Camp Lehigh

Camp Lehigh is a United States Army base in New Jersey and one of the Strategic Scientific Reserve's training facilities during World War II.
== History ==
=== World War II ===
: "When you brought a ninety-pound asthmatic onto my army base, I let it slide. I thought, what the hell? Maybe he'll be useful to you, like a gerbil. I never thought you'd pick him."
: ―Chester Phillips to Abraham Erskine[src]
Camp Lehigh was established in 1914 as a base of the United States Army. By 1943, the camp was used by the Strategic Scientific Reserve as a military training facility for candidates of Project Rebirth.
Abraham Erskine pressured himself to find a perfect candidate for the project, in the wake of the failure of Johann Schmidt's procedure. Erskine reminded Chester Phillips that he never wrote down the actual formula of the serum, so Schmidt had no choice but to keep him alive.
Eventually, Erskine picked Steve Rogers, who was brought to the camp as Erskine's primary candidate, although everyone realized that he didn't match with the rest of the candidates. Peggy Carter introduced herself as the overseer of every operation carried out by the SSR and rapidly established her authority. Phillips then gave a speech to the recruits, being distraught by Rogers' frail appearance, and explained the purpose of Project Rebirth, trying to create an army of super-soldiers to take down Adolf Hitler's forces.
The candidates began a hard week of training under the supervision of Michael Duffy, and while Gilmore Hodge was Phillips' personal favorite, Rogers was constantly obstructed by his colleagues. However, Rogers impressed everyone with his different approach to situations, such as when he managed to retrieve Camp Lehigh's flag from a pole for the first time in history by simply letting the pole fall instead of climbing it.
Phillips, disagreeing with Erskine's choice of Rogers as his primary candidate, tried to make him change his mind, and choose Hodges as the best soldier, but Erskine dismissed him, describing Hodges as a bully. To prove that Rogers was not a suitable candidate as he lacked bravery needed for a soldier, Phillips threw a fake grenade among the candidates during a training exercise. Rogers used his body as a shield to protect everyone from the possible explosion while Hodges hid, causing Phillips to acquiesce to Erskine's decision for Rogers' inclusion.
Erskine visited Rogers the night before the project's start-up, and Rogers wondered why he was chosen. Erskine told Rogers how the Nazis managed to seize political power in Germany, and how Hitler found out about him and his work. Hitler coerced Erskine by sending Schmidt, who became the first test subject for Erskine's formula, that, at the time, was not finished. Erskine then tried to drink a toast with Rogers, before realizing that Rogers could not drink alcohol before being administered with the serum, so Erskine ended up drinking both sips after making Rogers promise that he would be a good man whatever happened during the procedure.
== Appearances ==
In Order:
* Captain America
== Trivia ==
* In the comics, Camp Lehigh was located in Virginia, few kilometers outside Arlington.
Category:Captain America Locations
Category:Comics Locations
Category:United States Armed Forces Facilities
Category:Strategic Scientific Reserve