Chronicling Oakland story is historian's joy

ALEXANDRIA, Va. (USTCPA) --- As box-after-box is opened, the images and papers pour out.

Oakland Army Terminal as it looked in the Korean War ... photographs from World War II ... scenes from the big moves of the Vietnam War.

And more recent scenes: Pictures of the Oakland, Calif., facility in the past 36 years as the Military Traffic Management Command's Western Area ran the transportation facility there.

The work is a labor of love for Mike Bellafaire, command historian.

"This is what my job is all about," said Bellafaire. "Finding these images is its own form of compensation.

Bellafaire is now at work in one of his most complex projects since coming to work at MTMC in 1998.

The task is daunting.

The former Army Materiel Command historian has now begun the official chronicling of documents, reports, photographs and related artifacts amassed in the 58 years of the history of the Oakland Army Terminal. The 1995 Base Realignment & Closure Commission closed the facility in September 1999.

The physical heritage of the West Coast facility right now is boxed in 55 boxes stored in the library of the U.S. Army Transportation School, Fort Eustis, Va.

Bellafaire is now on a steady review of the materials.

Many of the boxes are treasure troves of photographs and documents that chronicle the service members and ships that passed through the installation.

Some boxes look as if they were loaded directly from old-fashioned metal file cabinets without any review. Other boxes contain redundant reports and Army procedural manuals.

"Some of these manuals will find a new home in the Transportation School Library," said Bellafaire.

The review began Feb. 13-14 with an assessment of the material stored in the library.

To date, Bellafaire has removed six cartons to MTMC Headquarters for additional analysis and review. Another eight cartons of materials have been donated to the Army Transportation School Library. Some materials judged as historically nonrelevant, have been discarded.

After reviewing and organizing the materials, what goals does Bellafaire have for the materials?

"I hope to make this material available to all researchers - whether its units in the command, other military services or private sector scholars," said Bellafaire.

The collection has some big surprises.

"There are photographs here that I have never seen - some from the earliest days of the Oakland Army Terminal," said Bellafaire. "I did not know some of these photos existed."

As an example, the collection includes a great series of photos of early construction scenes at Oakland in 1941 -- prior to Pearl Harbor.

One of the historian's biggest goals is to get some of the compelling Oakland photographs displayed in MTMC headquarters conference rooms.

"Ultimately, the photographs represent a timeless memory," said Bellafaire. "The images are priceless."

Bellafaire has his own memories of the closures. He was present for the official closure of MTMC's Eastern Area on Sept. 23, 1999.

As ceremonial cannons were fired and the garrison flag came down a final time on the New York Harbor terminal, Bellafaire found himself a participant in history.

"It was a very poignant moment," said Bellafaire. "The Army was ending its presence in Bayonne after 50 or more years-never to return.

"That is what makes this collection all the more important - it's the photographic imagery that will keep the memory of MTMC's terminals in Bayonne and Oakland alive." (FROM MILITARY TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT COMMAND PUBLIC AFFAIRS).