California's rich military heritage, that began about 1542 when the Spanish first claimed the new land, was the subject of the 39th Annual Military History Conference at San Diego.  Eventually Mexico won independence from Spain but the Californians rebelled and clashes between government officials and citizens were common.  California was occupied by U.S. forces during the War with Mexico and the territory was ceded to the United States when the war ended.

California Volunteers fought for the Union and protecting New Mexico and Arizona from the Confederate forces in Texas during the Civil War.  After the Civil War, the new U.S. defense plan included constructing fortifications along the newly acquired west coast.  As technologies improved the defenses were upgraded to meet new threats and by the turn of the century the army and naval stations were part of an elaborate coastal defense system.   During World War II the defenses were strengthened and west coast naval stations sent tons of supplies and material to the Pacific to help win the war against Japan.  The Cold War brought additional improvements to the coastal military stations and defense systems and today  Army, Navy and Marine units in Southern California are actively engaged in the War on Terrorism.

PHOTO GALLERIES OF PARTICIPANTS ENGAGED IN CONFERENCE EVENTS CAN BE SEEN BY CLICKING THE LINKS SCATTERED THROUGHOUT THE TEXT

       

Wednesday, May 4, 2005... At noon CAMP  members began gathering at Lahaina Room of the newly renovated Red Lion Hanalei Hotel to register for the 39th Military History Conference and learn of southern California's rich military history.  The registration desk opened at noon and members were soon renewing old acquaintances and making new friends who share their love of military history.  At 1 o'clock the annual meeting of the Board of Directors began in another room of the hotel.  At 7:00 pm everyone returned to the Lahaina Room for the reception and welcome comments from CAMP's President Dale Floyd as well as the local conference committee and invited guest.

         

Thursday, May 5, 2005... Thursday morning began as usual with three concurring sessions of papers at the hotel.  At 9:00 o'clock everyone gathered in front of the hotel for a trip to the site of  the World War II Fort Emory on the Silver Strand.  There we learned of the history of Battery Homer B. Grant (two 6-inch shielded barbette guns), Battery Gatchell (also known as Battery 134 with two 16-inch casemated guns) that are now within the Navy SEAL training area.  We also learned how the abandoned concrete structures are being used to meet current training needs.

 

Then it was back to Navy Pier to visit the aircraft carrier USS Midway, former CVA-41 that is managed by the San Diego Aircraft Carrier Museum Foundation.  The tour began on the hanger deck and led through passages containing exhibits that tell the story of the ship's 47-year service to Naval aviation.  The 258 foot wide by 1,001 foot long ship was launched in 1945 as the world's largest ship and was the first naval vessel too large to pass through the Panama Canal.  The Midway served during the Korean, Vietnam and Persian Gulf Wars and over 200,000 sailors have called her home.  Midway was decommissioned in 1992 and moved to the San Diego Aircraft Museum.

 

After the Midway we were off to the former San Diego Naval Training Center where 10 officers and 55 enlisted men began training new sailors in 1923.  By World War II the post training facilities could handle 25,000 recruits along with an additional 15,000 fleet personnel.  Four generations of sailors passed through the gates until 1997 when all naval recruit training was moved to Great Lakes, Illinois.  Today the non-profit Naval Training Foundation is preserving 26 of the historic buildings that will eventually be the " NTC Promenade" and tell the story of navy training at San Diego.

 

The buses then took us to the Marine Corps Recruit Depot where young men learn the basic skills of being a Marine and develop the esprit de corps that remain with them for the rest of their lives.  The Marines first landed at San Diego during the War with Mexico and returned in 1914 to help guard the border while General Joseph H, Pendleton planned for a permanent post to protect southern California.  The first camp was at North Island and in 1921 the Marines established a camp in Balboa Park while the government was constructing a permanent station on land reclaimed from the harbor.  In December the Marines moved into the partially completed barracks and by 1923 the post was completed and the Marine Corps recruiting center moved to San Diego from Mare Island near San Francisco.  During World War II over 222,300 recruits completed the 12-week basic training course and the post also served as a supply depot and embarkation point for Marines going to the Far East.  Today the Quonset huts have been replace with permanent structures and training techniques have been improved but MCRD San Diego is still the place where many new recruits begin their transformation from civilian to U. S. Marine.

 

Then we traveled to the Shelter Point Hotel for lunch and a presentation on "The Forgotten Soldiers of Fort Rosecrans" by Mary Ellen Cortellini and Karen Scanlon.  Following lunch we boarded buses for a tour of Fort Rosecrans, now a submarine base, where we learned that the first military use of this protective peninsula was in 1852.  The government began constructing an elaborate series of coast artillery batteries during the Spanish American War.  Fort Rosecrans kept a watchful eye on the approach to San Diego during two world wars.  The large 16-inch guns could reach out 30 miles to touch someone with 2,300 pound shells and the smaller guns would play havoc on the decks of any ship entering the harbor.

