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. 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.