August 21 marks 75th anniversary for Los Al base groundbreaking

[I know — this article is way too long.  But a real and accurate history covering the beginnings of the Los Alamitos Naval Air Station — now the Joint Forces Training base — has never been printed before.  I wanted to not only finally get a more accurate one published, but to also point out … Read more

Dec. 15, 1966 – Jet Crash in Rossmoor

Rossmoor resident recalls when Navy Jet landed in his backyard Burton Schild, an orthodontist, was one of Rossmoor’s original residents, owning a home on Yellowtail Drive that backed up to Los Alamitos Blvd (later changed to Seal Beach Blvd.).  Now retired, last year Burton took a creative writing class at Long Beach State.  Instructed to … Read more

Dec. 15, 1966 – Jet Crash in Rossmoor

Rossmoor resident recalls when Navy Jet landed in his backyard Burton Schild, an orthodontist, was one of Rossmoor’s original residents, owning a home on Yellowtail Drive that backed up to Los Alamitos Blvd (later changed to Seal Beach Blvd.).  Now retired, last year Burton took a creative writing class at Long Beach State.  Instructed to … Read more

Happy Birthday to the Base — maybe…

We received an inquiry last week (August 13, 2012) wondering if we were going to note the 70th anniversary of the Los Alamitos Naval Air Station, it having begun operations in August 1942.. This would certainly be a noteworthy achievement, but despite what is printed on some websites, August is not the base’s anniversary and … Read more

Los Alamitos – Early Memories – Bessie Juszkievicz

This article was originally published in The News-Enterprise, presumably in the year 1980.  Bessie Juszkievicz was the wife of Bronislav Juszkievicz who was the field superintendent  for the sugar beet factory.  They arrived in Los Alamitos in 1922 from Illinois.  Bronislav kept that job for a number of years, even after the factory shut down … Read more

30 JUL 1959 – Los Al Residents “Fume at Outsiders” For attempt to Re-locate Air Base

30 JULY 1959 — (Enterprise, p.1) Residents fume at “Outsiders” For attempt to Re-locate Air Base. Local Los Al residents get upset at a committee of Westminster and Garden Grove landowners and developers, who start campaign to “relocate the Los Al Naval Air Station. The committee includes only one “local,” Westminster dairyman Ale Tuinhout, but … Read more

1956 – Sep 30 – 3 Flyers Die in Crash; Bombers misses Rossmoor model homes by 200 yards

30 SEP 1956 — 3 FLYERS DIE IN CRASH. — a twin-engine Navy anti-submarine plane from VS 772 crashed into a sugar beet field shortly after taking off from the NAS Los Alamitos at 10:30am Saturday. The three men in its crew were killed instantly.  The plane was a Grumman S2F Sentinel radio training mission. Killed … Read more