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We had 16 members and 13 guests come out today for our SoCalASL Field Trip to Camp Pendleton. I want to thank Club members Mario Goldgorin, Dan Plachta, Dave Nicholas, Stance Nixon, Scott Thompson, Jim Cotugno, Eric Morton, Eric Visnowski, Mike Soffa, Bill Yuen, Matt Cicero, Karl Von Voit, Dave Perham, Rob Feinstein and Blair Bellamy for turning out in the heat for this excellent program.
We met as planned at the Oceanside transportation center parking lot, organized into groups to reduce the number of cars, and headed over to the base exactly on schedule. There we were met by Rob Feinstein, his Boy Scout Troop and their chaperones. All told, our group numbered over 80!
Our first stop was The Mech, the Marine’s mechanized museum. There we viewed an outstanding collection of equipment going back to W.W.I., including a Model T pick-up, a circa 1913 ambulance, a Meat Chopper, a Duck carrying a 105 gun, and multitude of trucks, guns and armored vehicles. Our docent, Jim King, was an excellent narrator and very well informed.
Because we had such a large and enthusiastic crowd, we were able to get the ‘behind the scenes tour’, so to speak, of The Mech. In the yard behind the building were scores of tanks and other vehicles in the process of, or waiting to be rehabbed, including an M3 Scout Car and an up-gunned M60 with a 120mm smoothbore cannon. There was also a temporary (modern pontoon?) bridge and some Iraqi-Soviet era equipment, including several large caliber guns.
After that, we broke for lunch at the strip mall near the main entrance. Because of the size of the group, our guys dispersed into several different restaurants. At 1:00 PM we reassembled and headed over to the boat basin to view the LVT museum. There we viewed an excellent assembly of W.W.II and Korean War era LVT’s, along with other displays, including a recreation of a Japanese coconut log bunker. Once again we were treated to an unscheduled side trip: a tour of the Marine’s Amphibious Landing school. There we got to view the modern descendants of those early LVT’s.
The Boy Scouts and about half of our group departed at that point, but about a dozen hearty souls from our group proceeded across the base to an outdoor exhibit, where we viewed a small collection of Iraqi war trophies, including a T54, T55 and T60, as well as some artillery pieces and AA guns. At that point we called it a day, and the survivors headed home through the north gate.
All in all it was an outstanding day. Our total turnout of 29 members and guests was the largest we’ve had yet for a Club Field Trip. Everyone came away pleased and impressed. On a personal note, I had a blast. I had a guest who brought his kids and was quite impressed with our group and the museum. It was great to see so many members and meet their friends and family members. The Boy Scouts and their chaperones were terrific (not that I expected less), and Camp Pendleton personnel were very friendly and helpful.
I want to extend a very sincere ‘thank you’ to Rob Feinstein, who conceived and organized this trip from top to bottom. It took a lot of hard work to get us in there, and still more to get us maps, directions and schedules. The Club owes him our gratitude. Well done Rob
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