MARCH ABOARD
From Camp Elliott
In late August 1942, Camp Pendleton was alerted to receive its first combat troops, even though construction of the base was still in full swing. The honor of being first fell to the 9th Marines, a reinforced regiment and the largest organized unit then training at Camp Elliott (now Marine Corps Air Station, Miramar). This time the distance of the camp was not to be an important factor. The 9th Marines was led by Col. Lemuel Shepherd, Jr., who was later to be Commandant of the Marine Corps; on his staff were two officers who were also to later distinguish themselves: Lt. Col. Edward A. Craig, his executive officer, and Maj. Robert E. Cushman, a battalion commander. Col. Shepherd had come into the Marine Corps in 1917, when it was a customary for Marines to march everywhere. He saw the trek to Camp Pendleton as an opportunity for his regiment to engage in a practical exercise. He sent one of his companies ahead to Camp Pendleton, in trucks, to prepare bunks for the rest of his regiment. Then, reconnoitering the back country route, along what is now US 395, spots were chosen for simulated attacks against Col. Shepherd’s marching troops. The march to Camp Pendleton started on Sept. 1, 1942 and lasted four days, during which Col. Shepherd kept his troops constantly on the alert, as though they were marching in enemy territory. Around each new bend in the road was an enemy force which had to be defeated before marching on. The pretense was made easy by the constant real fear that the Japanese might attack the Southern California coastline at any minute. A Japanese sub had already tossed a couple of shots at Santa Barbara, hitting an oil tank and causing panic.
irregular layout of the barracks, coupled with effects of the beer, was too much. They slept in any bunk they could find and waited until daylight to get oriented. Col. Shepherd found the new camp ideal. Everything required by a reinforced regiment was provided, except for one thing: a chapel. The chaplain was inclined to skip the services but Shepherd insisted on following the regulations, which stated that divine services would be held every Sunday. He installed the chaplain in an unused brig. The room to roam was a new experience. In the old days, if Marines broke through a farmer’s fence, they were required to leave a detail to repair it. At Camp Pendleton, they could clip the barbed wire and move on without worrying. Col. Shepherd, fresh out of school at Quantico, was eager to test classroom theories. After choosing training sites and setting up a rigorous schedule, he started maneuvers. He instilled so much enthusiasm into his men that more than one Marine insisted that he saw Japanese landing by parachute at the northern end of the reservation. By the time the 9th Marines sailed from San Diego on Jan. 24, 1943 for an “unknown destination” (New Zealand), Col. Shepherd was able to write proudly in his diary: “We have a fine group of officers and men. After ten months of intensive training we are ready to take our place alongside our comrades in the Southwest Pacific.” The regiment, designated as a part of the new 3rd Marine Division, consisted of 5,500 officers and men. Source: Excerpt from “Marines of the Margarita: The Story of Camp Pendleton and the Leathernecks who train on a Famous Rancho”, by Robert Witty and Neil Morgan; Copley Books (1970)
Col. Shepherd’s tired regiment was met on the hills back of the Mainside area by Maj. Gen. Joseph Fegan, newly chosen as the base’s first commanding general. General Fegan reportedly gave a lecture on preserving the heritage of the camp and not spoiling the scenery. The regiment and reinforcing units resumed their march down the hill to their living quarters. No sooner had the men reached their barracks than word was passed that cold beer was available at the post exchange (PX). Leaving their equipment on their bunks, they hurried through the beginning darkness to the PX. Much later that night they left the PX to discover they couldn’t find their barracks. A heavy fog had set in; the www.oceansidechamber.com
CAMP PENDLETON – Celebrating 75 years
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