History of Camp Gruber

“We are not weak if we make a proper use of those means which the God of Nature has placed in our power. The battle, sir, is not to the strong alone – it is to the vigilant, the active, the brave.” – Patrick Henry

Beginning in early 1942, Camp Gruber was established as a military mobilization training post in the Cookson Hills area of Muskogee and Cherokee counties in eastern Oklahoma. For the duration of World War II, Camp Gruber provided training to the infantry, artillery and tank destroyer units that went on to fight so heroically in Europe. Until 1946, Gruber was also home to a POW camp housing three thousand German prisoners and employing four thousand civilian workers.

When Camp Gruber was originally built in the spring of 1942, it featured 1,731 framed buildings that housed barracks, administration buildings, hospitals, a laundry, mess halls, theaters and other services. Of those buildings, 14 were chapels available to soldiers and personnel of all faiths.

Following Camp Gruber’s deactivation in June of 1947, most of the existing structures were destroyed or moved to other locations. The camp was reactivated in 1977, and although many new buildings have been constructed in the years since, Camp Gruber has remained without a single chapel until now.

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About Camp Gruber

History of Camp Gruber