Camp Kilmer Camp Kilmer , New Jersey is a former United States Army camp that was activated in June 1942 as a staging area and part of an installation of the New York Port of Embarkation . 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 in World War II . 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 , the soldier - poet killed in World War I while serving with The Fighting 69th , most famous for writing the poem , " Trees " . His home was in nearby New Brunswick , New Jersey . The site was selected in 1941 by the War Department as the best site to serve the New York Port Of Embarkation . Construction began in early 1942 . Located in Piscataway Township , New Jersey and Edison Township , New Jersey 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 could be reached by the mainline of the Pennsylvania Railroad ; it was about 22 miles to the northeast , although many troop embarkations would be at the New Jersey locations of Bayonne and Hoboken ; 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 . The camp was also served by the Port Reading branch of the Reading Railroad and the Amboy branch of the Lehigh Valley Railroad . The buildings were constructed of wood and were painted bright contrasting colors for a camouflage effect . This was similar to the Dazzle camouflage used for ships in World War I . 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 . 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 . 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 . In November 1956 it served as an initial place for housing for refugees from the 1956 Hungarian Revolution 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 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 . This facility included large , armored rooms with heavy blast doors where missile engines and conventional warheads were stored and maintained . 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 Canadian border . As of October 2009 the Sergeant Joyce Kilmer Reserve Center has been closed as per the recommendation of the Base Realignment and Closure , 2005 . The last tenant units have relocated to Fort Dix , N . J . Areas surrounding the former base now belong to Piscataway Township or to Rutgers University 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 , including some of the original barracks , the chapel and post flag pole . Most of the site is now occupied by the Timothy Christian School . Environmental hazard . The former environs of Camp Kilmer , and the current Kilmer Reserve Center , are soiled with numerous contaminants including PAHs , VOCs , SVOC s , PCBs , asbestos , and heavy metals affecting groundwater , surface waters and sediment , as well as the soil .