• Abstract and Figures
• Public Full-text

Second Quarter 2019 Volume 13 Number 2 FROM TEMPORARY TO PERMANENT 1st Marine Division Headquarters 1st Marine Division Headquarters building on Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, California, May 17, 2018. The building, commonly referred to as the “white house,” has been the workspace for numerous commanding generals and special staff of the 1st Marine Division. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Joseph Prado By Cpl Cameron Fina, USMC The building has even been reviewed from the pages of history and photos as a historical site, still bearing of Marines from modern wars. The building has withstood the test the simple style and white paint of time. It has seen generations of associated with World War II era “It’s a unique building,” said Colonel Marines enter and leave its halls. It buildings, which were originally Christopher S. Dowling, former Chief has seen Marines off to several wars meant to be temporary. Few of its of Staff of the 1st Marine Division. from the shores of Pacific Islands, kind are still standing across the “When it was built in 1942-1943 it the mountains of North Korea, the nation, yet it remains, bold in both was supposed to only last five years, jungles of Vietnam and the deserts of color and design, while its peers have five years – that was it.” the Middle East. It has served as the been replaced over the decades. If operational and cultural epicenter you walk through the musty halls Humanity creates things that last; of the 1st Marine Division- the most that were once treaded by the likes of tools which pass through dozens of storied and consequential Division in Chesty Puller and James Mattis, you hands before becoming worn beyond the United States Marine Corps. It has can see the artwork – paintings of past use, structures that stand strong for seen its share of history both for the commanders, old battle scenes ripped division and the Corps. Continued page 2, Division Headquarters Division Headquarters, Cont. The former 5th Marine Division Headquarters building at night, circa 1968. Photo courtesy of the Camp Pendleton Archives decades, centuries and even several white and was not unique beyond never thought about the fact it was millennia. There are also occasions its purpose. Styled like many of the the division command post during where we make things for a simple buildings to ensure the security of World War II. We simply knew it as the and easy use, where they are only the command, it served many Marines place we work, though we sometimes meant to last for short periods of time. throughout the Pacific for the course referred to it as ‘the head shed’.” Building 1133 of Camp Pendleton, of World War II. better known as “the white house” Due to the era in which ‘the white was one such structure. Acting as both The structure grew upon the Marines house’ was made, there were many a headquarters and administration that called it home and in 1946 it developmental needs required of it building for the growing conflict was officially ordained the 1st Marine during that time. One of the largest in the Pacific, it even expanded to Division Headquarters building. was the need to withstand a possible accommodate the needs of the 3rd, This would lead to it being modified attack. A Japanese invasion of the 4th and 5th Marine Divisions that also decades later, not once, but twice to U.S. was a realistic threat in the 40s. participated in World War II’s Pacific ensure the building could continue To ensure the safety of the command Theatre. to function and support the many staff, the building was meant to be Marines that passed through its halls. indistinguishable from the rest. To “The sergeant major’s office is my Though the renovations have ensured those born in the last 40 years, the favorite room,” said USMC Sgt. Maj. the building has stayed with both the very concept of a military attack on William T. Sowers, former sergeant times and technology of the era from the U.S. is simply something that major of the 1st Marine Division. “The phone wiring to internet within its would not and could not happen. amount of detail in the wood and the walls, its overall structure and design But in 1940, when Camp Pendleton fireplace gives it that really old feeling are still the same as it was when first was officially opened, thousands of and gives off the air of a museum.” built. Marines marched up from San Diego for combat exercises against a fake In the early years it did not have the “It was not as iconic to us during our enemy. It caused a panic within the nickname “the white house”. It stood time,” said U.S. Marine Corps Retired civilian population. People initially amongst many buildings that were General Matthew P. Caulfield. “We thought a Japanese invasion had painted the same cheap, bare off- never knew it as ‘the white house’. We occurred. The base’s presence even led to a drop in the housing market, a fact that is inconceivable to most Southern California homeowners today. The threat of attack from the skies influenced much of what would become Camp Pendleton as we know it today. The camps on base are spread wide across the camp’s more than 195 square miles, originally designed to protect the base from being crippled in one decisive airstrike, according to Dowling. In the attics of “the white house” and other buildings from 1st Marine Division Headquarters building, circa 1970s. Official USMC Photo the era, there is still evidence of 2 Division Headquarters, Cont. Marines and Sailors of 1st Marine Division in formation in front of the Division Headquarters building at a morning colors ceremony at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, Calif., Nov. 1, 2018. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Robert G. Gavaldon the original plywood roofing used. an iconic symbol of the 1st Marine commanding general who presided Pressed wood was used at the time Division with dozens of memorials over all they knew of the Marines on for two reasons: actual wood planks surrounding it, capturing the sacrifice the West Coast at that time. were in immediate need to build of every Marine who fought with and replace decks of Navy ships, and the Division during its many battles Generals, majors, sergeants and pressed wood was less likely to create through our history. From officers lance corporals have walked its halls deadly wood debris if the buildings arriving at its doors in 1940 Ford staff over the last 70 years. Some still live were stuck by a Japanese bomber. cars, to 1968 Volkswagen Beatles, and amongst us while others have given even more recently, a 2018 name your the ultimate sacrifice. Their memories “The white house” was designed by make and model. When one steps out and actions live through both the 1st Myron B. Hunt, Harold C. Chambers of their vehicle, they would gaze up Marine Division and “the white house” and E. L. Ellingwood. Their firms at the white building marked by the itself, which has been an unchanging handled the development of several iconic blue diamond and the battle monument to the Marines of the 1st buildings across Camp Pendleton streamers the division has earned. Marine Division. No matter the age during the 1940s. Based on the in which one served the Division, all U.S. Navy B-1 barracks, which was In the old days it would support the have known that building in one way a common design to further make entire command staff, but now much or another. It is a testament to both the building indistinguishable from of the command is spread out across the Division and the Marines that other building on base at the time, Camp Pendleton. Many Blue Diamond have served. Our ideals have become making it less of a target for Japanese alum have even thought of making engrained into its very structure and bombers after Pearl Harbor. Few of it into a museum, given the many it has become a permanent member these barracks are still left standing historical pieces that already line in both the hearts and minds of the after the 70 plus years since their its halls. It gives off that feeling of Marines of the 1st Marine Division. development. The B-1, much like its having entered a place engrained with sibling structure, “the white house” history. was only a temporary design meant to last for the duration of the war. In “The iconic building 1983 congress would pass the Military of the ‘Blue Diamond,’ Construction Authorization Bill of it is the division,” said 1983, which demolished many of the Sowers. “Many people older temporary structures of World assume that this is the War II in favor of new designs. Some main command post for structures were renovated due to their the Marine Expeditionary historical significance. “The white Force or even the Marine house” interior was included in these Corps Installations West.” renovations. The building underwent changes to its exterior but maintained Many of the older veterans its current shape with only a few minor were not using to dealing changes. with the commands of the 1st Marine Expeditionary U.S. Marine Corps Maj. Gen. Robert F. Castellvi, commanding Since its construction many people Force, said Sowers. When general, 1st Marine Division (MARDIV), presents an award have entered “the white house” and they thought of “the white to a 1st MARDIV Marine during a morning colors ceremony many more have driven past it.

Load more

  8

Copy Link