This is Camp San Onofre part of Camp Pendleton California up against the Horno Ridge a part of the Sierra Nevada Mountains on a weekend afternoon in January 1961. The dark areas in the shade of the Quonset huts are groups of marines relaxing and swapping sea stories.
My hut was the second from the corner, the one with the towels and skivvies drying out in the sun next to it.
When I reported in for training at San Onofre, back from 20 days leave in Indiana on a Saturday afternoon, the place was deserted. I was among the first few to arrive. There was a sensation of complete isolation, actually happy abandonment; there were no officers, NCOs, or other honchos around to give orders or to assign work details.
For things to do, there was only draw linens and blankets, find a suitable hut somewhere in the company area, settle in, and then explore the camp to find the mess hall for later reference, locate the PX for cigarettes, toiletry items, and gee-dunk . . . and then kill time until the platoons formed up to a complete training company of about 300 men, all strangers to each other.
- Picture Added
- 01-24-12, 11:22 AM
- Album
- USMC - 1960-1964 Camp Pendleton & Camp Lejeune
- Added by
- BaseCommCLNCdaw