army post. In fact, the Gap was one of the nation's most important Army training camps. Eight divisions and many other smaller units staged there for their staging final training at the Gap, prior to being shipped overseas. During the war, more than 250,000 soldiers passed through the Gap on their way to overseas locations. Thousands of these soldiers and their families worshiped not only at the main Post Chapel but at the other eight chapels located throughout the post where Catholic, Protestant and Jewish services were conducted. And, on the lighter side, the Red Cross chaperoned groups of local young ladies at dances and parties for the soldiers at Indiantown Gap. It is not recorded in history how many of these young ladies ended up being married to these GI's, but there was a considerable number. Many of these weddings took place in the main Post Chapel and in the other chapels as well. As these thousands and thousands of soldiers passed through Indiantown Gap, the chaplains assigned to the Post must have experienced the busiest time of their careers with counseling, marriages, baptisms, funerals, and peak attendance at religious services in the main Post Chapel and the other eight chapels, serving Protestant, Catholic and Jewish congregations. In October 1946, the Training Center was discontinued and IGMR was inactivated as a federal base. Once again, the Reservation became a Pennsylvania National Guard training site. For the next four years, no permanent chaplains were assigned and the Post Chapels were used mainly by National Guard troops undergoing summer field training. With the onset of the Korean Emergency, the Department of the Army issued official orders in January 1951 for activation of the Reservation under the federal government’s jurisdiction. In March 1951, the Fifth Infantry Division was assigned to Indiantown Gap Military Reservation giving IGMR a daily military population of over 17,000 troops. With the return of so many troops, Army Chaplains were assigned and the chapels were reactivated. During mobilization for the Korean Conflict, regular training for National Guard and Reserve units was carried out simultaneously along with some 32,000 soldiers ultimately trained for duty in Korea. The facilities at this large post were in a state of serious neglect due to the fact that no major maintenance projects had been undertaken since World War II so, in June 1951, a face-lifting program was implemented for the painting and renovation of all buildings including the nine chapels. All of these “temporary” buildings were painted white with green trim, the color scheme that still exists today. In September 1953, IGMR once again returned to an inactive status, however, a regular Army headquarters, the Pennsylvania Military District Headquarters became a tenant agency. Later, the Headquarters, XXI Corps was assigned to the Gap for the primary mission of administering Army Reserve and ROTC programs. Meanwhile, the Gap continued to be heavily used as a National Guard training site, and the main Post Chapel was continued in use with a regular Army Chaplain assigned. In fact, during the mid 1950’s to the early 1970’s, the main Post Chapel had its busiest programs, supporting hundreds of soldiers and their families who lived on Post. Also, during the summer months from 1962 to 1972, Indiantown Gap was the host installation for the Nation's largest Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) Advanced Summer Camp. During that period, 42,158 cadets completed six weeks of intensive training and this added to increased the chapel’s activity. It was also during this time that Chaplain (Lt. Col.) Mervin Eyler was assigned. He was instrumental in developing an extremely active Chapel program. Among other things, while increasing attendance at the Chapel services, he refurbished the interior of the main Post Chapel and had a new altar installed, along with new pews and other furnishings. A choir was organized and a new organ was installed. All aspects of the chapel program flourished under Chaplain Eyler’s dynamic leadership. An active Sunday School program was instituted, at first meeting in the small rooms in the rear of the Chapel, then expanding into the choir loft on the second floor. A military bus operated throughout the Post every Sunday morning to pick up the children from the various residences and trailer park. As the size of the Sunday School flourished, Building T- 7-34, immediately behind the Post Chapel was converted into the Sunday School. The Main Post Chapel that has been in continuous use since World War II. During the years we lived at the Gap, we attended the Post Chapel. I am reminded that one time, when our ten year old son came home from Sunday School, his mother asked him what he had learned that day. "Well," Dave replied, "our teacher told us about how God sent Moses behind enemy lines to rescue the Israelites from the Egyptians. He brought them to the Red Sea, and then Moses ordered the engineers to build a pontoon bridge. "After they crossed over, they looked back and saw the Egyptian tanks coming. So Moses quickly got on his walkie-talkie radio and asked the Air Force to send bombers to blow up the bridge and save the Israelites." "David!" exclaimed his mother. "Is that really the way the teacher told the story?" Dave admitted, "Well, no, not exactly. But if I told you her way, you'd never believe it!" Although many various and important events occurred at the Gap over the years, two are especially notable. Fort Indiantown Gap was chosen on two separate occasions as a Refugee Resettlement Camp. In 1975, over 22,200 Vietnamese and Cambodian refugees were housed at the Fort until they were processed for sponsorship in the local area and elsewhere within the United States. A Vietnamese Catholic Priest conducted services in the Area 6 Chapel on a regular basis. The Area 5 Chapel was also reactivated as a Buddhist temple to accommodate those many refugees who were Buddhists. Then five years later, in 1980, the Fort again became a refugee camp when over 19,000 Cuban aliens were brought to the Gap for processing and sponsorship. During these two major events, in the main Post Chapel continued in use to support the large number of military and civilians assigned to the Post. My next articles will continue the history of the Gap chapels and also describe the Refugee Resettlement Camps in greater detail. Published in the Lebanon Daily News, Wednesday, October 20, 2004 © 2004 Frank H. Smoker, Jr. All rights reserved. Reproduced by permission of the author. Go "Back at the Gap" Index