On January 15, 1942, the U.S. Army established a tank destroyer tactical and firing center near Killeen covering more than 100 square miles. Camp Hood, later Fort Hood, was used to train fifty battalions of about 1,000 men each for World War II combat, and because of its size the army acquired more than 88,000 acres of land. About twenty small communities in Coryell County, many founded in the early 1850s before the county was created, were taken by the government for the facility. During the acquisitions, citizens of Coryell County faced confusion as families who had lived on the same land for generations lost homes and churches and reburied their dead in other cemeteries, while financial difficulties followed the upheaval. These changes came within days and weeks because of the urgent need for military training and response, and recovery was long and hard for those who were uprooted. In a Gatesville Messenger article of February 27, 1942, committee representatives from the camp site area appealed to elected officials about land prices, seeking reasonable payment so they could buy similar homes elsewhere. Although the people affected did not oppose the government's use of their land for this purpose, the shared hardships drew community members closer together, and their families and descendants still maintain connections through communication, reunions, and traditions.