25 September, 1942

[Subdeacon Joe]

USMC Camp Pendleton was dedicated by FDR.

http://www.pendleton.marines.mil/About/History-and-Museums/

 

 

 

In the early 1940s, 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 April of 1942 it was announced that the rancho was about to be transformed into the largest Marine Corps base in the country. The Marine Corps paid $4,239,062 for the rancho.

On the eve of World War II, the Marine training bases were limited to Quantico, Va., Parris Island, S.C., and San Diego. When expansion of all U.S. armed forces was authorized by President Franklin D. Roosevelt's proclamation of an unlimited national emergency on May 27, 1941, an immediate need for additional amphibious force training facilities led to the construction of Camp Pendleton.

After five months of construction, the Rancho Santa Margarita y Las Flores, which included San Onofre, became the West Coast's largest military camp. The first troops to occupy the new Base were the 9th Marine Regiment with the 1st Battalion, 12thMarines, who marched from Camp Elliott in San Diego to Camp Pendleton. President Franklin D. Roosevelt dedicated the Base on Sept. 25, 1942, in honor of World War I Major General Joseph H. Pendleton who had long advocated the establishment of a West Coast training base.

By 1943, the first women Marine reservists arrived to help keep Base administration running smoothly. The O’Neill’s blacksmith shop became the Ranch House Chapel and opened primarily for their use.

By October 1944, Camp Pendleton was declared a "permanent installation" and by 1946, became the home of the 1st Marine Division.

During the Korean War, $20 million helped expand and upgrade existing facilities, including the construction of Camp Horno. When Camp Pendleton trained the country's fighting force for the Korean and Vietnam Wars, approximately 200,000 Marines passed through the Base on their way to the Far East.

The Corps broadened its capabilities during the 1980's from "amphibious" to "expeditionary" by combining infantry, armor, supply and air power. Troops and equipment could now be deployed halfway around the world in only days as part of a self-sustaining air-ground team. This successful use of military power has been demonstrated through Marine Corps operations in Grenada, Panama, the Persian Gulf, Somalia, Bosnia, Haiti Afghanistan and Iraq.

Camp Pendleton has continued to grow through renovations, replacing its original tent camps with more than 2,600 buildings and 500 miles of roads.

Efforts today continue to preserve the rich heritage of Camp Pendleton's founders and the more than 230 years of Marine Corps history. The original ranch house is used for historical tours and has been declared a National Historic Site.

Some of the Base's streets and sites have been named in honor of military war heroes and battles. The geographic locations formally christened by Spanish explorers and missionaries continue that heritage. A ranch cattle brand, Pendleton's logo, can be seen throughout the Base.