Camp Geiger, originally known as Tent Camp, was the first section at Marine Corps Base Lejeune to be constructed beginning in April 1941. The tent camp was intended to house the 1st Marine Division while the division’s permanent facilities were being built at Hadnot Point. Tent Camp No. 1 consisted of seven north-south streets and six east-west streets laid out in a grid pattern. Sixteen blocks were designated for enlisted men’s tents and washrooms. Each canvas tent was 20 foot square with a pyramidal roof raised on a wooden platform. The tents were grouped into rows of eight. Nine rows of tents were grouped together on each block with five concrete-block washrooms. Officers were to be housed in barracks on the west side of the camp but these buildings were not constructed until later. Three mess halls were built in the center of the camp, one for officers and two for enlisted men. In July of 1941 Tent Camp No. 1, the northern section of Camp Geiger was largely completed. Work began on design and construction of Tent Camp No. 2 in December of that year. The second tent camp became the southern section of Camp Geiger as the street grid pattern was simply extended south. The major difference between the two tent camps was that homosote huts were built for enlisted men in Tent Camp No. 2. This type of pre-fabricated construction continued to be used throughout the base.

Today the Chapel (TC601), built between late 1941 and 1942, is the only building remaining from the World War II era Tent Camps 1 and 2. It stands at what was originally the center of this encampment. The circular roadway marking the entrance to the encampment was built in the early 1950s in association with reconstruction of the encampment (using concrete block) and its renaming in honor of pioneering Marine aviator Gen. Roy Stanley Geiger (1885-1947). A flagpole and four monuments stand within the circle. The first honors Lance Corporal Julius C. Foster (1938-1968). The second honors Marines who died in Lebanon between 1982 and 1984. The third memorializes the service of the 4th Marine Division, which fought on Roi-Namur, Saipan, Tinian and Iwo Jima prior to its deactivation in November 1945. The fourth monument was erected in honor of General Geiger (1885-1947). 

Public Outreach Management Plan


Figure 1. Camp Geiger Chapel