b'.The Magnificent Marine Machine Museum pg. 20 That storage area was offered up to the History and One such piece is the unique Marginal Terrain VehicleMuseum Division Director, providing a new space for the XM759 with its more than dozen balloon tires on each side.growing collection of vehicles refurbished by a cadre ofThis tracked prototype was created to travel at 32 miles volunteers in time for the 60th anniversary of the openingper hour on land and 5.2 miles per hour in the water. Theof Camp Pendleton. The director also gained the servicesrefrigerated and insulated railcar manufacturing company,of Sgt. Candice Coffman to oversee cleaning out of the Pacific Car and Foundry, designed and manufactured thisarea, to buy the needed supplies and paint, and to recruit vehicle under a government military vehicle contract. and coordinate additional volunteers. Master Sgt. Jim King Late in the 1990s, that little Mule in the weeds wasbrought in his wife and sons to work to prepare the space rescued by Gunnery Sgt. James King, who consulted withand move the vehicles into the new museum site.the head of the History and Museum Division on CampOn the 60th anniversary of the base in 2002, Maj. Gen. Pendleton as to the correct paint and repairs needed toWilliam G. Bowdon hosted six World War II Marines who, restore it.The M274 Mechanical Mule, a platform in 1942, had marched for four days from Camp Elliott to vehicle introduced in 1956, is basically a seat mounted onthe Rancho Santa Margarita y Las Flores. These men who a four-wheeled flat-bed able to carry a half-ton of cargo orwitnessed the dedication of Camp Pendleton, touted as personnel.The M274 Mule was the first of eight such earlythe worlds largest Marine Corps amphibious training base, projects first displayed at the 1st Marine Division grinder would later fight on the bloody shores of Iwo Jima. Together, or parade deck in the 33 Area of Camp Pendleton. Eventually,in tribute of the bases 60th anniversary, the general and it was decided there needed to be a larger dedicated spacethe veterans dedicated the new Marine Corps Mechanized for these vehicles.Museum with a crowd of guests and media.Building 2612 on Vandegrift Boulevard is a large woodenBy 2006, the History and Museum Division Director and warehouse built next to the railroad track as part of thethe lead volunteer Vehicle Curator, now a master gunnery 1940s buildup of the then-newly dedicated Marine Corpssergeant, gained additional space for the exhibits, expanding Barracks Camp Joseph H. Pendleton.First designated as ainto the rest of Building 2612. Transforming the interior of the hospital warehouse and staging center, Marines were pro- former Range Maintenance shop into a museum would take cessed through the building on their way to war. The much more time and the hard work of many volunteer hours war-time construction rush found shortages in some and Base Facilities support. The walls were repaired, new materials, including plywood. The plywood designated forpush bar exit doors were installed, and, thanks to the work of the bases warehouse roofs was sent to New Orleans for theJim Kings wife, Amanda, the floor was refinished to create building of Higgins Boats.Instead, the warehouse roofs werea more formal space. In recent years, themed exhibits have built with stacks of gypsum board, better known today asutilized the environment of vehicles and artillery to interpret sheet rock.Research revealed that in 1946, as troops werevarious history subjects: the 75 years of Marine Corps Base being separated from service at the end of World War II, thisCamp Pendleton, the military service of women on Camp building became the Redistribution Regiment Center.Here,Pendleton since 1943 and the Marines who trained on Camp hundreds of thousands of Marines were screened, then sentPendleton to ultimately fight on Iwo Jima in World War II. by rail to other separation centers to be discharged. In the 1990s, Building 2612 was used by the Range Maintenance Department on one end and as an IRONMAN race supply storage on the other. The Rifle, Multiple 106 mm, Self-propelled M50, or Ontos, before and after restoration. Photos courtesy Ron Jonason22 Military Appreciation Resource Magazine HOctober 2020 H Thank You For Your Service'