 

After Fort Rosecrans we passed through the Point Loma Ecological Reserve to visit Cabrillo National Monument overlooking picturesque San Diego Harbor.  The park was established in 1913 to commemorate the exploration of Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo who was the first European to set foot on land that is now California.  This 380 acre park was once part of Fort Rosecrans and houses the Cabrillo statue, military history exhibits and the Old Point Loma Lighthouse.  In addition, visitors are treated to a marvelous view of San Diego Harbor from the 442 foot high Point Loma.

 

 

Then we were off to the Presidio of San Diego, a military post established by the Spanish government in 1769 and has the distinction of being the oldest European settlement on the western coast.  The military colony eventually became the Spanish government center for the southern California region.   In 1846, during the War with Mexico, a detachment of sailors and Marines from the USS Cyane passed over the dilapidated remains of the presidio and established an earthwork fortification on Presidio Hill that they first called Fort DuPont and later changed to Fort Stockton.  During the war a brief skirmish between the Americans and Californios occurred at Fort Stockton.  The site is now administered by San Diego's Park and Recreation Department. While we were at the site of Fort Stockton the reenactment group Company C, 6th U.S. Infantry and Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War presented the colors for our annual ceremony led by founding member Lloyd Clark.

 

After the day of touring San Diego we returned to the hotel where we prepared for the traditional dinner with the society of Military History.  After an hour fellowship we enjoyed meal and Dr. Martin Gordon's talk ,"The Marines Have Landed and San Diego is well in Hand."

         

Friday, May 6, 2005... The day began at 8:00 am with a variety papers on military subjects and at 10:00 o'clock we boarded the buses and headed for Long Beach and the RMS Queen Mary, now permanently anchored at Long Beach.  The Queen Mary was launched in 1936 and with her on-board service and amenities quickly gained the reputation as the only way to travel for the rich and famous.  She was pressed into service as a troopship from 1942 to 1946, and made several crossings carrying as many as 1,800 Americans to the European theater.  During the war she was painted grey to blend with the ocean air and quickly earned the name Grey Ghost.  Escort ships could not keep up so the Queen usually crossed the Atlantic alone even though the German High Command offered a $250,000 reward to any submarine commander who could sink the Queen Mary.  But there was no danger for the Grey Ghost, with a top speed of 28 knots, could outrun any German U-Boat whose maximum speed was about 18 knots.

 

After the war ended the Grey Ghost made 13 more voyages to carry over 22,000 war brides and their children to the U.S. and Canada.  Then, with new paint and fittings she resumed her status as passenger ship to the rich and famous.  In 1967 she made her last voyage from Southampton, England to Long Beach, California where she is permanently berthed as a hotel and museum.  We enjoyed lunch on the Queen Mary's main dinning deck and CAMP's Secretary, Col. Herbert Hart, USMC (Ret) read a paper by Robert C. Baldridge on the Queen Mary's service as a World War II troop ship.

 

Then we traveled to Drum Barracks, also called Fort Drum, at Wilmington.  The site served as headquarters for the Department of Southern California during the Civil War  and was instrumental in preserving the Union in California.  In 1862 the camp commander, Colonel James Carleton  formed the California Column at Fort Drum and proceeded with 2,350 men to drive the confederate Texas Volunteers from Arizona and New Mexico.    After the war the post served for a short time during the Indian Wars.  Now one officer's quarters, that serves as a museum, and a magazine are the only structures remaining to remind visitors of the site's history from 1862 through 1871.

 

The next stop was Fort MacArthur, an army post that once housed two dozen coast defense guns to protect Los Angeles.  Construction began in 1915 and the first guns were mounted in 1917.  Construction and improvements continued in spurts during the next next 25 years and on December 7, 1941 the fort immediately took steps to repel a Japanese invasion.  An all-out invasion never materialized however several vessels encountered Japanese submarines and one fired at the Elwood oilfield near Santa Barbara.  After the war Fort MacArthur became a Nike Missile Site.  On July 1, 1975 the post was deactivated and today part of the former coast artillery post is the Los Angeles Air Force Base and the remainder is a city park operated by the Fort MacArthur Museum Association.  Battery Osgood-Farley are currently being restored and the museum association is repairing military vehicles and other equipment used at the fort during its service as a military post.

 

After returning to the hotel everyone enjoyed an evening meal then assembled in the hotel's Lahaina Room for the annual book auction.  CAMP President Dale Floyd served as auctioneer as bidding continued on  a variety of military history books began.   Profits from the auction are used to encourage youth interest in military history by offering students a grant to help defray the cost of attending the military history conference.  

 

Saturday, May 7, 2005... The presentation of papers began at 8:00 am with the three sessions and continued until 11:00 am when we adjourned for lunch with world renown combat artist Harry Jackson discussing Combat Art during World War II.  Then we boarded buses and headed north to the 120,000 acre Marine Corps Base, Camp Joseph H. Pendleton.  Located between Oceanside and San Clemente, California. Camp Pendleton is the largest Marine Corps amphibious base in the world and home to 33,000 active-duty Marines and 50,000 civilians and military families. 

