MCAS El TORO

The legacy of the Marine Corps Air Station El Toro and its profound impact on our city.

 

 

Archivo de vídeo

The Legacy of the El Toro Marine Corps Air Station

Marine Corps Air Station El Toro (MCAS El Toro)  was born in the aftermath of the attack on Pearl Harbor, on nearly 5,000 acres of lima bean fields the government bought from farmer James Irvine for $100,000. The population of Orange County at the time – 1943 – was about 150,000.

The base got its name from the small community next door – now Lake Forest. The community and county grew as the base grew. MCAS El Toro drew Marines and their families from throughout the United States as El Toro-based fighter planes – first propeller-driven, then jets -- battled in the skies during World War II, Korea, Vietnam, Desert Storm, and more.

The El Toro "Flying Bull" patch was designed by Walt Disney Studios in 1944. Air Force 1 used the base to ferry Presidents. The Black Sheep Squadron, made famous (or infamous) by Gregory “Pappy” Boyington, founder of the famed Black Sheep Squadron, was based at El Toro after the Korean Conflict. Robert Conrad, who played Boyington on television, was stationed at MCAS El Toro, as was actor Tyrone Powers, future astronaut and senator John Glenn and baseball legend Ted Williams.  A local favorite was the MCAS El Toro Air Show, which took place annually from the 1950s until 1997. It regularly featured the Blue Angels and drew hundreds of thousands to the base.

Many former Marines called Lake Forest home when the City was incorporated in 1991. Even after its closure on July 2, 1999, the base continued to shape Lake Forest. Property owners whose land was set for commercial or industrial projects because it was in former flight paths asked the City to change their zoning to allow homes. After more than two dozen community meetings, seven new communities were approved. The changes ultimately generated development fees to pay for new roads, the Sports Park and Recreation Center, and Civic Center complex.

 “The closure of Marine Corps Air Station El Toro has had a lasting impact on Orange County and the City of Lake Forest,” said Chris Epting, an OC historian who wrote about the base in his book, Lost Landmarks of Orange County. “While the base played a significant role in the region during its operation, its closure presented both challenges and opportunities for the area that continue to shape the landscape and community to this day.”

Resident Quotes

Memories of the base.

Dave Stephen

You could always tell when someone was from out of town because they would try to talk over the jet's locals stopped mid-sentence and continued once the jets flew by.

Kelly Turbevill

Cooks Corner on Friday nights was so fun when the marine base was there 

Colleen Caldwell

I moved here in 1987. My house was in the flight path but I knew that when I bought my house. I was happy and proud to live close to the base honestly, even with the noise. But I swear that my phone line was directly tied to the control tower. As soon as I got on the phone there was an order for take off. 🤣 I love LF.

Dott Custis Schroeder

Happened to be at the right place at the right time. In the early 90s, I was driving on Barranca and, as I nearing the end of the runway, I saw Air Force 1 landing. It was so beautiful and so close, almost as if I could reach up and touch it. It was truly a breathtaking and memorable sight.

Cathy Boisvert-Larkin

I remember being able to see the Blue Angel Pilots' faces when they flew over our condo's deck during the air show! 

Vince Neale

My wife and I  8-month-old baby moved from Florida to a new home across from the Denton Trabuco in Dec 1981. Our baby was a very light sleeper so noise was a real issue! We heard what we thought were explosions coming from the base so I phoned up. I asked the Marine who answered ‘Why are you guys shooting off guns on a Saturday night?’ He laughed and explained that the noise was coming from the cars at the drag strip along the 5 Freeway!

Willy Jardine

I flew out of El Toro to Nam in 1967. And later raced at OCIR.

Kevin J Maag

I miss the golf course. I learned to play there and at Lake Forest.

Linda Pickle

I was in the USO and would make posters to announce dances given by us for their personnel to attend at the DAV hall in Santa Ana. This was in the early 70s. Went there many times and later married a Marine who worked on the Phantom jets.

Michelle Margolis

I absolutely miss the jets flying over, the air shows, and rushing to see my Air Force big brother flying in on occasion from when he was stationed in Arizona.

