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Believe it or not, the name Miramar that
distinguishes the Naval Air Station, a major road and this college,
originated from a little grocery store located on what is now
known as Naval Air Station (NAS) Miramar. In December of 1942,
Don Huber, a Marine stationed at Marine Corp Air Depo, Camp Kearny,
inadvertently gave the name to both the naval station and the
college. According to Huber, the name Miramar was around before
the college was founded and the original naval base officially
opened. Huber referred to the old base as Marine Corp Air Depot,
Camp Kearny. When Huber was stationed on Camp Kearny, it was
difficult for his friends and him retrieve their mail because
of the long distance they needed to travel to get to the post
office where the mail was sent. Located on a corner of Camp Kearny
stood a quaint grocery store with a little post office in the
back. The post office was run by an elderly lady. After finding
the store and subsequently discovering the post office, Huber
asked the woman if he and his friends could use the address of
the post office to receive their mail, since this little post
office was a lot closer to where he was staying, thus making
it easier for Huber and his friends to get their mail.
The post office in the grocery store was
referred to as "Miramar, California." Huber altered
this to "Marine Corp Air Depot Miramar, CA." instead
of using Miramar, Ca. This incident created the precedent for
the name Miramar to be used to distinguish this area. The land
that Miramar College sits on today used to be owned by NAS Miramar.
The Navy used the space for target practice. The main shooting
range used for target practice is now what is known as Hourglass
Park and was also used as an emergency landing site. When the
Navy no longer needed the land, it was made available to the
San Diego K-12 district so that a new fire science and diesel
technology program could be started.
This was also the birth of what is now
known as Miramar College. Interestingly enough, the college went
nameless while it was under construction. Huber suggested the
name "Miramar" for the college because it identified
the location near the air station and it would give tribute to
the fire fighting. The name of this college didn't originate
from Washington D.C. or from a famous war hero. Instead, the
name originated from a little grocery store and a gentleman who
happened to find a simple way to receive his mail. Yet the legacy
of what Don Huber named lives on.
The above article originally appeared
in the College Newspaper "The SAGE" on March 12, 1996
and was written by Aristotle Afan, a student staff writer. During
1997, the Miramar Naval Air Station, which was memorialized in
the movie "Top Gun", became the Marine Corps Air Station,
Miramar and hosts Marine fighter aircraft and helicopters.
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