 

 The base began its colorful history as the cattle ranch that was transformed into a Marine base in 1942.  That fall the 9th Marine Regiment marched from San Diego to be the first to occupy the new base.  Today, with both coastal area and desert mountain terrains, Camp Pendleton offers a variety of training environments that are utilized by Marine, Army and Navy units as well as many local, state and federal government agencies.  The base is also the home of the First Marine Expeditionary Force, the First Marine Division and the 1st Force Service Support Group.

 

Our next stop explored the Spanish history of the area.  Mission San Louis Rey, founded in 1798 was a string of missions that encompassed over 1,000 square miles of what is now southern California and mission Indians once owned 22,610 head of cattle, 27,412 sheep along with goats, pigs and horses distributed at ranchos throughout the area.  Between 1847 and 1852 U. S. troops pitched tents adjacent to the Mission San Louis Rey de Francia near Oceanside to protect settlers.  In 1806 an adobe building was constructed for the mission's mayordomo.  It later became the ranch house for the Rancho Santa Margarita y Las Flores, and still stands as the quarters for the Commanding General of Camp Pendleton.  The site of smaller missions rancheros, such as Santa Margarita, Las Flores, Las Pulgas and San Onofre are now within Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton.

 

 The conquest of California was discussed at the San Pasqual Battlefield State Park near Escondido.  In 1846 General Stephen Kearny, with 121 officers men marched 2,000 miles from Missouri, and with a detachment from San Diego met General Andrew Pico and his California dragoons near the Indian village of San Pasqual.  The Americans won the ten-minute battle, the bloodiest in the conquest of California, with 3 dead, 16 wounded and 1 missing.  Although considered a minor skirmish in the Mexican War chronicles, the Battle of San Pasqual was one of the most important in California and limited the Californios control of the Colorado River area.  The San Pasqual Battlefield Volunteer Association presented a history of the battle and described the uniforms and equipment used by the soldiers.

           

Then we returned to the hotel to dress for the annual banquet, a formal affair.  Dr. Edward J. Marolda, Senior Historian for the Naval History Center, Washington, D.C. was the dinner speaker and enlightened us about "The Cold War in the Far East." At the conclusion of the evening Director Amy Price read the names of CAMP members who expired during the past year and Secretary Herbert M. Hart gave his report of actions taken at the Board of Director's meeting.

 

Sunday, May 8, 2005...  The optional add-on day began at 8:00 am when we boarded buses and headed east toward southern Arizona.  After passing through the sea of boulders our first stop was Camp Lockett that was first occupied by a troop of US Cavalry who camped there site in 1878.  In early 1941 concern for the security of the California-Mexico border and the security of the large military force in the San Diego area  motivated the army to start constructing a military post at Campo.  After Pearl Harbor the 11th Cavalry was immediately dispatched to Camp Lockett to prevent German and Japanese forces from attacking the U.S. through Mexico. The soldier's primary activity was patrolling the border and the rugged terrain combined with the harsh weather conditions made the horse mounted units especially valuable along this mountainous area.  In 1944 the cavalry units were dismounted and sent to North Africa where they were converted to service units.  Although the period of horse cavalry had officially ended, the 28th, through oversight, remained and active cavalry unit until 1951.  After the Cavalry left the post was converted to a Convalescent Hospital and at one time over 200 Italian prisoners of war were held there.

 

Traveling east into Arizona, the next stop was the Yuma Crossing State Park.  The nine acre park commemorates the history of this important river crossing and the site of the Yuma Quartermaster Depot established in 1850.  The depot maintained a 6-month supply of clothing, food, ammunition and other necessities that was distributed to Army post throughout the southwestern United States.  The depot was abandoned in 1883 and today a few structures are still standing and managed as an Arizona State Park. 

 

Then we were off to Camp Laguna at Yuma Proving Ground and lunch at the Cactus Cafe with presentation of a paper on Patton Desert Training Center by William Heidner.  Returning to California, the last stop on our trek was at the Fort Yuma-Quechan Museum.  This site was occupied by the U. S. Army in 1849 as Camp Calhoun, then named Camp Yuma and finally became Fort Yuma in 1852.  In 1884 the fort was deeded to the Quechan Indian tribe and served as a Catholic boarding school until 1900.  Today the tribe operates a small museum at the site.  then we headed back to the hotel.

 

The 39th Military History Conference is history and we regretfully say goodbye to our new friends.  As the San Diego skyline fades behind us we realize that we are carrying a new appreciation for the rich military history of southern California.  Now we return to our homes and eagerly awaiting next year's conference when we can meet at Chattanooga to learn about the military history of East Tennessee.

 

 

THIS PAGE LAST UPDATED AUGUST 19, 2007

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