Speaking of San Pedro (also yesterday's "Alhambra" bar), here's something else in San Pedro:
Quote:
Originally Posted by Martin Pal
...we know he "enlisted in the Army Air Corps as a private in
December, 1940, (age 25) at Fort MacArthur, San Pedro, CA."
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I was curious about
Fort MacArthur, and I can't believe I have never heard of this place before now, consciously anyway. There's A LOT of info--here's a post about some of it!
Fort MacArthur - The post was created in 1888, when President Grover Cleveland designated an area overlooking San Pedro Bay as an unnamed military reservation intended to improve the defenses of the expanding Los Angeles harbor area. Fort MacArthur was formally created on October 31, 1914, named for General Arthur MacArthur, a U.S. Civil War Medal of Honor recipient and father of General Douglas MacArthur.
The area is divided up into these designations: The Upper Reservation, the Middle Reservation and the Lower Reservation.
During World War I, the fort was utilized as a training center and the first large gun batteries for harbor defense were installed in 1917. However, the test firings of these guns was extremely unpopular with area residents and by the end of World War II the large guns were already being removed.
During the early years of the Cold War, the post became a key part of the west coast's antiaircraft defenses and the home of the 47th Anti-Aircraft Artillery Brigade.
In 1975 Fort MacArthur became a sub-post of Fort Ord, and the Upper and Lower Reservations were soon transferred ownership of the fort's to the City of Los Angeles. The Upper Reservation is now the San Pedro's Angels Gate Park, which is home to the Fort MacArthur Military Museum. The museum, housed in the Battery Osgood-Farley, preserves and interprets the history of Fort MacArthur and maintains several historical structures which were part of the U.S. Army's role in the defense of the American continental coastline from invasion.
The Lower Reservation of Fort MacArthur was dredged and is now the city's Cabrillo Marina. The Middle Reservation was transferred to the Air Force in 1982 and is still being used as base housing for the Los Angeles Air Force Base.
A 1937 photo showing the Upper Reservation: CLICK ON THE PHOTO FOR A LARGE VERSION.
A 1937 photo showing the Middle Reservation and the Lower Reservation: CLICK ON THE PHOTO FOR A LARGE VERSION.
Here's a couple of current photos of the grounds:
Fort MacArthur, Patton Quadrangle, Middle Reservation:
Historic Officer's Quarters, Middle Reservation, Fort MacArthur:
Beautiful...
There is a museum there, The Fort MacArthur Museum. The Museum was established in 1985.
The Fort MacArthur Museum is dedicated to the preservation and interpretation of the history of Fort MacArthur, a U.S. Army post which guarded the Los Angeles harbor from 1914 to 1974. The Museum was established in 1985, and it is housed in the corridors and galleries of historic Battery Osgood-Farley. The Fort MacArthur Reservations hold an important collection of historical structures which were part of the U.S. Army's role in the defense of the American continental coastline from invasion. These structures clearly trace the development of American coastal defenses, from the all big gun era of the turn of the century to the missile era of today. The rooms, galleries and corridors of the Museum contain a variety of exhibits and displays which include: the history of Los Angeles harbor defenses, home-front activities in the greater Los Angeles area during the World Wars, Civil Defense, American Pacific Theater military campaigns, early American Air Defenses and the important role of Los Angeles as a military port for both the Army and the Navy.
A couple of the 229 interesting photos of the museum and grounds listed on Yelp.
(I don't recall ever seeing the Los Angeles Times front page of this day.)
As one might expect, this location has been used for filming movies and television programs.
They've filmed movies there you might expect, like MIDWAY, MACARTHUR, TORA! TORA! TORA!
and A FEW GOOD MEN, but also ones you might not expect to be like DRAGNET, DON'T MESS
WITH THE ZOHAN and THE USUAL SUSPECTS and TV series like NCIS and THE A-TEAM, but
also TORCHWOOD and BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER.
What I also learned is that every year since 1991 they've had a fundraiser for the
grounds and museum. A poster for this year:
The Great Los Angeles Air Raid of 1942!
(I believe there's been some coverage of the actual 1942 event on NLA previously.)
They must not do a very good job of publicity for this event because I'd have
gone to it already! I even just missed it last Saturday night!
Photos from it: The first, third and fourth photos are from last weekend.
Here's a promo video on the
www.airraid.com site for this event:
And here's footage of the air raid part of the event from last Saturday night:
• Video Link
WELL, since I've missed this re-enactment until now, the good thing is that
next year will be the 75th ANNIVERSARY of the event! Should be great!
FEBRUARY 24, 1942
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All info, photos and videos from these links:
http://www.fortwiki.com/Fort_MacArthur
http://www.ftmac.org/index.htm
http://www.theairraid.com
http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/fort-...-pedro?start=0
http://bestofthesouthbay.com/event/t...-raid-of-1942/
https://vimeo.com/57757985
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KXJnQvm6Srs