Camp Pendleton

In the early ‘40s, both the Army and the Marine Corps were looking for land for a large training base. The Army lost interest in the project, but in February of 1942 it was announced that the 122,798 acres of Rancho Santa Margarita y Los Flores was about to be transformed into the largest Marine Corps base in the country. It was named for Major General Joseph Henry Pendleton who had long advocated the establishment of a West Coast training base. Construction began in April but the base was considered a temporary facility so it was built to minimum standards of wood frame construction. After five months of furious building activity, the 9th Marine Regiment, under Colonel Lemuel Sheppard, marched from Camp Elliot in San Diego to Camp Pendleton to be the first troops to occupy the new base. On September 25, 1942, President Franklin D. Roosevelt official dedicated the base.

In talking to Leon Padell, he said he couldn't remember where Tent Camp Number 1 was, whether it was in Las Pulugas, San Onofre or Cristianitos.

           We have several pictures of Pendleton and Liberty in Hollywood

 

 

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USMC

 

 

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