Veterans Memorial Garden gets new caretakers

In a brief ceremony November 28 at Camp Pendleton’s Veterans Memorial Garden, the Rancho Santa Margarita y Las Flores Docents and the History Museums office transferred responsibility for maintaining the memorial site to the Assault Amphibious School Battalion (AAS Bn) and made a donation toward that upkeep.

The garden, located next to the Staff NCO Club at South Mesa near the front gate of Camp Pendleton, was created with support from Fallbrook residents including arborist Roger Boddaert and “Save Our Forest” members, who provided professional advice and donations to the garden during its formative stages.

A meandering walkway through this garden of predominately native California plants contains commemorative monuments overlooking the Pacific Ocean honoring POW MIA, the Fifth, the Fourth and the First Marine Divisions. It was officially dedicated by Major General Bowdon on August 21, 2003.

A member of the Rancho Santa Margarita y Las Flores Docent organization, Bob Warrick, has agreed to continue his volunteer assistance with the AAS Bn Marines to assure continuity of maintenance and continued development of the garden. Anyone interested in proposing monuments or benches for the memorial garden may do so by writing to the Base’s Memorial Review Committee at: History and Museums, HQSPT BN, Box 555031, Camp Pendleton, CA 92055-5031.

The docents of Rancho Santa Margarita y Las Flores wish to express their appreciation to all those who have contributed to the creation and continued development of this memorial garden.