MCAS El Toro - 1955 Wendy Beard's home for Nursery School
Please see
My Wendy Page for details on my childhood as a
Marine Corps brat.
Mom Janet Beard, sister Nancy Douglas and I lived in Wherry Park housing while
Dad Wendelll "Moose" Beard was stationed in Japan coaching football. Wendy/Kris'
5th birthday party was here and she attended El Toro Playland Nursery School,
Sept 1955, Mrs Pierson / Mrs Dooley .
Row 2, RHS with pigtails
wikip
"Marine Corps Air Station El Toro (ICAO: KNZJ, FAA LID: NZJ) was a United States
Marine Corps Air Station located next to the community of El Toro, near Irvine, California.
Before it was decommissioned in 1999, it was the 4,682-acre (19 km2) home of
Marine Corps Aviation on the West Coast. Designated as a Master Jet Base, its four
runways (two of 8,000 feet (2,400 m) and two of 10,000 feet (3,000 m)) could handle
the largest aircraft in the U.S. military inventory. While it was active, all U.S.
Presidents in the post-World War II era landed in Air Force One at this airfield.
The El Toro "Flying Bull" patch was designed by Walt Disney Studios in 1944.[2]
It survived virtually unchanged until the close of the Air Station.
Following its decommissioning the site was used as a filming location, including
the test track for the United States version of the BBC's Top Gear franchise.[3]
About 1,300 acres (530 ha) of land originally taken by the air station was
converted into a large recreational center, the Orange County Great Park, while
the rest was re-zoned for residential and commercial development."
BRAC bases
