11 Sept. 2007: I was taken by surprise on an overcast morning at the former El Toro Marine base as I drove by the old general housing community. I was shocked to see that nearly all the homes and the asphalt + concrete which it stood beneath had all been razed. Note I say "nearly" here because one lone home still stood bravely all along amidst a sea of dirt and rubble (see above).
What really took me off guard was just how fast everything was uprooted and demolished. It may have been just a little over two weeks ago when I last passed through and noticed the homes and streets looking only somewhat untouched. As I gazed at the surreal sight on that somber morning, I reminded myself of the 9-11 attacks (which had passed exactly six years ago) and the countless number of Marines and their families that are enduring the two wars that are currently being fought overseas.
Note: These photos were taken on 09-11-2007 of the El Toro base general housing project, located directly behind the base's commanding officer's office, just to the right of the base's Main Gate entrance. I will try to post some older pictures of the same area to get a better idea of how it looked while it was still there.
2 comments:
There must have been a reason why those houses were demolished. Were the families living there relocated to a new place? Hope they had a better place to stay. Anyway, was it because it was located close to the Main Gate entrance it was demolished?
I lived here when I was a child late 80's I wish I could find more pictures of the base, the field where my brother and I would catch crawdads from the drain right behind our unit. I reme a huge field right out our private gate, a playground and playing soccer in the field. I have been in search of old pictures and cant find a thing.. so sad!
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