I miss the feeling of safety knowing the Marines were always close by if anything terrible in the world happened.

“I miss the smell of the orange groves on the way to the base with my Dad”.

I believe our little piece of the world was a better place back then, even though it’s always been & always will be “Home” to me no matter where I’ve lived and wherever I may go in the future... for now Foothill Ranch is my home and I love living here!

David Peavy

My parents were married in the chapel pictured in the video. In 1960 we moved into Wherry Housing as he was once more stationed there.

I served mass there as a 4-8th grader.

Interesting side note. The chapel had a rotating altar. It could accommodate Catholic, Protestant, and Jewish faiths for their services.

I got to pull the locking pins and spin the turntable to the proper altar.

Doug E.

Truly miss that place.
I was in the Naval Airwing as ground support and definitely enjoyed having the base as a reminder. Went to almost every air show.
I even delivered screens for military housing back in the 60s for my dad's screen shop.
Sad to see it gone!!!

Doug B.

My first visit to MCAS El Toro was in 1970 when my family traveled up from San Diego to greet my Marine father as he returned from his year-long tour of duty in Vietnam. Later, I was an Air Traffic Controller in the control tower and radar room for three years beginning in June of 1988.  So many memories of those years, the high tempo of the flight operations, and the various units and Marines I served with. Here is a list of the Marine Corps squadrons I recall that were based at El Toro when I was there, the type of aircraft they flew, and their nicknames/call signs:

HMM 764 - H46s - 'Moonlight'

VMFA 314 - F18s - 'Black Knight'

VMFA 323 - F18s - 'Snake'

VMFA 531 - F18s - 'Ghost'

VMFAT 101 - F18s - 'Sharpshooters'

VMFP 3 - RF4s - 'Rhino'

VMGR 352 - C130s - 'Raiders'

The land the base occupied, and the areas around it, have obviously changed tremendously...but the memories of what it was like at El Toro back in the day will live on.

Bill Mcilrath

My grandfather, LtCol Thomas G. Mooney Jr. USMC (Ret), trained in the Vought F4U Corsair at MCAS El Toro between 1943 and 1944 before shipping out to Green Island during WWII with VMF-222 - The Flying Deuces).  He was stationed at El Toro again in 1946; 1951 (VMF-451 - Thunderbolts and VMF-451 - Blue Devils); 1953 (VMF-235 - Death Angels); and in the 1960s.

When my aunt and uncle were children living on the base, they decided to take a shortcut across the runway to the pool.  A controller in the tower saw them running across the runway and informed my grandfather (who happened to be in the tower as well).  He raced out in a jeep and scooped them up (with a few colorful exclamations).

His memorial service was at the El Toro station chapel in 1978.

Attached are pictures of my grandfather, the memorial service pages, and my daughter Lucy running in front of the tower during a ceremony in 2006.

Ed Ashman

Moved to El Toro and bought our house in 1970. No El Toro high school, no shopping.  Location; last house on the last street in town as you headed East. Situated between the flight paths far enough away so jet noise was mostly in the background. Couldn’t complain anyway as I was a F4 Phantom pilot. When I returned from Vietnam in 1973 the building boom around us was just starting. Really miss the orange groves and lack of traffic. Raised the kids here and still in the same house!!

Leanne Hendricks

My dad was stationed there during his service in the USMC, perhaps more than once. The webpage says to send you an email with memories and photos.

My dad took photos at the base in January 1949 when it snowed there – which happened at least twice that January. Attached is a scan of 4 photos showing the chapel in each photo. By the way, my parents were married in that chapel in 1959. I wish I had seen it in person before it burned down.

I can remember going to the commissary and PX several times with my mom between 1970 and the early 1980s. We would plug our ears when the jets would take off – it was so loud. We went to the PX for back-to-school clothes shopping and my mom purchased my first tube of lipstick from one of the shops at the PX when I was in high school. I also remember how the Marines would salute the car when we would enter the base, even if my dad was not in the car with us.

If you have additional photos or information about the Marine Corps Air Station El Toro, send them to us via email at pio@lakeforestca.gov.